How do do I know I am saved from sin.
Hi HI, I agree with most of what everyone has already said here, but I'll add these few thoughts too (this is hardly exhaustive, BTW).
*Do you love God and long to be in His presence?
*Are you thankful for your life in Him and awed by all that He has done for you?
*Is it your greatest desire to please/obey/glorify God in all that you do, say and think?
*Does the Bible make sense to you (in a way that it never did prior to becoming a Christian)?
*Do you long to hear God speak (through His word) and long to talk with Him (through prayer)?
*Do you agree with King David that God always knowing EVERYTHING about you is an exceedingly wonderful thing? (Psalms 139)
*Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ and long to be in fellowship with them?
*Is the way you've led your life as a Christian radically different from the way you led your life prior to becoming one?
*Do you want to share your newfound faith with others so that they might come to know Christ as well?
*Do you "delight yourself" in Him? (Psalms 37:4)
We are saved by grace through faith apart from works of any kind .. Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5, but we are saved ("born again" and made into wholly "new creatures" in Christ .. John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
for a purpose .. i.e. Ephesians 2:10 (good works, holy living, pleasing God, glorifying God .. cf Matthew 5:16). Though these things are not the
cause of our salvation (nor do they sustain us in the faith), they are
fruit of our salvation and are 'always' present in the life of someone who has come to possess the "kind" of faith that saves
St. James (frighteningly
) tells us that there is a kind of faith (a "dead" faith) that cannot save us .. i.e. James 2:17. "Saving faith", on the other hand, is the kind of faith that
results in the lifestyle changes described above. As Calvin says:
"We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone" ~John Calvin
So if you want to know if you are truly saved,
examine your life and see if it is
1) filled with or
2) lacking the things that are always "
produced" in the life of someone who has "saving" faith (IOW, is your life regularly filled with or lacking the things that "
accompany" salvation .. holy living, good works, pleasing God, glorifying God .. in word/deed/thought).
Christians "act" like Christians, yes
(well, most of the time anyway
). If someone who claims to be a Christian doesn't act like one on a regular basis, chances are extremely high that their "claim" is nothing more than that
Yours in Christ,
David
"Test yourselves to see if you are in
the faith; examine yourselves"
2 Corinthians 13:5