How do I know I am saved?

[Ron Gurley]

Listen to Paul? He would say: “Follow Jesus!”...he did!

 

[Ron Gurley]

At the time of the salvation event, God the Holy Spirit will guide the believer and comfort him ... sanctification...more like Christ and less like you ...freedom to not sin.

 

[ac28]

Listen to Paul? He would say: “Follow Jesus!”...he did!

ICor 4:16 Paul told his followers to follow him (Paul). Of course, Paul followed Christ.
"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me."

 

[Tayla]

How do do I know I am saved from sin.

Match up with what the New Testament says and you will know.

 

[Andy centek]

1 John 3:14

John 13:34-35, John 15:12

HI:
Satan knew the Lord Jesus Christ, was He saved because of that ?

Andy Centek

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

Short of a personal divine revelation given to you, you cannot know for certain.

 

[thecolorsblend]

This again? We can just as easily say that you follow the traditions of men over 15 centuries separated from Jesus and His apostles.

Not sure what it's worth to reply to him right now. Seems like his hands are a bit tied.

 

[Andy centek]

Thecolorsblend:

So do many of the subject matters in the Bible scriptures! However, The Rulers ask Jesus about whose wife would she be in heaven:His reply -- Have you not read that in the beginning He made Him male and female?

Andy Centek

 

[John the Ex-Baptist]

How can you know for sure that you are saved? Don't look inside yourself for assurance. Your works and your feelings will always fall short. You can never do enough good works to be sure you are saved. Salvation doesn't come through works. You also know that you can't really trust your feelings. If you are questioning your salvation, you probably already don't feel like you are saved.

Instead, look to what God has done for you. Look outside yourself. Remember your baptism.

Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
Acts 22:16 Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away.

Through baptism, God unites us in Christ, rescuing us from death, the wages of our sin.

Romans 6:3, 5 Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ... If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
Galatians 3:27 All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Because God forgives our sins through baptism, he also works salvation. This salvation is the result of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for you by living a perfect life, dying a perfect sacrificial death, and rising to new life to show his victory over sin, death, and the devil.

Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.
1 Peter 3:21 This water [of Noah's flood] symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:11 You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Titus 3:5-7 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

And speculation would have it's way if it wasn't for those pesky Lutherans!!

 

[arabianhorselover]

I have been Lutheran my whole life, and I still tend to get so confused by all the differing opinions on these things.

 

[bbbbbbb]

I have been Lutheran my whole life, and I still tend to get so confused by all the differing opinions on these things.

This is a problem in Lutheran theology. On one hand, there is a need to avoid the synergism of Roman Catholic soteriology which strips one entirely of any hope for assurance of salvation and other the other hand there is a need to avoid the fatalism of certain aspects of Calvinist theology.

 

[arabianhorselover]

This is a problem in Lutheran theology. On one hand, there is a need to avoid the synergism of Roman Catholic soteriology which strips one entirely of any hope for assurance of salvation and other the other hand there is a need to avoid the fatalism of certain aspects of Calvinist theology.

Please explain further.

 

[bbbbbbb]

Please explain further.

Luther, having been trained in an Augustinian monastery, naturally accepted the monergism of Augustine. The Roman Catholic Church, however, was moving strongly in the direction of synergism, which it fully embraced at the Council of Trent. In the meantime, John Calvin and his successors took Augustine's monergism to its theological conclusion, resulting in double predestination and, in some circles, a fatalistic theology. Luther and his followers, however, decided not to go there. The result is a form of monergism which rejects the logical outcome of monergism, but also firmly rejects synergism. Thus, Lutheran theology has certain inherent weaknesses as a result.

 

[Major1]

Short of a personal divine revelation given to you, you cannot know for certain.

All men can know that they are saved by a changed life!

 

[John the Ex-Baptist]

I've just read through the whole of this thread, and I have to say it has made me feel a mixture of sadness and frustration, especially in the light of the initial question being one so often and sincerely asked by so many new to the faith or struggling with their walk. Apart from @Tangible and @Oscarr, it seems that every other post is advising us to look at our own works, or the fruit we are bearing, or our faithfulness in loving others etc.. These really are the last places we should be looking for our assurance of salvation, for they are all subjective and mingled with our own sinfulness to one degree or another.

As @Tangible said previously, our certainty of salvation is found completely outside of ourselves in that which God has done for us. It is the Person and work of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again that alone saves us from the penalty of sin, and that salvation is utterly without doubt. Over 2000 years ago when the eternal Son of God came to us in the womb of a virgin, He came to the whole of mankind as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He came as the Faithful Servant prophesied by Isaiah, who would live the perfectly faithful and righteous life before God that no other man was able to because of sin. He lived the perfect life, and then in willing obedience to the Father, gave Himself over to death, bearing the sins of the whole world upon His shoulders. On the third day He rose again, defeating death forever, not just for Himself but for all who would trust in His redeeming work as their only hope.

The Bible is replete with eye witness accounts of all that Christ Jesus said and did in His earthly ministry. Through the work of the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance of the apostles all that Jesus instructed them, they were divinely inspired to give us the New Testament writings we now so dearly cherish (or should do at least!). We are to come to Jesus with a child-like faith, believing and trusting what His Word testifies to us for our salvation. As we read and hear the Word of God, the Holy Spirit brings the gifts of faith and repentance to us. If we will listen to Him, believing and trusting His Word, we will find our lives united with Christ in such a way that nothing will tear us away from Him, even death.

Sadly, even in the light of all this, we seem to be utterly determined to find alternative ways of salvation. And here I'm talking about us Christians, not those outside the church! So is there really any surprise that so often our soul is stricken with dread at the thought of death? The devil is the master accuser of man, and he knows the perfect time to whisper the right words in our ear to cause us to doubt we are truly saved. The reason for my frustration and sadness at reading through this thread, is that it makes me realise that even amongst those Christians who are serious enough about their faith to spend time and effort in a place such as this forum, are literally so ill equipped to deal with the devil's accusations when they will undoubtedly come.

If you think I'm over exaggerating here, or just plain wrong, please do me the service of reading the following clear texts of Scripture:

Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mk 16:15–16)

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Ac 2:38–41)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
(Ro 6:3–8)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Pe 3:18–22)

When there are so many crystal clear and straightforward texts given to us in Scripture regarding how we are to unite with Christ in faith alone, why are we so determined to argue to the contrary? Baptism is not a work of ours, it is the work of God alone. Those who believe that baptism saves do not believe that splashing or dunking someone with water brings salvation. But we believe what the Word of God tells us with regard how to lay hold of His promise of salvation won in Christ crucified. God knows we are stupid, arrogant, ignorant and despicable, and so has provided for us in such a straightforward way. It's all very well saying it's sufficient to believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart to be saved, but how can that be true of us if we doubt what His Word tells us is true?

I know for a fact that when I'm about to breathe my last, and when the devil will undoubtedly try one last ditch attempt to snatch salvation away from me, I will look to no other place. In my baptism I am united with Christ in both death and life, and that is His gift to me. As sure as Christ hung and died upon the Cross at Calvary, I am crucified with Him. And as surely as He rose from the dead on the third day to ascend to the Father's right hand, so too shall I be called to rise from the grave and be with Him forever in glory.

 

[bbbbbbb]

I've just read through the whole of this thread, and I have to say it has made me feel a mixture of sadness and frustration, especially in the light of the initial question being one so often and sincerely asked by so many new to the faith or struggling with their walk. Apart from @Tangible and @Oscarr, it seems that every other post is advising us to look at our own works, or the fruit we are bearing, or our faithfulness in loving others etc.. These really are the last places we should be looking for our assurance of salvation, for they are all subjective and mingled with our own sinfulness to one degree or another.

As @Tangible said previously, our certainty of salvation is found completely outside of ourselves in that which God has done for us. It is the Person and work of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again that alone saves us from the penalty of sin, and that salvation is utterly without doubt. Over 2000 years ago when the eternal Son of God came to us in the womb of a virgin, He came to the whole of mankind as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He came as the Faithful Servant prophesied by Isaiah, who would live the perfectly faithful and righteous life before God that no other man was able to because of sin. He lived the perfect life, and then in willing obedience to the Father, gave Himself over to death, bearing the sins of the whole world upon His shoulders. On the third day He rose again, defeating death forever, not just for Himself but for all who would trust in His redeeming work as their only hope.

The Bible is replete with eye witness accounts of all that Christ Jesus said and did in His earthly ministry. Through the work of the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance of the apostles all that Jesus instructed them, they were divinely inspired to give us the New Testament writings we now so dearly cherish (or should do at least!). We are to come to Jesus with a child-like faith, believing and trusting what His Word testifies to us for our salvation. As we read and hear the Word of God, the Holy Spirit brings the gifts of faith and repentance to us. If we will listen to Him, believing and trusting His Word, we will find our lives united with Christ in such a way that nothing will tear us away from Him, even death.

Sadly, even in the light of all this, we seem to be utterly determined to find alternative ways of salvation. And here I'm talking about us Christians, not those outside the church! So is there really any surprise that so often our soul is stricken with dread at the thought of death? The devil is the master accuser of man, and he knows the perfect time to whisper the right words in our ear to cause us to doubt we are truly saved. The reason for my frustration and sadness at reading through this thread, is that it makes me realise that even amongst those Christians who are serious enough about their faith to spend time and effort in a place such as this forum, are literally so ill equipped to deal with the devil's accusations when they will undoubtedly come.

If you think I'm over exaggerating here, or just plain wrong, please do me the service of reading the following clear texts of Scripture:

Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mk 16:15–16)

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Ac 2:38–41)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
(Ro 6:3–8)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Pe 3:18–22)

When there are so many crystal clear and straightforward texts given to us in Scripture regarding how we are to unite with Christ in faith alone, why are we so determined to argue to the contrary? Baptism is not a work of ours, it is the work of God alone. Those who believe that baptism saves do not believe that splashing or dunking someone with water brings salvation. But we believe what the Word of God tells us with regard how to lay hold of His promise of salvation won in Christ crucified. God knows we are stupid, arrogant, ignorant and despicable, and so has provided for us in such a straightforward way. It's all very well saying it's sufficient to believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart to be saved, but how can that be true of us if we doubt what His Word tells us is true?

I know for a fact that when I'm about to breathe my last, and when the devil will undoubtedly try one last ditch attempt to snatch salvation away from me, I will look to no other place. In my baptism I am united with Christ in both death and life, and that is His gift to me. As sure as Christ hung and died upon the Cross at Calvary, I am crucified with Him. And as surely as He rose from the dead on the third day to ascend to the Father's right hand, so too shall I be called to rise from the grave and be with Him forever in glory.

Baptism, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, merely gets a person wet. It is faith through grace which saves, not some meritorious sacrament.

 

[John the Ex-Baptist]

Baptism, apart from faith in Jesus Christ, merely gets a person wet. It is faith through grace which saves, not some meritorious sacrament.

Who said anything about baptism apart from faith in Jesus Christ? What I have been saying is that if you have faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, then you need to be united with Him in His death and His life to benefit from His saving work. The Scriptures that I have quoted are merely a few of many that show that baptism is the means of grace given to believers by Christ Himself as a gift, that we may secure our eternal hope in His death and resurrection for us. It's not my opinion that suggests this to be true, but the Word of Christ.

Just humour me here a moment, and think back to the passover of Israel when they were being led out of Egypt.

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. (Ex 12:21–23)

When the last plague hit Egypt, what was it that caused a distinction between the households of Israel and the households of Egypt? Was it faith alone in God that saved them? Absolutely. But that faith in God was manifest in trusting and believing His Word had the power to save them. Was it the fact that blood painted on doorposts had magical power? Not at all. Nevertheless, the wrath of God passed over the households that had the blood of the passover lamb painted on the doorposts.

I think it would be idiotic to deny the truth that Christ is the Passover Lamb the Old Testament account was a type and shadow of. So how exactly should we apply the sacrificial blood of Christ the Passover Lamb to our lives? After all, what mark distinguishes the saved from the damned on the Last Day other than the forgiveness of sins? And if we are instructed by Jesus Himself to repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and to receive the Holy Spirit, who are we to doubt that truth?

 

[bbbbbbb]

Who said anything about baptism apart from faith in Jesus Christ? What I have been saying is that if you have faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, then you need to be united with Him in His death and His life to benefit from His saving work. The Scriptures that I have quoted are merely a few of many that show that baptism is the means of grace given to believers by Christ Himself as a gift, that we may secure our eternal hope in His death and resurrection for us. It's not my opinion that suggests this to be true, but the Word of Christ.

Just humour me here a moment, and think back to the passover of Israel when they were being led out of Egypt.

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. (Ex 12:21–23)

When the last plague hit Egypt, what was it that caused a distinction between the households of Israel and the households of Egypt? Was it faith alone in God that saved them? Absolutely. But that faith in God was manifest in trusting and believing His Word had the power to save them. Was it the fact that blood painted on doorposts had magical power? Not at all. Nevertheless, the wrath of God passed over the households that had the blood of the passover lamb painted on the doorposts.

I think it would be idiotic to deny the truth that Christ is the Passover Lamb the Old Testament account was a type and shadow of. So how exactly should we apply the sacrificial blood of Christ the Passover Lamb to our lives? After all, what mark distinguishes the saved from the damned on the Last Day other than the forgiveness of sins? And if we are instructed by Jesus Himself to repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and to receive the Holy Spirit, who are we to doubt that truth?

At the last Day God will judge people according to whether or not their names are written in the book of life, not if they have some mystical mark of baptism.

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The Achille's heel of paedobaptists is the fact that infants do not possess faith in Jesus Christ, nor are they able to make any confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Some folks believe that God mysteriously justifies these unbelievers through the rite of baptism. Oddly, though, many of these folks, having been declared to be Christians because of the rite of baptism, grow into some really nasty adults who in word and in deed openly and flagrantly deny the Christian faith.

 

[John the Ex-Baptist]

At the last Day God will judge people according to whether or not their names are written in the book of life, not if they have some mystical mark of baptism.

Okay then, answer me this: Whose names will be written in the Lamb's book of life apart from those who have their sins forgiven?

 

[bbbbbbb]

Okay then, answer me this: Whose names will be written in the Lamb's book of life apart from those who have their sins forgiven?

Here is what the text says. You can decide for yourself if it really means what it says.

12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.