#312 HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED?

This question often disturbs many people.  The Lord has not left us to wonder about this crucial and important subject.  Just as He has revealed to us in the Bible the importance of the soul and of salvation, He has also revealed the answer to this question.  In I John 5:13 we find these words, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." We should point out here that the Christian possesses eternal life in promise.  Paul spoke of being "In hope of eternal life."(Titus 1:2) John said that God had "promised us - eternal life."(I John 2:25) Jesus himself spoke of eternal life in the world to come, Mark 10:30.

How can one know today that he has the assurance of that hope and promise?  Let us take an example from the New Testament.  The Apostle Peter had been personally associated with Jesus.  He had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:1-4.  He had the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, Acts 3:6-10 and Acts 9:32-41.  What was the proof of salvation for this great spiritual leader?  Listen as he expressed it in Acts 15:11: "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." His proof of salvation stood in his faith in the Lord's promise.

Another great passage where God provides encouragement or consolation to the Christian is in Hebrews 6:13-20; "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.  Where in God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High priest after the order of Melchizedek." In this passage in Hebrews 5:6, there is provision for consolation and encouragement to the Christian because it shows that: God made a promise to Abraham and kept that promise verses 13-15.  God promised the saints eternal life, verse 16, and that God's promise and his oath backing that promise are immutable, verse 18.  In order to have the assurance of this passage applied to our own lives we must have faith that obeys God's will, Hebrews 6:12, and be patient and faithful, verse 15.  We can know if we are in Christ where salvation is, I John 5:11.  We can know if we have repented and been baptized into Christ, Romans 6:3-4 and Galatians 3:26-27.  We can know whether or not we are "standing on the promises" of God.  Thank you for your interest in the salvation of your soul.