How do you know you are saved?

 

I have heard some Christians says they don't feel they are really saved. So, How do you know you are saved and belong to God? We can see three distinct markers of salvation in scripture. 1 John gives three signs of a real spiritual life and none of them are feelings. MARKERS YOU CAN LOOK AT IN YOUR OWN LIFE.

Think of it like vital signs. When a doctor checks your pulse, your blood pressure, your temperature, he's not asking you how you feel. They are reading markers that tell them whether the body is working the way it should. John did the same thing for your soul. 

Marker one: BELIEF. 1 john 5-1 " Whosoever  believes that Jesus Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him." John wasn't talking about general belief in God, he was talking specifically about Jesus being the promised Messiah. God the Son who came in the flesh. The false teachers of Jesus day denied that. They said Jesus did not come as God in a human body. So the 1st marker is easy enough. Yes or no. Do you believe the scripture that says who He is? Not do you feel it, but do you believe it?

Marker two: OBEDIENCE. 1 JOHN 2: 3-4 "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, "I know Him" but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." This isn't legalism or perfectionism. John already said in chapter 1:8 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." So John is not saying you never sin, he's saying the direction of your life matters. A saved person isn't perfect but they're bothered by their sin. They don't make peace with their sin because they can't. They repent when sin is exposed. Obedience isn't the price of salvation, it's the pulse of salvation. If you're fighting your sin, if it bothers you when you fall, you keep getting back up, that's not failure, that's a vital sign.

Marker three: LOVE. This is the one John hammered the hardest. 1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brethren. Whosoever does not love abides in darkness." Not because we feel alive, or because we had an emotional experience at a youth camp, but because of our love of fellow believers. And John got specific in John 3:17 "But if anyone has this worlds goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" He didn't say love is a feeling you have toward other Christians. He said love is what you do when you see another believer struggling and you have the ability to help. You need to understand.

These three markers:  belief, obedience, and love don't earn salvation, that's already done. Jesus paid for that on the cross. These markers don't create life they confirm it. If belief is there, if obedience is the direction you're pointed,  the love for Gods people shows up in actual life, and not just your feelings. Those are the vital signs of salvation. John said it plainly in 1 John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life." Not hope. Not feel. KNOW. Assurance of salvation isn't built on your feelings, it's built on a life that faithfully pursues Jesus.

Until He Comes-

-Pat-