Salvation - Can I Know for Sure?

 

Text: 1^st John 5:10-13 (Read this text.)

Introduction:

There are some important questions asked in regards to salvation.  One such question is, �If you died today, would you go to heaven?�  This question is commonly asked by those who endeavor to win others to a saving knowledge of Christ.  Some answer, �I hope I would.�  Salvation is too important to hope you are saved.  Others ask, �Can I know for sure I am saved?�

Concerning this last question, John wrote in our text that you can know for sure that you are saved.  There are three biblical evidences, recorded in the Scriptures, that give you assurance of  salvation. You will study these biblical evidences in this lesson.

I.  Charity of Salvation

The first biblical evidence of salvation is Christian love or sometimes called charity.  John wrote, �We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.  He that loveth not his brother abideth in death� (1^st John 3:14).  One of the scriptural evidences that you are truly born again is that you possess a love for other Christians.

Another word used in the Bible for this kind of love is charity.  Paul describes charity in 1^st Corinthians 13. Having charity in your life is evidence that you are saved.

A.  Absence of Love

In contrast, it is the absence of love for your Christian brethren that is a clear indication that you have not experienced God�s salvation.  It would be unnatural for a born-again Believer not to love other Christians.  That is why John wrote, �He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.�

B.  Abiding of Love

In Galatians 5, Paul wrote about the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  One of these fruits of the indwelling Spirit is love.  Those who are saved possess this fruit of the Spirit.

I remember when I first became aware of the abiding love of the Spirit in my own life.  In my boyhood years, my father was an alcoholic.  Many times his drinking buddies would be at our house.  As a result, I learned to hate alcoholic drinks.  In fact, I had no use for those who drank them.  The morning after I got saved, I discovered the presence of God�s love abiding in my heart.  The very first person I was burdened about was a drunk that lived in our neighborhood.  I could love the unlovable because God�s amazing love abided in me.  It is that love that causes me to love other Believers.

Not only does His love cause us to love the Saints, but also sinners as well.  It is this love or charity that is proof you have experienced genuine salvation.

II.  Change of Salvation

The second biblical evidence is the change of salvation. Paul wrote of this change, �Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new� (2^nd Corinthians 5:17).  Another way you can know you are saved is that your life exhibits a change.

A.  Sinful Walk

In the Epistle to the Ephesians you find, �Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others� (Ephesians 2:2-3). These verses reveal the sinful walk of those who are not saved.

Because you had a sinful nature, you lived a sinful life.  You were more concerned about pleasing yourself than pleasing Almighty God.  When you got saved, you received a new nature.  As your nature changed, so did your lifestyle.  When you got saved, �old things passed away.�  It would be unnatural for a Christian to continue to live the old sinful way of life.

B.  Spiritual Walk

When you get saved, God also gives you a new nature.  You become a �new creature.�  This new nature desires to please God.  You discover attending church brings you joy.  It becomes a delight to read your Bible.  As a Believer, you now spend time in prayer.  Paul wrote of this changed life saying, �behold all things are become new.�

A salvation experience always changes you! The presence of a changed life is evidence that you have become a �new creature� in Christ Jesus.  It is this changed life that assures you that you are saved.

III.  Chastisement of Salvation

The third way you can know you are saved is when you experience the chastisement of the Lord.  In Hebrews you find, �For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons� (Hebrews 12:6-8).

A.  With Sonship

Salvation results in your becoming a child of God.  Of this relationship, John wrote, �Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God . . .� (1^st John 3:1).  God now will chasten you, as a son,  when you do wrong.

When God chastens you, He does so to correct you as earthly fathers do their children.  Not only does chastening help correct you, but also it confirms that you are a child of God.

As a child of God, you will experience the chastening hand of the Lord.  If you have not, you will.  The writer of Hebrews says we are all �partakers� of the Father�s chastisement.  When you sin, you now have someone who loves you enough to correct you.

B.  Without Chastisement

If you continue in sin and are not being chastised by the Lord, it is evidence that you are not saved.  Hebrews says, �then are ye bastards, and not sons.�  You are an illegitimate child, and not a child of God.  If you are without chastisement, then you are without sonship.

How can I know I have been saved?  You can know by the presence of divine love in your life.  Likewise, you can know you are saved because your life has been changed.  Finally, the chastening of the Lord is biblical evidence that you have been born again.  Therefore, John wrote, �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� (1^st John 5:13). Thank God, you have biblical evidence which confirms you are saved!

Lesson One�Part Three

Can I know for Sure?

1.  John writes in his epistle that you can ___________ for sure  you are saved.

2.  There are at least ___________ biblical evidences that allow you to know you are saved.

3.  One of the evidences of salvation is that the Believer possesses a ______________ for his brethren.

4.  The ________________ of love for the brethren is a clear indication that you are not saved.

5. _______________ is a fruit of the Spirit.

6. Another indication you are saved is that your life exhibits a ________________.

7.  It would be unnatural for a �new creature� in Christ to continue to live the _____________________ life.

8.  The third way you can know you are saved is that you experience the _______________ of the Lord.

9.  As a son, God will now chasten you when you do _________________.

10. Without chastisement, you are an ______________ child, and not a child of God.

11. Three biblical evidences that enable you to know you are saved are the ______________ of salvation, the _____________ of salvation, and the ______________ of salvation.