Q/A Friday: How Can I Know If I Am Saved?

Paul tells us to examine ourselves (II Cor 13:5) to make sure we are of the faith. And God, in His wisdom, gives us a means to do that in I John where we have a series of salvific tests.

When you read I John, you discover a series of questions that could be asked of the Christian to allow them to ready themselves for facing God as well. Here are the questions we could ask to examine ourselves:

Do you have a pattern of joy in your life? “And we are writing these things so that our^[a] joy may be complete” (I John 1:4).

Do you confess your sins regularly? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

Are there sins that you are not willing to give up? “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous… Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him… Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God… We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him” (I John 2:1; 3:4-6, 8-9; 5:18).

Are you committed to walking as Jesus walked? “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (I John 2:6).

Do you have a pattern of loving your brothers and sisters in Christ? “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes… And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us” (I John 2:9-11; 3:23).

Do you love the world less and less? “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (I John 2:15-17).

Are you regularly being persecuted in some form or fashion? “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you” (I John 3:13).

Is God answering your prayers? “And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him… And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (I John 3:22; 5:14-15).

Are you in a pattern of putting off idols? “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (I John 5:21).

If you have a question you would like to submit to our blog to be answered in the future, please it to charlesheck@cox.net or pose your question in the comments section of this post.