IS IT POSSIBLE TO NOW KNOW THAT WE ARE SAVED?

 

        

One friend wrote that we cannot have any assurance that we are saved until it’s all decided at the final judgment. If this is so, we will live a tortured existence until that time. However, John had assured us that we can know that we have eternal life:

·       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. (1 John 5:13)

First of all, it is evident who is not saved – those who make a practice of sinning, the unrepentant:

·       Whoever makes a practice of sinning is 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. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:8-10)

In contrast, we can know that we belong to God because we love His people:

·       We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. (1 John 3:14)

Love does not mean that we are not tempted by resentments and jealousies. However, we repent of these motives and attempt to honor God by acts of love. The fruit of Biblical love is obedience:

·       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. (1 John 2:3-4)

John offers other ways that we can know that we belong to the Savior. We listen to His Word given by His Apostles:

·       We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6)

This means that if we seek the truth through the Scriptures, we are a “spirit of truth.”

The knowledge that we are saved is essential. It is the knowledge that He truly loves us that enables us to love and to serve Him:

·       1 John 4:10-11 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

If we do not know that He loves, it will be hard for us to love others and to even love God. For years, as an Augustinian Monk, Martin Luther lacked this knowledge and was tormented. He failed to understand the Good News that salvation was a free gift of God to those willing to entrust their lives to God through Jesus. Instead, he believed that he had to be spiritual enough in order to merit God’s favor. As a result, he later admitted that he had hated a God who he believed might reject him. It wasn’t until he grasped the meaning of the verse “and the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17) that his hatred was melted into a love for God. He subsequently wrote:

·       “I felt that I had been born anew and that the gates of heaven had been opened. The whole of Scripture gained a new meaning. And from that point on the phrase, 'the justice of God' no longer filled me with hatred, but rather became unspeakable sweet by virtue of a great love.” (Commentary on the Book of Galatians)

His life illuminates the fact that we need to know that God loves us so much that He died for us even while we were still His enemies:

·       but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:8-11)

If He loved us enough to die for us even when we were His enemies, how much more now! But what do we have to do to receive His free gift? Our Lord has made it so easy that any who call upon the Him will be saved:

·       Romans 10:12-13  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This is also the assurance that Jesus has given us:

·       Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

We do not have to wait until the great judgment to know that we are eternally saved. We can know this now!

It is hard to live a robust Christian life without confidence that we are saved:

·       Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:19-23; Ephesians 3:12)

Such confidence enables us to walk in love:

·       Hebrews 6:11-12 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

From my own experience I know what it is like to lack such confidence. It is utterly devastating. I thank God that over the years He has granted it to me.

For many of us, coming to this knowledge or assurance might be a slow process. The Apostle John acknowledged that many of us have doubts:

·       By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:19-20)

Even when we are eternally saved, our heart may condemn us. However, our feelings mustn’t be our ultimate standard. God is that standard. Therefore, we have to assure our hearts by His Word and by noting the increasing fruits of the Spirit in our lives in terms of our obedience to His teachings:

·       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. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us... (1 John 3:23-24)

This is the fruit of His Spirit. It is this knowledge that casts out the fear of judgment (1 John 4:16-18). If you lack this confidence, just continue to pray. Such prayer is according to His will and will be answered (1 John 5:14-15).