How to Know if You Are Saved?

[PureX]

I believe that is true but you are still not saved from your sin until you ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.

I don't need "saved from my sins", as they have already been forgiven.

 

[sealchan]

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)

In him was life, and the life was the light of men /... / The true light that gives light to everyone /... / (John 1)

Eternal and blissful life is for all but some don't accept it. "They loved the darkness rather than the Light."

Jesus: "But I tell you, love your enemies..."

Sun Tzu: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles"

CG Jung: "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light but by making the darkness conscious"

 

[mailmandan]

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

 

[halbhh]

If we have certainty, what do we need hope for? This translation makes no sense.

Paul at places makes no sense when reading an isolated verse or 3 (like the above), but such verses make more sense (often) when read as one reads through the whole letter. (It's really like reading any fine letter, essay, article from someone, where a few isolated sentences might not be clear on their own, but are clear as one reads through.)

 

[Muffled]

I don't need "saved from my sins", as they have already been forgiven.

I believe that doesn't keep you from performing new ones. That is the salvation one needs.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

How does a Christian know they are saved? Is this a knowledge thing of a faith thing?

I think I got some kind of certificate in the mail.

No, wait ... "savings". Ah, darn ... just a coupon.

So for me, sincere belief lead to non-belief. Did my once sincere belief save me or was I never saved?

I believe God made atheists because His followers got too heavy into butt-kissing to stand up for what is right. Perhaps your unbelief saved you after all. If something causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

I tend to expect non-existence myself, which I suppose actually aligns with some Christian theology.

Well, I recently had an endoscopy. It was my first time under anesthesia. I didn't die (I'd definitely feel the consequences of being coded with CPR), but it was like I was deleted entirely: I glanced at my watch, blinked, and was in another room after the procedure. If that's what death is like, I guess it's not so bad. I felt a kind of anxiety for the missing time but also a kind of relief at "not being" even though technically I was.

As to Heaven and Hell, I go with the Twilight Zone outlook: If you are sure you're going there, you probably aren't. The land of Too Good to be True is usually Hell.

A Christian can not be saved

Too many think it is like a wedding: get a dip in the water and you're done. It's more like a marriage: lots of ups and downs. It's a process, not a ceremony.

Alternatively, I see it as going to graduation vs having to adult the rest of your life.

 

[PureX]

I believe that doesn't keep you from performing new ones. That is the salvation one needs.

I am forgiven for those, too. That's what being FORgiven, means.

 

[dawny0826]

How does a Christian know they are saved? Is this a knowledge thing of a faith thing?

@halbhh The wedding parable...

One is invited but finds at the wedding they are not chosen

Folks have sincerely, in their hearts accepted Jesus as their Savior. For example the Westboro Pastor had sincerely believed he had accepted Jesus. Went on to assume every thought, understanding of God came to him divinely inspired.

Was he right or should Christians not assume their own salvation?

Should a Christian be certain of their salvation or continue to question it?

For example, I accept Jesus when I was seventeen. I took it on faith that everything that happened to me was God refining my spirit. The people I met, the situations I ran into were all intended towards making me worthy.

Where going forth into life, in faith lead me was to doubt the church, doubt the leaders, question the validity of the Christian religion itself. No where was one who exemplified the standards put forth by Jesus in my mind.

So I went seeking. What I found was a lot of ignorance, self righteousness and questions that Christianity couldn't answer.

So for me, sincere belief lead to non-belief. Did my once sincere belief save me or was I never saved?

Salvation isn't something that I have to earn. It's a gift that's been extended to me that I can embrace or reject.

I've already gone through the process of doubting my faith and have concluded that it's really not complicated. The only peace that I find is in the simplest of truths. Christ said that to love is to fulfill the law to the fullest. Through love, the desire to do good for fellow man and to reflect Christ in our actions naturally follow as does forgiveness of self and others.

 

[mailmandan]

If we have certainty, what do we need hope for? This translation makes no sense.

This hope is not some "cross your fingers" kind of hope, like I hope it doesn't rain next week. Unlike the english word "hope," the N.T. word contains no uncertainty; it speaks of something that is certain. - Strong's #1680 elpís (from elpō, "to anticipate, welcome") – properly, expectation of what is sure (certain); hope. If we have saving faith in Christ then we have this hope. Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for.. (Hebrews 11:1). So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the HOPE of eternal life (Titus 3:7).

 

[dfnj]

I was a hopeless alcoholic for many years. I have now been sober longer than I drank. So I can certainly say that I have been saved from myself, through my faith in power greater than myself.

In order to be saved do I need to become an alcoholic first? My life may not be dramatic enough for me to have a come-to-Jesus moment.

 

[PureX]

This hope is not some "cross your fingers" kind of hope, like I hope it doesn't rain next week. Unlike the english word "hope," the N.T. word contains no uncertainty; it speaks of something that is certain. - Strong's #1680 elpís (from elpō, "to anticipate, welcome") – properly, expectation of what is sure (certain); hope. If we have saving faith in Christ then we have this hope. Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for.. (Hebrews 11:1). So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the HOPE of eternal life (Titus 3:7).

As a human, adopting the presumption of certainty would be a dishonest pretense. For certainty would require omniscience, which we humans do not possess. And is why we need faith (hope, acted upon), to live. The questions then always being: in what are we placing that faith? And how is it working out for us?

 

[metis]

How does a Christian know they are saved?

One can't because we always retain free will as long as we're still alive.