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HOW A PERSON CAN KNOW IF THEY ARE REALLY SAVED

by Teresa Altman
4/24/2008 / Christian Living

A 10 point scriptural test for assurance of salvation. (1 John)

Instructions: This test must be taken in complete honesty with yourself to be effective. You do not have to write down or speak your answers aloud. Answer them silently and truthfully inside your heart. No one will know except you...and God.

1) 1 John 1:7_ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another

True Christians love to be around and fellowship with other believers. They enjoy conversations about Jesus because he is precious to them. Do you enjoy having conversations about Jesus with other believers and share how he blesses your life?

2) 1 John 1:8_ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

A true Christian, in all humility and with a contrite spirit, sees himself as a filthy, wretched sinner before a Holy God and knows that he deserves His just wrath. Do you believe you deserve God's wrath for the sins you committed against His laws? Have you ever humbled yourself before God, repented for your wretched and sinful heart, turned away from your lifestyle of sin, and trusted in God's gift of grace through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ?

3) 1 John 2:3_ And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

True believers strive to keep ALL the commandments. Most people don't even know all the commandments. Do you know all the commandments? Do you strive to keep them? Does your guilt consume you when you break one?

4) 1 John 2:15_ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

It's ok to enjoy the things or family that God has blessed you with, but if you put their worth before God and your service to Him, you will selfishly want more and will be in danger of the sin of idolatry. Does God get highest billing in your life? Do you place greater value on anything other than your time and relationship with God?

5) 1 John 2:13_ I write to you, fathers, because you have known him that was from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

Anyone that denies the Son is God, denies the Father. If a person does not understand the nature of the son (a person of the Godhead), then they don't have the Father in them. Do you believe and understand that Jesus is God?

6) 1 John 3:2_ Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

True Christians look forward to the Saviors return. They have a longing to see him because he is the single greatest affection of their life. Are you anxious for his return?

The life goal of a Christian is to become noticibly more like Christ as they mature in their faith. Are you more Christlike than you were a year ago? A good way to get an objective, but truthful, answer is to ask someone. Would a sibling, your spouse or your child say that you are more like Christ now than you were last year?

7) 1 John 3:8-9_ He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The Greek word used for commit in these verses means to abide in or agree with. If someone practices, plans, plots, or lives in sin as a continued process, without remorse, he is not born again. A Christian can and does still sin, but never willfully or planned. Do you still 'practice' sin? A true Christian absolutely hates sin.

Paul said in Romans 7: 23-25_ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

8) 1 John 3:14_We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death.

Does it show outwardly that you sincerely love to hang around the brethren? (fellow born-again Christians)

9) 1 John 4:6_We are of God; he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

True Christians are eager to go to church, Sunday school, fellowships, seminars, etc. that teach about God. They love to hear more about Him because they are always eager to know and understand more about Him. Are you eager to learn and know more about God?

10) 1 John 4:15_Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.

When was the last time you confessed that Jesus is the Son of God to an unsaved loved one? Do you actively take advantage of opportunities to lead others to the Lord?

True Christians carry a burden for the lost. Are you concerned that you may have loved ones that are lost or false converts? A false convert believes he/she is saved because he/she recited a prayer and asked Jesus to come into his/her heart, but he/she never humbled themselves with a contrite spirit before God on account of their sins against Him.

God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Unless a person has a contrite spirit and broken heart when they call on God for salvation, He doesn't hear them. He knows everyone's heart, thoughts, and motives.

If you were unable to relate to the questions and answers in this test...I strongly recommend that you re-examine your decision of faith with a Christian leader.

Teresa Altman, http://www.faithwriters.com/websites/my_website.php?id=28787 , an engineer for 25 years, answered God's call to write in 2007. A mother of two and grandmother of six, she lives in Northwest Tennessee.

@2007 by Teresa Altman

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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User Comments

Ms. Altman, As another FaithWriter.com member I commend you for the clarity of thought that is evident in your article. As another believer who loves to share what Christ gives so freely, I'd like to offer something for you to consider regarding the goal of "Christ-likeness" and spiritual maturity in the light of an assured salvation when you witness the "gospel of the saving grace of God." In order to establish the subtle, yet vital difference in a perspective of spiritual maturity, I must take what will surely seem like a "long way around the barn." In my Sunday studies today I was reminded of the Augustinian formula for maturity: "faith seeking understanding." The function of faith may be said to be limited to belief and trust. That is to say that faith is to believe and trust the testimony of an authority upon which it places unreserved trust. Whereas, the biblical fool (today's evolutionist and any religious non-believer in the value of Christ) denies the existence of God and/or the value in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus as stated in His Book of Truth. This truth my well be easily denied. If the existence of God could actually be proven by reason to the senses of the unregenerate mind, there would be no need for the Bible or faith. The arguments of Natural Theology never were convincing to me until I had faith in Jesus and realized that the Bible must be true - cover to cover. I am certainly not unique, nor am I slow-witted. Augustine said much the same of himself before he came to his conversion experience as he recites in his writing of "Confessions." What part then does reason play in maturity? A believer "desires" to understand what they believe. The faithful seek by reason a greater and greater understanding of the object of their faith and love - God the Father, God the Son, and the Spirit of God. This understanding may only come as one saturates a pious mind with Scripture. It then becomes a matter for "reason" to see, to know, and to understand. In short, what Scripture speaks of when the concept of "the mind" or "renewing the mind" is used. The point of my conclusion is that strength of moral character (Christ-likeness and spiritual maturity) as an observable test of salvation is much, much less a matter of emulation than it is a consequence of rational determination. Should I desire to know what it is like to lie down in green pastures, how might I understand this by rummaging around the city dump? The Lord surely gives us "the will and the desires of our hearts" to make us lie down in lush and verdant green pastures. Regards in Christ Jesus, gonzodave ________________ Please reference the following word study on faith at www.thegodpromises.com given by Pastor Melissa Scott who is located in Los Angeles, CA.

2008-04-28

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