Saved?

How Do we know?

The saved know they are saved.

How?

Because the Holy Spirit communes with the spirit of the saved person, who then knows assurance of salvation. Though this is certainly true, I think perhaps something more should be said for the sake of those whose teaching has not been good, or has been made deficient by 'teachers' who have no calling. We will look at the matter in random fashion, more like a chat, so that 'technical' points are kept to a minimum…

Mark 16:16

Good preaching and teaching of the Gospel is essential. In this passage Christ tells His disciples to 'preach the gospel to every creature' and said that:

"He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Here we see that certain factors are vital if we wish to know about salvation and whether or not we are saved. These factors are: the Gospel, believing, and baptism. Those who reject these factors are not, and cannot be, saved. Many who call themselves charismatic or ecumenical claim that 'all we need to do is 'believe'…but this is naïve and silly. Not all come to faith in the same way, or with the same knowledge. Nevertheless, there are 'minimums' to observe as essential to begin with. We need to know what this belief consists of. So, let us look at what the 'Gospel' really is.

Acts 2:20

In the archetypal presentation of the Gospel given by Peter on the Day of Pentecost, we do not see the usual emotional or 'twee' talk often found amongst false gospeleers today, who peddle rather than preach. Peter spoke with force and authority, leaving no room for doubt.

"And it shall come to pass, (that) whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Now, this is not the simplistic message many assume it to be. Before one can call on the name of the Lord he must hear (or read) and understand the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. When such understanding has been reached and is taken to heart, because of election, then the man is saved. Peter told the crowd that Jesus Christ was sent by God, but He was killed by the Jews. Yet, the Christ raised Himself up from the dead, because it was not possible for Him to be held by death.
David, one time king of Israel, said he would not be moved because Christ was at his side. This is very similar to what was said above - that the Holy Spirit (Who was sent in the stead of Christ when He ascended back to heaven) communes with our spirit. When this takes place, there is no doubt and we can stand against the very gates of hell with divine assurance. (The Holy Spirit does not commune with the unsaved, because their spirit is dead).

David's hope was complete, his heart rejoiced; his praises were constant and he knew that even his body could have hope of greater things, for God would not allow His saved ones to see hell or to know the final terrors of death. Rather, he would be resurrected at the last day.
Peter went on to say that the Jesus they crucified was indeed the Christ, God Himself, Lord of all things created. The Jews were devastated and cried out for the remedy to their terrible crime; "What shall we do?" This is very similar to the query of Nicodemus - how could he be born again?
The answer was to repent and be baptised and to receive the 'gift of the Holy Ghost'. This does not mean, as charismatics claim, that the 'gift' is the Holy Ghost Himself. It means that the gift of the Holy Ghost is salvation. Note that this gift is not available to everybody - only to those who 'our God shall call'.

"And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." "Then they that gladly received his word were baptised…"
"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship…and fear came upon every soul…"

Perhaps you can see what was involved in this gospel and its acceptance? Today, the gospel has NOT been 'made simple' - it has been made simplistic. That is, in an effort to make everything understandable, well-meaning folk have reduced the Gospel to a man-made list that is well below the requirements of God. You can see from the brief notes and quotes above that Peter's Gospel presentation was wide-ranging, meant to introduce hearers to the complete message of God, right from prophetic utterances concerning Jesus, to the last days….'with many other words'. The gospel message was certainly not the brief and over-simplified one we often hear today;

"Come to Jesus Who loves you, choose and accept Him, and you will be saved"!
In the text concerning Peter's message, we come across, for example:
In the text concerning Peter's message, we come across, for example:
The prophecy of the coming of the Messiah,
His actual birth in to this world.
But even before this, Peter spoke of prophecies of the last days,
The need to call on the 'name of the Lord',
The fact that Jesus was sent by God and was Himself God,
His miracles and wonders,
His resurrection from the dead,
His power over death,
Our own hope resting on Jesus' resurrection,
The need to know the 'ways of life' (e.g. God's path),
Jesus was an actual person seen by many,
The giving of the Holy Spirit to all who are saved,
Jesus is Lord of all creation as well as Saviour,
The need for repentance and baptism;
Salvation is only for the elect.

Question:

Do you accept and believe the above statements?

They are necessary parts of belief.

DO YOU ALSO BELIEVE:

1. You can only be saved by Jesus Christ and no-one else? ( Acts 4:12)
2. Your salvation is purely and only of grace (freely given), so you cannot choose to be saved of your own volition? ( Acts 15:11)
3. Jesus Christ alone is sufficient? ( Acts 16:30)
4. Our salvation depends on the death (shed blood) of Christ? ( Romans 5:9)
5. We now have a good relationship with God, being made acceptable to Him by what Christ did and not by anything we do? ( Romans 5:10)
6. That our salvation rests on faith, not on what we can do or see? ( Romans 8:24)
7. Only a few will be saved? ( Romans 9:17)
8. That you must tell others you believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour? ( Romans 10:9)
9. That you cannot save yourself? ( Ephesians 2:8)
10. That the truth of God is supreme? ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10)

11. That you must be loving, serious-minded, and holy?

( Titus 2:15)

12. That our good works cannot save us?

( 2 Timothy 1:9)
13. That our new life and living are a gift of the Holy Spirit? ( Titus 3:5)
14. That when you are saved, you must show it in your life? ( Revelation 21:24)

All of the above, and more, are included in 'believing' unto salvation! We may not know all of these points of faith at the time of our salvation, but we must be open and willing to accept them, for they are scriptural declarations necessary for 'working out our own salvation' (showing our salvation in our everyday lives). Those who think we can be saved simply by saying we accept Jesus is Lord, and who then proceed to disbelieve the statements shown, are deceiving themselves. Recently, I was contacted by one who claimed to be saved, yet he did not believe Jesus Christ is God, even after scriptural proof was shown to him. That man cannot, then, be saved, even though he called Jesus 'Lord' (in a mere human sense, 'sharing' deific attributes but not being deity Himself).

One of the proofs of our salvation is that we show our salvation to others and believe everything in scripture, as it is written. It might sound odd, but we must accept everything in scripture even when we do not know what 99% of it says! Why? Because it is all God's word and what God says is always true. What we think is irrelevant…we must always start by saying that whatever scripture says, we will believe and obey, even if we have not read most of it yet.
So, part of knowing we are saved is in having that knowledge referred to above. It begins with knowing that we cannot choose God, but that He saves us 'by grace' (freely, as a gift), and that we cannot ever work for salvation. We cannot even choose to be saved. We can only be saved when we are called by God (elected and predestinated).

Then we have assurance. This comes by knowing God and obeying Him. When we do that, He gives us great faith, which leads to assurance of salvation. We will then know the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Note that if we disobey and act or believe contrary to scripture, we will not know assurance. Again, part of this involves reading scripture, meditating on it, praying, praising God, and so on. We need to be with other believers, too.

Question:

Do you believe in, and do, all of the above?

Summary
Has God called you personally?

Did you know a period of deep despair and fear because of your own feelings of unworthiness?

Do you accept fully that you cannot be saved by your own choice, and that Jesus Christ is God, and your only Saviour?

Did you then become saved and know immense release from your sin?

Are you now living as a Believer should, obeying the Lord and believing all of God's word?

Yet, are you still aware of your own sinfulness?

Then you are saved