How to KNOW you are saved

Shared with permission from Emily Schuurmans of Every Thought Captive:

I John 5:13 says,

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God;
that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

Last Sunday afternoon, Dad gave us 13 indicators of eternal life from the 1st epistle of John. This is such a relevant and important topic to Christians of all ages, that I thought I would share with you his outline. How can we know for sure that we have been saved? The following points are indicators that we have been truly redeemed. We will have:

1. Love for God.
I John. 4:19: "We love him because he first loved us." Revelation 2:4: "Thy first love" 

2. Love for God's Word.
I John 2:3: "And hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
I Peter 2:2: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."
3. Love for believers.
I John 3:14: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." 
I Peter 1:22: "Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spririt unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love on another with a pure heart fervently."
4. Hatred for no believer.
I John 3:15: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." 
Leviticus 19:17-18: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart.... Thou shalt no avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."

5. Hatred for Sin.
I John 3:9: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin because he is born of God." 
Hebrews 5:14: "Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
6. Knowledge of Forgiveness.
I John 3:5: "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."
Titus 2:14: "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." 

7. Ongoing Purification.
I John 3:2-3: "We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 
II Corinthians 7:1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
8. Endurance to the end.
I John 2:19: "They went out fom us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us."
Mark 13:13: "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." 

9. Good works.
I John 3:18-19: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 
James 2:17: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." 

10. Confidence in prayer.
I John 5:15: "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." 
I John 3:24: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye reeive them, and ye shall have them." 

11. Confirmation by the Spirit.
I John 3:24: "And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." 
Romans 8:16: "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." 

12. Awareness of spiritual wickedness.I John 5:19 "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." 

Revelations 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."
13. Fellowship with Jesus Christ.I John 5:20: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath give us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." 

II Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shine in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 

An Open Invitation

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend! To kick off our weekend we went to see the Hyles-Anderson Highlanders. They are great singers and there was definitely a spirit of worship in the air. But the part that really spoke to my heart was the preaching. 


The group travels with Bro. Scott Gray and we were blessed by hearing him preach on Matt 16:13-18, 21-24

^"13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?¹⁴ And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.¹⁵ He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.¹⁸ And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

^"21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.²² Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.²³ But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.²⁴ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Bro. Gray spoke on how Peter was either first in line or the last in line. He showed how in the first  group of verses Peter was praised by Jesus for having the "right answer". But then just a few verses later Jesus tells him "get thee behind me, satan"!


What came to my mind was, how often we are in the same boat! We are on track and we have the "right answer" then life happens and  we start living, or thinking, in our flesh. But even though we may make those mistakes that doesn't render us incapable of being used by the Lord. We just have to get back to that first place of being in our spirit and not in the flesh. 


See there is a call to action put out in verse 24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." The first thing is that there is an open invitation, it says "if any man" so that's you and me, men and women. The next thing we see is that there is an obstacle involved. We have to deny our selves and take up our cross. That's not easy, no one ordinarily wants to deny  themselves and certainly no one wants to take up a cross. Crosses are heavy, and often times seem like too much to bear. But for the One who gave His life so that we could have eternal life, it's worth it! The final thing that we see is that we must follow. We can accomplish anything that we are called to if we just focus on the One who has called us. 


"Look to the Lord, not others. Following man will only get you into trouble." -Bro. Gray

Standing Between

I heard a sermon preached a year ago that has stuck with me. As I was reading in my Bible the other day I came across a note I had written in the margins during that sermon. I wrote that I will witness, and marked the date. I also wrote a note that said "being a witness save's souls from the plague of death." The verse that these notes are next to is Numbers 16:48 "And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed"


This verse is part of the story of the rebellion of Korah. Korah was a man who didn't trust God. He rose up against Moses and was causing strife amongst the camp. So God opened up the ground and swallowed Korah and those that followed him!{verse 32}


After that the people were angry with Moses and began saying that he had "killed the people of the Lord." So God got angry and decided to destroy the people.{verses 41-45} 


But Moses had compassion for the people and he instructed Aaron to make an atonement for the people and to get a censor, put incense in it, and go into the congregation. While Aaron was preparing this God's wrath was send out and a plague had begun. Then Aaron "stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."


How much more so can we stop the plague that was sent out after Adam ate that apple? After all isn't true that the Lord is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." {2Peter 3:9}


We that are redeemed in Christ are to share the Gospel with other's so that they can also be saved. How many times do your get forwarded emails that you quickly hit send on to share with others? If we're willing to share jokes, or stories, with people why not share your faith. Are you willing to stand between the dead and the living so that the plague can stay? 

Redeemed

Re-Deem

1.

to buy or pay off; clear by payment

2.

to buy back

3.

to recover by payment or other satisfaction

The Bible says that we "are bought with a price." But what are we being bought from? We are being bought from eternal death, which is eternal separation from God. After we die we either go to Heaven or hell. Jesus came to redeem you from an eternity in hell.


If something were to happen to you today could you HONESTLY say that you know 100% for sure that you would go to heaven? If you think you do, what are you trusting to get you there? (I hope not good work) and If you don't know I'd like to show you what the Bible says about how you can KNOW 100% for sure that you're going to Heaven!


First realize we are all sinners:
Romans 3:10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. 
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 
Sin is anything that goes against what God would want. No one is perfect except Jesus Christ, so we are ALL sinners. Can you admit that? if yes keep reading)


Next realize there is a REAL penalty for sin:
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(because our sin we deserve to die and go to hell and if we don't ask Jesus to save us that's exactly where we're going. Do you want to go to hell? if not keep reading)


Thirdly Know that Jesus paid for our sins:
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
(Jesus' death and resurrection fulfill all the prophesy of the Messiah coming! Jesus' blood washes away our sin, what a wonderful gift! would you like to receive God's gift of eternal life? if yes keep reading)


Finally we must accept God's promise:
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Whosoever is ANY BODY you, me, your neighbor, ANYONE. If we call on Jesus He WILL hear us and if we mean it, He will come into our hearts and we can have our names written in the book of life!)


If you're ready to accept Jesus then right now say a prayer! it can be this prayer or ANY PRAYER that you create asking God to come into your life and into your heart. 


**Dear God I know I am a sinner, but I want you in my life. I want to accept your gift of eternal life through your son Jesus Christ. I trust in what Jesus did on the cross and I believe that HIS blood will cleanse me! Jesus PLEASE remember me! Amen.**


{please know this prayer is NOT what saves you, Only Jesus SAVES!}


1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.


If you decide to get saved after reading this post please leave a comment with the date so we can pray for you!