Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; (2Corinthians 13;5a)
It is important to know whether you are a true Christian. So how do you know?
I will start by explaining how I know I am a Christian. Then I will try to expound on what the scriptures seem to say.
In my twenties, I went through a period of feeling empty about life. Nothing seemed to satisfy. This led me to wondering about my spiritual condition. I didn’t know what it meant to be saved or lost, I just felt empty.
Circumstances led me to a Christian guy in my college class. This classmate spoke about how he had begun a relationship with Christ that had changed his life. This got me interested and later when my classmate invited me to a small group bible study, I accepted and began a weekly meeting with him and one other guy. We studied the New Testament teachings about sin, salvation and Christ together.
After several weeks, I attended a weekend Christian conference of college age people and while there, realized that I was not really in the mental state that these people were in. They spoke of a faith that I didn’t have, an excitement about God. While alone between meetings, I grappled with the frustration of my situation, and I remember praying, “God help me to believe.” A peace came upon me then with the realization that I had done all that I could do and it would be up to God to do the rest. It gradually came to me that I had the faith that I had wanted to have.
Over a few days, I became aware that I was a different person inside and that my past life was behind me and I was in a new life. This was a mixture of feeling and inner knowledge of God’s presence. Study of the bible and prayer became the most important activity of my life for quite some time. As I studied the bible, it became alive to me and I seemed to understand the spiritual meaning of passages that had been a blank to me in the past.
As I think back on my experience, my assurance of a new spiritual life was based on an inner assurance that came from the Holy Spirit. I found myself praying for things of importance, reading the bible, enjoying comradeship with other Christians, anticipation of Church attendance. I wanted to conform my behavior to the teachings of Christ. Obedience to the Lord seemed paramount. Old ambitions and desires faded away. There are many scriptures that support these inner manifestations that I was experiencing.
So, how do I know I am saved?
- The Holy Spirit witnesses to my spirit that I am an adopted son of God (Romans 8;16)
- I had and have now a new outlook on life (2Cor 5:17)
- My comprehension of many scriptures is clear (John 16;13)
- My overall direction is to follow the Lord in all things (John 14;21)
- I feel forgiven and am assured that I will be in heaven with Christ (Rom 6;23)
If you are not sure that you are a true Christian or you are not sure you will be in Heaven, do not push this thought aside. Your heavenly Father wants you to be saved and will guide you into a full assurance of your eternal destiny if you will be honest about it and seek the Lord. Here is a simple way to gain assurance of your own salvation.