Billy Graham said he believed one of the oldest tricks of the devil is to make Christians doubt their salvation. “When we doubt our salvation,” he writes, “We doubt God’s Word, and when we doubt God’s Word, we are powerless and ineffective tools for Christ?”
So, is it possible to truly and absolutely know that we have been born again, even if the devil tries to make us doubt our salvation? Yes! The Bible gives us many assurances; ways we may know for sure. Here are four . . .
Four Ways I May Know that I am Saved
1. First Assurance – The Absolute Trustworthiness of Scripture
God in His Word promises us that He will save “all” who believe upon His Son. The Bible says, “Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13. Have you called upon Jesus to save you? If you have, you can have the absolute assurance that you are saved. This is God’s genuine promise! All who have given their lives to Jesus and believed upon Him may have the firm confidence of salvation based upon the infallibility of God’s Word.
2. Second Assurance – The Finished Work of Jesus Christ
When Jesus died on the cross, He bore all our iniquities, all our sins, (past, present and future) endured God’s wrath as our perfect substitute and cried out, “It is finished.” John 19:30. Our salvation is not based on anything we can do but on what Jesus did for us by paying the full price for our sins on the cross. Our entire debt is paid in full.
Our assurance comes from trusting in Christ alone. Billy Graham writes, “As we trust in Christ’s perfect sacrifice for our sins, the certainty of eternal life floods our hearts. No matter how great your sin, God’s grace is greater still.”
3. Third Assurance – The Inward Witness of the Holy Spirit
The Bible says, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16. The Holy Spirit who convicted, called and converted us is also the One who assures us that we belong to Christ. No one else can do this for us, no preacher, evangelist, parent or friend can give us assurance. Neither can we. It is the Holy Spirit’s inward witness that persuades us of the genuineness of our salvation.
4. Fourth Assurance – The Evidence of a Changed Life
John the Apostle in his first epistle writes, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” I John 2:3. “We may be assured that we know Christ as we see within ourselves a desired and willing obedience to God and His Word. A friend said it like this, “The things I used to do and palaces I used to go, I don’t do and go anymore; and the things I never thought I wanted do and the places I never wanted to go are the things and places I now want to do and go.” In other words, Jesus changed his life.
The one thing we must be absolutely sure about is where we will spend eternity, in heaven or hell. If we have trusted Jesus Christ as our personal savior, He wants us to know for certain that we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. Near the conclusion of I John, the Apostle writes, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” I John 5:13