1 Peter 1:2 NLT
God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.
How do you know if you are saved?
How do you know that God chose you?
Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
One thing that we, as believers, struggle with is the assurance of our salvation.
The only time we struggle with, this is when we find ourselves outside of God’s will. This is the time, by design, that we are very sensitive and to this struggle.
God news…
1 John 2:1-2 NLT
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins-and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
The question is not whether we will sin; the question is, what do we do when we sin?
Our consciousness should be so sensitive to our sin that we recognize it quickly and bring it forward to the feet of God in humility and submission.
And repent.
Repent is to turn away; it means to agree with God on the unholy nature of our actions and commit to ourselves and God not to do it again.
And we quickly make amends to the offended party with no excuse.
If we are offended, we forgive quickly if not instantly.
Psalm 86:5 NLT
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
Circling back to the question before us, how do we know if we are saved?
We obey God’s Word.
There is no test that is more simple than this.
Here’s the deal, we are going to fail and we are going fail miserably!!
Good news is Jesus Christ did not.
And there is victory for those who are in Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:4-5 NLT
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This list of supporting scripture can go on and on.
If we are not exposing ourselves to the Word of God consistently and getting trained by a Pastor who is faithfully teaching out of the Bible, we expose ourselves to doubt and uncertainty about our salvation.
I encourage you to stop that today.
Joshua 1:8 NLT
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
John 15:5-8 NLT
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Here is the fruit that is produced:
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
This is another area to test ourselves to see if we are in God’s will.
If any of the fruits of the Spirit are absent from our lives, we are out of step with God.
If we sincerely want to know where we are out of step, ask God and ask another Christian who you trust with your life. If you don’t have one, get one as quickly as possible.
We cannot do this walk alone.
Heavenly Father, thank You for thinking enough of me to send Jesus Christ to die for me.
Give me the strength, courage and conviction to stay in Your Will.
Help me recognize where my life is short and give me the discernment and willingness to bring this area before You, dealing with it honestly and with the only person capable of truly changing it. That is by Your holiness alone.
Give me the strength, courage, and willingness to deal with any unresolved sin in my life.
Let my life glorify You and only You and in every way.
In the loving name of Jesus Christ, THE name above ALL names, I pray with a submitted and grateful heart, Amen!! 🙏❤️
