Question #6: How do I know if I am really saved? By: Dr. Danny Purvis
QUESTIONS EVERY BELIEVER SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER
Question #6: How do I know if I am really saved?
To be honest, this should be the shortest blog post ever. The short answer to the question is: Because God said so. But an answer like that could devolve into flippancy. However, the reality is that this answer is completely accurate. One need only take a look at 1 John 5:11-13: “11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
I don’t think God could have made this any clearer. In His gracious mercy, He wants His children to KNOW that they are His children. And yet, there was obviously a reason why He felt the need to include this open, unambiguous confirmation of salvation to His people. I think I know the reason. Because many times we simply doubt our salvation. This is not a new phenomenon. The fact that this statement appeared in a letter to Christians 2,000 years ago seems to suggest that this was an issue with 1st Century Christians as well. But where does it come from?
Certainly, our Adversary has much to do with this. Once we belong to God, satan knows that he can no longer lead us to eternal destruction. We are God’s and we belong to Him. However, what he does want to do with Believers is to make us ineffective in God’s work. And what better way to do this than to discourage us by having us doubt our salvation. He reminds us of our sin. He plants seeds of doubt. He tells us that a holy God would never forgive us. This is an especially potent weapon when we are struggling with sin. Even the name “devil” in the New Testament literally carries the meaning of one who throws obstacles across our path. So, our Adversary bears a great deal of the brunt of our doubt.
However, there is also a culprit of our own design that can lead us to the errant though that we might really not be a child of God. Namely, our emotions. Emotions are amazing things. They are at the same time one of the most wonderful things in our lives while also being one of the worst. Positive emotions are great. They make us feel great. And we love feeling great. However, negative emotions make us feel terrible. And we dislike feeling terrible. But the same fatal flaw exists in both negative and positive emotions. Emotions are NOT arbiters of truth…at all.
Feelings are not by default reflections of reality. Emotions are part of our Fallen self. They can be tricked. They can be manipulated. They can be wrong. As this relates to the assurance of our salvation, many times people doubt their salvation because they feel like they might not be saved. Now, there are a myriad of reasons why that feeling may occur…and we certainly can’t get into all of those. However, we must remember that we are not saved or not-saved because of the feelings attached to either paradigm. Feelings do not trump God’s truth.
God isn’t with me because I feel His presence. God is with me because He told me He would always be with me (Matthew 28:16-20). I love feeling His presence with me. It is a great feeling. But it is a feeling nonetheless. There will times of great struggle where will not feel His presence. It will feel as if He is a million miles away. If feelings were the arbiter of truth, then He, in fact, would be a million miles away. God gives us these assurances for the times when our feelings will lie to us. And they will lie to us. They will lie to us in the midst of our most significant pain and failure. But God’s Word tell me the truth. God tells me the truth when I need to hear the truth more than I need to feel the truth.
So, how do I know if I’m really saved? Simple. Because God said so.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
Question #6: How do I know if I am really saved?
To be honest, this should be the shortest blog post ever. The short answer to the question is: Because God said so. But an answer like that could devolve into flippancy. However, the reality is that this answer is completely accurate. One need only take a look at 1 John 5:11-13: “11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
I don’t think God could have made this any clearer. In His gracious mercy, He wants His children to KNOW that they are His children. And yet, there was obviously a reason why He felt the need to include this open, unambiguous confirmation of salvation to His people. I think I know the reason. Because many times we simply doubt our salvation. This is not a new phenomenon. The fact that this statement appeared in a letter to Christians 2,000 years ago seems to suggest that this was an issue with 1st Century Christians as well. But where does it come from?
Certainly, our Adversary has much to do with this. Once we belong to God, satan knows that he can no longer lead us to eternal destruction. We are God’s and we belong to Him. However, what he does want to do with Believers is to make us ineffective in God’s work. And what better way to do this than to discourage us by having us doubt our salvation. He reminds us of our sin. He plants seeds of doubt. He tells us that a holy God would never forgive us. This is an especially potent weapon when we are struggling with sin. Even the name “devil” in the New Testament literally carries the meaning of one who throws obstacles across our path. So, our Adversary bears a great deal of the brunt of our doubt.
However, there is also a culprit of our own design that can lead us to the errant though that we might really not be a child of God. Namely, our emotions. Emotions are amazing things. They are at the same time one of the most wonderful things in our lives while also being one of the worst. Positive emotions are great. They make us feel great. And we love feeling great. However, negative emotions make us feel terrible. And we dislike feeling terrible. But the same fatal flaw exists in both negative and positive emotions. Emotions are NOT arbiters of truth…at all.
Feelings are not by default reflections of reality. Emotions are part of our Fallen self. They can be tricked. They can be manipulated. They can be wrong. As this relates to the assurance of our salvation, many times people doubt their salvation because they feel like they might not be saved. Now, there are a myriad of reasons why that feeling may occur…and we certainly can’t get into all of those. However, we must remember that we are not saved or not-saved because of the feelings attached to either paradigm. Feelings do not trump God’s truth.
God isn’t with me because I feel His presence. God is with me because He told me He would always be with me (Matthew 28:16-20). I love feeling His presence with me. It is a great feeling. But it is a feeling nonetheless. There will times of great struggle where will not feel His presence. It will feel as if He is a million miles away. If feelings were the arbiter of truth, then He, in fact, would be a million miles away. God gives us these assurances for the times when our feelings will lie to us. And they will lie to us. They will lie to us in the midst of our most significant pain and failure. But God’s Word tell me the truth. God tells me the truth when I need to hear the truth more than I need to feel the truth.
So, how do I know if I’m really saved? Simple. Because God said so.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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