By Justin Johnson

Let’s be honest. If you do not know that you are saved it is because you are not.

I am not trying to be cruel or mean, but simply honest. It would be the worst kind
of negligence if I encouraged you to believe you were saved if actually you were
not.

Unsaved people roam the earth thinking they are right with God, but are not. This
reality may be driving your honest question about how to know if you are saved.
This question is the greatest question one could ask, because the answer is
understanding the gospel that saves.

Many people remain unconvinced about their own salvation because of a fear they
have left something undone, did not say something right, are not worthy enough, or
have not done the right thing to be accepted by God.

Perhaps this is you! You want to do right, and want to be saved, but do not know
for certain how to know. What you need to know is the gospel of Christ.

Do You Know the Gospel?

At this point you may object because you claim to already know the gospel. But your
question betrays you. The gospel that saves provides the knowledge of salvation. If
you do not know you are saved, then you do not know the gospel that saves.

If you claim to know the gospel and still do not know if you are saved you have
been told the wrong gospel. Perhaps you have been told salvation comes by…

– Believing Jesus is the Son of God

– Loving the Lord
– Following Jesus
– Keeping the commandments
– Loving your neighbor
– Praying the sinner’s prayer
– Repentance and confessing your sins
– Confessing the Lord with your mouth
– Asking Jesus to come into your heart
– Making him Lord of your life
– Maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus
– Naming the name of Christ
– Being filled with the Holy Spirit; or feeling his presence?
If so, you were told wrong. Your doubts testify to the inadequacy of any of these
“gospels” to bring the knowledge of salvation. Have you loved the Lord enough?
Don’t the devils also believe Jesus is the Son of God (Jam 2:19)? How do you know
Jesus accepted your invitation into your heart? Is salvation really by uttering a
name?

Though what you heard may have had an element of Biblical truth in them, you are
still left wondering how you know you are saved even after knowing or believing
these “gospels”. This is because they do not describe the gospel that saves.

Proof of Salvation

The Bible gives proof to every saved person to know they are saved: the gospel of
Christ is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16).

If we test your proof of salvation against the gospel of Christ we can know if you
are saved or not. (I do not pretend to be the judge of your soul, but using God’s
word to evaluate your salvation is prudent.)
So, what is the proof of your salvation?

If you say you have none, or that no one can know for certain, then you do not have
salvation.

If you say proof is in the good way you live your life, then you have not heard the
truth.

If you say proof is found in the promises of God to Israel, then you are taking
what is not yours. God made promises to the nation of Israel, but there were many
people in Israel who died in their sins at God’s hand of judgment and not
salvation. How do you know you are part of the promises?

If you say proof is in what you have done or not done, said or not said, then yo

Sinners cannot save themselves or make themselves worthy enough for God to save
them. Salvation is not for the righteous or the good, but for the unrighteous and
the ungodly. The truth is that there is none righteous, and all have fallen short
of God’s glorious standard.

Salvation of sinners is accomplished through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God manifest in the flesh died innocently in the place of sinners shedding his
blood as a sacrifice for sins. He rose from the dead three days later defeating the
power of death and offering his finished work as the means of salvation to all men.

Salvation is not proven by our own efforts, but in the righteousness of God in
Christ when he died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers salvation freely
to sinners who need it. Proof of salvation is found in the gospel of Christ. God
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself by the cross.

“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” – Romans 3:25
We will be saved “if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” –
Romans 4:24-25
This is the gospel of Christ; it is the preaching of the cross. Christ is God, and
he did everything necessary to save men through his death and resurrection. His
work is the proof of salvation.

If his work is the proof of your salvation, then you have peace with God and
eternal life. You are no longer trying to provide proof. God has provided it by his
grace in Christ.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ” – Romans 5:1
“…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
How Do I Know?

I know that I am saved because Christ died for my sins, rose from the dead, and
offers salvation freely to all who believe in him. I’ve seen him save other people
who believe the gospel of Christ. He will save you, when you believe it (Eph 1:13;
Rom 3:22).

Stop trusting your life, your prayers, your works, your good deeds, your feelings,
trust the finished work of Christ and know that you are saved.