Ten Signs of Salvation
Asking questions is one of the ways that we grow spiritually. But we have
to ensure that we ask the right questions. "How can I lose five kilos" is
a good question to ask for your body's sake; but it will not help your soul.
From a spiritual point of view, the greatest question anyone can ask is:
"What must I do to be saved?". Paul and Silas must have been overjoyed when
they were asked that question by the surprised jailer in Philippi
(Acts 16:29-31). The Apostle Peter must have also been overjoyed when he
was asked a similar question by a crowd in Jerusalem after he preached a
powerful sermon (Acts 2:37-41). The answer was always along the same lines:
"Repent and believe with all your heart in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".
To "repent" means to be so profoundly sorry for all the wrong you have ever
done that you want your life turned around. To "believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ" means to accept as true what is said about Him in the
Bible - especially that He came to save people from their guilt before
God for their sins, by taking the punishment for them on the cross and by
being raised from the dead after He had died. If they repent and believe
this, crowds of 3000 can be saved. If they repent and believe this, whole
households can be saved. From one little question, great things can
happen!
I have been asked that question by confused people on a number of occasions.
To be asked such a question is a great gift for a pastor. But there is
another question that I have been asked on even more occasions. It is:
"How do I know I am saved?". If I had a dollar for every time I have ever
been asked that question, it would buy me a lot of hot dinners! Fortunately,
there are many different signs that one is really a Christian. Here are
just ten of them:
1) The very first sign that you are a believer is an ardent hatred of sin
(Psa.119:104; Job 1:1; Psa.26:5; 84:10; Prov.8:13; Rom.7:22-24). It is only
in the believer that there is a battle between the flesh and the Spirit
(Gal.5:16-17). In the unbeliever, there is no such battle because he does not
have the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in believers guarantees that
you will make war against any sin. The very existence of that war is a sign
that you are saved. Your own sin will be even more detestable than everyone
else's in the world put together, and it will drive you to the foot of the
Cross. When your heart is wholly inclined towards a hatred of sin, you can
be certain you are a believer.
2) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a strong, lively
and joyful love for the one in whom you have believed: the Lord Jesus Christ
(1 Pet.1:8; 1 Jn.4:19). In fact, if a person claims to be a Christian and does
not love the Lord Jesus Christ, this is such a contradiction in terms that it
is a sign of pseudo-Christianity which will also lead to a terrible curse of
judgement from God (1 Cor.16:22).
3) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a deep love for
the Word of God - the Bible (Psa.119:97 & 103). It will be your only objective
source of truth for morality, religious knowledge and day-to-day living. To
hear it preached through, and read from, will be a joy to you. You will always
want to understand more about it.
4) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a deep and
lasting love for all true Christians (1 John 3:14). You will find that you
now have a built-in instinct to detect real believers; and you will love them
above all others too (Gal.6:10). By this you will know you have been saved.
5) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an intimate
understanding that you have been adopted into God's family by receiving the
Holy Spirit as a "deposit" and guarantee of the fullness of future glory in
the age to come (Rom.8:15-17; Eph.1:13-14). You will really know that God is
your Father and that you are His child.
6) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will experience the power
of prayer and the continual desire to pray. You will live in great gratitude
for the fact that you have "access" to Him (Rom.5:1-2) and for the precious
promises in Psa.145:18 and Heb.4:16.
7) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will be able to detect
real growth in your knowledge, faith and love (2 Thess.1:3; 1 Pet.2:2-3;
2 Pet.3:18; Eph.4:14-15). This will be something you can measure over a period
of time. You will be able to say "Last year I was there. This year I am here".
And you will notice the difference.
8) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an unshakeable
love of truth. (Jn.14:17; Jn.8:32). The Fall involved exchanging the truth
of God for the lie (Rom.1:25) and a moment-by-moment suppression of truth from
that time forth by every human being born into this world (Rom.1:18). When you
are saved, there is a total reversal of this process. Not being saved involves
a rejection of truth and a hatred of it (2 Thess.2:10). Being saved involves a
rejection of all falsehood and a passion for truth (Psa.119:29, 104). This is
why true believers reject false teachings and love purity of doctrine.
9) Another sign that you are a believer is that your whole "worldview" will be
different to both how it was before you believed and to that of the rest of the
unbelieving world (2 Cor.5:17). You will have a brand-new spiritual and moral
outlook on everything. No longer will you make yourself the sole judge of what
is right or wrong (which is what Satan seduced our first parents into, Gen.3:5)
but you will realise that you must follow God's judgements on all matters.
10) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an intense
longing for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom.8:23-25; 2 Tim.4:8). This
will not make you into an escapist; for you still have to live in this world in
order to grow and as a witness to truth. But your greatest desire is to see an
end to sin and corruption and for righteousness to be once more established in
the universe. You know that this will come only through the return of the Lord
Jesus Christ (Rev.21:1-5); and you long for this.
All these, and more, are the signs that you have really been saved. Do we
see these evidences in ourselves? It is important to make your calling and
election sure (2 Pet.1:10). As Thomas Brooks warns in his book "Precious
Remedies Against Satan's Devices", the enemy of souls is always trying to
destabilise Christians by putting them in a "sad, doubting, questioning and
uncomfortable condition". However, it is the Lord's desire to give us
unshakable assurance
(Heb.6:19-20; Jn.14:2; 1 Jn.5:10-12 & 13; Rom.8:16 & 28, etc.).
It is therefore my earnest prayer that we will be questioners of the right
kind and see the fruit of the above signs of salvation growing in our lives
daily. For that is the pastor's joy; and it is his joy because it
is God's joy too.