Page 79 - Bible Doctrine Survey I (3)

How do you know you are really saved?
We are assured of salvation simply on the basis of our personal faith in Christ. However, there are
several passages in Scripture which indicate that once a person experiences salvation in Christ, his life
changes.

II Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the
new is here!

Galatians 5:22-23 teaches that believers will bear the “fruit of the Spirit” since the Spirit of God resides
in them. James teaches us that a person who shows no change in their lives, and who do not
demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (works of God) in their lives are actually dead (James 2:14-26).

We are commanded by God to examine our own lives to see if there is evidence within us of saving
faith.

2 Corinthians 13:5-6 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not
realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

An individual can know he/she is saved only on the basis of whether they are trusting in Christ’s life and
death for their sin problem (1 John 5:11-13) and one’s lifestyle demonstrates that they have repented
and turned from their sin (previous life style) and headed a different direction.

A person who has truly exercised belief in Christ will have:

1. A new understanding of God’s Word. I Cor. 2: 14-16 14 The person without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot
understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes
judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

2. Will bear spiritual fruit in their lives (ie., you will see your desires change
and your lifestyle altered by God). Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control.

3. Will desire to fellowship with God and those who have trusted in Him by
faith. You will notice that you desire to commune with God and those who
follow him. Ephesians 2: 19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow
citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined
together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to
become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

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