How Do You Know You Are Saved?

Q: What does the Bible say about how to know if you are saved?

The Bible teaches that assurance of salvation comes from God's actions, not our feelings or experiences. The assurance of salvation is rooted in who God is and what He has done. The Apostle Paul provides a framework for understanding this in Romans 8, asking profound questions about foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. Our confidence does not stem from our will or actions but from God's sovereign choice and purpose. As Romans 8:28-30 indicates, those whom God foreknew, He predestined, called, justified, and glorified. This chain demonstrates that our salvation is secure, resting on God's unchanging character and promises, rather than our fluctuating experiences or feelings.

Q: How do we know God's love for us?

God's love is assured by His eternal purpose and the redemptive work of Christ on our behalf. The love of God for His people is best understood through Scripture, particularly as revealed in the work of Jesus Christ. Paul details this in Romans 8:35-39, asserting that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The assurance of this love is key to our understanding of salvation. It is not based on our love for God, which may waver, but rather on God's unchanging love for us. His love is expressed in countless ways, including our calling, election, and justification. Ultimately, God's love is a grounding reality that provides believers with hope and security.

Q: Why is justification important for Christians?

Justification is crucial because it affirms our standing before God based on Christ’s righteousness, not our own. Justification is a central doctrine of the Christian faith, wherein God declares the sinner righteous based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As Paul asserts in Romans 8:33-34, it is God who justifies, and thus no one can bring a charge against His elect. This doctrine assures believers that their standing before God is secure; it is not contingent upon our performance or feelings but solely on the perfect work of Christ. Understanding justification leads to profound peace and confidence, allowing us to rest in the assurance that our sins are forgiven and we are accepted in the Beloved. Therefore, it becomes the foundation of our faith.

Q: How do I know for sure that I am saved?

Knowing you are saved involves understanding God's work in your life rather than relying solely on personal feelings or experiences. The question of assurance in one's salvation is vital and complex, as it encompasses both God's actions and our experiences. According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, God chooses the foolish and weak, and our being in Christ is solely a work of God's gracious initiative. Our confidence rests on the fact that God is the author of our salvation and has made us willing through His power. Therefore, true assurance comes from recognizing that God has called, justified, and glorified us, as seen in Romans 8. When we understand salvation in this light, it transcends our subjective feelings and aligns with God's eternal purpose.

I never get tired of those old,
well-known and well-worn songs. That's a blessing. Now the subject tonight is how
do you know you're saved? How do you know that you're saved?
I received a letter this week from a friend in Oregon, a man
who gets our videotapes and audiotapes, and in that letter he said a
friend, a good friend, asked me a very serious question the
other day. His question was, how do you
know for sure that you're safe? And I thought when I read that,
now that's a good subject to deal with this Sunday evening. I like to preach on things people
are thinking about. and concerned about and talking
about. Barnard said years and years
ago to me that the problem with most preachers is they're asking
questions, answering questions nobody's asking and preaching
on subjects that nobody's interested in. Well, I'm interested in this
one. How do you know you're saved?
And it's a good question. And men have the right to ask
it. The Apostle Peter said that in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15. He said, but sanctify the Lord
God in your heart and be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asketh you a reason of the hope that's in you with
meekness and fear. So men have a right to ask us
that question. How do you know you're saved?
What is the reason for your hope? But I thought about this. It's
a question, if a fellow just walks up to me on the job, here
I am doing my work, and somebody walks up to me and says, how
do you know you're saved? At first that would rattle me. Really
would. It would rattle me and trouble
me. a bit because salvation is such
a profound subject and salvation is such a mysterious subject
and such a supernatural work of God which encompasses a lifetime. How do I sum up in a few words
a lifetime of spiritual blessings? Not only is it a work that encompasses
a lifetime, but it involves so many, many experiences. God began
a work in my heart many, many years ago, a long, long time
ago. And I trust that the work that
is being and has been done is by the Spirit of God through
all these years and so many revelations to the heart. There are a lot
of questions that that I wouldn't want to deal with off the top
of my head. For example, how do you know
there's a God? How would you like to handle that? Just like
that. You've got five minutes. Tell
me how you know there's a God. How do you know there's a heaven? Or how do you know that Christ
lived and died on a cross and rose again? How do you know there's
life after death? These are powerful. John, these
are profound questions. And I can understand why This
man who wrote the letter, the person walked up and says, how
do you know for sure that you're saved? And it would, it's just
so difficult to sum up the eternal purpose of God, the person and
work of the Redeemer and the work of the Holy Spirit in us
then, in us now, and what he'll do in the future. And this came
to my mind, if we're not given time to think the matter through,
We're prone to give an unsatisfactory answer based on our feelings
or our faith or our experience. Haven't you often been asked
a question like that, dealing with such a profound, enormous,
monumental subject, and you gave a fellow an answer and he left
and you thought, I wish I had time to think that through again.
I have so many times, I wish you'd have given me a little
time when this magazine in Charleston, some of you read that interview,
and I think maybe this is why. They called me on the telephone
and said that they'd been watching our television program and wanted
to interview me in person. And I just quite frankly told
them that I wasn't available for that type of interview. But
if they would submit questions to me, that I'd get in my study
and pray about them and study them and give them an answer.
And how thankful I am that I did, because I had an opportunity
to spend a lot of hours thinking about those life and death questions. Those are questions having to
do with God, having to do with life, having to do with eternal
life, having to do with the Spirit of God. And I don't walk around
Your computer, some of you have computers and you push a button,
it'll go back six months and throw something on the screen,
but I'm not a computer. My mind's getting slower all
the time. And I push that button, it doesn't
work. You know, do you remember everything you ever read? Your
computer does, but you don't. I try to think of a scripture
and I can't think of it. I quoted it just yesterday. But
it's gone now, you know, so give me time." And I told them, if
you'll give me time and give me the questions and let me sit
down and think this through, I'll give you an answer. I'll
give you an answer. And I think maybe sometimes when
our loved ones and friends pop these monumental, enormous, awesome
questions, that maybe we ought to say, could I have a little
time to think that over? And that way, I won't spew out
something I wish I hadn't of said. And he says, how do you
know you're saved? Well, I believe the Bible. Well,
you know, I mean, that's great, but is that how you know you're
saved? Well, I had an experience. I had a feeling. I accepted Jesus. So, for you tonight, I sat down
with that question. How do you, Henry Mahan, know
that you're saved? And I've had the advantage of
spending some time with it, and I'm going to give you an answer. My confidence and my assurance
of my relationship with God does not begin with me. It begins where my salvation
begins, with God. That's where my confidence begins,
with God. With God. My salvation rests
with God, not my will, His will. He made me willing in the day
of His power, not my purpose, His purpose. All things work
together for good to them who love God, who are called according
to His purpose. That's where my salvation begins,
His mercy, His grace. I want you to turn to this, 1
Corinthians 1. How do I know I'm saved? That's
what I'm dealing with. How do I know I'm safe? In 1
Corinthians 1, verse 26. And I begin where this whole
thing begins. I begin with God. 1 Corinthians
1, verse 26. Listen to this. For you see your
calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen,
God chose me. He chose the foolish things of
this world to confound the wise. God had chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and
God had chosen the base things of the world and things which
are despised. Hath God chosen ye? And things
that are not, that amount to nothing, to bring to naught things
that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of
God are you in Christ Jesus. That's where it all started.
How do I know I'm in Christ? God put me there. Of God are
you in Christ Jesus, watch this now, who himself of God was made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
My being in Christ is of God and Christ even being available
is of God. That's where it all starts. If
I'm going to tell you about this thing of salvation, I'm not going
to start with an experience. I'm not going to start with an
act of faith. I'm not going to start with a
feeling. I'm going to ski that way back in the Council Halls
of Eternity and say, God started all this. That's what my confidence
and hope and assurance is built on, not on me on Him. That's
what David said in When he lay dying, here is, and I preached
on this one time, here's David. What can you say about David?
Man after God's own heart. The Psalms you read were the
Psalms of David. What can we say about this fabulous,
faithful, gallant, brave, dedicated man of God? And yet when he lay
dying, And somebody tells me that they'll even accept dying
words as a court testimony. I've heard that, that in a court
they'll accept a man's dying words as fact. And when he lay
dying, this is what he said. Last words of David. Although
it be not so with my house, there are not many physical evidences
that I'm one of God's own. My children, he said, are a bunch
of rebels. And the princes and folks that serve me around here,
they're not much improvement. It be not so with my house. Yet
God... David, how do you know you're
saved? God made with me an everlasting covenant, authored in all things
and sure. And this is my salvation. And this is my desire. Although
we make it not to grow. And so my answer to the question,
I ask you to turn to Romans 8, my answer to that question, how
do you know you're saved, is to reply in the words of the
Apostle Paul in Romans 8 with these five questions. No, not
four, five questions. In Romans 8, and I preached on
television this morning on this same passage, Romans chapter
8 verse 28, and we know that all things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. and whom he called
them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified."
Now, here's the question. So then, what shall we say to
these things? That's the question. Well, Paul
says, if God be for me, if God be for me, if God knew me, and
God predestinated me, and God called me, and God justified
me, and God glorified me, then who can be against me? If God's
for me, how can I be lost? How can I not be saved if God
is for me? And then his next question, verse
32, And he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with Christ also freely give
us all things? If Christ purchased my redemption,
how can God do otherwise than give it to me? If Christ paid
for my sins, how can God do otherwise than forgive them and be just? If Christ purchased my soul and
body on the tree, then it belongs to Him. How shall He not with
Christ freely give us all that? That's my foundation. What's
the next question? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? You say, you're going to be brought
before the judgment. I know that. That's all right. But who can
charge me? It's God that justified me. His
is the highest court. His is the Supreme Court, and
He's justified me in Christ Jesus. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. There is no judgment to those
who believe on Christ. God justified me. God did it. Boy, that's deeper than a feeling.
That's deeper than an experience. That's deeper than anything to
say I've been justified in Christ, through Christ, by Christ, before
God's tribunal. And there's nothing opposite
my name on God's books. Justified, just as if I'd never
said. And then the fourth question,
who can condemn me? Who in heaven, who on earth,
who in hell can condemn me? And here's the reason why we
can't be condemned. It's not that we made a decision.
It's not that we walked an aisle, though we did, we did make a
decision, we did confess Christ. But the reason we can't be condemned,
it is that Christ died. It is that Christ died. And not
only died, yea, rather, He's risen again. And not only that,
but He is even. This forerunner, this substitute,
this high priest, this mediator, this advocate is even at the
right hand of God. And not only that, but he also,
in addition to dying for us and rising as our justifier and ascending
as our mediator, he also maketh, maketh, not has made, maketh. Right now, intercession for us. Well, your confidence lies in
Him, not in yourself. Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. I rest and trust the blood of
Christ, the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
And the fourth question, who's going to separate me from the
love of God? I tell you, God sets His love
upon me, the infinite God, the omnipotent God, the everlasting
God, separates His love, sets His love upon me. Who can change
it? Who can separate? Who can divide?
Who can take me away from Him? No man can pluck them out of
my hand. My Father which gave to me is
greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's
hand, not even tribulation or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or soul, why it's written, for
thy sake we're killed all the day long, we're counted as sheep
for the slaughter, but even in these things we're more than
conquerors because we love Him. No, because He loved us. When
Mary and Martha were sitting down there in that little bungalow
in Bethany, and my Lord had been there two or three times, He
loved that family, He blessed that family with his presence
and Lazarus got sick and they sent word to Christ. They didn't
say, there's a fellow down here that loves you and he's sick.
They sent word and said, this fellow down here whom you love
is sick. There's a lot of difference.
He loved me. He loved us. I'm persuaded. That
neither death, life, angels, principalities, powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, and if
I've left anything out, Paul said, nor any other creature
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Now I don't for one moment minimize
faith. I'll run over some of these things.
I sat down and looked at this also. I don't for one moment
minimize true faith and the grace of the Spirit which he gives
to God's elect. There's faith. There's faith. I know whom I have believed.
I believe the Word of God, don't you? I believe the Word of God. I believe Christ died on the
cross. I do believe. Lord, help my unbelief, but I
do believe. I do believe. But even when my
faith is at its lowest ebb, He doesn't change. He never changes. Great is thy faithfulness. And
hope. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. He's given us a good hope through grace. But if someone
walks up to me and says, how do you know you're saved? Because
I have a good hope. No, because He gave me a good
hope in Christ Jesus. Sometimes that hope is not as
keen as it is at other times. Love. We know we've passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. Yes, we do love
the brethren. We don't love them like we ought
to, but we do love them. But I'll tell you, if I have
to base my hope of eternal life on how much I love the brethren,
I'm going to have some trouble here. And then peace. I have peace. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. Peace with God and
the peace of God and peace with one another. But we still get
rattled every once in a while, don't we? And we wonder, where
is my peace? Where is the joy that once I
knew when first I trusted the Lord? Where is the peace? We
have joy too. I think, turn to Philippians
3 a moment. Philippians chapter 3. I believe
I can say this. Philippians chapter 3, I believe
you can. Philippians chapter 3. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. Philippians chapter 3, verse
1. You see it there, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same
things to you, to me, indeed is not tiresome, but for you
it is safe. And you beware of dogs and evil
workers and the concision, for we are the circumcision. Here
are three marks. We worship God in the Spirit.
Yes, we do, don't we? We don't need visual aids and
we don't burn candles and go through motions and make crosses
and rub idols. We worship God in heart and spirit. We rejoice in Jesus Christ. We
rejoice in his blood, in his resurrection, in his intercession,
in his righteousness. We rejoice in Christ. And we
certainly have no confidence in the flesh. That's three marks
in it. But if you ask me what is my
hope of eternal life, How do I know I'm saved? I have to go
back and say I'm saved because He saved me. Because He loved
me. Because He called me. Because
He gave me faith. He gave me hope. He shed abroad
His love in my heart by the Holy Spirit. He purchased peace for
me through the blood of His cross. And He gave me the joy of salvation. You know, He said this, I am
the Lord. I change not, therefore you are
not concerned. That's the reason we're not consumed,
because he's not going to change. And he says, the gifts and calling
of God are without change. I change. Change and decay and
all around I see all that changes not abide with me. Abraham believed
God. He didn't believe in himself.
He didn't believe in his experience. He didn't believe in his faith.
He believed God, that God could do what God promised. And so
if you ask me tonight, how do you know you're saved? I say
I believe God, that God will do all He promised and all He
purposed and all He will to do on my behalf in Christ Jesus. And I may change and a lot of
things take place in this life and a lot of things happen, but
my confidence and my hope is not in any of these feelings
or experiences, it's in His unchanging purpose. It cannot be defeated. All right, here's the second
part of this message. Now turn with me to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Then
the question comes, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I'm sorry. I'll find it in 1 Thessalonians
1, 1 Thessalonians 1. The question, another question
to be considered in view of what we're looking at, how is your
claim justified? Now, I claim God knew me and
God called me, and God revealed His Word to me, and His grace
in His Son, gave me hope. Now, that's how I know I'm saved. But how do I justify that claim?
You know what I'm saying, Bob? Is that clear what I'm saying?
A fellow walks up to me and says, show me your faith without your
works. Show me your faith without your works. He said, I'll show
you my faith by my works. So what justifies my claim? How
do others know that you're saved? What are the evidences that you're
saved? And here they are, right here, real quickly. In 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4. And Paul said writing to the
church at Thessalonica, brethren, knowing brethren, beloved, your
election of God. You're one of God's sons, you're
one of God's children. Paul, how do you know that? Verse 5,
because our gospel came not to you in word only. Our gospel
came to you in the fire of the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Ghost,
in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among
you for your sake. How do others know you're saved?
That gospel has come to me in power, in life-changing power,
in attitude changing. That gospel has come to me not
just as a doctrine and as a creed, but as an experience. That's
right. And secondly, and you became
followers, disciples of us and the Lord. You became followers. You identified with the people
of God. You identified with the things of God. You identified
with Christ. And having received the Word
in much affliction, you've had to suffer for what you believe.
You've had to suffer for your identification with the people
of God. With much affliction, yet with joy of the Holy Ghost.
Verse 7, and you became an example. No, we're not perfect examples
by any stretch of the imagination, but at least we're examples.
In conduct, in character, in conversation, we're examples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. And not only do you
become an example, but you became a witness. For from you sounded
out the Word of the Lord. You love this gospel and you
witness this gospel. You tell others about this gospel.
You're not ashamed of this gospel. And not only are you a witness
in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith
to God is spread about so that we need not to speak anything.
I don't need to tell people what you're doing, they know what
you're doing. That's evidence. And then verse 9, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and you turn
to God from your idols. Idols of religion and idols of
tradition and idols of the world to serve the living and true
God. The joy to serve God, to be identified
with the things of God. And you're waiting. What are
you waiting for? I'm waiting for His Son from
heaven to either come after me or call for me. I'm waiting for
His Son. See, how do I know I'm saved?
God loved me. God chose me. Christ died for
me. Nothing can change that purpose
or that will. How do others know that I'm saved?
evidences that His words come to me in power. And I thought
about this. David, how do you know you're
king? Here stands King David back yonder
in Israel. David, how do you know you're
king? Well, I believe the first answer to that question is God
made me king. That's how I know I'm a king.
I have His word for it. I have His anointing. I have
His seal, I have His will, He made me king. How do I know I'm
a child of God? He made me His child. Behold
what love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
sons of God. Well, David, how do we know you're
king? Well, I think like a king. I
dress like a king. I walk like a king. I talk like
a king. I act like a king. I live in
a king's house and I'm the son of the king of kings. That's
how you know I'm a king. Isn't that right? And that's
what he's saying here in First Thessalonians. I know I'm a king
because he made me a king. You know I'm a king when there's
some evidence that I think like a king and act like a king and
dress like a king and walk like a king. Isn't that right? All
right. May the Lord bless it to your
heart. Mike, come lead us in it, if you will.

How Do You Know You Are Saved?

What does the Bible say about how to know if you are saved?

How do we know God's love for us?

Why is justification important for Christians?

How do I know for sure that I am saved?

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How Do You Know You Are Saved?

What does the Bible say about how to know if you are saved?

How do we know God's love for us?

Why is justification important for Christians?

How do I know for sure that I am saved?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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