How to Know You're Saved

[HoneyBare]

Someone showed me verses that said God will never leave me, even if I sin. I am sure I'm a Christian because I surrendered my life to Him. But now that I have been going through relational problems with my dh, I have been slipping and doing some things I used to do, that are wrong for a Chrisitan. If I die, do you think I'd still go to Heaven? How do I know for sure? I want to stop doing these things, but my dh wants to old me back, so sometimes I oblige him. I just don't know, by reading scripture, if He is really as forgiving as others say He is. It doesn't feel right. I read in James 5 (don't remember which verse) something about being faithful to the end. Doesn't that mean you need to be right in God's sight up to the time of His return or at the time of your death? What do all of you think? I'm not sure if all Christians believe this or not. Thanx

[HoneyBare]

Thank you so much, Amy, for all the work you put into answering my question. Sometimes it's so hard to just have faith that you are loved and forgiven. And, sometimes it's hard to connect with a Heavenly Father, when your own father was not there for you. It's a struggle to simply have faith. I will simply keep trying to get to know Him better and better. Thanx, Bonnie

[Trina Anslow]

I just saw this. If you truly accepted Christ as your Lord ans Savior that you are indeed a Christian. That does not mean we will never be tempted to sin or we will never sin again. God is the only perfect one and the only one without sin. I John 1:9 tells us that God is faithful to forgive our sins. If your asking if you are not walking in the way you should when you die or when Christ returns that you will not go to Heaven. The answer is if you have truly ask Christ in your heart you will go to Heaven. God will not be happy with our sins but He does not take back the gift of His salvation if you truly accepted Him.

[HoneyBare]

You sound really sure about this, Trina. Thanx for your reply. Bonnie

[HoneyBare]

Thanx, Frank. The scripture you gave is pretty clear that no one can take my experience out of God's hand. I will try to trust that scripture and simply have the faith that I will always be His child. It's pretty amazing to think about.

[MARK ODONGO]

it is important for you to discover that you consist of three parts. you are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body, when the devil came to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ after he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he tempted Him in all these three parts. In his body(stone into bread) are of worship, and he wanted him to daught his position with God(test of his mind, soul)
we must always know that the devil will always want to attack our minds, because he has no control of our spirit, we do have control, and the battle between the heavenly and the devil which Jesus won on the cross is that of our soul. if we keep the word of God alive in us our mind will reply what we feed it with. if you fed it with sin that is what will come out. so my sister You are saved, if you die today you will definitely go to heaven, for what can separate us from the love of God??? we are not perfect we are saved from sin, therefore we must not go back to the place where we are from. workout your salvation with fear and trembling. ask the spirit of God to fill you, it is not by might nor by power but by the spirit of God.

[Lara]

Wow. Your answer is......Spirit and wisdom filled. Amen.

[Lara]

The letters to the churches in Revelations are pretty cut and dry. Jesus is speaking to believers, here. You also gotta remember there is willful sin and unwillful sin. Eg. You go out and get drunk. That takes planning; thought. That's willful sin. Then there's times when you drop something on your toe. Before you know it, some bad word comes out, but it's not something you practice. Unwillful sin. Either way, we need to ask for God's forgiveness.
I have many friends who hold the Calvinist view of "once saved, always saved", and many of them are such amazing lovers of Jesus. Now IF these ppl were living just like the world, and thinking they were going to make it to heaven, I'd start Bible bashing them to save them from the hell they don't think they are heading for. I mean, does it really make sense that we can "get saved" then go on living just like the world and get to heaven? What happened to "be ye perfect as I am perfect." What happened to "come out from among them and be separate". What happened to "Enduring to the end?"
Salvation can not be earned. By grace we are saved, as you already know, through FAITH....and faith without works is dead. So basically, IF we surrender our lives to the Lord, THEN we will walk out our faith. There will be change, because we are being sanctified. The works don't earn our salvation, they are the fruit thereof.
You're going to mess up. Lord knows, I do. Just ask God's forgiveness. Repent. Don't dwell on it. Don't allow the devil to torment you with condemnation. You get a clean slate when you seek God's forgiveness. I don't believe that every time we sin, like "opps" you're going to hell. If you aren't hardening your heart towards the Lord, then don't fret. Just keep in the Word, daily and talk to the Lord, daily, and the rest will follow.
So whether you believe "once saved, always saved" or not, it makes little difference if you just do what you must to walk in the Spirit and keep your relationship with God, real and strong. Don't allow the "steps backwards" to hinder you. Pray for your husband. Be an example. Oh man, I know how hard it is to not allow our spouse's moods and actions affect us, but it is doable; with Christ!
May God keep leading you. I believe the Lord will do everything to "keep you" to the end. I hope this helps some. Just DON'T allow the devil to get to stuck in legalism or "religion" and live in constant fear. Love God. Love others. Love yourself.

[HoneyBare]

It's all so mind-boggling, the different beliefs. I'm certainly not ever planning to go back to how I was before, but I think of others I know who never did continue on in their Christian walk, and are living pretty much in sin now, and not going to church anymore, nor willing to talk with me about my beliefs. I'm speaking of my daughter, so I am scared for her. I know that some of you will say she will still go to heaven when she dies, and others will say that she was not truely saved in the first place. My fear is that, because she is ignoring God, and doing what she pleases, that she will have Christ tell her He didn't know her. But, I don't know. I guess God is the one who looks on the heart, and we may never know.

[Trina Anslow]

God is the only one who knows our hearts. Pray for your daughter--that is all you can do.

[Karen B. King]

Dear Friend,
If you were truly saved, you are eternally secure. I do not think that God allows His truly saved children to be comfortable sinning. Many of the verses in the Bible about sinning mean "keep on sinning" if you go back to the original Greek and look it up. So if you mess up once or twice, and then are repentant, you can go to God and ask for forgiveness...well, we all have to go more than once or twice. But if you can "keep on sinning" in the area that you are concerned about, it's time "to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith". God changes your "want to" when He is Lord of your life. Seems you have a choice to make between God and your area of sin.

If I were unsure, I'd get down on my knees, say the sinner's prayer again, and repent. There is no sense in staying worried about your salvation. However repenting means " a change of mind that leads to a change of heart and to a change of action". In other words, I was going one way and when I asked God into my life, I turned and went the other way. God IS able to keep you in His will if you stay in His Word and if it becomes as precious to you as the food you eat and the water that you drink.

We are saved by grace. We have nothing to offer God but James is pointing out that once we are saved by grace, God does not leave us in the state that He found us so there will be fruit and there will be a change in our behavior. We will be "set apart" from the way the world behaves. Sadly, not enough emphasis is put on this is some churches. That is why it is so important that you learn to study the Bible for yourself..i.e. to feed yourself and not be dependent on preachers and teachers for your "word from God". I can recommend some great Bible studies. The one that teaches you how to study for yourself the most in my opinion is Precept Bible studies taught by Kay Arthur. They are based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'll bet there will be a Precept course starting in your area in the fall. If you have trouble finding one, get back to me and I'll help you find one. You do NOT have to be unsure of your salvation. That is torture. God is abundantly forgiving. If He were not, none of us would ever make it to heaven but like I said, you are not to "keep on sinning" in an area that you know to be wrong. If you can do that and live with yourself, I'd do some serious checking of my salvation.

Hope this helped a little bit.
Blessings.
Karen

[HoneyBare]

Thanx, Karen. I have come a long way since my original posting. I have not been on this site for a long time, as I have been unable to get on for some reason. If this reply comes through, then that will mean I've been able to get on again.