How can I know if I am saved?

 

How can I know if I am saved?

A number of times people have confessed to me they struggle with assurance. This makes me think this struggle might be more common than we think. It is something even true believers struggle with from time to time. 

The one thing you can be sure of is that a believer cannot lose their salvation. In John 6:37 our Lord says: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” The true believer cannot lose their salvation: You have done nothing to deserve it; You have done nothing to acquire it; It is a unmerited gift of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” 

Rest assured if you were truly saved, that salvation will give you eternal life! 

So the question is not: Can I lose my salvation? You can’t! The question is: Is my salvation real? Am I truly saved or not? That is the question that this study seeks to answer: How can I know if I am saved? To answer that, you need to ask yourself 3 probing questions:

 

1. What do you love? 

The true believer is a changed person. By God’s grace you have found eternal life, but you have also found new desires. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” You are no longer the same, and therefore what you desire is no longer the same. You are a new creation, the old things has passed away.  Is that true of you? 

I am not saying you are already perfect! We never reach perfection in this life. But our desires are now in accordance to what Paul says in Ephesians 4:22-24 “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”    

There is an longing to become more holy. A constant drive to die to sin; A constant desire to please God in all. While we will fail at times, there is a desire to stand up and try again. You hate your sin and to fight to overcome it constantly. You have new affection, you love the things of God, you hate the things of the world. It’s not perfection, but it is direction! That’s the sign of true faith 

Here’s a few things true believer’s love: 

a. Believers love the Lord

The greatest commandment according to is Matthew 22:37-38 is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”  

Do you truly love the Lord, with all your heart, soul and mind? Not perfection but direction! Do you love the Lord? 

b. Believers love the Word

Psalm 119:103-105 says “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Though Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I have every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  

Even if the Word of God corrects you and even if it is at times difficult to obey it, the believer delights in the Word of the Lord.  You look forward to study it, you meditate on it, and seek to obey it. Do you love God’s Word? 

c. Believers love fellow believers

In 1 John 4:20 we read: “If anyone says ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”  Our love for the fellow believers is a sign that we love God, John says. This echo’s what Jesus says in John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It does not mean we do not at times disagree with believers, but we should still love them.  

In Galatians 2:11-14 Paul tell us that he disagreed greatly with Peter and rebuked him. Yet moments before in verses 8 and 9 he calls Peter a man called by God and a ‘Pillar’ of the faith.  Similarly when speaking about Paul, Peter says his letters are ‘wisdom’ and ‘Scripture’. There are also many tell tale signs that Peter not only read Paul’s letters, but I suspect had them in mind as he write in his own letters 

Love for the fellow believers: even if you disagree on non-fundamentals; even if they rebuke you, is that true of you? Because that is a sign of a true believers, we are united with one another in Christ. 

d. Believers love the church service

There is no such a thing as a true believer who refuses to go to church. Hebrews 10:25 describe neglecting the meeting together a bad habit that does not belong in a Christian.  Even if our lives is in danger, as it was with the believers in Acts 1:13-14, they came together in the upper room on the Lord’s day to worship together. 

Why is the meeting together important?  Because Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them.” There is a particular where our Lord is present in our meeting together. So that we do not just have fellowship with one another, but also with our Lord. 

The true believer looks forward to Sunday: To hear and meditate on His Word; to worship our worthy God; to meet with the saints. 

e. Believers love the things of God

1 Peter 4:1-2 says “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of his time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” He is speaking to suffering Christians, so whatever your circumstances may be, this applies to you also: Those truly united to Christ fights sin; those truly united to Christ do God’s will! Jesus warns of the same thing in Mattew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” 

All of the things I mentioned are signs that your faith is true. We are not saved by good works, but all who are saved will do good works.  Believers hate their sin; Believers loves the ways of our Lord.  It is not perfection, it is about direction! Ephesians 2:10 “For we’re his workmanship, created in CJ for good works, which Gd prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Our good works is proof we are truly saved What is your desires and deed saying about your faith?  The believer, Colossians 3:1-2 says, is now “raised with Christ”, so he “seeks the things that are above” and “not the thing that are on earth.”       What you love tells if your faith is real, or not.

2. Are you humble?

The believer is a sinner saved by grace, and so he can never be proud. Even now as a believer, you are still a sinner: You fight sin, but it still remains. Again, it is not perfection, but direction!  

Paul tells of his experience of this Romans 7:15. “For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”  We will never be perfect in this life, we fall short of the glory of God, at all times.         We constantly fight sin and seek righteousness! Our sinful origins and the sinful actions that remains should prevent us of being proud. 

The believers attitude must be like David’s in Psalm 51:1-3 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” The believer knows: he’s a sinner & all we have is God’s undeserved grace, he knows the truth of Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

This grace of God must humble the believer.  John 3:16 is a well known verse, but it must humble you when you read: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  The cost of your sin; the great love of God! How could you be proud? How could you not be humble? With Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15 we must humbly say: “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”        

 

3. Are you obedient?

True believers seeks to do God’s will! We are not perfect; fall short of the glory of God! But the believer fights against sin; The believer never stop desiring amd working to obey the will of God. It is the direction, it is not perfection. 

1 John 2:4 “Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Yes, we fail, but have sorrow & repentance when we fail to do His will.  Jesus says in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”          Jesus is more adamant in John 14:23-24a, saying “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, & my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” 

You are not sinless, you are still far from perfect, but the believer fights sin, confess sin, as forgiveness for sin, and keep fighting sin. Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” 

But also the believer does God’s will. James 4:7-8 says “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” 

The two go hand in hand, we fight sin, and we seek to do righteousness. When we fail we repent, stand up, strive and fight again until our dying day. Is that true of you? 

We are sinners living in a sinful world, but the believer seeks to glorify God. The believer loves the things of God. He fight and hate the sin that remains. He confesses, he repents, he returns to ways of the Lord.  Do you love the Lord and His ways and His things?  Are you still humbled by your sin and He’s undeserved grace towards you? Do you seek to obey the Lord & do you fight against your sin? These are the signs of true faith

 

As a footnote let met add that trials are a good test of faith.

Does trials drive you closer to the Lord, or does trials drive you from the Lord?  Sometimes it takes time to show itself, but does it bring you closer or drive you further from God? 

In the beginning trials might overwhelm you, even irritate or anger you. That is sinful, but not unforgivable! But if trials and tribulations turn you away from the Lord, your faith is not true. If it makes you distrust the Lord, or even worse hate the Lord, it is a lie. 

James 1:2-4 says “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What James is saying is that trials and tribulations is the ultimate test of your faith. If you stand, your faith is true; If you fall, your faith is a lie. 

Therefore, count trials a joy Psalm 119:71 says “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” In Romans 5:3-5 Paul says “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”   

  

The question about your faith is important. If you have faith, you cannot lose it! Therefore, make sure you have it.  Because we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, by the grace of God alone. Without that, you cannot be saved.  Thank God for His inexplicable grace towards every believer everywhere!

Hoe kan ek weet of ek gered is?

 

Hoe kan ek weet of ek gered is?

Persone het by ‘n aantal geleentheide al vir my genoem dat hulle sukkel met geloofssekerheid. Dit het my laat dink dat hierdie stryd dalk meer algemeen is as wat ons dink. Dis iets waarmee selfs ware gelowiges van tyd tot tyd kan sukkel.

 Die een ding waarvan jy seker kan wees, is dat 'n gelowige nie sy redding kan verloor nie. In Johannes 6:37 sê ons Here: “Al wat die Vader My gee, sal na My toe kom; en Ek sal hom wat na My toe kom, nooit uitwerp nie.” Die ware gelowige kan nie sy redding verloor nie: Jy het niks gedoen om dit te verdien nie; jy het niks gedoen om dit te verkry nie, dit is 'n onverdiende gawe van God se genade. Efesiërs 2:8 sê: “Want uit genade is julle gered, deur die geloof, en dit nie uit julleself nie: dit is die gawe van God.”

 Wees verseker as jy werklik gered is, sal redding jou die ewige lewe gee!

 Die vraag is dus nie: Kan ek my redding verloor nie? Jy kan nie! Die vraag is: Is my redding werklik? Is ek werklik gered of nie? Dit is die vraag wat hierdie studie probeer beantwoord: Hoe kan ek weet of ek gered is? Om dit te beantwoord, moet jy jouself drie indringende vrae afvra:

 

1. Waarvoor is jy lief? 

Die ware gelowige is 'n veranderde persoon. Deur God se genade het jy die ewige lewe gevind, maar jy het ook nuwe begeertes gevind. 2 Korintiërs 5:17 sê: “Daarom, as iemand in Christus is, is hy ‘n nuwe skepsel; die ou dinge het verbygegaan, kyk, dit het alles nuut geword.” Jy is nie meer dieselfde nie, en daarom is wat jy begeer ook nie meer dieselfde nie. Jy is 'n nuwe skepsel, die ou dinge het verbygegaan. Is dit waar van jou? 

Ek sê nie jy is reeds perfek nie! Ons bereik nooit perfeksie in hierdie lewe nie. Maar ons begeertes is nou in ooreenstemming met wat Paulus in Efesiërs 4:22-24 sê: “dat julle, wat die vorige lewenswandel betref die oue mens moet aflê wat deur die begeerlikhede van die verleiding te gronde gaan, en dat julle vernuwe moet word in die gees van julle gemoed en julle met die nuwe mens moet beklee wat na God geskape is in ware geregtigheid en heiligheid.” 

Daar is 'n verlange om meer heilig te word. 'n Voortdurende dryfkrag om aan die sonde te sterf; 'n voortdurende begeerte om God in alles te behaag.  Alhoewel ons soms sal misluk, is daar 'n begeerte om op te staan ​​en weer te probeer. Jy haat jou sonde en veg voortdurend om dit te oorkom.  Jy het nuwe liefde, jy is lief vir die dinge van God, jy haat die dinge van die wêreld.  Dis nie perfeksie nie, maar dis rigting! Dis die teken van ware geloof. 

Hier is 'n paar dinge wat ware gelowiges liefhet: 

a. Gelowiges is lief vir die Here

Die grootste gebod volgens Matteus 22:37-38 is: “En Jesus antwoord hom: Jy moet die Here jou God liefhê met jou hele hart en met jou hele siel en met jou hele verstand.  Dit is die eerste en groot gebod.” 

Het jy die Here werklik lief, met jou hele hart, siel en verstand? Nie perfeksie nie, maar rigting! Het jy die Here lief? 

b. Gelowiges is lief vir die Woord

Psalm 119:103-105 sê: “Hoe soet is u beloftes vir my verhemelte, meer as heuning vir my mond. Uit u bevele kry ek verstand; daarom haat ek elke leuenpad. U woord is ‘n lamp vir my voet en ‘n lig vir my pad.” 

Selfs al word jy deur die Woord van God aangespreek en al is dit soms moeilik om dit te gehoorsaam, verlustig die gelowige hom in die Woord van die Here. Jy sien uit daarna om dit te bestudeer, jy mediteer daaroor en probeer om dit te gehoorsaam. Is jy lief vir God se Woord?

c. Gelowiges is lief vir medegelowiges

In 1 Johannes 4:20 lees ons: “As iemand sê: Ek het God lief—en sy broeder haat, is hy ‘n leuenaar; want wie sy broeder wat hy gesien het, nie liefhet nie, hoe kan hy God liefhê wat hy nie gesien het nie?” Ons liefde vir die medegelowiges is 'n teken dat ons God liefhet, sê Johannes. Dit weerspieël wat Jesus in Johannes 13:35 sê: “Hieraan sal almal weet dat julle my dissipels is, as julle liefde onder mekaar het.” Dit beteken nie dat ons nie soms met gelowiges verskil nie, maar ons moet hulle steeds liefhê. 

In Galasiërs 2:11-14 sê Paulus dat hy ernstig met Petrus verskil het en hom bestraf het. Tog noem hy Petrus oomblikke tevore in verse 8 en 9 ‘n man wat deur God geroep is en 'n 'Pilaar' van die geloof. Net so, wanneer hy oor Paulus praat, sê Petrus dat sy briewe 'wysheid' en 'Skrif' is. Daar is ook baie tekens dat Petrus nie net Paulus se briewe gelees het nie, maar ek vermoed dat hy hulle in gedagte gehad het toe hy in sy eie briewe geskryf het. 

Liefde vir die medegelowiges: selfs al verskil jy oor nie-fundamentele dinge; selfs al bestraf hulle jou, is dit waar van jou? Want dit is 'n teken van ware gelowiges, ons is met mekaar verenig in Christus. 

d. Gelowiges is lief vir die eredienste

Daar bestaan nie so iets soos 'n ware gelowige wat weier om kerk toe te gaan nie. Hebreërs 10:25 beskryf die verwaarlosing van die onderlinge byeenkoms as 'n slegte gewoonte wat nie in 'n Christen hoort nie.  Selfs al is ons lewens in gevaar, soos dit met die gelowiges in Handelinge 1:13-14 was, het hulle op die dag van die Here in die bovertrek bymekaargekom om saam te aanbid. 

Waarom is die onderlinge byeenkoms belangrik? Omdat Jesus in Mattheus 18:20 sê: “Want waar twee of drie in my Naam vergader, daar is Ek in hul midde.” Daar is 'n besondere teenwoordigheid van ons Here in ons samekomste. Sodat ons nie net gemeenskap met mekaar het nie, maar ook met ons Here. 

Die ware gelowige sien uit na Sondag: Om Sy Woord te hoor en daaroor te besin; om ons waaragtige God te aanbid; om saam met die heiliges te vergader.

e. Gelowiges is lief vir die dinge van God

1 Petrus 4:1-2 sê: “Omdat Christus dan vir ons na die vlees gely het, moet julle jul ook wapen met dieselfde gedagte, dat wie na die vlees gely het, opgehou het met die sonde, om die orige tyd in die vlees nie meer volgens die begeerlikhede van die mense te leef nie, maar volgens die wil van God.” Hy praat met lydende Christene, so wat ook al jou omstandighede mag wees, dit geld ook vir jou: Diegene wat waarlik met Christus verenig is, bestry sonde; diegene wat waarlik met Christus verenig is, doen God se wil! Jesus waarsku oor dieselfde ding in Matteus 7:21: “Nie elkeen wat vir My sê: Here, Here! sal ingaan in die koninkryk van die hemele nie, maar hy wat die wil doen van my Vader wat in die hemele is.”

 

Al die dinge wat ek genoem het, is tekens dat jou geloof waar is. Ons word nie deur goeie werke gered nie, maar almal wat gered is sal goeie werke doen. Gelowiges haat hulle sonde; Gelowiges het die weë van ons Here lief. Dit is nie perfeksie nie, ek Dit gaan oor rigting! Efesiërs 2:10 “Want ons is sy maaksel, geskape in Christus Jesus tot goeie werke wat God voorberei het, sodat ons daarin kan wandel.”  Ons goeie werke is bewys dat ons waarlik gered is. Wat sê jou begeertes en dade oor jou geloof? Die gelowige, sê Kolossense 3:1-2, is nou “saam met Christus opgewek”, so hy “soek die dinge wat daarbo is” en “nie die dinge wat op die aarde is nie.” Wat jy liefhet, sê of jou geloof eg is of nie.

 

2. Is jy nederig?

Die gelowige is 'n sondaar wat deur genade gered is, en daarom kan hy nooit trots wees nie. Selfs nou as 'n gelowige is jy steeds 'n sondaar: Jy veg teen sonde, maar dit bly steeds. Weereens, dit is nie perfeksie nie, maar rigting! 

Paulus vertel van sy ervaring van Romeine 7:15. “Want wat ek doen, weet ek nie; want wat ek wil, dit doen ek nie, maar wat ek haat, dit doen ek.” Ons sal nooit perfek wees in hierdie lewe nie, ons skiet tekort aan die heerlikheid van God, en sal ons lewe lank. Maar ons veg voortdurend teen sonde en soek geregtigheid! Ons sondige oorsprong en die sondige dade wat bly, moet ons daarvan weerhou om trots te word. 

Die gelowige se ingesteldheid moet soos Dawid s'n in Psalm 51:3-5 wees: “Wees my genadig, o God, na u goedertierenheid; delg my oortredinge uit na die grootheid van u barmhartigheid. Was my heeltemal van my ongeregtigheid en reinig my van my sonde. Want ék ken my oortredinge, en my sonde is altyddeur voor my.” Die gelowige weet: hy is 'n sondaar en al wat ons het, is God se onverdiende genade, hy ken die waarheid van Romeine 6:23: “Die loon van die sonde is die dood, maar die genadegawe van God is die ewige lewe in Christus Jesus, onse Here.” 

Hierdie genade van God moet die gelowige nederig maak. Johannes 3:16 is 'n bekende vers, maar dit moet jou nederig maak wanneer jy lees: “Want so lief het God die wêreld gehad, dat Hy sy eniggebore Seun gegee het, sodat elkeen wat in Hom glo, nie verlore mag gaan nie, maar die ewige lewe kan hê.” Die koste van jou sonde; die groot liefde van God! Hoe kan jy trots wees? Hoe kan jy nie nederig wees nie? Saam met Paulus in 2 Korintiërs 9:15 moet ons nederig sê: “Maar God sy dank vir sy onuitspreeklike gawe!”

 

3. Is jy gehoorsaam? 

Ware gelowiges streef daarna om God se wil te doen! Ons is nie perfek nie; ons skiet tekort aan die heerlikheid van God! Maar die gelowige veg teen sonde; die gelowige hou nooit op om te begeer en te werk om die wil van God te gehoorsaam nie. Dit is die rigting, dit is nie perfeksie nie. 

1 Johannes 2:4 “Hy wat sê: Ek ken Hom, en sy gebooie nie bewaar nie, is ‘n leuenaar en in hom is die waarheid nie.” Ja, ons misluk, maar het droefheid en berou wanneer ons nie Sy wil doen nie. Jesus sê in Johannes 14:15: “As julle My liefhet, bewaar my gebooie.” Jesus is meer onwrikbaar in Johannes 14:23-24a en sê: “Jesus antwoord en sê vir hom: As iemand My liefhet, sal hy my woord bewaar, en my Vader sal hom liefhê, en Ons sal na hom toe kom en by hom woning maak. Hy wat My nie liefhet nie, bewaar my woorde nie.” 

Jy is nie sondeloos nie, jy is nog vêr van perfek, maar die gelowige veg teen sonde, bely sonde, as vergifnis vir sonde, en hou aan om teen sonde te veg. Galasiërs 5:16 “Maar ek sê: Wandel deur die Gees, dan sal julle nooit die begeerlikheid van die vlees volbring nie.” 

Maar die gelowige doen ook God se wil. Jakobus 4:7-8 sê: “Onderwerp julle dan aan God; weerstaan die duiwel, en hy sal van julle wegvlug. Nader tot God, en Hy sal tot julle nader. Reinig die hande, julle sondaars, en suiwer die harte, julle dubbelhartiges!” 

Die twee gaan hand aan hand, ons veg teen sonde, en ons soek geregtigheid. Wanneer ons faal, bekeer ons ons, staan ​​op, stry en veg weer tot ons sterfdag. Is dit waar van jou? 

Ons is sondaars wat in 'n sondige wêreld leef, maar die gelowige soek om God te verheerlik. Die gelowige is lief vir die dinge van God. Hy veg en haat die sonde wat oorbly. Hy bely, hy bekeer hom, hy keer terug na die weë van die Here. Het jy die Here en Sy weë en Sy dinge lief? Is jy steeds nederig asgevolg van jou sonde en Sy onverdiende genade teenoor jou? Soek jy daarna om die Here te gehoorsaam en veg jy teen jou sonde? Dit is die tekens van ware geloof.

 

As 'n voetnota, wil ek byvoeg dat beproewings 'n goeie toets van ware geloof is. 

Dryf beproewings jou na die Here toe, of dryf beproewings jou weg van die Here af? Soms neem dit tyd om dit te toon, maar bring dit jou nader of dryf dit jou verder van God af?

In die begin kan beproewings jou oorweldig, selfs irriteer of kwaad maak. Dit is sondig, maar nie onvergeeflik nie! Maar as beproewings en verdrukkinge jou van die Here af wegdraai, is jou geloof nie opreg nie. As dit jou die Here laat wantrou, of selfs meer, die Here laat haat, isjou geloof nie ware geloof nie. 

Jakobus 1:2-4 sê: “Ag dit louter vreugde, my broeders, wanneer julle in allerhande versoekinge val, omdat julle weet dat die beproewing van julle geloof lydsaamheid bewerk. Maar die lydsaamheid moet tot volle verwerkliking kom, sodat julle volmaak en sonder gebrek kan wees en in niks kortkom nie.” Wat Jakobus sê is dat beproewings en verdrukkinge die uiteindelike toets van jou geloof is. As dit staande bly, is jou geloof opreg; As jou geloof wegval, is jou geloof 'n leuen. 

Beskou daarom beproewinge as 'n vreugde. Psalm 119:71 sê: “Dit is goed vir my dat ek verdruk was, sodat ek u insettinge sou leer.” In Romeine 5:3-5 sê Paulus: “...maar ons roem ook in die verdrukkinge, omdat ons weet dat die verdrukking lydsaamheid werk, en die lydsaamheid beproefdheid en die beproefdheid hoop; en die hoop beskaam nie, omdat die liefde van God in ons harte uitgestort is deur die Heilige Gees wat aan ons gegee is.”

 

Die vraag oor jou geloof is belangrik. As jy geloof het, kan jy dit nie verloor nie! Maak dus seker dat jy waarlik ‘n gelowige is. Want ons word deur geloof alleen gered, in Christus alleen, deur die genade van God alleen. Sonder geloof kan jy nie gered word nie. Dank God vir Sy onverklaarbare genade teenoor elke gelowige oral!