Take a little test that will help reveal to yourself some things about salvation. On a sale of 1-5 rate yourself:
- Never true
- Rarely true
- Sometimes true
- Usually true
- Always true
- ____ I have an awareness and brokenness over my sin.
- ____ I have a hunger for God’s word.
- ____ I have a desire for living the Christian life of obedience.
- ____ I have seen an increase in Satan attacking my faith.
- ____ I have genuine love for others.
- ____ I have a desire to share my faith with others.
- ____ I have experienced social pressure or ridicule from non-believing family, friends, classmates, co-works, etc.
We will ALWAYS be growing in these areas, and we will NEVER reach a point where we perfectly do all of these things, but these seven areas are indicators that we are believers and are actively pursuing God. Let’s look at why these are solid evidences of salvation.
1. Brokenness over Sin:
- 1 John 1:6 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”
- 1 John 1:8-10 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
2. Hunger for God’s Word:
- 1 Peter 2:2 “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,”
3. Christian Life Transformation and Obedience:
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
- 1 John 2:4 “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
4. Testing, Troubles and Trials in Life:
- 2 Timothy 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”
5. Genuine Love for Others:
- 1 John 4:7-23 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
6. Desire to Tell Others About Your Faith:
- Mark 8:28 “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
- Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
7. Social Pressure Because of Your Faith:
- John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
- John 17:14 “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”
- 1 John 3:13 “Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”