“These things have I written unto you that believe on the [N]ame of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the [N]ame of the Son of God.”  (1 John 5)

 

It is written, …”the [W]ord of God …is sharper than any two edged sword…” The Word of God and the doctrines contained therein cut (2) two ways.  We will see this divine dynamic in this article (Dv). We will seek to define what a Christ-ian is. We will not go to a dictionary or an encyclopedia. We will go to the source, Scripture. In definining what a Christ-ian is will give many readers assurance.

Assurance is a doctrine of grace along with: God’s sanctifying election (Jude v.1), God’s calling, justification, sanctification, and glorification (Romans 8). The doctrine of assurance does just what it sounds like, it is that which assures me that I am, indeed, saved; that Christ did, in fact, die for me and that the Holy Spirit actually indwells my heart, mind, and my instincts.

As we said, this doctrine will cut (2) two ways, it will assure the believer that s/he is born again and is safely in Christ. On the other hand this doctrine can also alert a person to the fact that their profession of faith is merely that, a professing. Some may learn that they are not a Christ-ian at all. Some professing “believers” know that they are not the real deal and this does not bother them at all.  While others may be startled by this knowledge, to them we say this, if you are startled by the knowledge that you have never been truly born again, your response is a good response. This may be the time to be certain of your salvation.

Persons who are susceptible to this feax belief are those that have been victimized by the name it and claim it crowd or even the eager door-knocker that said a prayer with them and then told them they were now saved. I’m not belittling anyone who goes door to door, I’m simply saying it can be misunderstood by the one “saying” the sinners prayer, note: I said, saying not praying the sinners prayer. I must confess, I do not have a lot of hope with the practiced and very plastic door to door salesman/witness routine. One reason is that so often it is done in the flesh, if it’s the same spiel time and again, how can it not be flesh. The Spirit moves freely not according to script. When we knock at a door we should have freedom to address the person and not a script.

Pastor Ron Ruben of Lighthouse Church in the Bolingbrook, Plainfield, and Romeoville area, a good man and a good friend to me knows how to go about it. He goes to garage sales and converses with the persons he meets and before he leaves he tells them of Christ and invites them to church. No script, no rehearsal in front of a mirror, he simply walks in the Spirit and goes where the Spirit leads and you know what? Some of these persons actually show up and stick around!

Now to answer the question in one of our titles. How do you know you are saved. We might approach this as if we were in a court of law.  It might go like this,

Prosecuting Attorney: Bro. X, You have been charged with being a Christ-ian.
Bro. X: I have and I am.
PA. Speaking to the jury: Today i will use evidence that will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Mr. X is, in fact and indeed, a Christ-ian.

Pieces of evidence:
*A picture of Mr. X reading a Bible.
*An audio recording of Mr. X praying.
*A witness will testify that Mr. X loves his Christ-ian family, his neighbors, and even his enemies.
*Another witness will testify to Mr.X’s speaking in public about his love for Jesus Christ and Christ’s love for him.

*And yet, another witness will testify to the purity of life that Mr. X seeks to live.

 

The defense will now present it’s case:
Defense Attorney (DA): N/A

 

The Jury verdict is in:  We the jury find Mr. X  Guilty of being a Christ-ian.

Godspeed.