How Do You Know If You're Saved?

There is a minimum of truth without which a person cannot be saved. This is the gospel.

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5).

Here is the basic truth of the gospel:

1) Who Jesus is—He is the Christ.

2) Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture.

3) He was buried. His burial did two things: It confirmed His death—He was dead and buried. It confirmed His resurrection.

4) He was raised on the third day according to the Scripture.

This is the truth that saves. Believing any less than this will not result in salvation.

It is possible to know that you are saved.

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

1 John was written so that you may know that you have eternal life. Do you want to know? Read the letter twice. Then go through it a third time and mark every occurrence of the word “know.” It will show up with two different meanings, but mark them all. Each verse will tell you how you can know that you have eternal life.

To be continued on Friday.

Excerpted from Assurances of Salvation, available at ccmbooks.org and Amazon.com.

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