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How to Know You're Saved: Obedience & Discipline


Obedience

“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6).

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:9-10).

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him” (1 John 5:18).

We know we are saved because we are no longer living in sin. If it looks like we are living in sin, then there is no reason for others to know that we are Christians, and no reason for us to, either.

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3).

Obedience is not the means of salvation; it is evidence of our salvation. Are you obedient?

Discipline

If obedience is a means of knowing that you know the Lord, what happens when you disobey?

“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:5-11).

God does not discipline those who are not His children. If you are getting away with disobedience, you are not a child of God. If you are being disciplined, pay attention and repent. It is evidence that you are saved.

To be continued on Wednesday.

 

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

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