July 26, 2021

161. Bible Questions: Can I KNOW if I am saved?

161. Bible Questions: Can I KNOW if I am saved?

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161. Bible Questions: Can I KNOW if I am saved?

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Show Notes
Transcript

Bible Questions: What does "saved" mean and what are the indicators it has actually happened?

Been wondering lately if the Lord is really in your life? Here are 10 fingerprints that He really is! As you read them (an the references I have included), don't be too critical of yourself. Remember it takes a whole lifetime to grow in Christ-likeness. And often, those who know the Lord the best and love the Lord the most feel the most unworthy. Yet, the Bible is clear that there are definite fingerprints of the presence of Jesus to give us confident assurance that we are indeed His beloved children. Generally speaking, as we follow Jesus as His apprentice through the course of our lives, we will find these fingerprints emerging and growing in us…

Fingerprint #1: A thankful heart in difficult circumstances [Eph. 5:18b, 20]

Fingerprint #2: The ability to yield my will to the will of others [Eph. 5:21].

Fingerprint #3: Obedience to God my priority [1 Jn. 2:3-5 & 29] We are taught here that everyone who

Fingerprint #4: A self-giving love to God’s people of all colors and creeds [1 Jn. 2:9-10, 4:7-17]

Fingerprint #5: An understanding and embracing of Scriptural truth [1 Cor 2:14-15a; 1 Jn. 2:9-10].

Fingerprint #7: A consistent relationship with Jesus Christ [Jn. 15:1-8; 1 Jn. 2:24-28].

Fingerprint #8: A striving to become a more holy vessel for God [1 Jn. 3:2b-3].

Fingerprint #9: Ruthless attention to sinful areas in our lives [1 Jn.1:8-9; 3:5-6].

Fingerprint #10: A lifestyle of investing rather than saving our resources [1 Jn. 3:16-20; Ja. 2:14-17]

Transcript

Bible Questions: Can I know if I am saved?
 
if you want a telltale sign, 

1

00:00:05

if someone's a Christian or not, I'd suggest you look at their fingernails. Most Christians spend a lot of time biting them down. Wondering about this question. Can I know if I'm really saved? There's a reason this insecurity plagues Christians, several of them. Actually, the first is we're not taught very well from scripture. The evidence of a relationship in the presence of God in our lives. Second, we have an enemy that goes around looking into corners of our lives, pointing out deficiencies and condemning us. And a third reason is Christians often don't tend to some important functions and priority is that causes us to wonder if we've been inoculated rather than have the real disease of Christianity.

1

00:00:53

Can I know if I'm saved, let's start with that last word saved. What is that? Anyway, we learned in episode 10, the eight edge piece themes that make up the message of scripture. I want to briefly look at the first five made strayed lost cost and save made means we're made in his image and deeply loved by God. Strayed means we wandered off from God by Genesis five, it was said of man, every thought of their heart was only evil all the time. Then again, by second Kings 17, God described his people this way. They had sold themselves to sin.

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00:01:34

Ephesians one in the new Testament describes us as blind, dead, and without hope in this world, that's what strayed means. Or as scripture says, all we like sheep have gone astray, which leads to lost. Once straight, we get hopelessly lost and lost people who try to find their own way back to God. Get lost there. I run into many people who don't really feel lost when I was a teenager, there was a bumper sticker that said, Jesus is the answer. Someone created a new bumper sticker in the same font and color that said, what was the question you can't be found or saved if you don't think you're lost, which brings me to saved.

1

00:02:18

I'll come back to cost in a minute. Save means God alone can find strayed sheep and bring them back. We learned in episode 23, God, bringing us back to himself is done through a gift of God. The biblical word is grace. Or as I explained it in episode 23, the word picture of a pizza party thrown by daddy for brats in the hall. You might want to listen to that one. Again, scripture from cover to cover says, God saves his strayed loss people. God does it. Our part is only to receive it. How do we do that? Abraham shows us we're told in Genesis 15, six, Abraham believed God and God said, we're right.

1

00:03:03

You're saved. I described leaving in my word picture launch, going all in, running and jumping into the arms of God in full belief and trust in who he is and what he's done. It's going all in on God. And in the new Testament on God's son, Jesus. In episode 92, I answered the question. What do we have to believe in to be saved? This was Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus refers to an old Testament incident of snakes breaking out in the camp. Israel God's solution, put a bronze serpent up on a pole and tell the people this, all you have to do is look in there, leaf on that serpent.

1

00:03:47

And I will heal you in John chapter three with Nicodemus Jesus answers. Nick's question about salvation by saying this as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the son of man must be lifted up that all who believe might be saved. There's our word being saved, going all in on Jesus and what he was to do on that. Pull the cross, which brings us to the word I skipped cost. God saves us at a great price in that same Nicodemus passage, John three, Jesus answers the why God would save us encourageable, little strayed and lost brats.

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00:04:28

It's arguably the most famous verse in the Bible for God. So loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever will believe there's our word on him might be saved. We are saved as a gift by a loving God through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross in episode 29, the apostle Paul writes a letter to the Galatians. The entire letter is about salvation and how it happens that it's all God's doing. It's all in faith in Jesus. Plus nothing equals salvation. God does it all. We just go all in on what God does through the shed, blood and resurrection of Jesus.

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00:05:11

So you say, okay, I get what it now means to get saved. I acknowledge I'm strayed and hope blissfully lost in my sin. And that separates me from a holy God. Then I go all in on what Jesus did on the cross by dying in my place and then rising from the dead. That's the Christian teaching of salvation, what it means to be saved. So the question is, have you gone all in that leads to the rest of our question, the bite, your nails down to the cuticle part. Can I know that I'm saved in episode 1 0 7 Jesus the night before he dies, partially answers that question for the disciples.

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00:05:56

Jesus, this don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me there it is again, go all in on what God says about me and what I'm about to do tomorrow on the cross, he then talks about going away to prepare a place for us that we might be together. That was the theme of the old Testament. I'll be your God. You'll be my people. And we will dwell together. Thomas then asks him a question. We don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way Jesus replies? I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father. But through me in that important passage, Jesus teaches that he is preparing a place that he'll come and receive those who believe to himself, that those who follow Jesus as the way are saved, that should give believers.

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00:06:50

Who've gone all in and trust. A bit of confidence. Jesus is going to do what he said. He'd do about five decades later, that same writer, John writes little letters at the back of your new Testament. In his first letter in chapter five, verses nine through 11, using the term eternal life as a synonym for salvation. John writes this God has given us eternal life and that life is in his son. He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son does not have the life. Now check this out. These things I've written to you who believe in the son of God, that you might know that you have eternal life.

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00:07:34

John is saying those who believe on the name of Jesus, the name representing the whole package, who Jesus is and what he did on our behalf can stop biting their fingernails and have confidence. God has saved them. So why is it so many who think they have gone all in on Jesus? Don't feel like they know once again, our teaching from scripture is insufficient. We have an enemy who's accusing us. Who's sewing seeds of doubt. And we have all kinds of failures as followers of Jesus that make us wonder, I've heard on this planet of 7 billion people.

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00:08:14

Our fingerprints are utterly unique. Scripture teaches God's spirit. The holy spirit moves into a believer who goes all in on Jesus and leaves the distinct fingerprints of Jesus. Sometimes we really have to dust for them in our lives. They're subtle. Other times, they're like a child's chocolate finger smudges on a window. There are a whole bunch of fingerprints of the spirit of God in our lives. In scripture. I'm going to list a bunch of these under the show notes that the web page for your own study, if you haven't been to the web page, it's Bible word, pics P I C s.com.

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00:08:55

But to whet your appetite, I'm going to give you three distinct fingerprints of God's spirit in dwelling, the life of a person who's gone all in and is saved. Number one, a heart of obedience. Someone who's been saved who's in dwelt by the spirit of God will have a heart of obedience to do the things that God asks. Jesus said, whoever loves me will keep my commandments. And when I say a heart of obedience, I'm not talking about someone who's just giddy to do it. God says, I'm talking about someone committed to obey. Even when you don't want to a trajectory of obedience, not perfect obedience, but a heart to do God's will over our own.

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00:09:43

Number two fingerprints. If God's spirit is inside of us, there should be a love for God and a love for his people. The word consistently used is not affection, but that a God giving sacrificial love that honor and concern for people, even if we don't particularly like them. And the third fingerprint I'll give is being more troubled by the sin that pops up in our lives are in the word picture I used in the old Testament, frequently, those little turds, we drop in the Punchbowl of our relationship with God that should trouble a Christian one who is a follower of Jesus.

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00:10:24

And that is if calluses haven't built up over our heart, which is another issue I may have to answer in a future Bible questions. These are distinct fingerprints of the presence of God in the life of a believer. And as I said, there are many more I'll list them in the show notes. Can I know if I'm saved? Well, scripture is certainly clear how we can be saved and the distinct fingerprints of God in the life of a person are proof positive. A holy God is in there in a relationship working to change us in the terms of scripture, conforming us to be his image bearers.

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00:11:04

Once again, this leads to a follow-up question once saved. Can I become unsaved? Can I fall away or walk away? We'll look at this question in our next Bible questions.

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