How Can Christians Be Sure of Their Salvation?

[@steveolson1811]

To keithrock, At first your initial comments gave me pause. But your last one and it seemed you grew with each comment, made me agree wholeheartedly. In fact there was a bishop in the Orthodox Church many years ago who was noted for extreme strictness to the priests and Monks under his charge. He was asked at the end of his life for a word of wisdom . He said the greatest time of his life was when he was dismissed from his bishopship and priesthood . He felt God's presence more at that time than any other. But then he finished by saying, "God does not punish us like criminals but rather as his children" . Many people who heard this remembered it to the end of their life. I agree. We need to remember the love God has for us as we love him and try to love others. We don't do this perfectly but we ask God for His help.We need to remember all and everyone is ok because God makes all things right. May God continue blessing us all.

[@gleasonparker1684]

Thanks for allowing comments.

[@megaloschemos9113]

Perfectly put 💯

[@orlandocastillo5194]

If you don't start hating specially your own sins, the love of God is not growing in you, this verse reminder of how fearful of judgment of GOD we should become if grow on the faith of Christ. Repent and sin no more..

[@J-PLeigh8409]

Jesus Christ the eternal King of glory, our great High Priest seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, the very hope of our soul, the joy of our spirit & the love of our heart

[@johntrevett2944]

Religion loves Matthew 7:15-23. Religion uses this to strike fear into the hearts of its followers. To be honest, it scared me for the longest time. I would think, “What if Jesus is talking about me? What if he told me, ‘I never knew you’?” I remember the pain and borderline suffering this passage caused me. However, when we compare scripture with other scripture, it really is not that scary at all-unless, of course, you are a false prophet. False prophets are what this passage is about (see verse 15). Not every one that saith unto me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23) Let’s start with verse 21: “but he that doeth the will of my Father”. We must ask, “WHAT is the WILL of the Father?” The answer is in John 6:40, which reads, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Continuing on in verse 22 we read, “and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Notice what these people were relying on to go to heaven. They were relying on (trusting in) their WORKS to save them. The Bible states over and over: “NOT by works” (Eph 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; Rom 4:5,6; Rom 3:25-28 and my all-time favorite Rom 11:6 which reads, “and if by grace, then is it NO MORE OF WORKS; otherwise grace is no more grace”. Also notice what they DIDN’T say. They didn’t say, “Lord, I believed you paid my sin debt at the cross.” Their faith was NOT in Jesus. Rather, their faith was in their works. Let’s move on to verse 23 and the phrase, “I NEVER knew you”. Jesus DIDN’T say, “I once knew you and now I don’t.” He said, “I NEVER knew you.” As a result, we can conclude that these people were never saved. Jesus ate with sinners and told the Pharisees that harlots were getting into the kingdom before them (Matt 21:31). Remember the woman washing His feet with tears. The Pharisees called her a sinner. Jesus said to her, “…thy sins are forgiven… thy faith hath saved thee” (Luke 7:48-50). The point of these passages is this: Jesus KNOWS sinners! This is especially true in light of the fact that the Bible says we are ALL sinners (Rom 3: 9-12). The second part of verse 23 says “ye that work iniquity”. Were they sinners? YES. Wait, do I work iniquity (sin)? YES. Do you still work iniquity (sin)? YES, you do. In fact, the great evangelical Paul could not stop sinning (Rom 7:14-25) We know that every person is a sinner and works iniquity. Some people commit sin more than others, but the Bible concludes ALL under sin (Rom 3:9-12). Saved people sin all the time in the Bible. The Bible also reads that all sins are forgiven to the believer. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you ALL trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Col 2:13,14). “And by him all that believe are justified from ALL things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). “Wherefore I say unto you, ALL manner of sin and blasphemy shall be FORGIVEN unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt 12:31,32). CLOSING THOUGHTS Many say the problem is that these professing Christians were relying on their works and not going to heaven. I believe this is a true statement. How many professing Christians do you know who are relying on works to help them get into heaven? However, I also see something else here. Those who fit this “mantra” are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. 1. Both groups were started by a supposed prophet (Joe smith and William Russell Taze) 2. Both groups do many wonderful works in the name of Jesus (and declare that works are needed) 3. Both groups DENY the deity of Jesus. They think he is the archangel Michael. Jesus will say I NEVER knew you! Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:3,4: But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. NOTE: many versions read something completely different in 2 Cor 11:3. This is the KJV. Jesus said in the book of John, “…unless ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). One must believe in the deity of Jesus, that He is God’s only Son, God in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16; John 1:14). Any other Jesus is “another Jesus”. Whether the problem here is proclaiming works for salvation OR these folks trusting “another Jesus”, they were being judged by the law and were not under grace. The born again believer is “dead to the law” (Rom 7:2-4), is not under the law (Gal 3:23-25), but under grace. The law can’t touch the born again believer. IF you have trusted Jesus and His glorious gospel as your only hope to go to heaven, I can tell you with 100% certainty: Jesus KNOWS you!

[@nicolas9533]

@@cekuyak mat 25 _"35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."_ => so you believe any atheist unbeliever who has done one of these at least once, is saved? - give food to an hungry christian? - give water to thirsty christian? - welcomed a christian? - visit a sick christian? - visit a christian convict? *aren't 99% of the world saved with this false interpretation?* mat 25 _"41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."_ => so you believe any believer who has *NOT* done one of these at least once, is going to hell? - *NOT* give food to an hungry christian? - *NOT* give water to thirsty christian? - *NOT* welcomed a christian? - *NOT* visit a sick christian? - *NOT* visit a christian convict? *aren't 100% of the believers going to hell with this false interpretation?* => aren't everyone going to heaven and hell at the same time? => because only sinless people would get access!

[@gleasonparker1684]

Good answer.

[@gleasonparker1684]

Mat 7 is about false prophets. THANKS

[@zarnoffa]

The will of God is to believe in Jesus Christ and if you do that you have Christ’s righteousness, not your own. If you have Christ’s righteousness, you are saved. This righteousness doesn’t come from you and it doesn’t waver from day to day. It comes from God. So, if you have the righteousness of God which comes only by faith, you are saved. This is a new sort of righteousness. Your baptism is where God individually and personally gave you His Promise to forgive your sins forever. You’ll never find peace in your own obedience levels. It’s only through confidence in God’s Promise in Christ who died for our sins. Don’t follow gospels that aren’t really gospels.

[@westoftherockies]

you said it perfectly, whoever reads this, that is exactly how you know, you simply believe God's promise and realize its all in christ and his finished work, the problem is a lot of bible verses people don't understand and religious people use those to sow doubt in people's minds, but once you learn to view scripture through the lens of christ finished work and not your own, the text points to christ, verses that seem to point to works you need to do really aren't about your works but christ work, verses like "dying to self" "take up your cross" "mortifying the deeds of the flesh" etc seem to be scary but they're not pointing to things like lawkeeping and obeying the commandments, they're spiritual truth and basicaly all just saying "learn to trust christ alone, and not in yourself, valuing christ righteousness and shed blood", thats all they mean. its not about us, its only about christ and trusting him for your eternity, he is the life.

[@kvelez]

3:44 Interesting, Judas did that. That reminded me of the passage in Luke 10.

[@gleasonparker1684]

Turn up volume . otherwise wasting time

[@nicolas9533]

what is this false teacher? someone ask about loosing salvation because of a false interpretation of mat7:21, and the guy answer by _"are you doing enough works?"_ *nahum1:7* _"God knows the one who trust him"._ *John **6:40* _"will of the Father = believe in Christ to be saved"_ -> the false prophets of mat7:21 never believed Christ saved them, and yet they did a lot of works for Christ. => these are people like Hank Hanegraaff, who don't trust Christ's blood saved them, but they trust *Christ* + *obedience/works/perseverance.* they believe necessary to add on top of the blood, their obedience/works/perseverance -> *making them reject the free gift of the blood.*

[@keithrock77]

Do you have peace with God by faith in Jesus Christ? Perfect love casts away all fear...Christians will not doubt their salvation because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin...When a "Christian" doubts like this young man does, his conscience is warning him of God's coming judgment and thus hell.

[@keithrock77]

When "Christians" doubt their salvation, it is the evidence that they never knew God because their foundation was not built on the Rock Jesus Christ...

[@JaffarDS]

What about all those Psalms where David is seeking God? Seems to imply a dark night of a soul. God feels gone in our experience and we doubt our salvation.

[@keithrock77]

JaffarDS We as Christians certainly doubt God's ways at times but we never doubt that we are God's adopted children by grace..Our relationship with God is not based on our performance because we are justified by the righteousness that comes from God by faith in Jesus Christ alone...

[@agentjackstone3543]

JaffarDS Gotta ask what was happening in David's world when he wrote such psalms. As you know the king had heavy burdens, a life of fear, bloodshed, and infidelities. This also was all occuring at a time when the Holy Spirit had not yet entered the world to teach and dwell with men. Hope that helps :)

[@keithrock77]

Does a parent stop loving his child altogether because he or she wasn't being good enough? By no means!