Proof of Our Salvation

 It seems to me that there are a lot of people who think they might be saved from their sins, but they are not sure. Others hope they have done enough to be saved, but they do not have assurance of their salvation. That is not how God wants us to be. He wants us to be sure of our salvation. John makes that very clear in his writings in the New Testament. He gave us several ways to be sure that we are saved.

John was clear that there are children of God, and there are children of the devil. There is no middle ground. Then, he told us how the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. (I John 3:10) "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." I don't think that most people think about these two factors, so let's take them to heart for a few minutes.

When a person is saved, it is not just by saying a prayer or being baptized. Yes, calling out to the Lord Jesus is part of salvation, and we should be baptized after we are saved, but it doesn't save us. The Lord is the one who saves us. When we truly repent of our sins, trust Jesus to forgive our sins, and surrender to Him as Lord, He saves us. Then, the Holy Spirit comes into our life to empower us and guide us in God's will. Therefore, we will regularly practice righteousness, not just stop doing a few bad things. We will have a change of heart and a change of what we do.

Also, when a person is saved, and the Holy Spirit comes in, the love of the Lord floods our life. God is love, and when we are God's child, we will love like He loves. That especially goes for loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we don't love the brethren, we are not saved. We are to love them as Christ loves us. He was willing to lay down His life for us, and we should be willing to lay down our life for our Christian brothers and sisters. Then, we know we are saved.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I John 4-5, II John, III John, and Jude.