How do I know I am a Christian?

How do I know

I am a Christian?

ï&#x20AC;&#x201A; Looking Deeper

 Looking Deeper How do I know I am a Christian?

was raised in a Christian home and prayed a prayer when I was young to ask Jesus to come into my life so that I could go to heaven. I was assured that I was now “born again” and I volunteered to be baptised. In the years that followed, I never once doubted that I was a real Christian. In fact, I was taught not to. For me, the horrifying reality hit me one morning when I was seventeen. The previous night, I had been doing a load of stuff that no Christian should have been doing, and I woke up under deep conviction. It hit me like a tonne of bricks. These thoughts just kept rolling over and over in my mind: “I am not living the life of a Christian; I am living in rebellion against God. There is no way God would let me into heaven.” These were brand new thoughts to me. That morning, I repented for the first time in my life. I turned away from sin and from living without

any love for God. Instead I gave myself, my life and all that I am to Jesus, asking Him to be my King and trusting Him to make me a new person. The change in my inner life was immediate and significant. I felt as though my mind had been scrubbed clean; any of my old habitual thoughts that tried to creep in felt foreign and damaging. That was when Jesus Christ saved me and changed my life; I began to know and love Him for myself. Perhaps my story resonates with your own. Or maybe your relationship with Jesus started to develop over a long time. Or perhaps you’re not 100% sure what your standing is with God. Whatever our journey with Jesus looks like, we all have times of doubt and uncertainty. What I have realised is that I’d much rather question my salvation and find real answers than be falsely confident as I have been in the past.

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Should we question our salvation?

any of us who consider ourselves Christians have seasons of doubt about whether we really belong to Jesus. Feelings of distance from God or habitual sin in our lives can shake the very foundations of our faith. As distressing as those feelings are, they are an important opportunity for us to explore the basis for the assurance of our salvation. Doubts can often lead us into stronger faith. So how should we deal with our times of uncertainty? The Bible tells us to examine ourselves. When the church at Corinth wanted “proof that Christ [was] speaking through [Paul]” (2 Corinthians 13:3), he told them their first concern of testing should actually be with themselves. Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves” (v.5). Having a willingness and desire to look at ourselves through God’s Word is actually a sign that we are on the right track! If the Bible says that we can and should test ourselves to see whether we are really in the faith, we can conclude at least two things: 1) It is possible to be wrong about our salvation and 2) It is possible to know for sure that we are in the faith. This can be a source of great comfort for those who struggle with doubts. After all, if we discover we don’t actually know Jesus for ourselves, or that there are problems with our walk with Him, we can ask God for help and He will put us right. Let’s look at some mistaken ideas about what a Christian is, and then we’ll explore the Bible’s definition.

SHOULD WE QUESTION OUR SALVATION? [3]

Lord, Lord, did we not . . . ? Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” —Matthew 7:21-23

pparently, there will be people who fully expect an entrance into heaven—and seem to have a lot of proof of knowing God in their lives—who will be turned away by Jesus. Their ‘proofs’ were different to what He was looking for. Here are some things that people often use as proof that they are in a relationship with God, which are not really biblically sound. I believe: Believing in Jesus Christ is an important part of our salvation; nobody who disbelieves the gospel can be saved. But is belief alone enough? You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! —James 2:19

Even the evil spirits believe in who God is; and James tells us that their belief is strong enough to make them shudder! But they are not members of God’s family. I remember many years of my young life when I never questioned the truth of the Bible; it was the only view that made sense of the world to me. But I had no [4] HOW DO I KNOW I AM A CHRISTIAN?

intention of living for Jesus. I loved living for my own pleasure, and had no desire to give that up. My belief was not enough; I had no genuine relationship with God. Just like understanding E=MC2 isn’t the same as knowing Einstein, understanding the gospel is not the same as knowing Jesus for ourselves. This is the key reason he gives for turning people away at heaven’s door: “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). I prayed the “Sinner’s Prayer”: The “Sinner’s Prayer” comes in many different forms, but it is essentially a prayer which acknowledges our sinfulness, declares faith in the gospel of Jesus and asks Him to come into our lives. All of those are extremely important. And the majority of people I know who have a genuine, vibrant walk with Jesus have certainly prayed something like this at some point. But this prayer has become problematic for many people because it is often used as a formula for salvation. Sometimes people are encouraged to repeat this prayer, and then they are declared to be eternally, unalterably saved, based solely on the fact that they have said those words. The problem is that it is entirely possible to pray those words without ever actually turning from our life of sin, and without genuinely trusting Jesus for ourselves. We are not saved by the words we say to Jesus; we are saved by Him simply when we trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and give Him our lives. Everyone’s journey to Jesus looks different. Some people are changed in an instant by praying a prayer; others have a long period of deep grief and seeking

LORD, LORD, DID WE NOT . . . ? [5]

before they are finally “born” into a relationship with Christ. The point is, there is no formula or set prayer that starts this new life. Salvation isn’t a deal; it is a birth (See John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17). God uses me: Contrary to what we might think, this is no proof of genuine salvation. Matthew 7:22-23 tells us that people will present their works, prophecies and miracles to Jesus, only to hear: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (v.23). We could add, “Did we not preach? Did we not teach the Bible? Did we not lead worship? Did we not counsel people?” Those are all good things but, apparently, they do not guarantee that we are truly in God’s family. It is possible to do those things and still be “workers of lawlessness” (those who don’t ultimately belong to God, but themselves). I’ve been a Christian all my life: It is perhaps hardest for those of us who were raised in Christian homes to give ourselves a good examination. Some of us can never remember a time when we didn’t believe, didn’t pray and didn’t feel God in our lives. There is a saying, “God has no grandchildren.” That means that every individual must come into a relationship with God for themselves; we cannot ride on our family’s coattails. It isn’t necessarily important to know the date or time that Jesus changed our lives, but it is important that we know we have the evidence of Jesus’ life in us. Let’s examine that evidence now. How does the Bible define a Christian? And what does it say about knowing we are genuinely “in the faith”? [6] HOW DO I KNOW I AM A CHRISTIAN?

What is a Christian?

Christian is someone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ; trusting that His death on the cross has paid the penalty for all of their sin. They have been forgiven and adopted as God’s child. It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. —Ephesians 2:8-9

The assurance of our salvation only comes from God and His love for us. We can know for sure we are saved because salvation doesn’t rely on us, but Jesus, who has completed its work already by dying on the cross and coming back to life. He alone is our confidence—the very centre of who we are and our only hope for today, tomorrow and forever. And so this booklet is about testing the evidence of whether or not we have entered into the salvation that Jesus made possible. The grace of God saves us, but we should see the effects of it in our lives, and should want to see these effects growing. God wants a deepening relationship with us and to make us more like Jesus. But if we can’t see any evidence of God at work in us, that should ring alarm bells.

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? [7]

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! —2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

When a person trusts Jesus and becomes a Christian, they become brand new straightaway. Now they belong to God. But the changes that come from belonging to Him develop over a whole lifetime. Some are quick, but some transformations are not. The point is this: life with God should look more and more distinct as we get to know Him better! He gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit who comes to live within us, totally changing us from the inside and, over time, making us more like Jesus. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian that brings about the evidences of genuine faith that we can examine.

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Biblical evidence of true salvation

hen we become Christians, we are “born again” (John 3:3) with God’s Spirit—and all of our major relationships start to transform: Our relationship with God: The Bible teaches that at one time, we were enemies of God. But when we trust Jesus, that enmity is broken, we are reconciled to Him (Romans 5:1-10) and have “fellowship” with Him (1 John 3:3). Fellowship happens when two parties are in agreement together, enjoying friendship and closeness; fighting the same enemies and reaching towards the same objectives. We are not afraid of being open with each other, knowing that we are on the same side. It means we now live our lives with God; sharing our thoughts, feelings, desires and goals. We’re also told that as we “live by [God’s] Spirit” (Galatians 5:16)—by spending time with God, talking with Him and reading the Bible—we will start to imitate His ways. This is not about a change in our personality necessarily; we all have things we like and dislike, and that’s fine. This is about how our character develops. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv.22-23). It is hard to measure these things, and we’ll naturally be more comfortable or uncomfortable with some of these

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF TRUE SALVATION [9]

traits. But as we get to know God better, this “fruit” should be growing and developing in our lives, changing how we think, act and speak. As you examine your relationship with God, ask yourself, Is God my enemy or my friend? Are we fighting against each other or are we both facing the same direction and walking together? Am I becoming more like Him, or am I still just as stuck in my ways? We all struggle at times to submit to God, but our ultimate aim should be to stay close to Him and imitate Him. Our relationship with the world: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. —1 John 2:15-16 When Scripture refers to “the world” in this way, it is not talking about the planet, or people in general. It is referring to the world’s systems, values and ways which are so often the opposite to God’s ways. This “world” leads away from God, not towards Him. This world is full of temptations which fight against our fellowship with God. There is a constant pull to indulge ourselves in any way we choose; and God’s standards are repeatedly portrayed as unbearably strict, joyless and impossible to keep. The message of the world is clear: you can either choose God or happiness. That’s why we must not fall in love with this world. The apostle Paul said it like this: “May I never boast except in the [10] HOW DO I KNOW I AM A CHRISTIAN?

cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). It’s really important to regularly ask ourselves, Am I in sympathy with the world, or am I troubled by its values? Am I fascinated by the world and trying to fit in to it, or am I at odds with it? Our relationship with sin: There is one statement, which I heard from a preacher many years ago, which has comforted me more than any other when it comes to my assurance that I am truly a child of God: “Do you run into sin and love it, or do you fall into sin and hate it?” In other words, can you do things that God says no to and feel fine about it? My husband was raised with no religion; he didn’t know a thing about the Bible and its teaching. He turned to Jesus quite suddenly in a life-and-death situation whilst mountaineering as a young man. He didn’t fully understand exactly what he had done, but one thing changed immediately in his life; he couldn’t do the same selfish things as he used to do. Every time he did something wrong, he felt guilty. Guilt was a new thing for him; and it showed that God was awakening his conscience so that he no longer loved sin. I sometimes feel that my life is a constant battle with sin. And that is actually strangely comforting! When I fall into sin, I can’t wait to get right with God again. I hate it when I am far away from Him. I don’t try to excuse my sin or justify it; sin is my enemy, not my friend. I do fall into sin—more often than I’d like to admit—but when I do, I do not relax into it and make

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF TRUE SALVATION [11]

myself at home there. I feel like I am on foreign territory where I do not belong. That might be an uncomfortable reality, but is a really good sign that I am a Christian. Examine yourself and see if you feel comfortable doing things you know are opposite to God’s ways. Ask yourself if you run into sin and love it, or fall into sin and hate it. If you are comfortable living in a lifestyle that disobeys God, pushes Him away or cuts Him out completely, there is good reason to seriously examine your relationship with Jesus and consider whether you truly have one. Our relationship with other believers: Jesus, in His final moments of teaching with His disciples, told them: A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples. —John 13:34-35 Something profound happens when we give our lives to Jesus; we become part of the worldwide family of Christians, often referred to as “brothers and sisters” in the Bible. The point is that there is a family-like unity amongst true Christians. In Britain, we have an Army, an Air Force and a Navy. They all have somewhat different roles within the military, but they all belong to the same government. The sailors might not feel like they have much in common with the paratroopers, but in the end, they are all on the same side. When it comes to a conflict with an attacking enemy force, no matter what their differences, they will be loyal to each other. They are unified under their flag; and unified against any enemy who tries to [12] HOW DO I KNOW I AM A CHRISTIAN?

destroy their country. Christians have a unity a bit like that. We even wear the same ‘uniform’ as we have all “clothed [ourselves] with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). There are many styles, cultures, personalities and opinions within the worldwide Christian family, but in the end, we are all children of the same God. And Jesus took it one step further than just loyalty; He commanded love. In fact, He said that our practical, self-sacrificial love is one of the marks that we are genuinely His disciples. The apostle John put it like this: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death . . . Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:14-16). Relationships are messy and imperfect, even within the family of God. There might be people we don’t necessarily get on with or agree with. But as we examine ourselves in the light of these verses, we should be asking ourselves if our hearts are open or closed to the people in our churches. Is our instinct to support and look after each other or do we feel like we are enemies and always fighting? Would we be able to see them in distress and not feel a desire to help? Our relationship with God’s Word: The Bible is God’s Word; it tells us everything we need to know about Him and what life with Him looks like. Some of it is very clear and easy to understand; other bits are confusing. The point isn’t whether we can understand it all perfectly, but whether we treat it as the very Word of God.

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF TRUE SALVATION [13]

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16-17 Everything in the Bible; the weird stories, the violent stories, the long wordy bits and even the scary stuff is all there by design. The Bible does not waste words. Every detail and word is there for a reason—to teach us about God and help us to get to know Him better. Followers of Jesus should have the same attitude towards the Bible that Jesus had. There is much that could be said about Jesus’ relationship with the Bible, but perhaps it is best summed up by His words when He was tempted in the wilderness: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ ” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus, quoting the Bible itself, was comparing the importance of the Bible to our daily food. It was that essential to Him. Just as healthy, growing people have a hunger for food; healthy, growing Christians have a desire to listen to and know God. When examining ourselves, we should ask whether we have an appetite for the Bible. Is it where we go to hear what God has to say? Are we reading it? Do we sometimes put up defences and find arguments to show its teaching is wrong and out-dated? Or, do we let the Bible say what it says, allowing ourselves to be corrected and changed?

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What’s your trajectory?

s we look at those areas of self-evaluation and answer the questions in each section, we will probably find that we are stronger in certain areas than others. The point isn’t whether we absolutely perfect in every point, but what is the general trend? If most of those relationships are seriously lacking, we need to consider whether we have ever really repented, turning away from living our own way and instead giving everything to Jesus. In the end it comes down to this: At my core, the very centre of who I am and what my life is about, do I love and choose Jesus? Do I want to battle the other stuff in my life that competes against my relationship with Him? We all have bad days. Sometimes they stretch into weeks and months—or longer. We are not always up on the mountaintop enjoying every one of the blessings of a relationship with God. We should, however, be able to look back on the last few years of our lives and see that despite the bad times, we are progressing upward, towards Jesus, and not away from Him. We should see our lives being purified from our old ways, and made a bit more like Jesus as His Holy Spirit changes us. If we find ourselves moving progressively away from Him and towards the world, alarm bells need to be ringing. If we are becoming

WHAT’S YOUR TRAJECTORY? [15]

insensitive to sin, and comfortable doing our own thing without much input from the Bible, we need to give our Christianity a serious examination to see where we have gone off track. Who is setting the course for our lives? Are we steering our own life in the way we want it to go? Or is Jesus in charge? Is His Word our guide or are we just doing what seems right to us and hoping He agrees? None of us will be perfect in this life, but we should be seeing a difference in the way we live. So, how can we be sure we are Christians? By remembering that Jesus alone is the basis, foundation and security of our salvation, not us. And by looking at our relationship with God and seeing the evidence of His work in our lives. As Paul instructs us, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). If you realise you’ve never actually given your life to Jesus, or you feel like your relationship with God is quite distant, Our Daily Bread Ministries would love to help! Go to odb.org to use our Bible reading notes Our Daily Bread each day to help you spend regular time with God in His Word. You can also read more booklets like this one, including Who is Jesus? and How do you read the Bible? online at ourdailybread.org/lookingdeeper

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