HOW YOU CAN TELL WHETHER YOU ARE TRULY A CHRISTIAN-pt1

“HOW YOU CAN TELL WHETHER YOU ARE TRULY A CHRISTIAN”

Part I

How can you tell whether the Holy Spirit has performed a saving operation in your life? True salvation always produces an abiding change of nature in a true convert. A number of New Testament writers were very concerned about this matter of true salvation, as was the Lord Himself. The Apostle John dedicated his first letter to this subject. I John 5:13

   Throughout this letter is a series of tests to determine whether you possess eternal life. If you don’t pass these tests, you’ll know where you stand and what you need to do. If you do, you’ll have reason to enjoy your eternal salvation with great assurance.

I.                   Have You Enjoyed Fellowship with Christ and the Father?

I John 1:1-3; I John 5:1

It is characteristic of any and every believer to love the Father and the Son. A relationship with God is basic to salvation. It is what we as believers were called to do. I Corinthians 1:9; Galatians 2:20. The Christian life is a rich life. We’re meant to experience joy, peace, love, and purpose. John 10:10

Here’s a taste of the abundant life Scripture describes in terms with our fellowship with the Lord: II Corinthians 1:3; I Peter 5:10; Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 5:19; Romans 8:5; Hebrews 4:16. Our fellowship with Him is the abundant life we experience.

Have you experienced communion with God and Christ? Have you sensed Their presence? Do you have a love for Them that draws you to Their presence? Have you experienced the sweet communion of prayer – the exhilarating joy of talking to the living God? Have you experienced the refreshing, almost overwhelming sense of grace that comes upon you when you discover a new truth in His Word? If you have, then you have experienced the fellowship of salvation.

II.                Are You Sensitive to Sin?

I John 1:5, 6

The Lord is absolutely sinless. Light and darkness do not coexist. One drives the other away.

I John 1:7-10 “Believers walk in the light as He is in the light.” We walk a virtuous walk, and what’s more “we confess our sins.” True believers have a right sense of sin. They know if they are going to commune with God, they have to be holy. When sin occurs in their lives, they know it must be confessed.

I John 2:1 True believers realize that they don’t have to sin. But when they do, they know whom to go to – Jesus Christ the believers Advocate.

The person who is truly saved is sensitive to the sinful realities in his or her life. That’s the example Paul left us in speaking of his heightened awareness of sin’s work in his own life. Romans 7:14-25. Consider how that applies to you. Are you very much aware of the spiritual battle raging in you? Do you realize that to have real communion with God, you have to live a holy life – that you can’t walk in darkness and claim to have fellowship with Him? Are you willing to confess and forsake any sin in your life as you become aware of it? Do you realize you can choose not to sin – that you’re not fighting a battle you have to lose? But when you do fail, do you go to your divine Advocate? Do you sometimes cry out with Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from this body of death?” because you’re so weary of the burden of sin in your flesh? If so, you are obviously a Christian. And since salvation is secure, you might as well enjoy it and be fully assured!!