How Can I Know I am Saved?

My morning study time finds me in a place that is deeply convicting. And that is the purpose of John's words here. I know I am not always walking in the same manner as Jesus walked. I know I'm not truly abiding in Him, for I simply fail far too often to keep His commandments.

No, we are not saved by our works. But we should never take for granted our salvation. We should never stop studying His Word, looking at our lives and seeing how we line up with the way Jesus walked. We must fall on our knees in humility, praying that the Holy Spirit will bring deep conviction to our hearts so that we can persevere through our disobedience, and let the mercy and grace of God fall upon us and be the catalyst that drives us to obedience.

1 John 2:3-6

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

When I look at myself in light of this passage, I wonder, how might I ever be saved? I am reminded of what Jesus said about salvation. (By the way, if you are reading this now, you are a rich person, compared to so many)

Matthew 19:23-25

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

But then Jesus reminds us of how this works.

Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

So, I humbly lean into God and place every little bit of faith I can muster up into believing that Christ died for me.

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Thank You Jesus. I have no boast but in Him.

7 Things We Have in Christ

As I begin my next study in God's Word, being in 2 Peter now, we come upon some wonderful things we have in Christ.

2 Peter 1:2-4

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

7 things we have in Christ

1. Grace and Peace

2. Knowledge of God and of Jesus

3. Divine Power

4. Everything we need pertaining to life and godliness

5. All the Promises of God

6. Partakers of the divine nature

7. Escape from the corruption of this world

This is amazing and it ought to change how we live. We already have everything we need. We have the power to live it out.

We simply need to lay hold of these things. We simply need to remove the word self and replace it with Him.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Live it.