A few months ago, a friend of mine shared with me that she worried she wasn’t really saved.
This friend loves Jesus. She loves other people. She’s active in the church and in other areas of ministry.
But she feared that wasn’t enough. She feared the mistakes from her past would separate her from God today.
I felt confident she had nothing to fear, partially because of today’s text in 1 John 4:13-16:
“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.“
These verses provide three ways for us to know we have God in our lives.
3 Reasons NOT to Doubt Our Salvation:
- We can know we are saved because of His Spirit in us (verse 13).
We don’t have to doubt our salvation because we can know God’s spirit lives in us.
The only trouble with this is that sometimes, we question whether or not we actually have God’s Spirit. After all, we can’t see the Spirit inside of us.
We should be able to see Fruits of the Spirit, though. Galatians 5:22-23 says that those who have God’s Spirit in them will show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
That doesn’t mean we won’t mess up, though. We will always fall short, but if we are growing in these traits, we can know God’s Spirit lives in us.
- We can know we are saved because we have acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world (verses 14-15).
A second way we can know we have God’s presence in our lives is by remembering the day we first acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world.
Matthew 10:32 reminds us, ““Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”
- We can know we are saved because of our love (verse 16).
Finally, we don’t have to doubt our salvation because God’s presence will show itself in our lives through our love.
Verse 16 says, “Whoever lives in love lives in God.”
This is why I knew my friend had God in her life. She loved others and she loved God.
The easiest way to know if someone loves God is by looking at the way they love other people.
Those who don’t love others probably haven’t experienced the amazing, life-changing love of God. Because the truth is, no one who experiences the extravagant love of God stays the same.
Action Steps:
- Memorize Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
- Think of one act of love you can do for someone else today.
- Ask God to grow the fruits of the Spirit in your life.
Thank you, Lindsey! I recall teaching I John last year, and John’s words stirred up the same kinds of questions that you were dealing with in your post. It’s wonderful when the Spirit works through the Word to give assurance.
It is so great when God helps us find exactly what we need in His Word!!