How I Know That I Am Saved!

[RJ]

The Holy Spirit beareth witness.
You can know for certain that you are saved!!! I say this confidently because God knows whether or not you are His Child. Any uncertainties which you may have concerning your salvation does not change God’s certainty of your salvation. If you are God’s Child, then He has promised to tell you that you are saved... “The Spirit itself beareth witnesswith our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). When you became a believer, the Godhead moved into your heart—i.e., God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit came into your soul to live forever. Forever, that is a long time!

The Godhead lives within our body in the Person of God, the Holy Spirit. It is God’s very Spirit that testifies to our own spirit that we are a Child of God. What a wonderful blessing!!!

How does God’s Holy Spirit bear witness to our spirit that we are saved? Listen to the precious Words of Jesus... “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ( also, what does that say about "falling away"?)

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16,17). Wow!!! What a wonderful truth to know that God (the Comforter) lives in my heart. This is how I know I’m saved—He lives within my soul. He talks with me and walks with me all along life’s way. The Holy Spirit is “God with me.” He’s that little voice that continually convicts me, comforts me and brings truths to my mind to remind me of how to live for God.

What about you, do you have God in your heart?

 

[james1523]

To be more specific and go a little deeper, it is the Spirit of Christ who is in our heart, and because we received the Spirit of the Son, we call God "Abba". (Romans 8:2, Romans 8:15, Philippians 2, Galatians 2:20). This proves that the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the Father, Son and Spirit.

"The Godhead lives within our body in the Person of God, the Holy Spirit." - is true, but to be more specific, it is the Person of Christ (who is God), the Spirit of Christ (Col 2:9).

We may say "so what?". It matters because the Spirit of God is only Divinity, but the Spirit of Christ, is both Divinity and Humanity. That is, every aspect of Christ's divinity and humanity is dwelling within us.
That is a key difference between the Spirit of God in the old testament and the Spirit of Christ in the new testament. The Spirit of God in the old testament was only God's raw divine power. The Spirit of Christ in the new testament is God's divine power and also His humanity. In the Spirit of God in the old testament was nothing of the cross, or human suffering. In the Spirit of Christ is everything of human suffering and crucifixion that Christ experienced. When we receive the Spirit of Christ, we also receive the aspect of His crucifixion and human suffering. If I know I receive the Spirit of God it provides me some comfort, as I have all the Divine provisions in this Spirit. But if I know that I receive the Spirit of Christ, I am comforted even more, because I know that this Spirit I have received understands my humanity completely, and has experienced everything (and more) that I will experience as a human being. It is hard to relate to an all-powerful divine Spirit, but easier to relate to the Spirit of a Man who was just like me in many ways.

I think many Christians can accept that God lives inside of them. There is some mysterious Divine aspect inside of them that can make them like God. But perhaps not many realize or can accept that Christ's humanity is also inside of them, that can make them like the perfect Man. We need Christ's humanity for engaging with others, showing compassion to others, befriending sinners, washing other's feet, enduring human pain and suffering, taking care of earthly matters, etc. Mother Teresa was a great example of Christ's humanity. As the Son of God, Christ was able to work miracles, call upon angels, walk on water etc. But as the Son of Man, Christ was able to befriend sinners, show compassion on and identify with human suffering and serve humanity. That is why we need the Spirit of Christ moreso than the Spirit of God.

 

[B-A-C]

1 Cor 10:12; So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

 

[RJ]

1 Cor 10:12; So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

I think this means to fall to temptation; I hope you don't think it means to fall from God's grace?

 

[james1523]

1 Cor 10:12; So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

Based on Paul's instruction in verses 5-11, the immediate context of 1 Cor 10:12 is to fall dead physically due to offending the Church (1 Cor 11:27-30), just like the Israelite died in the wilderness.

God may hand some over to satan for destruction of the flesh (i.e. to be inflicted with some temporal or terminal illness etc), but their spirit is still saved (1 Cor 5:5, Job 19:26).

Actually, it is us who do that - as 1 Cor 5:5 says, we, as a church can pray that God would inflict punishment upon the sinful believer in our midst. As 1 John 5:16 says, God does not want us to pray for those whose sins will lead to their physical death, and I don't believe God will answer such prayers. We must remember that God's church on earth has authority, especially its leaders, to bind and to loose (Matt 18:18).

It may not seem like it but it is an act of love to God and to the church - when there is a cancer in the body, it is cut out, for the sake of the church and the gospel. Otherwise there will be a situation where the sinning member continues to sin and like cancer, cause much damage to the body, and a good example of this is child-molesting priests who continue to offend again and again and cause much pain and hurt and prevent others from knowing God.

 

[B-A-C]

I think this means to fall to temptation; I hope you don't think it means to fall from God's grace?

Here are the verses leading up to that verse.

1 Cor 10:3; and all ate the same spiritual food;
1 Cor 10:4; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
1 Cor 10:5; Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
1 Cor 10:6; Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
1 Cor 10:7; Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY."
1 Cor 10:8; Nor let us act sexually immoral, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
1 Cor 10:9; Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
1 Cor 10:10; Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
1 Cor 10:11; Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Cor 10:12; Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

 

[RJ]

Here are the verses leading up to that verse.

1 Cor 10:3; and all ate the same spiritual food;
1 Cor 10:4; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
1 Cor 10:5; Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
1 Cor 10:6; Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
1 Cor 10:7; Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY."
1 Cor 10:8; Nor let us act sexually immoral, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
1 Cor 10:9; Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
1 Cor 10:10; Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
1 Cor 10:11; Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Cor 10:12; Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

O.K. . Well, I hope you are not saying that us Chrisitians can still do all of these without ever failing one element and, when we do make such a mistake, that it doesn't mean that we have fallen away to unbelief and God has left or abandonded us from with in?