The Marks of Salvation

How can you be certain of your salvation? The Bible gives us five birthmarks of the truly born-again Christian. #1, The Birthmark of Confession. 1 John 5:1 says, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” Before you can have assurance of salvation, you have to be saved. You have to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Some people assume they are saved because they grew up in a Christian home, or they have gone to church all their lives, or they have been baptized, or they have tried to live a good life. Yet they’ve never distinctly and personally confessed and received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. #2, The Birthmark of Change. The second birthmark of a true Christian is a changed life. 1 John 2:29 says “Everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” When Jesus truly saves us, it makes a difference in how we think, act, speak, and conduct ourselves. We will not be sinlessly perfect while we’re on this planet but we will be changed people. If we say we’re saved but nothing has changed about us, something is wrong. #3, The Birthmark of Connection. John wrote in 1 John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.” When a person is born again they are born again with a connection and love for other Christians. Something is wrong with the person who claims to be a Christian but they have little or no desire to worship with, fellowship with and serve God with God’s people in His church. #4, The Birthmark of Conflict. The Christian life is not a playground it is a battleground and when a person becomes a Christian they become the target of Satan who is determined to see them fail and fall. But the Christian is not alone in this struggle. God makes powerful resources available to us to help us live a life that is growing in victory over Satan, sin and temptation. These resources include prayer, God’s Word, the fellowship of believers and the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the truly born again Christian rely on these resources they will be growing in victory over sin and temptation. You may not be victorious over every temptation every time, but you’ll make progress in gaining more victories and losing less battles as you grow stronger in Christ. #5, The Birthmark of Conduct. The true Christian will have a desire to conduct their life in a way that pleases God. According to 1 John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” John is not saying that whoever sins once is not born of God. That would disqualify all of us. But John is saying, “Whoever keeps on willfully sinning, violating God’s law with stubborn disregard and ongoing wickedness, cannot have assurance of salvation.” If you are truly saved, you will grieve over your sins, confess them, and seek God’s grace to do better. I pray that you have blessed and real assurance that you have been saved. See you Sunday, Bro. Chris