Are You Saved and How Do You Know?

Ask a Christian, “are you saved?” Most will answer in the affirmative. For me, this common response demands a second question, “What does that mean?”

I remember a man, preaching over the pulpit who described his salvation. He spoke of being eight years old when he had an emotional reaction to a church meeting. He raced home on his bicycle to tell his parents all about it. After telling his story, his parents led him in the “sinners prayer”. According to him, he was saved in that instant.

I have watched as hundreds of people, on a emotional high, rush forward to receive eternal salvation by the hand of men who pray over them.

Recently, a man declared he was saved. When asked what that means, he shared the evidence of his newness of life. He spoke of all he does to be like Jesus. He also insisted that he was a good man who always does his best.

Others insist they are saved by obedience to laws and ordinances.

Yet, others insist salvation swings, first and foremost, on the hinge of God’s election, sovereignly declared long before their births.

I suppose there are hundreds of answers to the question, “are you saved?” Of these, I wonder how many can stand when examined by scripture? Biblical examination will be my purpose in this work.

Are You Saved by Other Gods?

In the Bible we read,

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isaiah 43:10, KJV, emphasis added

From Joseph Smith, we learn of another god and other gods.

I wish to declare I have always an in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods.

Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 6, p. 306

In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.

Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 6, pp. 307, 308

Ask a Mormon

• When you contrast Isaiah and Joseph Smith, do you detect evidence of another god or other gods?
• In the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 23:1-3, Joseph Smith wrote, “¹And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. ²For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. ³And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.” If Joseph Smith and Isaiah were both legitimate prophets of God, how do you explain divergent teachings about the nature of God?

In the Bible we read,

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2, KJV

In this passage, two groups of people are clearly defined. John was writing to believers so when he used “our” he was referring to those believers who were recipients of his letter. When he spoke of “the whole world“, he included everyone else.

From a leading Calvinist we read,

The question that needs a precise answer is this: Did He or didn’t He? Did Christ actually make a substitutionary sacrifice for sins or didn’t He? If He did, then it was not for all the world, for then all the world would be saved.

Edwin H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 47

Ask a Calvinist

• When you contrast Paul and Edwin H. Palmer, do you detect evidence of another god?
• The Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement was first popularized by Augustine of Hippo in the forth century. It has since be propagated by Calvin, Luther, White, Palmer, Sproul, Lawson, and more. None of these men were apostles who personally knew Jesus but Peter was! None of their words were canonized but Peter’s were! When their teachings diverge, who will you hear?

In the Bible we read,

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2, KJV

In verse 14 of that same book, we read that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” So we learn that the Word in John 1:1 is the Lord Jesus Christ.

God does not have a literal wife with whom he fathered children. He is the Creator of all life. Humans were created with the capacity to imitate God’s qualities. That is why the first human that God created, Adam, is called a “son of God.” Similarly, Jesus is called “the Son of God” because he was created with qualities like those of his Father.​

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/wp20130301/when-jesus-created-why-son/

Ask a Jehovah Witness

• When you contrast John and official Jehovah Witness doctrine, do you detect evidence of another god?
• If God created Jesus at some point in His existance, how could the Word have been with God in the beginning?

If we are not very careful, we might be tempted to create a god to our own liking. Some do exactly that by clinging to His attributes they like, rejecting those do not fit their lifestyle. Some imagine new attributes to create a god in their own image.

Ask Everyone

• What about you? Do you conform God into an image you like or live to be conformed into the image of God?

Moses was clear about the identification and disposal of those who lead us after other gods.

¹If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, ²And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; ³Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. ⁵And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God…

Deuteronomy 13:1-5a, KJV, emphasis added

Are You Saved by the “Sinners Prayer”?

I remember a certain pastor who regularly called people to the pulpit to be led in the “sinners prayer”. Afterword, he assured them that they were indeed born again. He insisted, “You now have two birthdays, your belly-button birthday and today, the day of your new birth.” This always troubled me. It just seemed too easy, lacking describable change and viewable fruit.

Ask Everyone

• God knows of the newness of a individual’s heart. A person may know about his or her own heart. Other than these two, can anyone else know?

A few passages of scripture may be interpreted to support the “sinners prayer”.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 10:32, KJV

Because of the “sinners prayer”, many accuse Christians of cheap grace. They take this position because those who support this doctrine insist salvation comes not by a changed life, but by a singular emotion-packed event. Taken in isolation, this passage seems to support the “sinners prayer” and all it entails. But, what does the whole council of God’s Word tell us?

Are You Saved by Unconditional Election?

The Bible tells indicates that God offers salvation to everyone.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9, KJV

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

Isaiah 65:2, KJV

Calvinism insists that every man, woman, boy, and girl were selected from before the foundation of the world. Some were selected to be unconditionally saved, regardless of their wants and desires. The rest were selected for unconditional destruction, regardless of their wants and desires. These are known as reprobates. This doctrine is known as Unconditional Election.

Often the term election is used as a synonym for predestination. Technically this is incorrect. The term election refers specifically to one aspect of divine predestination: God’s choosing of certain individuals to be saved. The term election has a positive connotation, referring to a benevolent predestination that results in the salvation of those who are elect. Election also has a negative side, called “reprobation,” which involves the predestination of those who are not elect.

R. C. Sproul, Grace Unknown, p 141

Election refers to God’s choosing whom to save. It is unconditional in that there is no condition man must meet before God chooses to save him. Man is dead in trespasses and sins. So there is no condition he can meet before God chooses to save him from his deadness.

Piper, Five Points: Towards a Deeper Experience of God’s Grace, 53).

A second pillar of Calvinism teaches that all who God predestined as reprobates have no ability or desire to respond positively to God’s offer of reconceilation and salvation. This is the doctrine of Total Depravity.

Total Depravity means that an unregenerate man is hopelessly enmeshed in sin, bound by Satan with the chords of spiritual death, and wholly disinterested in the things of the Creator.

Duane Edward Spencer, TULIP, p 36, emphasis added

Ask a Calvinist

• If God has predestined many to destruction as reprobates, why does He beckon us all, with long-suffering, to come and repent?
• Why would God spread out his hands to a people he predestined to be unable to respond?
• How is God loving if He invites all to repent and be saved while simultaniously preventing them from doing so?

¹³Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. ²¹Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23, ESV

This passage divides people into two disparate groups. Scripture refers to these as the sheep and goats or the elect and reprobates. Those who pass through the wide gate and on to destruction are the reprobates. So, this passage raises troubling questions.

Ask a Calvinist

• If the Reprobate is “wholly disinterested in the things of the Creator,” why does the above passage record twice that they cry out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord“?
• Why do these Reprobates seek salvation by listing all the good they did in the name of Jesus?
• If they are not Reprobates, why would Jesus say, “I never knew you“?

Are You Saved by Works?

Many believe they can be saved by good works. These works can include the good things they do outwardly or the good intentions they carry in their minds and hearts.

Galatians

The church at Galatia was originally founded on the true gospel of Jesus Christ.¹ In time, grievous wolves crept in, perverting the gospel.² These wolves lied and the people believed they could be saved by the grace of God combined with a measure of good works. Paul could not have been more clear about the sad fate of such foolish people.

⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ⁹As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:8-9, KJV

Mormons

The practices of the ancient Galatian church and the modern Mormon church are one and the same. The Mormon gospel in its fullness has been, published, promoted, and printed. Thus, it is a simple thing to compare it with the biblical gospel.

¹Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ²By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4, KJV

In its fulness, the gospel includes all the doctrines, principles, laws, ordinances, and covenants necessary for us to be exalted in the celestial kingdom.

True to the Faith, Salt Lake City: 2004, p. 76} & Gospel Topics Essay, Gospel, www.churchofjesuschrist.org

Ask a Mormon

• Are the Mormon and biblical gospels the same or do you detect a difference?
• If you detected a difference, are you accursed as were the Galatians?

Jehovah Witnesses

A coveted title among the Jehovah Witness believers is “Pioneer“. The title is earned by accomplishing a minimum number of evangelizing hours each month. Each Pioneer is required to keep and submit a detailed record of every hour knocking on doors and distributing the Watchtower and Awake! magazines.

Ask a Jehovah Witness

• What passage of scripture assures you that Jehovah will be pleased by your precisely documented history of door knocking and tract dispersion?

Are You Saved, How So?

It is not hard to see a single passage of scripture and imagine it to be the whole key to salvation. It takes more than a single verse to paint the complete picture. Jesus laid it out for the Jewish elite.

³⁹You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; ⁴⁰and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ⁴¹I do not receive glory from people; ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

John 5:39-47, NASB

Clearly, the key to salvation is not found in a single passage. Instead, it is outlined fully in the scriptures.

Are You Saved Through Your Contribution?

Isaiah debunked the idea that we can be saved by the good things we do.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6, KJV

The Hebrew for filthy is “ed”. Turning to Strong’s Concordance, we read that the primary translation applies to a woman’s menstrual flux. In other words, filthy rags refers to soiled menstrual cloths.

After reciting a long resume’ of his many accomplishments, Paul put everything in perspective when he wrote;

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. . .

Philippians 3:8, KJV

The Greek for dung is skýbalon. Turning again to Strong’s, the translation to English is “excrement.” Paul rightly saw his best and most righteous accomplishments as nothing more impressive than his own feces.

It is no coincidence that Isaiah and Paul chose ed (filthy rags) and skýbalon (dung) for their illustrations. Imagine going before the Lord to be reconciled and presenting, for His approval, a huge box of your best works. Good luck with that. Can you imagine laying a box of your best deeds before God? As he opens it, you would surely shrink in horror. What you imagined to be good would be revealed as piles of hot, steaming, stinking, fly-infested feces and filthy bloodied rags. Imagine watching flies and steam rise into the air. Imagine the stench filling your nostrils and the nostrils of God. Are you saved by such things? Remember this image the next time you are tempted to say, “I’m a good man and I do my best”.

I am not suggesting you are bad according to the standards of other men. But, you will not be judged, justified, or saved according to the standards of the world. You will be judged according to the standards of God and nothing less. Ed and skýbalon will never be enough.

Ask Everyone

• When we think our good efforts will apply to our salvation, in whole or in part, do we reject Jesus who can save every man to the uttermost?³
• Are you ready to reject the idea that the good things you do will add to your salvation?

Are You Saved by Being Born Again?

A Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus came to Jesus by night with many questions. The answer he received included,

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:3, ESV

Most who claim to be followers of Jesus use, “born again” lightly and with not much thought.

Think back to your first birth if you can. If you can’t, imagine with me. In the moment of your birth, what was new? I would suggest all things were new and supernatural. If you were able to remember, I think you would be powerless to describe the experience. The air you tasted for the first time and felt in your lungs must have been amazing. But there was so much more. Imagine seeing the brightness of the delivery room lights for the first time; they must have been dazzling. Literally, everything you heard, touched, tasted, saw, and smelled was totally and absolutely brand new.

I am convinced that Jesus used the experience of our first birth to help us better understand what it’s like to be born again. Our second birth is intended to be equally supernatural. Anything less is, well, less than what Jesus spoke of.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV

Can you detect the promise of a second birth in this passage? Can you see it will be no less amazing then your first birth?

Ask Everyone

• Are you prepared to reject the common definition of being born again and embrace it as Jesus described?

If you answered yes to the above queston, only one thing remains. Recognize that you are not good and that your best efforts are ed and skýbalon before a Holy, Holy God. Lay it all at the foot of the cross. Surrender everything, your pride, your arrogance, your rebellion, and any delusion that you are somehow worthy. Give it all to God, beg for His mercy and forgiveness, and believe. Above all and through it all, Believe!

Conclusion

Until the miracle of rebirth happens, you will never comprenhend the grand expanse of what God will do. Intelectually, you can understand to a small degree. But you will never comprehend until God makes all things new in you.

It is the craziest thing. I remember back to a time when the old me still lived and sin raged in my heart. I asked, are you saved, I could only respond with a hopeful but unassured reply.

Now, having been made new, I recall and wonder at the awesome power of God. I know the old me once lived but I don’t know him at all. That old me is a stranger and a memory of a darker time. The old me is dead and I have a newness in Christ that I cannot describe and can never deny. I asked, are you saved, I reply, yes, absolutely and then I open God’s word and show where my assurance is rooted.

Do I still sin? Of course. Saved and sinless are not the same. But I live blamelessly before God. It works like this.

³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ²⁰No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 4:3 & 20-25, ESV

Having been justified, I have peace with God.⁴ and I know, even now, that I have eternal life.

¹³ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5:13, KJV

1. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
2. Galatians 1:6-9
3. Hebrews 7:25
4. Romans 5:1