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CAN YOU PROVE THAT YOU ARE SAVED?
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;
prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates?”
II Corinthians 13:5
Why would God tell us to examine ourselves in order to see if we are truly in the faith? Could assurance of salvation really be more involved than simply remembering when you repeated the “Sinner’s Prayer”?
This verse is clearly not a suggestion – it is a command! God’s Word tells us that there are people who truly believe they have been saved when they are really living with only a false hope of salvation.
GOD IS WARNING US OF A DANGER
THAT NEEDS SERIOUS CONSIDERATION!
This warning is so important that God doesn’t end the verse with us simply examining ourselves. He wants us to go even one step further when He commands us to PROVE IT! Proof goes way beyond our own ideas, hopes or thoughts. Proof is something based in fact - not in belief. It is shown by physical evidence that is undeniable.
YOUR OWN VERBAL STATEMENT
IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH!
God commanded us to prove our salvation because He knows that the wickedness of our own hearts can be very deceiving.
GOD’S FORMULA FOR PROVING OUR FAITH
“Therefore IF any man be in Christ, he IS a new creature:
old things ARE passed away; behold, all things ARE become new.”
II Corinthians 5:17
God tells us in II Corinthians 13:5 that we need to examine ourselves in order to prove our salvation. And in II Corinthians 5:17 He gives us a “Formula” to use that will help us to begin gathering the necessary facts. This “Formula” is very simple. It begins with God making a stipulation by using the word IF.
IF any man IS in Christ
then the rest of the verse WILL BE TRUE in their life.
We can also assume that the opposite is true as well…
IF any man is NOT in Christ
then the rest of the verse WILL NOT BE TRUE in their life.
God tells us in this verse that IF anyone is truly IN CHRIST then three things WILL happen:
1. You will be a new creature.
2. You will have some old things in your life that go away.
3. Everything will become new.
Examining yourself using God’s “Formula” should give you the evidence that you need to either prove or disprove your salvation.
Do NOT simply trust your own heart or what you feel, think or believe to be true because God says:
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
LET’S START GATHERING THE PROOF
USING GOD’S FORMULA!
“Therefore IF any man be in Christ, he IS a new creature:
old things ARE passed away; behold, all things ARE become new.”
II Corinthians 5:17
Take a minute and challenge yourself. Write down some of the things that changed in your life after you were saved as well as some of the old things that went away. Then continue on and read the rest of this booklet. When you are done, come back to this list and read it over again and see if you think these are real signs of true salvation.
Take the time to be 100% sure of your eternal destiny!
Many people have to ask, “What kind of things…?” if you cannot list anything then just continue reading.
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______
6. ______
7. ______
8. ______
9. ______
10. ______
NOW, ASK YOURSELF A FEW MORE QUESTIONS
AND CIRCLE THE APPROPRIATE ANSWER:
Ø Do you ever have doubts about your salvation?
YES NO
Ø Do you ENJOY sharing your personal testimony with others or would you rather avoid it?
YES – I ENJOY IT NO – I AVOID IT
Ø Do you ever fear being left behind in the rapture?
YES NO
Ø Do you have a STRONG DESIRE to read your Bible?
YES NO
Ø Do you know the difference between being sorry for your sins or being truly repentant over them?
YES NO
Ø Is your life really any different from anyone else who is in another religious denomination that does not teach salvation?
YES NO
Ø Do you know the difference between being nervous when handing out tracts or being ashamed when doing it?
YES NO
Ø Does God chastise you when necessary?
YES NO
Ø Does God really speak directly TO YOU from His Word?
YES NO
Ø Does God answer your specific prayers?
YES NO
WHAT TYPE OF EVIDENCE HAVE YOU GATHERED?
Now that you have started gathering the evidence which will help you to either prove or disprove your salvation, you should determine what “Type of Evidence” you are using.
When proving something, there are two types of evidence. The first is circumstantial evidence which is also commonly referred to as indirect evidence. This type of evidence is defined as: evidence providing only a basis for inference about the fact in dispute. This type of evidence can be helpful to the case, but when it is by itself it cannot be firm convicting proof! The second kind of evidence is factual or direct evidence which is: evidence directly related to the fact in dispute – this form is not based in belief, but in actual fact.
For 29 years I was guilty of using only “Circumstantial or Indirect Evidence” when trying to prove my own salvation. Whenever I wanted to reassure myself of the doubts I was having I would read
II Corinthians 5:17 which says: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This verse was very comforting to me because there was an entire list of things that had changed in my life. So, I reasoned that I must be saved!
Unfortunately it took me almost 3 decades to realize that the changes that had taken place in my life were only outward changes because I had joined a new church and I was simply participating in their activities. I was really no different than any unsaved person in any other religious organization. I was simply doing what I had been told was right to do. The things that had changed in my life were only outward changes - inwardly I was still very far from the Lord!
MY LIST OF “CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE”
1. I had a date and a time for my “Day of Salvation” experience
2. I remembered repeating the “Sinner’s Prayer”
3. I knew who witnessed to me
4. I began going church 3 times a week
5. I joined the church
6. I was baptized
7. I went to every activity that was offered
8. I developed new friends
9. I stopped listening to worldly music
10. I went to a new Christian school
11. I started dressing modestly
12. I read my Bible
13. I prayed
14. I supported missionaries
15. I tithed
16. I volunteered in many ministries
17. I fasted
18. I memorized scripture
This list might look like real “Factual Proof” because at first glance it appears that so much really did change! You might even be asking yourself, “If this list is only considered “Circumstantial Evidence” then what “Factual Evidence” could still be missing?
Take a look at the first word in each line listed above. Every single one begins with the word “I”. These were things that I had done in my own power. I was simply complying with what I had been told was right to do. Outward changes can and should take place after genuine salvation but they cannot PROVE salvation when they stand alone!
When deciding if your list of “Evidence” is either circumstantial or factual you should ask yourself one question; “Could a good religious person, from any other denomination without salvation, accomplish any of these things in their own power?” If the answer is yes, then those things can NOT be what God uses in order to prove genuine salvation! They may be good, strong circumstantial evidence that point to salvation but they cannot be solid proof when they stand alone.
If we take another look at II Corinthians 13:5 - specifically in the second half of the verse where it says, “Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is IN YOU, except ye be reprobates?” The real factual evidence must come from IN YOU. This type of evidence comes from an inward change that only Jesus Christ can bring and it is not solely based in the outward things that you do. Inward changes are things that you cannot change on your own. They are new desires and new attitudes towards spiritual things as well as a new hatred for sin and the pleasures that this world offers. If he is not IN YOU then you are a reprobate and the “Good Things” that you are doing are only outward changes and can not prove salvation! Definition of reprobate: in religion somebody whose soul is believed to be damned
Matthew 23:27-28
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
This was my life – for over 29 years! Outwardly living a very separated Christian life; so separated and outwardly righteous that when I had doubts about my salvation the people around me would not even consider that fact that I might really not be saved!
GOD’S WARNING TO PROFESSING CHRISTIANS
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:21-23
The Lord is clearly telling us in these verses, that just because someone has prayed a prayer “In His Name” that this prayer alone does not guarantee salvation! He also explains that our outward works being done “In His Name” may not be proof either!
Go back to page #8 and take another look at the list of “Circumstantial Evidence” that I had depended on whenever I was doubting whether I was really saved or not….. Every single item that I listed begins with the word “I”. This is exactly what these people in Matthew 7 had done – they listed everything THEY did. Remember that these things can certainly be circumstantial evidence that can POINT to salvation – but they cannot PROVE salvation when they stand alone!
God also tells us in these verses that there are MANY PEOPLE trusting in a false hope of salvation that will have to be turned away at the Day of Judgment because He does not even know them!
I was in this group of “MANY” for 29 years!
That word MANY is a haunting word… how many is many?
ANOTHER WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT
If you needed to prove that you were a Doctor – could you gain the confidence of a possible new patient by telling them “I am a doctor because I repeated the Physicians Creed on March 18, 2007”? Does repeating this statement prove that you are indeed a physician? Of course not! There has to be real factual proof – the proof in this case is in the years of college and in the degree given by the medical board.
The outward circumstantial evidence of being a doctor IS NOT enough. This person could have an office, a secretary, a white coat and medical equipment – but NONE of it makes him a doctor! He could look like one, talk like one and even have some medical knowledge like one – yet, none of this does anything to prove that he is one! It is circumstantial at best. It helps to build the case for sure, but it cannot prove it when it stands alone without the real proven facts!
In order to become a doctor you must do what is required to be one. Once you have successfully become a doctor there is undeniable, factual evidence that others can see and examine that will prove that you have done what is necessary to practice medicine. It is not based solely on your own statement that you are one. AND NEITHER IS SALVATION!
If our faith is something that we must PROVE
then “Circumstantial evidence
of being a Christian is simply not enough”
The changes for proving your salvation must be from a transformation that only God can bring at the time of your salvation! New desires and new attitudes towards the things of the Lord as well as new attitudes towards sin and the pleasures of this world!
FACTUAL PROOF OF A TRUE CONVERT
The following is a list of some of the INWARD changes that took place in my life, immediately after genuine salvation. These were all things that I desperately wanted to change for many years – but I had been unable to accomplish in my own power! For almost 30 years I took comfort in the outward changes that had taken place but something was still wrong…. There were so many other things that I could not get right no matter how hard I tried, how long I prayed, how often I fasted or how much I read my Bible – these things just never got any better because I was trying to make the changes that only Christ himself can make! I knew faithful Christians that seemed to have much closer, more intimate relationships with the Lord than I did and this really burdened me. It was not until I began to really seek, examine and prove my salvation with my whole heart that the Lord clearly showed me what had been missing all of those years! After I was genuinely saved – HE MADE THESE CHANGES IN ME! Praise the Lord!