Let me state up front, I have much to learn. I merely want to share some scriptures with you why I believe that I can say “I am saved”.

Grab your bibles and join me in looking at these verses.

Following are some of the scriptures that lead me to my conclusion.

Chapters one through five of First John are beautiful reminders of our assurance of salvation. In these chapters we will read about examples of knowing we are saved. I strongly encourage you to read all five chapters of First John to get a clearer picture.

The points below are from the outline in my bible-
Fellowship with the Father and the Son (1:5-2:11)
Moral likeness (1:5-7)
Confession of Sin (1:8-2:2)
Obedience (2:3-6)
Love for other Christians (2:7-11)
Contrast: apostates verses believers (2:18-21)
Person of Christ: the crux of the test (2:22-23)
Persistent belief: continuing fellowship (2:24-28)

In Chapters four and five we read of love, the source of love, the fruit of love and our relationship of love for God and love for our fellow Christians and obedience, the evidence of love for God’s children.

The first verse below was written to those who had already heard the gospel message, believed it, repented of their sins and were baptized.

1 John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (cf 1 John2:26).

Titus 3:4-8 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Rom 10:9-13 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (See note from ESV Commentary below)
If you confess with your mouth does not mean that a spoken affirmation of one’s faith is a “work” that merits justification, but such confession does give outward evidence of inward faith, and often confirms that faith to the speaker himself. that God raised him from the dead. Paul does not mean that people need to believe only this individual event with no understanding of Christ’s death, but rather they need to believe in the resurrection along with the whole complex of truth connected with it, particularly Jesus’ sin-bearing death in mankind’s place, followed by his resurrection that showed God the Father’s approval of Christ’s work (see note on Rom 4:25). with the heart one believes. Saving faith is not mere intellectual agreement but deep inward trust in Christ at the core of one’s being.

John 6:40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Lest they should take a wrong meaning out of his words, as many have done since, he tells them that far from any person being excluded from his mercy, it was the will of God that everyone who saw him might believe and be saved. The power, without which they could not believe, he freely gave them; but the use of that power was their own. God gives the grace of repentance and faith to every man; but he neither repents nor believes for any man. Each must repent for his own sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus, through the grace given, or perish. (from Adam Clarke’s Commentary)

2 Cor 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

I know this is a lengthy post and I apologize. There are so many more scriptures in the New Testament that teach us about our salvation. I have been so encouraged by re-reading all of these and hope that it has encouraged you as well. I will end with this final scripture from Second Peter and an explanation on salvation from Nelsons Dictionary.

2 Peter 1:10-11 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

SALVATION The salvation that comes through Christ may be described in three tenses: past, present, and future. When a person believes in Christ, he is saved (Acts 16:31). But we are also in the process of being saved from the power of sin (Rom 8:13; Phil 2:12). Finally, we shall be saved from the very presence of sin (Rom 13:11; Titus 2:12-13). God releases into our lives today the power of Christ’s resurrection (Rom 6:4) and allows us a foretaste of our future life as His children (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:14). Our experience of salvation will be complete when Christ returns (Heb 9:28) and the kingdom of God is fully revealed (Matt 13:41-43).(from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

I find we can be the same way. Can you remember when you first became a Christian? Many are on fire, ready to conquer the world and win over everyone they know and then some. Unlike the toddler learning to walk, the times of failure are more likely to cause us to quit instead of getting back up and trying again. Toddlers are determined to conquer walking; they seem to know there will be something new to explore with each step, some new treasure across the room to examine.

As adults we don’t like failure. We shouldn’t look at our efforts (when unsuccessful) to reach out to people as failures. Instead we should trust God just like our babies trusted us as we are coaxing them into our arms with those first few steps. We are gardeners. Like Paul and Apollos, we are only servants doing our everyday jobs. Each one of us can help germinate the same seed with our own individual talents, some planting and others watering, while remembering it is God who gives the increase.

I know it can be scary to invite our friends to church or even to have a conversation with them about Jesus. One of my fears is rejection. None of us like to be rejected. I also fear confrontations, what if they challenge me with something I can’t immediately answer. I guess those are legitimate fears, it helps to remember that it isn’t us they are rejecting, it is the opportunity to know Christ and the opportunity for a new life they are rejecting. And for the other fear; none of us will ever have all the answers, we can say, without shame, that “we don’t know” but we are willing to study to try and answer their questions. I believe in all situations where we want to bring others to Christ that God will give us the courage we need. I know for me I must put my fears away and truly desire that others have the same hope I have. The hope of spending eternity in heaven with God.

Luke 10:16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

I challenge all of us—-starting today, reach out to the lost. Invite your friends, your neighbors and strangers, invite them to church, to a get together with other Christians, to read the bible with you. Give all of them the same opportunity, the same grace, God has given us. Like a parent with their child, Jesus waits with outstretched arms.

Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are servants by whom you believed, even as the Lord has given to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Neither is he who plants important, nor he who waters, but God, who gives the increase. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own work. We are God’s co-workers, and you are God’s garden. Also, you are God’s building, and according to God’s grace given to me as a wise builder, I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one be particular how he builds. No man can lay another foundation other than the one laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 3:5-11

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matt 13:3-9

Are you up for the challenge?

I know the answer.  I also know if I don’t stay focused I can get derailed by all of the turmoil, evil, and conflict in this world. It all started in the Garden…the fall of man. Gen 3:1-24.

 In the first two chapters of Genesis God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning — the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. Gen 1:31-2:1 Then…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Gen 2:7

I don’t know how many years there is between all that I read of in the Genesis account. I do know in chapter four things start going down hill where we read of jealousy and murder between Cain and Able.

To this day the world is filled with all kinds of evil and wickedness. We are all sinners and since the fall of man we will have to make choices to serve God or Satan until Christ comes again.

Can you imagine how Noah felt? He was in the same ungodly environment as we see today, surrounded by idol worship and everyone doing what gives them the most pleasure. He was surrounded by every kind of imaginable evil and yet he chose to worship God. The people were so wicked during that time that God decided to destroy the earth. Still God was fully aware of the righteousness of Noah and the choices he was making. He wasn’t following everyone else in their sinful ways. He chose to live for God and it saved his life and the lives of his family who chose to follow their father’s example.

The way we live our lives influences others. We are heavily influenced by the world, yet God wants us to follow his example, not the examples of the sin we see around us. The world doesn’t want to hold anyone accountable for sin; the world teaches “tolerance” and calls evil good and good evil. Isa 5:20-30

Too many times I have followed the sinfulness of the world. I thank God I am able to repent and be forgiven. I want to be obedient to God and I will continue to seek him and his ways. There will still be times when I make mistakes and poor choices.  Hopefully they will become less and less as I grow in truth and knowledge. I will press on!!

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
2 Cor 4:16-18 (from THE MESSAGE)

Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, ant there was a great calm. Matthew 8:25-26

It is by faith that God’s mighty power is released into the life of a Christian (Heb. 11:33-35). The fact that you have doubts indicates that you do not know God as you should. If your prayer life is infiltrated with doubts, you have denied yourself the greatest, single avenue of power that God has made available to you. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). God never comforts you in doubt. Jesus consistently rebuked those who would not believe Him. He had revealed enough of Himself for His disciples to have believed Him in their time of need.

God wants to build your understanding of Him until your faith is sufficient to trust and obey Him in each situation (Mark 9: 23-25). The moment you turn to Him with a genuine commitment to rid yourself of doubt, God will match your doubt with a revelation of Himself that can convince you of His faithfulness. When Thomas doubted, Jesus revealed Himself to him in such a way that every doubt vanished (John 20:27). You can only resolve your lack of faith in God’s presence. He must reveal Himself in such a way that any doubt you might have is removed.

Jesus did this with His disciples. He involved them in a consistent, growing relationship with Himself. Jesus took them through teaching, to small miracles, to large miracles, to the resurrection. Jesus knew that the redemption of the world rested on His disciples’ believing Him.

What does God want to do in the lives of those around you that waits upon you trust in Him and the removal of you doubts?