Questioner
Do we know if we will still be saved tomorrow, next week, next year? Or do we only know we are saved at this moment? I mean we all can stray and no one knows the future and how we will respond to situations. So we can't really be sure if we are the elect, for we can't see into the future.
Answer
I do. And that comes from the Holy Spirit
testifying in my heart, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we
are God's children" [Romans 8:16].
When I was saved God gave me the Holy Spirit to live within me. When I am tempted, the Holy Spirit warns me about it; when I sin the Holy Spirit convicts me and leads me to confess. I sense the acting of the Holy Spirit in my life. I can remember the wicked life I lived for 34 years before becoming a Christian, and then the obvious change all as a result of Repenting, Believing in who Christ said He said was, and Submitting my life to Him. I know I could commit some gross sins if I allow myself to start yielding more and more to the temptations of my life, but I know, that even if I would continue in the sin, that at some point I will be disciplined by the Loving Father. We can see the evidences of our salvation in the power we have to hate sin and love God and His Word and His people
"This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." [1 John 3:10]
"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands." [1 John 5:2]
No, the elect don't have any visible marks, but they do have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent power to overcome sin and love God. Maybe an illustration might be, how do our children know that we will always love them, and never reject them and throw them out of the family? It is by the continual love we have shown to them all their lives (as imperfect as it is). Well, the Holy Father in heaven, and the Son who died for me, and the Holy Spirit, continually express their love for me, and that coupled with the promises in the Word, make me feel 100% confident that if I were to die today, next week, or next year that I would go non-stop to my home in Heaven.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Tony Capoccia's Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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