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I once had a conversation with someone and it went like this:
He: Are you saved?
Me: Yes, I am saved.
He: Lol, you are saved?
Me: Yes! Why are you laughing
He: Are you sure you are saved just because you are a believer?
Me: Are there any more requirements to be saved?
He: Being a Christian (Christ-Like).
Me: Being saved makes me a Christian. A Christian is a Believer.
He: Ok then.
The next day I sent him a write-up on Salvation vs. Discipleship.
This is a particular conversation that I’ll never forget because it taught me two things.
First lesson: If you are not certain of your salvation and truly understand how one gets saved and remains saved, you will doubt your salvation at every turn, with every question, with every backslide, etc. While it might have not been this person’s intention, he made me question my salvation for a few seconds. The question, “Are you saved just because you are a believer?” made me pause for a few seconds to think. It’s a really weird question yet it assesses one’s knowledge of salvation.
1 Peter 3:15-16 cautions us to be ready at ANY TIME to give a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us. We must be ready at ANY TIME to explain the new life that we have in Christ Jesus.
Second lesson: A false gospel is circulating in the church and in the world. A work-based gospel is being preached rather than grace and faith-based gospel. Also, the concept of discipleship is being mistaken for salvation in the church and in the world. Hence, because we do not know the true gospel of Jesus Christ and how exactly we got saved, many of us doubt our salvation at the drop of a pin.
The above conversation and many other reasons were what birthed the passion for this series. God desires that you get saved and be certain of it. He does not want you living in fear of going to hell every day or running to an altar call every time just in case you think you didn’t get properly saved before or in case you have somehow lost your salvation.
Hence you must know exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is and how you got saved. We already talked about that in this series so go check out that part of the series if you haven’t. Click here.
So, are you doubting your salvation already?
Do you still feel condemned and guilty of sin?
Because you still commit some sins that you used to commit before?
Because you don’t seem or feel as spirit-filled as your friends or someone you follow on social media?
Because someone told you that you are not a good enough Christian or reminded you of your past?
Oh, darling, I got you. Roll with me.
Faith
First, you must remember that faith alone in Christ Jesus saves us.
Ephesians 2:8-9: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.
And it is this same FAITH that you must hold on to till the very end.
You faith in Christ Jesus must be FIRM.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Faith in gospel of Jesus Christ is how we are saved.
John 3:16 also says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
All we need do is believe (have faith)
So, if the gospel you believe the first time you got “saved” is different from the one stated above, then darling you are not saved. You can stop reading here and check out the blog post on the explanation of the gospel and how to be saved.
But if you believed this gospel of Jesus Christ already, then you are saved through faith.
Salvation is by grace (not works) through faith (not feelings).
Romans 1:16-17: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.
The righteous shall live by faith. Not by sight or feelings.
The only feelings that should come with true salvation are joy, peace and righteousness in the Holy Ghost.
From faith to faith, you should grow.
Your feeling is not an accurate determinant of your salvation. Your faith is.
The moment you stop living by faith as a believer, you will surely begin to doubt your salvation, your forgiveness, your righteousness, your redemption. Because rather than seeing with faith, you are using your sight and feelings.
We cannot separate faith from being a Christian. It is the foundation of all we are and do.
So, if you truly put your faith/belief in the gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection) of Jesus Christ once, that is enough and you are saved.
Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are a child of God.
Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are righteous.
Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are a forgiven permanently
Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are saved.
It’s as simple as that. Never doubt that.
Colossians 2: 6-7: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
FRUIT
Are you still not convinced that you are saved?
Well then, aside from faith, we can look at fruit.
Because thankfully, as children of God that are born again of the Holy Spirit, we ought to bear fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 -23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
As Christians/believers, we should begin to see the fruit of the Spirit manifested in our lives as the Father prunes us.
Colossians 3: 12-14: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
LOVE
We should love God and love others. Love is our trademark. Every other fruit is bound together and perfected in love.
John 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
1 John 3:14: We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
An unbeliever is spiritually dead and cannot truly love unconditionally. A believer is spiritually alive and can love others unconditionally.
So are you growing in your love for God and others?
In 1 John 5:13, John said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
What did he write to us? Chapter 5 is the last chapter of the book of 1 John. So we actually need to go back in the book of 1 John to read all that he wrote to us. I recommend you do that. But for the purpose of this blog post, we will remain in chapter 5 but begin in verse 1. Pay careful attention to the bolded words/phrase.
1 John 5:1-5
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
He who believes (has faith) that Jesus is the CHRIST (the Messiah, the Savior) is BORN OF GOD – Saved. This born again person LOVES. He loves the father and loves his children. Love for God can be shown in obedience. He who believes in Jesus and is born of God is victorious through his FAITH.
Faith, Hope and Love.
See how they work together:
Colossians 1: 3-6: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you
Once again, if you’ve truly believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are saved. Don’t doubt it. Don’t be deceived or discouraged by your past life. Don’t compare yourself to anyone. Don’t be deceived by false doctrines and gospels.
Spiritual growth, discipleship, and Christlikeness come with time as your walk with Christ, study the word of God, grow in the knowledge of the truth and remain receptive to the Father’s prunings. But being a baby Christian does not make you less saved or less of God’s child than someone who is a mature Christian.
Salvation precedes spiritual growth and Christlikeness. And if you aren’t even certain of your salvation and continue to doubt it, how can you grow effectively with the peace and rest that heaven is already your home and you are God’s child?
So darling, hold on to the faith you have in Christ Jesus.
In the next part, we will answer a very important question that has raised a lot of arguments among Christians, “Is Salvation Eternal?”
God bless.
You are Eternally Loved.
Growing God's Eternal Family 
This is perfect! I love that you adressed the issue that is facing millions of churches now: salvation doubts and the error of mixing grace and works for salvation.
I wished i found this article sooner when I first became a believer lol because I too got caught in the whole “you gotta work to mantain and recieve your salvation”.
Thankyou sister. God bless! This is truly edifying.
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Thank you so much, Josleyn for reading and for you kind comment.
I am glad we can address issues like this and be encouraged and assured by the Word of God. The enemy would rather have us ignorant, living in fear and working tirelessly to earn something that can NEVER be earned. Salvation is a gift. An irrevocable gift (Romans 11:29). We can’t afford to be ignorant. After salvation, we must come to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:4) by abiding in God’s word, praying and fellowshipping with other members of God’s family. The truth indeed sets free. We WORK OUT (Grow in) the salvation we’ve received, we don’t WORK FOR it.
God bless you too sister. Thanks for reading.
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Thank you Esther. Even those who seem to have understood that Salvation is actually assurance in it’s light need to read this, and as well get refreshed on this subject as often as possible.
No matter how deeply rooted in faith we are, such explanations as this drives us even deeper. Many do not bear fruits of salvation, not because they have not been taught severally about bearing fruits but because they do not really know “faith alone” in the Gospel of Christ as the assurance of Salvation. No good teaching will bear the expected fruit in a “Christian” whose foundation is not sola fide (by faith alone).
We should never get tired of understanding the very foundation of Our confession as believers – “The Just (ified) shall live by (His) faithfulness”. That scripture actually talks about Jesus’ finished work and being found faithful (Hebrews 3:1-3). It is this faithfulness of Christ, that we live on, and that He rose again from the dead. The word which translates as “Faith” in the context of the earlier text, actually talks about The “Faithfulness” of Jesus Christ in fulfilling all righteousness and completing the work of Redemption. Salvation is actually believing in the faithfulness of Christ in perfecting the will of God for mankind and restoring (resurrecting) all men into the Kingdom of Life as purposed by God before the world began. He did this restoration by first fulfilling the requirements of the law so that he will be a faithful (Perfect) high priest for offering the sacrifices for sin (Hebrews 5). Much more, this sacrifice was himself and no more goats that does imperfect excusing from sin. He then went further and fulfilled the wages of Sin for mankind which his death for the whole world of men, And resurrecting again, Beginning a new Creation (kind). Therefore all who have believed (been baptized) into his death are dead, and consecutively in his resurrection are a New Creation that has never sinned, Cannot sin and cannot perish because they are the Sons of God by faith in Christ’s perfect redemptive work and sacrifice –
2 Corinthians 5:14-21, I John 3 and 5.
I’m sorry if I had gone too far but doing this and re-emphaising the perfect work of Christ is the same as what your explanation in this part has done. Assurance of Salvation is reminding ourselves of what Christ has done alone. This is (His) faith (fulness) alone.
We The justified, who were ungodly, live on his faithfulness – perfect work of Redemption.
I’m edified. Thanks.
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Thank you so much for this. By all means keep going far. It’s my desire that we learn from one another on this platform. For our faith and knowledge to inspire and strengthen one another’s.
Now knowing and understanding that we live by His (Jesus) faithfulness not ours encourages and solidifies my faith and assurance even more. Glory to God🙌🙌
I love this. We are all learning and growing.
Thank you so much once again, Emmanuel 🤗 God bless.
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I think this issue does need to be addressed, and I’m so happy that you’ve carefully taken the time to piece together so many important truths for the new believer to understand. You are definitely not wrong on any of your points. We ARE saved through faith alone! Praise God, because I am speaking as one who could never hope to be “good enough”. There is no price I could pay for what I’ve done.
HOWEVER, this question is one that bothers me deeply because of how it’s been addressed in the church. The root of the question is that many people want fire insurance from hell, not assurance of salvation. THAT is a problem. Hell insurance because of a one time prayer is nothing more than superstition. The question isn’t wrong, but it does show an immaturity of faith…and sometimes it does show an insincerity of faith. If you just got saved because you are afraid of hell, and that remains to be the reason you ask this question, I’m sorry, but you will never mature. If that doesn’t matter to you, I would question the sincerity of your faith. Since every conversion is personal I wouldn’t dare be the one to make the call if it was sincere or not, but one who has walked with God for a long time and experienced the presence of his Holy Spirit becomes so used to this ever present Spirit that when you have grieved him and he’s no longer speaking, you just KNOW. And that grieves YOU!! You don’t doubt your salvation, rather you long to restore your relationship. Just like in marriage when I’ve wronged my spouse, I need to make things right or the relationship can’t continue to grow. One fight or one sin doesn’t nullify the contract of marriage. When you’ve walked with Christ a long time, you will do anything to restore that relationship, which is very much like a marriage in almost every way. Or we can totally choose to walk away from God, the same way we can walk away from marriage. So the better question is, do you love Jesus? Do you desire to walk with him, in his ways?Then continue to walk in faith asking him to reassure you. If your new to walking with him, you may have to ask the question over and over, but I have no doubt he will answer. “And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
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Heather,
Thank you so much for your well thought insight and I definitely agree with you. The fear of hell or “fire insurance” should never be the reason we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and get saved. Neither should it be the reason we continually question our salvation. We must understand that the assurance of eternal life is an automatic seal for heaven. The Bible says we are already seated in heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). We must believe this. We should never worry about not seeing the kingdom of heaven. It’s our home. We are our Father’s children. Children don’t worry about not going home. Their parents make sure they get home safely. So as you said, a constant worry and asking of this question could indicate immaturity, insincerity of faith or just a total lack of understanding and knowledge of the NEW eternal life we have in Christ. This is why God doesn’t just want us to be saved but to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). As we grow and mature in knowledge of the truth (Jesus), so does our FAITH grow. We are believer. We live and grow from faith to faith. Failure to grow will surely create uncertainty and doubt.
Once again, thanks for your input. I am blessed and enlightened. 🤗
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Exactly! I just love your scripture references. It’s so refreshing to hear from someone who obviously knows her bible well! Keep encouraging others in their faith Esther! Great post and response 😊
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