The Spark of Divinity—How does One Know They Are Saved?

Most Christians begin their faith journey as “infants in Christ” and as such their pastors give them milk to drink rather than solid food because they are not yet able to receive it.[1] The goal, however, should be to become “mature” believers whose senses have been trained by receiving the “solid food” of biblical truth to “discern good and evil.”[2] When this spiritual growth does not occur due to instruction that is lacking or other reasons, it can lead to a failure on the part of many to grasp fully what it means to be a Christian. This article is written to address legitimate concerns that can arise in such situations which are often not addressed in church or other forums.

When the circumstances described above occur, some Christians can become very comfortable in their Christian faith and hope of heaven even as they walk through the wide and easy gate (Matthew 7:13-14) that leads – not up to heaven – but down to destruction. Jesus stated that there are few people who find the small gate on the narrow way that leads to life. That narrow way missed is Christ’s way. In the Old Testament, Cain tried to approach God on his own terms and failed (Genesis 4:1-8), just as many people try to approach Christ on their own terms only to be disappointed.

Most Christians know bits and pieces of the Jesus story and feel that they are going to be “okay” when they pass away because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He lived among us, was crucified, and rose from the dead. They have never bothered to learn more, read much of the Bible, or seek a true relationship with Jesus. They have not allowed Jesus to change their lives or allowed the Bible to get in the way of what they want to believe. Most people are too busy trying to work through the hectic demands of our secular society and please our largely godless culture to worry very much about the next life. They have not put enough effort into knowing the real God of the Bible to fear (respect) Him and therefore miss the vital wisdom that comes from truly knowing God.[3]

How do we learn Jesus Christ’s terms for salvation? We learn the terms or provisions by studying the Old and New Testaments. How does one know that one is saved? Today many evangelists quote the Apostle Paul’s words, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Paul’s words are true, but is that really all there is to it? After all the Apostle Paul was steadfast in his warning that those who continue the sins of their pre-conversion lives would not inherit the kingdom of God.[4] Confusion on this point is one of the main reasons that the statistics showing life’s negative outcomes regarding sexual sin, divorce, abortion, drug addiction, and alcohol abuse, etc. differ little between Christians and non-Christians. Many progressive, liberal Christians forget that the true Christian is still bound by God’s moral law as stated in the Old Testament and repeated in the New Testament.[5]

God’s greatest gift to humanity is the free gift of salvation through the repentance of one’s sins and belief in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of each of us. No good deeds or works on our part can earn our salvation which is a free gift of grace. But, the sincerity of our acceptance of this free gift of salvation, grace, and eternal life should be proven by our renunciation of our past sins and our ongoing attempt to live our lives according to the moral and ethical standards proclaimed by Jesus as pleasing to God (Acts 26:20). Believers are washed clean of their sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, but God is still Holy and will never approve a pattern of willful, ongoing evil or look with favor upon wickedness.[6]  

Our God is “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth,”[7] but our God is also a God of justice and accountability as well as love. God is Holy to a degree that modern mankind has difficulty grasping, and this holiness requires that violations of His moral law must be atoned for or punished. Since Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, causing sin to become universal, everyone ultimately falls short of the glory of God (Roman 3:23).

To address this reality of universal sin, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In short, the atoning death of Jesus Christ upon the cross and His resurrection covers the believer’s sins so that he or she receives God’s mercy rather than just punishment for their sins. The unbeliever will receive strict justice meted out under the Law wherein the unbeliever will be judged against the perfection of the sinless Jesus Christ rather than the imperfections of the rest of humanity. Jesus stated that most people will miss the small gate and the narrow path that leads to eternal life because most will choose the wide and broad way that leads to destruction.[8] Even though many who walk through the wide easy gate profess belief in Jesus, “prophesy and perform miracles in His name and in His name cast out demons, Jesus will declare that He never knew them.”[9]  

All too often the modern Christian may sing in church on Sunday only to live the rest of the week by the expectations of our secular, mostly godless, society. They become in effect ambassadors from society to their church rather than ambassadors from Christ’s church to the society in which we live. This is the opposite of Jesus’ command that we seek to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that He commanded.[10] The Apostle Paul states that we “were formerly darkness, but now [we] are Light in the Lord and [should] walk as children of Light.[11] As Jesus commanded, we are to, “Let [our] light shine before men in such a way that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father who is in heaven.”[12]

Jesus came to save those who want to be saved, feel the need to be saved, and accept that their only hope for salvation is through Jesus Christ. Salvation demands more than intellectually believing the correct things about Jesus. Many believe the right things but act wrongly and end up in eternal separation from God.[13] As pointed out by great pastors such as Robert Jeffress and David Jeremiah, one can believe that Jesus really lived, that he was the Son of God, and that he died for one’s sins, and still end up in hell. The Bible notes that the demons believed all of these things and yet were not saved. The great pastor, A. W. Tozer stated, “The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.”[14] It is Jesus who saves us not a magic word formula. True salvation demands that we believe with our whole “heart” as well as our brain and that we truly accept Jesus as the Lord of our life. Jesus seeks a relationship with us that spills its love, wisdom, truth, and joy into the rest of our lives.

Salvation requires that one repent of one’s past sins and turn from those sins to a new life under the lordship of Jesus Christ if one’s name is to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.[15] Repentance is, therefore, more than a mere confession of sin. It is a turning back to God from sin.

Indeed, it was when the Holy Spirit came upon new believers that first century evangelists like the Apostles Peter and Paul knew someone was saved (Romans 8:9). Receipt of the gift of the Holy Spirit is evidence that one has been adopted as a child of God (Romans 8:14-17). The Holy Spirit enables believers to successfully lead the Christian life. George Whitefield, the father of the Great Awakening, stated that, “…[We] as well as the first Christians must receive the Holy Ghost, before we can be truly called the children of God.”[17]

The message of the Bible is that Christians are not to conform to the relaxed morals of contemporary society. We are to take our faith seriously enough to study the teachings of Jesus and obey them.[19] Many liberal Christians forget that Christians are still bound by God’s moral law as stated in the Old and New Testaments. There is no provision in Scripture for editing out the moral laws with which one disagrees. Someone who calls themself a Christian and still embraces or approves sins condemned in both the Old and New Testaments is arguably not being guided by the Holy Spirit but rather is in disobedience and rebellion against God and His Word. Can one call Jesus Christ Lord and still embrace and endorse practices in direct violation of God’s moral Law?

Speaking of Jesus, the Apostle John stated that, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Thus, to walk in disobedience to God’s Word is to walk in disobedience to Jesus Himself. The great pastor and theologian, David Jeremiah, even states that, “The way a person regards the Bible is the way he or she regards Christ, the living Word.”[20] Jesus preached from the Old Testament, quoted and affirmed many of its difficult passages, and stated that His purpose was not to “abolish the Law or the prophets” because “not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law.”[21] Listening to Jesus’ words and obeying them leads to a transformed life that is proof of salvation and being sealed by the Holy Spirit.[22] If one remains basically the same as one has always been, that person may not be truly saved. Jesus stated repeatedly that a tree is known by its fruit.[23] So it is that Jesus knows us by the fruit of our lives. We are to walk by the Spirit and live by the Spirit enjoying its fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.[24]

Those who will become members of the family of Jesus are those “who hear the Word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). This transformed life for the believer involves more than faith and belief; it demands that we actually use our faith and belief to become more like our role model, Jesus Christ. We are not to walk as unbelievers but become “new creatures” in Christ as our old sinful desires and habits slowly pass away due to our efforts to become more like Jesus.[26]    

Thus, begins a process called sanctification that will last for the rest of one’s life wherein the new Christian tries to become ever more like Jesus Christ.[27] This does not mean that the saved person becomes sinless in this life, but it does mean that the saved person cares enough to want to be a better person than they were before and feels guilty when he or she stumbles. Every Christian will sin in various ways at times until he or she is taken to heaven for “all have fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Charles H. Spurgeon was quick to remind us that there was a vast distinction between the falling or failure of an instance of sin which happens to everyone and a falling away from the Faith.[28]  This renewed life is impossible with one’s own strength which is the reason that Jesus sent each sincere Christian the Holy Spirit to assist us. When life’s road becomes too rocky, believers find themselves walking with Jesus in their new lives through the power of the Holy Spirit who is with us to help us back to our feet each time temptations or hardships cause us to stumble.

We are not meant to just admire Jesus as one might admire a great professor or celebrity. When Jesus asks that we “be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5: 48), He is asking us to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24) into a new life as Christians with the wisdom, values and morals that Jesus taught His followers. Christ’s teachings are not a burden, and they do not remove joy and fun from one’s life. They are meant to be the secret to a life free of the troubles that fall upon those people who cast off His teachings to swim in the inviting waters of earthly sins only to reap the woes and misfortunes that flow from them. “Indeed, an incredible amount of evil, pain, suffering, and general misfortune could be avoided if all of mankind simply honored God’s commandments, and refrained from worshipping false gods, lying, murder, covetousness, stealing, sexual sin, and otherwise ‘doing whatever seems right in one’s own eyes.’”[29]

When difficult times come into our lives due to illness, betrayal, accidents or other misfortunes, Jesus gives the believer peace to overcome because He has triumphed over the evil of this world and we know that, as His children, we will one day partake of His glory. For the Christian, the sun is not setting but always rising to the dawn of a new day filled with love, assurance, hope, and anticipation. As referenced by the Apostle Paul:

Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.[30]

“Most Scripture references are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”

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[1] 1 Corinthians 3:1-2.

[2] Hebrews 5: 12-14.

[3] Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 111:10; Job 28:28.

[4] 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-26; Ephesians 5:3-6; Romans 6:1-2, 11-16.

[5] Johnn17:17; Book of Common Prayer, Articles of Religion VII; Westminster Confession of Faith [1647], Chapter 19, Section 5; London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 19, Paragraph 5.

[6] Habakkuk 1:13; See also, Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26-31; Matthew 13:19-23.

[7] Exodus 34:6.

[8] Matthew 7:13-14.

[9] Matthew 7:21-23; See also, Hamrick, Gary, Standing on the Edge of Eternity (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, (2025), 66. Of the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-20, Hamrick writes, “The church at Laodicea symbolizes the liberal church that discounts the claims of Christ and denies the foundations of the faith, for which the people will face the tribulation. Not all who claim to know Christ truly know Him.”

[10] Matthew 28;19-20; See also, 2 Corinthians 5:20.

[11] Ephesians 5:8.

[12] Matthew 5:16.

[13] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, “The Peculiar Sleep of the Beloved,” in Spurgeon’s Sermons (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2019 [1883]), 2:49.

[14] Tozer, A. W., Man: The Dwelling Place of God, (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, Inc, 1966), 64.

[15] Matthew 3:1-3; 4:17; Luke 15:7; 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; Revelation 13:8; 21:27; See also, Philippians 4:3; Revelation 20:12, 15.

[16] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, “The Precious From the Vile,” in Spurgeon’s Sermons, 8:163.

[17] Whitefield, George, “The Indwelling of the Spirit, the Common Privilege of All Believers,” in The Sermons of George Whitefield, edited by Lee Gatiss, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2012 [1742], Vol. 1: 115-116.

[18] Matthew 7:21-24; Luke 13:24-28; See also, Matthew 5:17-20.

[19] John 14:15,23; 15:10; Luke 6:46.

[20] The Jeremiah Study Bible: English Standard Version, Edited by David Jeremiah (Nashville: Worthy Publishing, 2019), John 17:6-8, page 1428, footnote 17:6-8.

[21] Matthew 5: 17-19.

[22] Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 John 3:10.

[23] Matthew 7:16; 12:33; Luke 6:44.

[24] Galatians 5:16-25.

[25] Tozer, A. W., Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 33.

[26] 2 Corinthians 5:17.

[27] 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; John 17: 17-19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 5 :23; Hebrews 10:14.

[28] Spurgeon, Charles H. “Final Perseverance: Commentary on Hebrews 6” (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/spe/hebrews-6.html,2011.)

[29] Ayers, Dennis, The Beginning of Wisdom (Little Elm, TX: eLectio Publishing, LLC, 2022 [2017]), 31-32.

[30] Ephesians 5:14.