AM I REALLY SAVED? ...a child of God?

AM I REALLY SAVED? …a child of God?i

by James McDonald

If you have it, you have everything that you need… but without it, you don’t have

anything—no matter how much you have.

• Many people think they have it but they don’t, and sadly many people who do have

it, take it for granted.

• Recognized in its entire splendor you would die for it, but ironically unless you

have it, you will die twice… spiritual death as well as physical death.

What is it that I’m talking about?

• It is the story of Scripture… it’s the miracle of the age.

• It is the reason that Jesus came, died, and rose again.

Sinners call it conversion; theologians call it justification.

• Children call it, asking Jesus into their hearts… and Jesus called it, being born

again.

• The Bible calls it salvation.

Rightly understood, salvation is the crown jewel of Christianity… the constant comfort of

the Lord’s people.

• But it can also cause much confusion.

• In fact, surprisingly even in churches that preach the biblical messages of

salvation, a lot of people are confused about exactly what salvation is and how it

works.

In Romans10:9-10 and 8:16 we read, “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. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”

Can we be absolutely certain that we’ve been saved?

If you’re saved, you belong to God.

• God has made a mark on you… he has sealed you.

• What is that assurance that you belong to him?

READ… Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you

heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having

believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy

Spirit,

So there it is—if you’ve been saved, you have the Holy Spirit.

• If you’re not saved, you don’t have the Holy Spirit.

• So the question then is, how do I know if I have the Holy Spirit?

If you’re saved, the Holy Spirit is doing these six things in your life.

• There are many more biblical truths that could be on this list but these are six main

ones.

1. The Holy Spirit is growing you. (Galatians 5:22)

If you’re saved, you’re more godly than you used to be... you’re changing.

• You might have symptoms of your old problems but you don’t give into them like

you used to.

• You’re being set free from addictions… your character is growing.

• When you are saved, the Spirit is developing in you “... love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control”—are the fruit of his

character.

I’ll use myself as an example here: I’ve got problems; I’m not perfect, I continue to sin.

• But the people who know me best, my family, my close friends, the people that I

work with, I believe, would say in unison, “Dan is definitely not who he was five

years ago… God’s growing and changing him.”

• If God is growing and changing you? …That’s the work of His Spirit in you!

Galatians 5:22-23b says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness and self-control.”

2. The Holy Spirit has gifted you. (1 Corinthians 12)

When the Spirit of God comes into your life He gives you the desire and the ability to

serve God.

• If you’re saved, he has gifted you with a specific way you can serve the body of

Christ.

• You are prompted to get beyond selfish consumer Christianity and into the center

of what Jesus is doing to build His kingdom in and through a local church that he

has chosen for you.

1 Corinthians 12:4,7,11 tells us, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit…

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… All these

are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he

determines.”

3. The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin.

READ… John 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt

in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment

You’re like, “It’s the craziest thing… before I knew Christ I could lie, and steal, take

God’s name in vain, and be mean to folks, but never even felt bad about it.”

• “Since I got saved, every time I do anything wrong this siren goes off inside me.”

• That’s the Spirit at work, convicting us of sin.

• If you can sin and not be grieved… ask yourself if you’re really saved.

3

In 1 John 1:8-10 it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth

is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and

purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to

be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

4. Hunger for truth. (1 Corinthians 2:11-14)

Was there a time when you could have cared less about the Bible?

• If somebody said to you, ‘Are you reading the Bible?’ you would have replied,

‘No, I’m reading a “best-seller” right now.’

But when you were saved, your desire to hear God’s Word exploded in your heart.

• If that’s going on in your life, that’s a very good sign.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of

truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the

redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.”

5. The Holy Spirit leads you. (Romans 8:14)

God’s Spirit prompts you to make things right with others.

• Through him you respond to the biblical messages that you hear and while reading

the Bible.

• And you want to do the things that honor and please him.

- When the Spirit is leading you, you know there’s something going on in

your heart.

- Scripture says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God these are the

children of God.” ii

READ… 1 JOHN 3:23-24 And this is his command: to believe in the

name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he

commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and

he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know

it by the Spirit he gave us.

6. The Holy Spirit comforts you. (John 14:16)

Has there ever been a time in your life when you struggled with just about everything?

• But since you came to know Christ, things didn’t bother you as much.

• The Spirit supplies strength that you didn’t have before and you’re now able to get

through things that you couldn’t before.

• God Himself bears you along and helps you get through the tough stuff.

That’s another one of the things the Spirit of God does—he comforts us.

• God wants you to know that you are his child.

Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he

may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,

because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:16-18

If you’re wondering, “God, am I your child?” do this: get alone, read the Scriptures that

I’ve mentioned above and pray, “God, do I really know you?” The Spirit Himself will

either bear witness, “Yes” or “No.” You don’t have to wonder anymore.

Real salvation becomes for true believers a Treasure Chest of holy joy.

Your treasure is… Jesus our crucified Savior who pardons all your sins, provides all your

righteousness, and becomes in his own fellowship your greatest pleasure.

• Before we were saved we had no delight in God… Christ was just a vague

historical figure; he was the Christmas story and the Easter story.

• What we enjoyed was food and friendships and productivity and investments and

vacations and hobbies and reading and shopping and sex and sports and art and TV

and travel—and on & on…

• Neither God nor Christ were the center of our happiness… they were not a

“treasure of delight.”

Then something miraculous happens… conversion and regeneration by the Spirit of God,

and then…faith—the confidence that Christ has made a way for me, a sinner, to live in

his glorious fellowship forever.

• It is “in believing” in the real Jesus that you are filled with joy, with peace, with

hope through the Holy Spirit in you.

So now what?

Get this settled right now… no one should be confused about this issue.

• You can… know that you know that you know that you have a saving faith, that

you are saved, and that you are a child of God.

God’s Word says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,

but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit

himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then

we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..” Romans 8:15-17

Now that’s real salvation!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in him, so that you may

overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

p.s. Also see a companion message titled: “Do You Know The Real Jesus… Don’t Be

Fooled”

i By James MacDonald (Edited by Dan Scheel)

ii Romans 8:14