Signs Of Salvation

5-17-05

Title: Signs of Salvation

Introduction

It’s very important for us to know whether or not we are saved.

For one thing there are eternal issues at stake, and for another, there can’t be any real joy in a person’s Christian life if they are always worried about whether they are saved.

Believers shouldn’t worry about it, because they can know they are saved.

In Hebrews 10:22, Paul talks about the “full assurance of faith.”

The fullness of our faith has nothing to do with the amount of our faith, but it has everything to do with the object of our faith.

Real faith always depends on the object of faith.

You see, faith can be misplaced.

You can put your faith in some individual on earth and be disappointed, or you can put your faith in Jesus.

Real faith means you have really received the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior.

That has been made real clear to us.

In John 1:11-12, it says, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power (the authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that (do no more or less than) believe on His name.”

If salvation depended on what we are and do, we could never be sure we are saved.

And even if we did know we’re saved, by claiming that we are saved, we might appear to be boasting.

But since salvation is totally all of God, and since we are saved by Christ’s blood, and assured by His Word, we can most certainly know we are saved.

What’s more, if you say you believe Him, and then express doubts about your salvation, you have cheapened the faithfulness of God.

I found a little poem that expresses this thought.

It goes like this-

Can it be right, for me to go,

On, in this evil, doubting way,

Say I believe, and yet not know

Whether my sins are washed away?

I will no longer doubt Thee, oh Lord,

I will forever rest in Thy Word.

Today, I want to give you eight signs that indicate you are saved, and when we are done, I hope you will have no doubts about it.

The first sign is-

FAITH IN CHRIST

Acts 16:31 states, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

Faith is one of the evidences of salvation.

Have you ever heard someone ask, “Can I really be saved by my faith alone?”

Another may say, “That’s too easy.”

“Is it really as simple as believing in Jesus?”

“Don’t I have to do a lot of good deeds and live a faithful Christian life before I can be saved?”

Here’s an illustration of what I am talking about.

A miner was preparing to take a preacher through the mines.

As they were walking, the preacher was talking to the miner about salvation.

Something like the following conversation took place.

The minister said: “You must receive Jesus as your Savior.

Simply accept Him, trust Him, believe Him and the work is done.”

The miner replied: “Preacher, that is too easy. I want to do something. You can’t make me think that the salvation of my soul is possible simply by trusting Jesus.”

At this point, they came to the shaft and stood waiting for the elevator.

When the elevator arrived and the door opened, the miner touched the preacher’s elbow and said, “Step aboard, preacher, and we’ll go down into the bowls of the earth.”

The minister stood back, and looked at the miner, and said, “You mean to tell me that all I’ve got to do is step aboard-that’s just too easy.”

The miner replied: “It’s not as easy as you think, it cost the company thousands of dollars to sink this shaft, and a number of lives were lost before it was completed. You stepping into the cage is not all there is to it. The rest is already accomplished, and therefore, there is nothing left for you to do.”

“And salvation is not so easy either,” said the preacher. “It cost God the gift of His Son, and it cost Jesus His own precious blood; but the work is all done, the door is open wide, and all the poor sinner has to do is step inside.”

When we believe in the Lord Jesus; when we have received Him as our Savior, we know we have eternal life.

God has promised many places in the Bible that He will save the believer, and when He stretches forth His hand to do it who can draw it back?

And when God has spoken, who can overturn it?

If believing in Jesus is a sign of salvation, then unbelief is a sign of condemnation.