Many believers carry a quiet question: am I truly saved? Matthew Crocker, a pastor writing for The Gospel Coalition Canada, says he has talked with numerous church members troubled by doubts. Assurance, he writes, has always been a basic need for the Christian, and meeting that need was one of the primary motivations of the Reformation. He points doubters to 1 John 5:13, where the apostle says he wrote so that believers may know they have eternal life. Then John gives three plain tests.
First, a theological test: do we believe the right things about Jesus? No advanced degree is needed, Crocker says. John asks whether we confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 4:2-3, 2:22). Second, a moral test. Crocker cites 1 John 2:4: whoever claims to know God but does not keep His commandments is a liar. The test is about those who make a practice of sinning, he says. John also promises that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9). Third, a social test: do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, in deed and not only in word (1 John 2:10, 3:18-19)? This love, Crocker says, shows itself mainly in the local church.
Michael Lawrence, a pastor on The Gospel Coalition's Q&A podcast, adds a caution. You do not know you are saved because you prayed a prayer, were baptized or made a decision at youth camp. Good things, he says, but not enough. He points to 2 Corinthians 13:5, where Paul tells believers to test themselves, and asks whether we see an ongoing life of repentance and faith.
Catholic readers will hear something familiar. Catholic Answers writes that the Church does not teach that one cannot have assurance of salvation. It reads John's tests, including 1 John 5:3, as tests of whether we are dwelling in grave sin, and says that by looking at the course of a life in grace and the heart's resolve to keep following God, one can have assurance of future salvation. Karlo Broussard of Catholic Answers calls this a confident hope grounded in persevering faith and love rather than an absolute guarantee. John, he says, speaks not only of believing but of continuing to believe.
The traditions do differ on whether a true believer can finally fall away. But on the practical question they agree more than many expect. Look at today, not only at a moment years ago. Do you trust Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh, as your only hope? Are you walking in obedience and confessing sin when you fall? Do you love the people in your church? If you are failing in one area, Crocker says, repent and trust in Christ. If you find these marks, rest, and know that you are saved.
Crocker explains the setting of John's letter. It went to Christians in a confusing spot. Some people in their church had taken up false teaching, left to start their own church, and then claimed to be the real Christians. John wrote, Crocker says, to give those who stayed assurance that their salvation was genuine. Crocker also points to 1 John 3:6 and 2:1: the one who abides in Christ does not keep on sinning, and the one who does sin has an advocate with the Father.
Lawrence, lead pastor of Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon, adds Romans 8:16. The Spirit's inner witness that we belong to the Father, he says, comes alongside the outward evidence of staying with God through suffering and trial. His co-host Dave Harvey suggests questions that hold up a mirror: who do you understand God to be, and has there been any repentance? Catholic Answers adds Philippians 1:6 and 2:12, confidence that God finishes what He starts, joined to the call to work out salvation with fear and trembling. Broussard says that a clear conscience, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 4:4, gives a believer good reason to think he is in a state of grace.
Scripture: 1 John 5:13, 1 John 4:2-3, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 3:18-19, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 John 5:3
