“Are you saved? Are you sure?” These questions are sometimes used to scare people into signing up for works-based insurance, which is bad. But the questions themselves are legitimate. In scripture we are exhorted to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). As I have explained elsewhere, this does not mean we should search ourselves for sin to see if we are still saved. “For don’t you know that Christ is in you?” But how do you know that Christ is in you? What is the proof of the pudding? Is it spiritual fruit, moral behavior or what? Is it even possible to know for sure if you are saved? Many Christians don’t know with 100 percent certainty. If you ask them whether they have an assurance of their salvation they say, “I believe I am saved,” which is wonderful because this is totally a faith thing. But believing is different from knowing. If you don’t know you are saved you may think, “I have to believe and keep on believing,” while privately wondering, What if I stop believing? Others might say, “I have confessed, therefore I’m saved,” which is also fine because that’s scriptural (Rom 10:9). But [...]![]()
