How do I know I’m saved? The Bible teaches that you can know when God tests your faith and you endure, revealing that His Spirit is at work in you.
How Do You Know You are Saved?
How do you know you are saved? That is one of the most common questions I hear from listeners. It is one of the most important questions we can ask.
People write and say things like, “I want to believe, but I still struggle with sin. I still feel like I am failing. How can I be sure I am really saved?” Or, “I have prayed. I have gone to church. But sometimes I wonder, have I really done what I need to do?”
Maybe you have asked those questions, too.
The more seriously we take our faith, the more aware we become of how far we fall short. If I still struggle with sin and wrestle with temptation, how can I know I belong to God?
Jesus told his followers to stay awake, be alert, and be ready for His return. But how do you know if you are ready? How do you know if you have responded to Him in the way that leads to eternal life?
Election and Assurance
Before we dive in, I want to tell you where I am coming from theologically.
I believe the Bible teaches what is commonly called election. In my understanding, that means God settled this question before we were born. Scripture teaches that God, in His wisdom and sovereignty, chose some to receive the gift of eternal life, and He chose not to grant that gift to others.
I know not everyone agrees. Other traditions understand election differently or do not hold to it at all. It is a topic that stirs debate.
But I do not want to argue election today. You do not have to agree with me on it to follow this conversation. I am setting that doctrine aside because it is not essential to answering the question: How do you know you are saved?
Whether or not you believe in election, I want to give you an answer rooted in Scripture, not labels.
How Do I know I’m a Christian?
We could ask this question many ways:
- How can I know that I am saved?
- How do I know that my sins have been forgiven?
- How do I know that I have a place in the kingdom of God?
- How do I know that I truly belong to Jesus?
- How do I know that I genuinely believe?
- How do I know I am part of God’s people?
However we phrase it, we are asking the same thing: When this life is over, will I receive eternal life instead of judgment?
The Mark of Belonging to God
Here is the good news: this question is answerable. God did not keep the answer hidden. He made it visible. He gave us evidence in our lives that tells us we belong to Him.
Think of it like a mark. A brand of ownership. God, in His grace, places something on us to show that we are His. That mark becomes the evidence that we are vessels of mercy, prepared for glory. If I see that mark, I can know I belong to Him.
This mark is analogous to circumcision in the Old Testament.
God asked His chosen people to place a physical mark on their bodies. If you had the mark, you were counted among the children of Israel. If you did not, you were not. That visible mark distinguished God’s people from others.
The mark we are talking about today is similar but also very different. It is not something you see on the outside. It is stamped onto the heart.
It reshapes your values, beliefs, desires, and choices. When God marks someone as His own, He transforms them. He makes them into a distinctive kind of person. They value different things. They pursue different goals. They live for a different purpose. That difference is visible and discernible.
Scripture often calls the place where God puts that mark the heart. Sometimes it says spirit, or the inner man. Different words, same idea: the deepest part of who we are.
For clarity, I will say heart. The heart is where God places His mark. That is where He changes us.
So, just as Jews circumcised the body to show they belonged to the people of God, God now circumcises our hearts to show that we belong to Him. That is the language Scripture uses.
It’s the Heart that Counts
Physical circumcision indicated someone belonged to the people of God, but it was not a guarantee. Someone could have the physical mark and still not belong to God in any spiritual sense.
Paul makes this point in Romans. The mark that really matters is not on the body. It is the one God places on the heart. When God circumcises the heart, when He transforms our inner being, that is the reliable indicator.
If your heart has been circumcised by God, then you are His. You will receive eternal life in the end. There is a one-to-one correspondence between those who enter life in the kingdom to come and those whose hearts have been marked by God.
Baptism as an Outward Sign
The same principle applies to baptism today. Baptism is an external ritual, a visible act of obedience. It is important.
But being baptized in water is not a guarantee that you are saved. Like circumcision, it is an outward sign. What truly matters is what is happening on the inside. The outward ritual does not save you. The mark that matters is the one God places on your heart through the Holy Spirit.
An initial answer and the next question
So we have arrived at an answer: I can know I am saved if I discern that my heart has been circumcised, or to use New Testament language, if I have been born again and baptized with the Holy Spirit.
But that raises another question: How can I tell? How do I discern whether my heart has been circumcised? How do I know if I have been baptized by the Spirit?
Holiness is the Mark
How does God mark my heart? Scripture says He makes it holy. God marks me as His by changing me on the inside. He makes my heart holy. By doing that, He shows I am His, a vessel of mercy created for glory.
If I can discern that my heart has been made holy, then I can know with confidence that I belong to Him.
Holiness is a condition of the heart. It is not about being flawless. It is about a change in direction, a new inclination. It is being set apart to belong to God.
A holy heart is positively inclined toward God. Instead of resisting Him, I am drawn toward Him. I want what He wants. I value what He values. My heart is turned toward Him.
By nature, we are hostile to God. Our default is indifference or rejection. But when God saves me, He reverses the direction of my heart. Where there was resistance, there is desire. Where there was apathy, there is pursuit. Where there was rebellion, there is alignment. The Bible calls that being made holy.
If I can see that change in me, I can know I bear God’s mark.
The Fruit of the Spirit
Scripture describes holiness in many ways, and one of the clearest is Galatians 5:22–23, the fruit of the Spirit. When God marks us, He gives us His Spirit, who works in us to turn us toward God and begin making us holy.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control.
Fruit is the natural result of a living tree. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the Spirit transforming us into God’s people.
Do I see these growing in me? If yes, then God is at work in me. His Spirit is marking me as one who belongs to Him. That is the mark of eternal life.
Now, there’s a lot we could say about each of those qualities and there’s many ways we can misunderstand them. I’m not going to unpack them all here. I have a full podcast series on the fruit of the Spirit where I have an episode on each one of these fruit, to explain what it is and why it’s on the list.
The Beatitudes
We can also look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the people who will enter the kingdom of heaven. Those are the people who are saved.
Mat 5:2 And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
These are not mere moral virtues or personality traits. They are signs of spiritual transformation. They describe what a holy heart looks like. Do I see these things growing in me?
Now again there’s a lot to understand and misunderstand here. But again, I have a teaching series on the Gospel of Matthew, and in that series, I cover each of the Beatitudes in detail. I’ll link to those episodes in the show notes.
Righteous Sinners
Notice Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” He does not say, “Blessed are the righteous.” We hunger and thirst because we do not have it yet. We long for it like a starving person longs for food.
We are not morally perfect or free from sin. We will continue to sin until we enter the kingdom of heaven. Continuing to sin does not disqualify us. The key is how we respond to sin.
There are sinners who do not care. Sin is just part of who they are in this world and they don’t care what God has to say about it.
Then there are what we might call righteous sinners. We know we are sinners and we hate it. We are grieved by it. We hunger and thirst to be different.
Those marked by God look at their sin and long for something better. That longing is the mark. Perfection does not mark you as belonging to God. Hunger for righteousness does.
Holiness across the New Testament
Many places in the New Testament describe holiness. For example, in Ephesians, Paul describes what it looks like to walk in the light or to live as someone who belongs to God.
People who have been marked by God love what God loves. They value and seek goodness, truth, mercy, and justice. Holiness reshapes the whole inner person. When those inclinations begin to grow in us, we see the evidence that our hearts have been marked by God. Or as Paul puts it:
Eph 5:7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
Eph 5:8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
Eph 5:10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
If our hearts are leaning toward goodness, righteousness, and truth, we are seeing evidence that God has been at work in us.
Practical Self-examination and Mixed Evidence
One way we can begin to answer the question, “Am I truly saved?” is by examining ourselves to see if we can recognize the attributes we’ve just been talking about.
- Do I see the fruit of the Spirit growing in me?
- Do I recognize the heart attitudes Jesus described in the Beatitudes?
- Do I see a heart drawn to goodness, righteousness, and truth?
If yes, I can know I belong to God.
But what if I do not see those things? That does not mean I do not belong to God. It means I do not yet have the evidence to say yes. A tree is known by its fruit. If the Spirit is at work, changes will come. Maybe it is too early to see fruit.
Here is the problem with the “look for fruit” strategy. We are still sinners, and we will also see the fruit of sin. You may see love, then also deceit or pride. Which evidence do you trust?
Many of us get stuck in that tension between fruit and failure. We are right back at the question: How do I know I am saved?
God saves Sinners
It is crucial to understand what God is doing when He saves someone. God is not saving righteous people. He came to save sinners. That is the gospel.
Seeing sin in my life does not mean God is not at work in me. God puts His mark on broken, undeserving people. At conversion, He does not instantaneously make you morally perfect. You are still a sinner, but now you hate being a sinner. You long to be holy, beautiful, and good like God. That is the mark.
I am not looking for perfection. I am looking for attitudes, motivations, and deepest longings. Where there was rebellion or indifference, now there is desire to know, trust, and follow Him. That change is the mark.
I can examine my life and read the evidence both ways. This becomes a subjective judgment. That is what creates the tension.
I know how good I am at deceiving myself, either excusing too much or accusing too harshly. That makes assurance difficult.
False Assurance: The Recorded Prayer
Is there any objective evidence? People have offered answers that sound helpful but are false assurances.
One common answer: “If you doubt, pray a prayer asking God to forgive your sins because of Jesus. Write down the time, date, and place. When you doubt, look at that paper.”
What does that prove? It proves you prayed a prayer. It does not tell you what was happening in your heart. Was your heart truly engaged? Were you responding to the Spirit? Were you sincere?
False Assurance: Focusing Only on God’s faithfulness
Another answer: “Stop focusing on yourself. Focus on the faithfulness of God. He promised to forgive through Jesus. God does not lie. You can count on your salvation.”
There is truth there, but the real question is not whether God is faithful. The question is whether His promise applies to me. The promise applies to those who believe in Jesus. How do I know I am one of them? That approach still leaves the core question unanswered.
Tested Faith: Romans 5
Scripture gives another answer that settles the question.
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Rom 5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5 marks a shift. Paul has laid out the gospel. Now he explains its implications.
Trials expose what is in your heart. They force choices between following God or sinful desires. Suffering produces endurance. To endure is to stay the course. We keep seeking God and trusting Jesus. Whether we give in to temptation or not, we hunger and thirst for righteousness and long for the kingdom. That is perseverance.
Some people turn back when following Jesus costs more than they expected. Others stay the course.
Endurance produces character. The word means proven character, tested and found genuine. The test raises questions: Whom will you trust? What do you value most? If I choose to follow God and do not walk away, I have passed the test.
That endurance gives me something solid. I can say: I know who I am now. I am marked by God. Not because I am sinless, but because, when the heat was on, I stayed.
Character produces hope. Hope is the confident, eager expectation that something wonderful will happen. In 5:2 Paul says we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. When we know we belong to God, we know that one day we will share His glory. He will free us completely from sin and make us morally beautiful, holy, and worthy.
How do I know I’m saved? I know the hope of the gospel is mine if I am tested and shown to be a person who trusts and follows God.
Now I can say with confidence: I am saved. How do I know? Because I have been tested. Trials came. Temptation came. I did not give up. Even under pressure, I still wanted the kingdom of God.
That happens because the Spirit of God is at work in me. There is no other explanation for why I did not walk away.
I can know that I am saved if and when the reality of my faith is tested by trials and I pass the test. At the end, I still seek God, long for His mercy, and seek to follow Him. I only seek God if He has marked me as His.
The only explanation for why I endure and persevere is that God has promised to make me His child, and He will not let me go.
Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Our hope in God will not disappoint us because God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit and marked us as His. Looking back at endurance in our lives gives tangible proof. We can say, I went through that and I am still seeking Jesus. So I can say with confidence: I am saved.
This is not objective in a way that removes all possibility of self-deception. But notice how much more reliable it is than simply trying to assess fruit in a quiet moment when nothing is at stake.
Trials force a choice. What do I really want? Who do I belong to? When I choose to keep following God, that is evidence that the Spirit is at work in me. That is the mark.
If You Have not yet Been Tested
It is possible some of you have not yet been tested in that way. If your faith has not been proven, you may not yet have a solid basis for confident assurance.
That does not mean you will not ever know. If God has chosen you for eternal life, then sooner or later He will test you. He will reveal who you are and where you stand. I do not believe God leaves any of His children untested.
That clarity will not come from trying harder, forcing belief, or writing down a prayer. It will come through testing that reveals what is true.
Peter tells us the testing of our faith is more valuable than gold refined by fire. What could be more important than knowing where we stand with God? We know it through testing.
So rejoice in your testing. Not because suffering is pleasant, but because suffering reveals that your faith is real. And saving faith is worth everything.
If you are waiting for that clarity, wait patiently and expectantly. When the time is right, God will make it known.
Conclusion: How do you know you’re saved?
How can I know that I am saved?
You can know when God, through testing, reveals that the Spirit is at work in you, sanctifying you, marking you, making it visible that you belong to Him. That is the answer. And that is the hope.
Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.
Photo by Austin Rucker on Unsplash
Podcast season 26 bonus episode 18
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