Can I be sure that I am saved?

Many sincere Christians go through seasons of doubt. They believe in Jesus, yet wonder whether they have believed enough, whether their sins have cost them everything, or whether they will hold out to the end. The Bible does not treat such questions lightly, and it does not leave them without an answer.

God wants you to know

The apostle John says why he wrote his first letter.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1 John 5:13 · King James Version (1769)

John MacArthur explains that the Gospel of John was written to bring unbelievers to faith, while this letter was written to give believers confidence that they possess eternal life. False teachers had left the church and shaken the congregations, and John reassured those who held firmly to the basics of the faith: who Christ is, obedience and love. William MacDonald adds that this assurance comes through the Word of God. We are not left to hope, guess or grope in the dark, and salvation is not a mere probability.

Albert Barnes notes that John also wants his readers to keep on believing, and that Christians are helped by examining themselves and seeing the evidence of new life in them. So assurance is a gift God offers, and it grows as we stay close to Him.

Why it rests on Christ, not on you

Jesus Himself speaks about the present and the future of those who believe.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:24 · King James Version (1769)

The New Geneva Study Bible stresses that for the believer salvation is not only a hope for later but a present reality: he has already passed from death into life. If eternal life is a gift received by faith and not a wage earned by effort (Ephesians 2:8–9), then it cannot be lost through our imperfect performance on a bad day.

Another passage is even more personal. Jesus speaks of His sheep, those who hear His voice and follow Him.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John 10:27–29 · King James Version (1769)

MacArthur observes that the safety of the sheep rests on the Shepherd, who has the power to keep them, and that the Father, who rules over everything, stands behind it. He calls this the strongest promise of complete security for every true Christian in the whole Bible. The New Geneva notes list what the Lord does: He knows His sheep, gives them eternal life, keeps them from destruction and lets no one snatch them from His hand. MacDonald adds that this life does not depend on their conduct.

Nothing can separate us from God’s love

Paul ends his great chapter about life in the Spirit with a list of every power he can think of.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom 8:38–39 · King James Version (1769)

MacDonald describes the apostle searching the whole universe for anything that could separate us from God’s love and crossing out each candidate in turn. John Wesley sees each item answered by what Christ has done: He died, He is risen, He is at the right hand of God and He pleads for us. Notice whose love it is: God’s love for us, not ours for Him.

Where Christians differ, and what to do with doubt

Christians read some of these texts differently on one point. Many, MacArthur and MacDonald among them, teach that every true believer is kept by God and will never perish. Others follow John Wesley, who in his notes on John 10 says that those who truly love Christ will not perish provided they abide in that love, and on John 5:24 that a believer is not condemned unless he makes shipwreck of the faith. Both views call us to trust in Christ and not in ourselves, and both urge us to keep following Him.

If you doubt, look first at what Christ has promised, not at how you feel today. Ask whether you trust Him as Savior, listen to His voice in Scripture and want to follow Him, however weakly. Lasting doubt that troubles the conscience is worth sharing with a pastor or a mature Christian friend. And the Lord, who bore the sins of His people, does not turn away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37).