What Are The Evidence That One Is Saved?

The topic I discussed in my articles, “Who then can be saved?” (January 17, 2015) and its sequel “Who can be saved?” (January 24, 2015) generated question marks in some reader-believers. I have been asked to further clarify what I have written. By the way, the things I wrote are not my idea, I merely quoted from the Bible, the Word of God, as written by the Apostle Paul, who is also known as the greatest persecutor of Christians during his time until Jesus Christ (God in the flesh [John 1:1 and 1:14] spoke to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutist thou me?” to which he inquired, “Who art thou Lord?”, and the one speaking answered, “ I am Jesus whom thou persecutist”.

Then, the rest is history, but the conclusion was that Saul, whose name was changed to Paul (when he was converted to Christianity) and who was not only an ordinary Christian–believer, but who wrote thirteen (13) of the twenty-seven (27) books of the New Testament (to include Hebrews) is acclaimed also as the greatest apostle. Incidentally, he was a lawyer or “advocate”, like the Lord Jesus Christ, the lawyer for all sinners in the Court of heaven. As a lawyer or advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ won all His cases for being able to save all repentant sinners (meaning all true believers of God (Jesus in the flesh), in thoughts, in words and in deeds. But His winning cost Him death by crucifixion in the cross of calvary, the severest and most ignominious form of dying because of his extreme physical suffering for a number of hours, unlike today’s extreme penalty of death by electrocution which takes only a second (or with the least physical suffering).

Thus, Jesus Christ has no equal in loving – for He loves everybody especially the sinners. Thus, the Bible tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 NIV). He gave up His life to save the sinners and without expecting anything in return. This is the difference between Jesus Christ and the ordinary human lawyer (or advocate). A human lawyer works hard for the victory especially if he is well compensated by his client – that is, he expects some reward.

Let us review again what the Bible says, on who can be saved.

“⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)

The Apostle John said:

^“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18 KJV)

Let us analyze what the apostles said.

We are “saved by grace through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works.”

By grace means unmerited favor: meaning, we do not deserve to be saved because we are all sinners, and the penalty of sin is death, both physical and spiritual. For the wages (or penalty) for sin is death. This is what the Bible means when it said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and the wages or penalty for sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

No one is good enough to deserve to be saved, for it is written:

¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;

¹¹ there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NIV)

But because of the unfathomable (measureless) Love of God for all men, “we are justified (just-as-if we have not sinned) freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented himself as a sacrifice of atonement (Jesus took our place) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (to regain someone’s favor) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission (or forgiveness) of sins that are past, through the forbearance (or leniency, clemency, indulgence, or patience) of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26 KJV).

The Bible clearly says, salvation is by faith only, not by our works, and it is the gift of God. Meaning, we do not pay for it or earn it because of our good works, but it is given free without cost (or requirement of anything tangible) in money or deeds. The Bible continues:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10 NIV).

Meaning to say, a saved person will do and show “good works” for the Kingdom of God. How would we know his good works? We will know it by his fruit – the fruit of the Holy Spirit or by converts to Christianity because of his life’s good example. What is this spiritual fruit? LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL (Gal. 5:22). This saved person receives from God, gifts of the Holy Spirit which may be one or all of these gifts:

^“6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:6-8 NIV)

Are we (you) saved? By the grace of God through faith in His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Who Can Be Saved?

This is a sequel to my previous article published in our Saturday bulletin on January 17, 2015.

Let us look at Eph. 2:8-9 (NIV) again:

“⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.”

As we know, grace is defined as unmerited favor. Meaning, we don’t deserve to be saved because we are sinners, and the penalty of sin is SPIRITUAL death (Romans 6:23), but because we believe what Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV), we are saved from the penalty of spiritual death. The question is: where is the Father? Of course, He is in heaven, and Jesus Christ is seated on His right hand (Eph. 1:20), “for he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressor’s (Isa. 53:12 NIV), that is why we can enter heaven.

But there is a condition before we, (the sinners), will be extended grace, that is, we must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the Only begotten Son of God and that He is also God (John 1:1). Thus, faith in Jesus Christ alone is needed to enter heaven. Nothing more, as the Word of God is definitely clear that it is not by works (Eph. 2:9) for it is the gift of God (vs. 8). Of course, salvation will result in good works (Eph. 2:10).

The question will be asked, “So what happens to the people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God; that He is God himself”; and He is the only savior of our soul? The answer is: No one goes to the Father in heaven EXCEPT through His Son Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

How do we know that someone is truly a believer of Jesus Christ? By their fruit, you will recognize them (Matt. 7:16 NIV). What is the fruit of the true believer? The one who exhibits LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL. In short, one who is born again in the SPIRIT (John 3:5-8) is a true believer of Jesus Christ. And a born again believer is the only one qualified to enter the Kingdom of God, or heaven (John 3:5), because only those born again have eternal life. Thus the Bible tells us. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).

Who Then Can Be Saved?

This is a question asked by the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Believers (of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh) are encouraged to be Christlike. To be Christlike is to be like the Lord Jesus Christ in thoughts, in words and in deeds. This is a difficult thing to do, because human as we are, we are subject to human frailties, likes and dislikes or prejudices. Thus, our normal tendency is to love those who show us love; we give to those who give to us; we are courteous to those who are equally courteous. And the converse of all these is true to us as well.

For example, when Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross of calvary, what did he pray to his Father for those who persecuted and hanged him? He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV). Who is the human being who would pray in that manner? No one. Impossible. It is written,

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no not one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NIV).

If this be the case, who then can be saved and who deserves to be in heaven as promised by Jesus Christ when he said,

“¹Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3 NIV)

Yes, no one really deserves to enter heaven on his own effort or “goodness”; it is only by the grace of God. Thus, the Bible says,

“⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)

What is grace? The simplest definition understandable by everybody is: grace means an “unmerited favor”. Reducing this to its lowest term, we do not really deserve it because we are sinners, but because of the love of God, by his grace, through faith (because we believe Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh) and the truth of his promise, we will be allowed to enter heaven. In Tagalog, “hindi sana maari (or puede) pero sigue na lang, pasok ka pagkat naniwala ka na Diyos si Jesu Cristo).

So, we are saved not because we are good or upright, but by the grace of God because we have faith in Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. Thus, the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 NIV). But one who is saved is Christlike, so he is good and upright, and will do “good works”. The Bible says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).