How can I be sure of my salvation?
What effect is the Salvation?

"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."

What does the word "Salvation" mean?

The English word "Salvation" comes from two Latin words, Salvare, ‘to save’ and salus, ‘help’ or ‘health’. The idea of salvation is of an action of being delivered from danger or disease.
The spiritual action of salvation points to a spiritual deliverance, it does not indicate physical deliverance. In the Old Testament the word salvation puts stress on the servants of God being physically delivered from their enemies, while in the New Testament is clearly referring to escaping from the sinful life to a spiritual life.

What is salvation?

In the New testament salvation is a personal relationship with God, this is because of personal forgiveness for sin.
In addition, we have peace with God as a result of salvation.
Romans 5:1

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

What does this verse tell us about the relationship between God and Man?

1) That Mankind is at war with God, an enemy of God, because of our sin nature but this was dealt with by Jesus Christ paying the price of death in our place, and so it restored the peaceful relationship between God and Man.
Romans 1:16,

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

2) That we have become a New Creation:
2 Cor 5:17,

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Note John 14:6.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

3)That we have been "Made Perfect:"
John 17:22,23,

"22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

1 John 4:7,

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."

Ephesians 2:1-10.

"4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: "

Luke 13:22-30

"23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."

Obviously we are unable to save ourselves - there is no way we can live or work ourselves into God’s favor, He is a holy God and cannot associate Himself with sin.

Heb 12:23

"To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,"

In the eye’s of God - we have been made perfect through Jesus Christ.

The effect on our Human life.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We have been made completely sanctified - we have been set aside for God.
How does this happen?
At Creation we were made in three parts, men and women consists of:-
1) A Body —> our physical appearance, our physical container.
2) A Soul —> Who we are, our attitude to others, to life, our thoughts, etc.
3) A Spirit —> Through the spiritual part we are able to know God, to communicate and to worship God.
Heb 4:12,

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Rom 8:16.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

God made Mankind very different to any of the other creations.
1) Plants have a body, - roots,stalks,leaves, flowers.
2)Animals also have a body but in addition they have a soul. In the animal world they can have various attitudes to each other and to other parts of creation, especially Mankind.
3) It is only Mankind who has all of these, a body, a soul but in addition a spirit. It is the spirit which allows us to relate to God who is Spirit. God deliberately created us with a body, soul and spirit.

Other thoughts associated with the act of Salvation.

What does it mean to be lost?

Adam was originally created with body, soul and spirit, this allowed him relate to God and so to walked with God, but he sinned. - God the Spirit cannot have dealings with sin, so the spirit of man could not relate to God, who had to become separated from man, God moved Adam and Eve out of the perfect place He had made for them.
Genesis 2:16,17.

"17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

When Adam and Eve were warned not to touch a specific tree in the garden, God told them that if they did then they would immediately die. Satan persuaded them that they would not die and to disobey God. Satan at first appeared to be telling the truth at first, they did not appear to die physically immediately. So did God lie? No, they die in some other way.
God cannot have any dealings with sin or disobedience so the spirit of man became separated from the Spirit of God, Adam and Eve died spiritually, they could not have any relationship or contact with God. Mankind became spiritually lost to God.
So they needed some way of restoration of that relationship.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Luke 19:10.
Jesus, the Son of God came to restore the relationship.

What is so important about the spirit relationship?

God, a Spirit, comes into our spirit. Then, through our spirit, God can control and motivate our soul, giving guidance to our Body. Our Body now reflects to our world our attitude to God and to the rest of the world.

In Genesis 3:6-15, Adam and Eve walked with God, but then sinned and their personal relationship with God had to end as God cannot have anything to do with sin so He had to separate Himself from Adam and Eve. They did not die physically for many years but they were dead to the Spirit of God, dead to His presence. Not only is death a physical effect but more important, Death is a separation of our spirit from God, to be separated from the source of life - God means death.
We are lost, our nature, our body, soul and spirit are lost from our source of life,
Eph 2:2,3,

"2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

Therefore, to be LOST means that we are separated from God,
Romans 3:23,

"23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

What has God done to restore the relationship?

Matthew 1:18-25

"18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

There is no way we can restore the relationship with God on our own, Salvation is not possible to accomplish on our own.
The name Jesus means "Saviour." Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth as a human baby, he took on the form of a man but the purity of God. It was God’s plan to ultimately use the death of His Son on the cross to save us. Jesus, a pure, sinless man took our punishment in our place. We cannot save ourselves from sin and its effect and consequences, no matter how good we are, we are unable to remove that sinful nature present in all of us. Only God, through the death of a man, Jesus can do that. Jesus did not come to help people save themselves; he came to be their Saviour from the power of sin and its ultimate penalty, eternal separation from God.
. Rom 8:23,24;

"23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: "

Rom 5:7,8.

"7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. "

The action by God of Salvation through Jesus is the proof, the assurance of God’s presence within us. In Isaiah 7:14 it was prophesied that one of the titles of Jesus was to be called "Immanuel," which has the meaning "God is with us." Because Jesus was God in the flesh; then God through Jesus was actually living with us. This means that today, through the Holy Spirit, Christ is present in the life of every believer.
Adam and Eve lost their fellowship with God, God, who came in the form of a man as Jesus, was therefore able to restored that relationship.
Luke 19:10.

"10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

God’s plan for Salvation consists of only one single route. The Bible tells us that the way to eternal life will involve a very "narrow route" This does not mean that it is difficult to become a Christian, but that there is only one way that takes you to eternal life with God, unfortunately only a few will make the decision to follow that way. Believing in Jesus is the only way to heaven, he alone died for our sins and therefore through Him we can be made right before God. We must thank God there is one way!
Matt 7:13,14,

"13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

See also John 10:7-9.

How does God carry out the salvation that He has offered?

Let us examine the story of Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21.
The "Act of Salvation" is a work done in and on our life by the Holy Spirit. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that we do not have control over the work of the Holy Spirit. He works in ways we cannot understand or explain. Jesus gave for example that we had no control over our physical birth, so you cannot control your spiritual birth. This action by and through the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, read Ephesians 1:11-14; and Ephesians 2:8-9.

It is important to note that Salvation is much more than just knowing about Jesus. For example, Nicodemus, as a religious leader, knew the Old Testament very well but still did not understand. This knowledge of the Bible does not, on its own, give salvation. Yes, a True Believer needs to know the Bible, it will give an understanding of the God who is revealed through the Bible and will also reveal the right way of restoring the relationship through the salvation that God offers.

We each have to make a choice to accept or reject Salvation, you have to either receive or reject Christ, there is no half way with Jesus. When the people heard the teaching of Jesus they could either accept or reject what he said. Jesus did not try to make people reject His teachings, he was simply telling the truth. But the more the people heard the teaching of Jesus, the more they split into two groups: one group of people who wanted to know more while the second group who rejected the teaching of Jesus, they did not like what He taught.

The whole action requires an act of faith by the person, but we must note that a genuine faith requires "The truth and facts, " for example we have to know and understand that Jesus died for my sins. Faith is not a "feeling of forgiven"
True faith and belief does not at a head or mental acceptance of the truth. Faith requires a real "Heart trust," an action of my will, we must actually chose to believe, for example "The death of Jesus was in my place and paid my sin Debt."
Note that the words "faith, belief, trust and confidence" have the same meaning in these actions.

An important point is that Salvation cannot be earned. We become Christians through God’s gift and grace, not as the result of any action, or ability on our part.

How can I receive the gift of God? By the act of faith in the promise of God, and what he has done for each one of us.

This means that I believe what is written in the Bible.

I believe that the record and the facts are true.

I must have believed that Jesus died for my sins, and has taking my punishment for my sins.

I believe that the desires of God for justice of my sin have been satisfied by the action of Jesus.

I believe therefore that God no longer is able to see my sins, he can only see the blood of Jesus covering my sin.

I believe that God has given my the gift of eternal life.

Unfortunately, some people have attached levels to the act of faith. You either have only a little faith or much faith on the act of salvation, this cannot be right, salvation cannot involve a level of faith in this action by Jesus. For example, suppose you are drowning and a person passing by offers, "Will you trust me to save you?" How many times you respond "Yes" will not have any effect on the action of the person. You have indicated that you want saving and trust the persons action to rescue you by just one "yes." If you later claimed that it was the fact that you needed to say "yes" ten times to get saved does not make sense. The size of our faith is not what saves us, it is what was done by Jesus through his death that saves us.

Just a final thought on effect of your drowning. You had a choice when the person made the offer of salvation, you can say "No" and suffer the consequences. Do not reject the offer made by Jesus on the cross.

What will the Resurrection body be like?

The Resurrection body.

Scripture tells us that when a Believer dies, his body is placed in a grave. But the soul and spirit of that person are taken to a place called "Paradise."
1 Thess 4:13-18

"13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Scripture tells us that at sometime in the future all people will be brought back to life. All will be resurrected in some form, either with a perfect body suitable for heaven or a body which is designed for eternal punishment.
Dan. 12:2;

"2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

"28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

" 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; "

"6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

The resurrected body of the True Believer will be physically different in some way from the body which was laid in the grave, the spiritual part will be able to relate to the Spirit of God; but its identity will still be preserved. It will still have the same appearance as the original body on its resurrection.
As to the nature of the Believers resurrected body:-

• 1 Cor. 15:44;
  

  "42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in corruption:
  43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
  44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

• It will be spiritual, a body which has been created for the use of the soul in its glorified state, and suitable to all the conditions of the heaven;
  1 Cor. 15:54;
  

  "44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. "

• The body will be glorious, incorruptible, and powerful;
  Phil. 3:21.
  

  "21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

• The resurrected body of a believer will be like the glorified body of Christ;
  Rev. 21:4.
  

  "4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. "

• The resurrected body will be immortal.
• The resurrection of Jesus Christ shows that the Believer can be resurrected and so the promise is secure.
  Rom 8:23.
  

  "23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. "

• Because the resurrection of Jesus completes and seals the plans of God, it shows the redemptive power of God. This event confirms that He can redeem, resurrect the body, and restore the soul and the spirit of a person.

Because of his Spirit now dwells in those who are True Believers then He has made us members. 1 Cor. 6:14.

"14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power."

Romans 8:11.

"11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. "

Romans 14:9.

"9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. "

Because Jesus Christ, through the covenant, is Lord both of the living and the dead. This joining of the Christian with Christ causes the resurrection of the believer to be as the result of the death and resurrection of Christ

Because of our union with Christ
Phil. 3:20,21

"20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

1 John 3:2

"2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

1 Cor 15:20-23

"20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. "

1 Thess. 4:14-17

" 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. "

John 17:1-5

"1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."