by Mihran Kulhanjian

 My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many professing Christians believe they are saved.  Here is how we can test ourselves.  

In 2 Corinthians13:5 Paul says “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (disqualified means that there was no genuine saving faith).

How often should we examine ourselves?  Each of us should examine ourselves regularly; this could be weekly, monthly or even daily.  We are living in a time of great wickedness and moral decay and technology has made many evils readily accessible and temptations worse than former generations. Online pornography, government legalization of mind altering drugs (marijuana), government approval of homosexuality, the absurdity of same sex marriage, and immoral sexual perversions of transgenderism endorsed by government is an abomination to a holy God and the Bible says all are deserving of death who practice these things (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  And those who support these evils are also deserving death (Romans 2:32).  "Abhor to what is evil.  Cling to what is good" (Romans 12:9).  The ungodly will not see the kingdom of God unless they repent and obey the commands of God. We must wake up to truth. God is truth.  At times we may casually deceive ourselves not knowing that we have acted contrary to Jesus’ commands.  We should spend time with God daily in prayer.  And if we sin ask God’s forgiveness and sin no more. For sins that you may not be aware of (particularly if you are a new Christian) we pray to our Father to “Cleanse me from secret faults” (Psalm 19:12). 

The Holy Spirit will convict you of your willful and habitual sins.  Surrender all to Jesus and stay in the word and let God do His work in you. Remember, we are saved by God’s grace through our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Good Fruit of True Christianity

Do you have the good fruit?

• Do you love God? Ps 421ff, 73:25; Luke 10.27; Rom. 8:7
• Have you repented from sin? Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13; Rom 7:14ff; 2 Cor. 7:10; 1 John 1:8-10
• Have you humbled yourself? Ps 51:17; Matt. 5:1-12; James 4:6,9ff
• Do you want to bring God Glory? Ps 105:3; 115:1; Is 43:7 48:10ff; Jer. 9:23,24;  1 Cor 10:31
• Do you pray to God? Luke 18:1; Eph 6:18ff; Phil. 4:6ff; 1 Tim. 2:1-4; James 5:6-18
• Do you love others? 1 John 2:9ff, 3:14; 4:7ff
• Do you feel that you do not belong to this world? 1 Cor. 2:12; James 4:4ff; 1 John 2:5-17, 5:5
• Are you growing spiritually in Christ? Luke 8:15; John 15:1-6; Eph. 4:12-16
• Are you obedient to God's commands? 7:21; John 15:14ff; Romans 16:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 22; 1 John 1:3-5

Can you say "Yes" to these questions:

• Are you growing in wisdom and  knowledge of Christ?:  Romans 1:21; 2:17ff
• Are you active with a church or searching for a church to have fellowship with like minded believers?:  Matt. 25:1-10
• Have you been convicted of your sins?: Acts 24:25
• Do you have assurance of your salvation:  Matt. 23
• Do you remember when you were born again, when you first received Christ? : Luke 8:13-14
• Do you remember when you were baptized in the Holy Spirit and are you aware of the special gifts you have? 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
• Do you witness and share the Gospel with others? Mark 16:15
• Is godliness evident in your life?
• Do people see a change in you?

A Christian Will Have the Fruit of the Spirit:

In Galatians 5:22-23 we are introduced to the “Fruit of the Spirit.”

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Longsuffering [Patience in spite of troubles]
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Temperance [Self-control with food and drink]

These are attributes of God.  Once you become a born again Christian the Holy Spirit is with you.  A Christian will gradually develop into these attributes.  Examine yourself to see if you are void of these fruits.  If these fruits are not represented in you, correct yourself; pray that God fills you with the Holy Spirit and with the fruits of the Spirit.

A prayer could be something like this:

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Which gifts of the Holy Spirit do you have?  (Romans 12:6-8) (1 Corinthians 12:7-10) (1 Corinthians 12:28) (Ephesian 4:11).  A saved believer will have one or many of these gifts.

1. Prophecy
2. Teaching
3. Miracles
4. Healing
5. Speaking in tongues
6. Interpreting tongues
7. Words of knowledge
8. Words of wisdom
9. Faith
10. Distinguishing between spirits
11. Helps (a gift of service)
12. Administration (a gift of leadership in the church)

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8).

 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: ⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).   

“And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,” (Ephesian 4:11).  These are gifts of the Spirit and offices in the church as well.

Sharing the Gospel

Christians should be confident, enthusiastic and bold about sharing the Gospel.  Love is about telling people the truth. The Gospel is truth.  Without Jesus all are condemned (John 3:17).  We must witness daily to reveal God’s plan for salvation to the lost.  Those with contrite hearts will be convicted and God will begin to work in them.  We make the introduction. God does the rest.  We know that not everyone will be saved—very few in fact.  There are a million ways to hell but only one way to heaven. Pride comes before destruction. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

Are You Truly Saved? 

After you have examined yourself, have you determined you are saved?  If your answer is “no” then you must ask yourself why, and take action to correct yourself.  Repent of your perpetual and habitual sinning.   Stay in the word. Read your Bible daily and pray without ceasing.  Ask God to reveal truth to you so that you will understand the gravity of His love and what He did for you. Praise God and worship Him in prayer. Get to know God so that you can love Him. If you love Him you will obey Him.  Remember, in 1 John:  “God is love.”  He loved you first.  If you love me you will obey my commands (John 14:15).  God’s love is both unconditional and conditional.  He loves His children differently than others.  God’s love is action orientated. He shows his love through his actions. He offers all eternal life; but few will accept it. However, there are conditions to salvation.  One, you must believe in and have faith in Jesus (John 3:16); and two, you must obey His commands.  A false Christian turns away from obeying God’s commands, yet they say “I believe in Jesus”.  Even Satan and the demons believe in Jesus. They don’t obey Jesus either.

Love God and obey Him.  Show Him that you are grateful for what He has done for you, offering you eternal life which continues in heaven and peace in this life with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.  He will never forsake you, He will never leave you.  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)