Ten Signs of Salvation:

1) The very first sign that you are a believer is an ardent hatred of sin (Psa.119:104; Job 1:1; Psa.26:5; 84:10; Prov.8:13; Rom.7:22-24). It is only in the believer that there is a battle between the flesh and the Spirit (Gal.5:16-17). In the unbeliever, there is no such battle because he does not have the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in believers guarantees that you will make war against any sin. The very existence of that war is a sign that you are saved. Your own sin will be even more detestable than everyone else's in the world put together, and it will drive you to the foot of the Cross. When your heart is wholly inclined towards a hatred of sin, you can be certain you are a believer.

2) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a strong, lively and joyful love for the one in whom you have believed: the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet.1:8; 1 Jn.4:19). In fact, if a person claims to be a Christian and does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, this is such a contradiction in terms that it is a sign of pseudo-Christianity which will also lead to a terrible curse of judgment from God (1 Cor.16:22).

3) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a deep love for the Word of God - the Bible (Psa.119:97 & 103). It will be your only objective source of truth for morality, religious knowledge and day-to-day living. To hear it preached through, and read from, will be a joy to you. You will always want to understand more about it.

4) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have a deep and lasting love for all true Christians (1 John 3:14). You will find that you now have a built-in instinct to detect real believers; and you will love them above all others too (Gal.6:10). By this you will know you have been saved.

5) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an intimate understanding that you have been adopted into God's family by receiving the Holy Spirit as a "deposit" and guarantee of the fullness of future glory in the age to come (Rom.8:15-17; Eph.1:13-14). You will really know that God is your Father and that you are His child.

6) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will experience the power of prayer and the continual desire to pray. You will live in great gratitude for the fact that you have "access" to Him (Rom.5:1-2) and for the precious promises in Psa.145:18 and Heb.4:16.

7) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will be able to detect real growth in your knowledge, faith and love (2 Thess.1:3; 1 Pet.2:2-3; 2 Pet.3:18; Eph.4:14-15). This will be something you can measure over a period of time. You will be able to say "Last year I was there. This year I am here". And you will notice the difference.

8) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an unshakeable love of truth. (Jn.14:17; Jn.8:32). The Fall involved exchanging the truth of God for the lie (Rom.1:25) and a moment-by-moment suppression of truth from that time forth by every human being born into this world (Rom.1:18). When you are saved, there is a total reversal of this process. Not being saved involves a rejection of truth and a hatred of it (2 Thess.2:10). Being saved involves a rejection of all falsehood and a passion for truth (Psa.119:29, 104). This is why true believers reject false teachings and love purity of doctrine.

9) Another sign that you are a believer is that your whole "worldview" will be different to both how it was before you believed and to that of the rest of the unbelieving world (2 Cor.5:17). You will have a brand-new spiritual and moral outlook on everything. No longer will you make yourself the sole judge of what is right or wrong (which is what Satan seduced our first parents into, Gen.3:5) but you will realize that you must follow God's judgments on all matters.

10) Another sign that you are a believer is that you will have an intense longing for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom.8:23-25; 2 Tim.4:8). This will not make you into an escapist; for you still have to live in this world in order to grow and as a witness to truth. But your greatest desire is to see an end to sin and corruption and for righteousness to be once more established in the universe. You know that this will come only through the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.21:1-5); and you long for this.

All these, and more, are the signs that you have really been saved. Do we see these evidences in ourselves? It is important to make your calling and election sure (2 Pet.1:10). As Thomas Brooks warns in his book "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices", the enemy of souls is always trying to destabilize Christians by putting them in a "sad, doubting, questioning and uncomfortable condition". However, it is the Lord's desire to give us unshakable assurance (Heb.6:19-20; Jn.14:2; 1 Jn.5:10-12 & 13; Rom.8:16 & 28, etc.).

It is therefore my earnest prayer that we will be questioners of the right kind and see the fruit of the above signs of salvation growing in our lives daily. For that is the pastor's joy; and it is his joy because it is God's joy too.