How to Be Saved and Know It | Part 1

Do you know that you know that you're saved? I have been redeemed. I have been saved by His power divine. You ought not to have a hope-so salvation. You ought to have a know-so salvation.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the powerful, dynamic messages of Adrian Rogers. Every Christian needs to have the privilege of knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are saved. But having doubts doesn't necessarily mean that you're not saved. Adrian Rogers said, Doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body. It doesn't mean you're dead.

It means something's wrong. 1 John 5 reveals the assurance of our salvation without hesitation. If you have your Bible, turn there now. We'll begin in verse 11 as Adrian Rogers shares how to be saved and know it. Today I want you to take God's Word and turn with me please to 1 John chapter 5, and in a moment we're going to begin reading in verse 11. There's a story told, I don't know whether it is true or not, but Vince Lombardi, whose Green Bay Packers were not doing very well, and it is said that in practice Vince Lombardi said to the boys, we're going back to the basics, and he picked up a football and said, gentlemen, this is a football.

One of the boys said, give it to us again, coach. Now what we're going to do is go back to the very basics. Today we're going to be talking about how to be saved and know it. I was in the hospital. A lady was dying.

Her family around the bed was one of those tense and sad moments. Someone said she's not ready to die. She doesn't know the Lord.

She's not saved. And I said, may I have an opportunity to speak with her? And very gently and courteously I said, I'd like to talk to you about the Lord. And so I shared the gospel, and I told her that if she would by faith receive the Lord Jesus, she could be saved, forgiven, and on her way to heaven with divine certainty. She said, oh, I want that. And I led her in prayer, and she prayed and asked Christ to come into her heart, to forgive her sin, to save her eternally. And I turned to the family, and the son-in-law was there, and I said to him, isn't it wonderful that she has been saved? Do you know what he said to me? Oh, he said, no one can know that they're saved. I said, oh, yes, they can.

He said, no, no, no, no. The best that a person can do is to say, I hope that I'm saved. And then I shared with him a verse of scripture. It's the scripture we're going to read for our text today.

I want you to look at it. 1 John 5 beginning in verse 11. And this is the record that God has given to us, eternal life. Because life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. And then here's the verse. Look at it clearly and plainly. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may, may you help me?

What's the next word? No, K-N-O-W, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, not think, not guess, not hope, not surmise, not wonder, but know with a rock-ribbed assurance that you have eternal life. Every Christian ought to have this privilege. You ought not to be a question mark with your head all bent over, wondering whether you're saved.

You ought to be an exclamation point, standing up straight and tall and saying, thank God I know if I died right now, I would go to heaven. You ought not to be a doubting Christian. You ought to be a shouting Christian. You ought not to have a hope-so salvation.

You ought to have a know-so salvation. And this verse tells us that we can know it. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know. But also these verses tell us that we can doubt, because if we couldn't doubt, why would John have written this?

John is writing this that those who might doubt will not doubt. Now, so if you have doubts, that doesn't mean that you're not saved. It could mean that you're not saved, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not saved. You can be saved and have doubts. Doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body. It doesn't mean you're dead.

It means something's wrong. As a matter of fact, dead people don't feel any pain. The doubt there is, in a sort of a strange sense, a backward affirmation of faith. You only doubt that which you believe. And so it's possible to have doubts, or John would not have written this, but it's also wonderful to have assurance, and that's why he did write it. These things have I written unto you to believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life.

Now, the assurance of your salvation is extremely important. We're not talking here about denominational preference. We're not talking here about little idiosyncrasies of doctrine.

We're not talking here about political opinions. We're not talking here about matters that only count in this world. We're talking about eternal life. We're talking about your soul. When God made you, God breathed into your nostrils the breath of life, and you became a living soul. You could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist.

Your soul will go on endless, timeless, dateless, measureless, either in heaven or in hell. How important it is, therefore, that you absolutely know that you're saved. And so I want us to think a little bit, first of all, about how we are saved, and then what are the results? What are the proofs?

What are the evidences that this has taken place? Well, you're in chapter 5. Look in chapter 5 and verse 1 here, if you will. 1 John 5 and verse 1. He says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. To be born of God is another way of saying being saved. It's being born again. And it's very clear and very plain. The way that you're saved is by believing that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus, the name Jesus means Jehovah saves, is the Messiah. You believe that. You trust that.

And something happens. You are born again. You say, is it just that simple, Pastor Rogers? It's just that simple. It is gloriously simple, but it's simply glorious. Acts 16 verse 31 says it again the same way.

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Friend, it's not so high that few can reach it. It's really so low that few get down to it. It is so plain.

It is so simple. We're saved by trust in the Lord Jesus. Now, this word believe doesn't mean just intellectual belief. The devils believe like that.

But it's a word that means trust and commitment. In another verse, and this one I'd like for you to turn to and then we'll spend the rest of our time in 1 John, but I really want you to look at this one over in Ephesians chapter 2. It's so clear and so plain. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. God makes it so abundantly clear because He wants you to be saved.

And so God here tells us not only what does save us, but what does not save us. And here's what He says. Are you listening? All right, are you ready to look up here? Do you see my blackboard up here? You can't see it? Well, it's there.

Just imagine it's there. See this chalk? We're going to write on this side of the blackboard what does not save us.

Okay? Now you look in Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9 and tell us what does not save us. He says, All right, I'm writing up here self. All right, self cannot save. Do you see it? And then He goes on and He says, Works.

All right, there it is. Self and works. Do you see that can't save?

Do you see that? Self and works can't save. Now, let's come over here on this board and let's write what does save us. Four by what?

Grades. G-R-A-C-E. Are you saved through what? Faith. F-A-I-T-H. There you have it. Now, folks, it's just that plain. It's just that clear. Actually, it's more clear than that, isn't it?

All right, because you can't see that, but you can read it right there on your page. Now, you say, well, everybody knows that. Well, they don't. If you were to walk down the streets of this city or any city and say, are you saved on your way to heaven? Do you know what most folks would say? They would say, well, I hope so.

I think so. I am doing the best I can. I, self, am doing works the best I can.

Isn't that right? So no wonder they don't have assurance. How could you have assurance if it depended upon what you do? I wouldn't trust the best 15 minutes I ever lived to get me into heaven. I am doing the best I can. And works.

That's what the average person is doing. They think that God is like Santa Claus, making a list, checking it twice, going to find out who's naughty or nice, that you're going to die and come to the judgment and somehow he's going to put everything in the balances and if your good works outweigh your bad works, he'll say you made it, and if your bad works outweigh your good works, he'll say you didn't make it and that you're going to hell. Now, you'd be amazed how many people believe that, folks.

They believe that. Now, over in contradistinction to that is what God says. God says over here, for by grace. Now, what is grace?

Grace is the unmerited favor and love that God shows to sinners such as we. It's what made God love us when we were unlovely. God doesn't love us because we're valuable. We're valuable because he loves us. He just loves us out of grace. It's what sent Jesus to die for us.

God commended his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Friend, that is grace. That is amazing grace. For by grace are ye saved through what? Faith. Think of grace as the hand of God reaching down out of heaven, and God says, I love you.

I want to save you. Think of faith as your hand reaching up to God. Now, God puts down the hand of grace. You put up the hand of faith, and when you put your hand of faith in God's hand of grace, that's salvation. For by grace are ye saved through faith.

Do you have it? Now, the devil doesn't want you to understand that, but friend, if there's any part of it depends upon what you do, you'll never have assurance. Isn't that right? Because you'll always wonder, am I doing enough? But when it all depends on what God does, then you can have assurance. You say, Adrian, do you know you're saved?

Well, of course I do. Well, you say you have a lot of confidence in yourself. No, I don't have any confidence in myself. That's how I know I'm saved. If I had confidence in myself, I could not know it.

My confidence is in the grace of God. Now, the devil never gives up very easily. So the devil will say this.

He'll say, now, wait a minute, folks. Really, the truth is like everything else. It's some of each. It's part of works and part of faith. And so he says it's grace and works.

You do your part and God does His. Now, doesn't that sound so good? They say it's like crossing a stream in a rowboat. If you just take this oar and pull on this oar and we'll call this oar faith, you just go around in a circle this way. But if you pull this oar, we'll call this one works, you just go around in a circle this way. But they say with a big smile on their face, faith and works together, that gets you across.

Doesn't that sound good? There's just one thing wrong with that illustration and it is this. We are not going to heaven in a rowboat. Now, friends, we're going to heaven by the grace of God. And Romans 11 verse 6 says, And if by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. And then he goes on to say, And if it is by works it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work. What does that mean in Romans 11 verse 6? It's not part grace and part works.

That's impossible. It is all of grace. When you put your hand to faith in God's hand of grace, when you say, God, I'm a sinner, I'm lost, I cannot save myself, I don't deserve to be saved, in my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I claim, Lord, I am trusting you to save me. When you do that, when you say that, hallelujah, you're saved, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

Okay, now, having said that, however, what is the result? What are the traits of the twice born? What are the birthmarks of the believer? Now, this little book of 1 John was written to give you assurance. And the word, know, K-N-O-W, is mentioned almost 40 times in this epistle. Now, he mentions ways that we can know that we have been born again.

I want to just take them and reduce them down to three because basically all of those 40 can come down basically to three basic things. So I want you to take the test today. Are you ready to take the test? The assurance test to find out whether or not you have any right to say, yes, praise God, I know I'm saved.

The very first test is the lordship test. Is Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Look in 1 John 2, verses 3 and following. 1 John 2, and let's begin in verse 3. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Now, he doesn't say that we're saved by keeping the commandments.

No, no. Salvation is the gift of God. It says we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. If you say that you are saved, if you say that you know God and you're not keeping his commandments, God says you are a liar.

Now you say, Pastor Rogers, wait a minute. Are you telling me if I ever break any of God's commandments that means I'm not saved? No, I'm not saying that because there's not a one of us that has not failed and sinned in some time, some way, some manner after we've been saved.

Isn't that true? All of us have. And John understands that. Go back to chapter 1, verse 10. If we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Well, that's past tense.

We say, yes, that's past tense. But now look at chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. There's the standard, don't sin. But he says, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's saying it is possible, it is possible that you can sin and need an advocate, need Jesus Christ to come and help you as a child of God to get cleansed from your sin. And yet he goes on to say in verse 3, and hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

So what is the answer to this riddle? On the one hand, the Bible says we know that we're saved because we keep the commandments. On the other hand, it says it's possible for us to sin. The key is in this word keep. Look at the word keep in chapter 2, verse 3.

We know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Now, among other ways that this word was used, the word that a sailor would use, a navigator back in this day, when they sail by the stars at nighttime, the sailor could keep his course by keeping the stars. That's what they call sailing by the stars. They would plot the heavens, and the man with his chart would look at the heavens and keep his hand on the rudder or his hand on the wheel. And he would sail by the stars, and that was called keeping the stars. Now, to you as a child of God, those stars are the commandments of God. That is what you steer your life by.

That is the guide, the goal of your life. You keep the commandments. Now, a sailor might go to sleep at the wheel. He might get distracted. He might have his attention diverted. He might get blown off course. These things could happen, but when he recognizes it, he goes right back on course without the desire of his life to get off course.

The desire of his life is to steer according to that course, and that's the way it is with a child of God. Yes, sometimes we get blown off course. Yes, sometimes we take our eyes from the stars. Yes, sometimes we may fail. Yes, sometimes we may oversteer or understeer, but the great desire of our life is to keep the commandments of God, and John says, if that desire is not in your life, you need to get saved.

It's that plain and that simple. You're not saved by keeping the commandments. You're saved by the grace of God, but one of the birthmarks that a child has been saved is that he has this desire to live according to the commandments.

That's the lordship test. Jesus said, why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and there's no such thing as saying I want Christ as Savior, but I don't want Christ as Lord.

That's impossible. You believe on the lordship of Jesus. You make Christ the Lord of your life. He's already Lord, but you make him your Lord.

You receive him as your Lord. You say, well, Pastor Rogers, do you mean to say that you don't sin anymore? No, I sin, but I tell you there's a difference. After I got saved, and there was before I was saved, before I got saved, I was running to sin. Now I'm running from it.

That's the major difference. I'm going to tell you something else. If you're a member of this church or anybody's church and you can sin willfully, consciously, continually, without any remorse, without any regret, without any repentance, with no compunction, you are just living a sinful life, it is my duty to assure you that you are not saved. It is my solemn responsibility to tell you that you're in for a rude awakening at the final judgment. Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

Is that the burning desire of your heart? It is if you've met the Christ of Calvary. It is if you have been born of God. That's the lordship test.

Now we're going to take another test. Not only the lordship test, the second test here in 1 John is the fellowship test, the fellowship test. Now let me show you what John has to say about that, if you would, please. Turn to 1 John 3 and look in verse 14. We know, that's our word again, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

That's what John says. Now, again, turn, if you will, to 1 John 4 and verse 20. If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. And then look in chapter 5 verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one that loveth him that beget, that is, every one who loves the Father, loveth him also that is begotten of him. When you love the heavenly Father, you love his children, you love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

It's one of the traits of the twice born. It's a test. You see, when you get saved, you want to be with the children of God, and you want to be right with the children of God. And we'll hear part two of this important lesson coming up tomorrow. But maybe today you have questions regarding your faith in Jesus.

You do have doubts. We'd love to offer an insightful resource on the website. It's our Discover Jesus page. You'll find answers there you may need about your faith.

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