The Bible says we can know we are saved.
1 John 5:13 “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.”
So we know we are saved if we have believed in Jesus.
Remember though believing in Jesus not only means to believe the facts about Him, but to commit and yield our lives to obeying Him. The word “believe” in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance roots backwards twice to a word, which means “obey” (the word believe is Strong’s # 4100 in the Greek, which comes from # 4102, which comes from # 3982, which means obey and also yield).
The Bible says we know that we are saved because we keep God’s commandments.
1 John 3:24 “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
1John 2:3 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”
This does not mean a Christian is completely sinless, but that they truly strive not to sin. To Learn what to do when you do sin see my post about 1 John 1:9. Furthermore, there are certain evil sins that a true Christian can never do like murder, rape, theft, hate God etc. To learn more about this please read my post “Sins A Christian Cannot Fall Into.”
Whether or not a person truly gets saved when they make their profession of Christ is determined by the quality of the “soil” meaning the pureness of their heart.
In the Parable of the Sower Jesus talks about a few groups of people who “believe,” but only one group truly gets saved: The ones who receive the word into good ground meaning they believe with a pure heart.
Mark 4:14 “The sower soweth the word.
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
Jesus also said that only the pure in heart will see God.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
The other 2 groups only received the gospel for selfish reasons. They only received it for their own benefit, so as soon as things got hard or they found something else that seemed more beneficial to them they abandoned Christ.
This is why we should never present the gospel to someone by saying something like “Say this prayer and all your problems will go away!”
The Christian life is a life of sacrifice not of self gratification!
Life is full of problems whether you are saved or not, and many times being saved can cause many problems, because the world hates you.
John 15:18 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
When a person comes to God for salvation, God can see the motives of their heart, and if it is not pure, He does not save them. A person must come to God in humbleness sacrificing their lives to obeying Him, not in greed demanding earthly things from Him!
The Bible says God gives believers eternal life.
John 3:16 “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.”
This means once we have it, we have it forever!
The Bible says no one can pluck us out of God’s hand.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.”
Notice it says His sheep follow him. A person can know that they are saved because they have believed the facts about Jesus and they have truly yielded their life as a sacrifice to Him.
More helpful posts:
“How to Overcome besetting Sins”