I could give you my ideas on the subject, however, for anyone who knows me, they know that I realize that my ideas can be wrong at times. However, the Word of God is always right, so let me share with you what God says. There are two scriptures that come to mind. First, in Romans 8:16, we read, “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” After reading this verse, you may ask, when do I receive the Holy Spirit, and how will I know that I have Him? First of all, we Christians receive The Holy Spirit the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30). The Holy Spirit is our “down payment” if you were, whenever we are saved. He also is our seal. Having God’s Holy Spirit means that you will be convicted, your conscience will bother you, whenever you disobey God.
Next, the second scripture that shows us how that we can be assured of our salvation is found in Hebrews 12:6-8, also in Proverbs 3:11-12. God loves His kids, and regardless of how old we become physically, we will always be God’s kid. As such, there are times whenever we do not do what God has said in His Word or followed the urging of His Holy Spirit in some way. He tells us that He will punish His children if we disobey, but it is not to hurt us, but with the intention of correcting us. We, as ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), are to live such a life that others see the evidence of Jesus in us so much that they see Him more than us. We are to be a city on a hill, to stand out so that others may see that we are different than the world. In our day and age, I can honestly say that I see very few people who are living a godly lifestyle. I see very little evidence of chastisement in people, because if God would chastise them as He has with me, then they would live their lives in obedience to Him. Don’t misunderstand me, I am far, far from perfect. But I do know that God will not let me by with anything. I will give you an illustration. The other night I spoke harshly to my wife, and quite frankly, I can’t even remember now why, but I remember the incident. Why? Because God’s Holy Spirit convicted me, and I had to apologize to my wife. How can I know that my salvation is forever?
Therefore my friend, if you do not know that you are saved, you have not the conviction of God’s Holy Spirit, or you are not being corrected by God whenever you disobey Him, then my friend, to put it bluntly, by the authority of The Word of God, you are not saved? You may say that I can’t say that, that I don’t know your heart? Very true; but I do know what the scriptures I just spoke about means, and I am just telling you what God said about you. That means that your issue is with Him, not me. He will be the One you face when life is over. It is my prayer that anyone who reads this will humble themselves before God, and if they have not accepted Jesus into their heart, and placed their life into His hands, to do it this very minute. Never forget, we are not promised another second, death can come at any minute. Please act now, because once you leave this site, it could be too late, and your eternity will be in a devils hell (Matthew 25:41; Isaiah 5:14).