How Can I Know that I’m a Christian

Every Christian struggles with assurance at some point in their journey. We sometimes struggle to believe the Gospel is true and other times we doubt whether God is working within us. The good news for us is that God does not want to leave us in the struggle but rather gives us resources so that we can find assurance. Christians have wrestled with this issue for centuries and one of the best explanations of where we go to find Christian assurance comes from the 1689 London Baptist Confession . The authors of the Second London Confession tell us that we can go to three places to find assurance: the promises of the Gospel, the fruits of faith, and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. In pointing us to these three sources, they summarize 1 John’s teaching on assurance. Going to these three sources in 1 John can give us what many Christian authors have called “full assurance.”

The Promises of the Gospel
While Christians need to go to all three of these sources for assurance, we could argue that the promises of the Gospel are the most fundamental place we should go. Jesus Christ died for our sins and by faith we are forgiven, made right with God, and adopted by God as his children. John explains this when he says “if we confess our sins ,God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Further, John teaches in 1 John 2:2 that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. He bore our sins in his own body on the cross dying as our substitute. The first question we have to ask ourselves is not whether we can pinpoint a place and time where we think we prayed a prayer and wonder whether or not we really meant it. What we need to do is ask ourselves the question “am I trusting in Jesus Christ this moment?”. Don’t look into yourself and into your past experiences to ultimately find assurance. The first place you should look for assurance is to Christ himself who died for you and promises to save you when you have faith in him. The most important thing you can know is that you are presently trusting and resting in Christ.

The Fruits of Faith
The Bible’s talk about trusting in Christ does not mean that we never look to ourselves, but that we do need to realize our present experience is not the ultimate source of assurance. Christ’s work never changes and the promises of the Gospel can never be altered. Measuring our growth in grace is a subjective enterprise, but we can look at several areas of our lives and determine if we have the marks of a Christian.

John gives several tests for evaluating whether or not our lives match up with what it looks like to follow Jesus. First John lays for us the test of obedience. In 2:3 he says, And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”. The person who knows and loves Jesus will have a desire to obey Christ’s commands and will begin to do so. John does not mean we will have a perfect life after coming to Christ, but that the direction of our lives will change so that we begin to obey Christ as Lord. 1 John 2:15-17 also shows us that the person who loves Christ will not love the world. This does not mean at all the people of the world, but rather this world system that is opposed to God. This world system is marked by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. The Christian will find himself losing a desire for these things and growing in a desire for the things that pertain to godliness. John’s final test is the test of love. In chapters three and four he teaches that the person who loves God will love other people. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” The New Testament holds this out as one of the chief marks of the Christian. The one who has discovered the love of God in Christ Jesus will love other people.

The Witness of the Holy Spirit
1 John 4:13 says “by this we know that we have come to know him because he is given us of his spirit.” This is possibly the most subjective of the three sources of assurance, but it cannot be ignored. God’s Spirit, the guarantee of our future inheritance, consistently reminds us that we are God’s children.  Paul also speaks of this in Romans 8 telling us that the Holy Spirit testifies to our adoption as God’s children and leads us to cry from the heart for God our Father.  The Christian who struggles with assurance should ask himself if there is something in him crying out for God and telling him that he is a Christian.

A growing Christian will be a person who is confident that he knows God. He will know he belongs to God and cannot be separated from him. So Christian, when you face difficult times and don’t know if God still loves you or wonder if God is abandoned you, come back to these sources and find assurance. Look to Jesus Christ who gave his life for you. Look at the direction of your life and see the change that God has been working in you. Pray that you will feel the strong witness of the Holy Spirit letting you know that you are indeed a child of God.

Related Posts:
“Your Worst Days and Best Days Don’t Define You”
“The Gospel is Better Than ‘God Gives Second Chances’”

For Further Reading
Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson
How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian by Donald Whitney