How can I know that I’m saved? How does your mind work? Mind is a big word and a main word in the New Testament and not so much in the Old Testament. ‘Through the renewal of your mind’ (Romans 12:2) is an example. How does your mind work?
Now believing is the substitute for knowing. (Believing is defined as being convinced of something when you don’t know it is true, it’s a substitute for knowing). When you don’t know about something and you want to know, what does your mind do? Do you take a chance on the idea? If you do, you start to experience it just like riding a bicycle or anything. (Then you know how to ride the bike). Your mind is interested and goes for it. But it is also telling you to be careful – you don’t know what you’re doing. Your mind has two sides -it’s warning you and it’s telling you possibilities – both.
So it is also when you want to know you are saved. Doesn’t your mind try to come up with hopeful things about it? It also has warnings, so that you’re not fooling yourself. In anything, is that the way your mind works? So how does the gospel work in the Bible? It works the same way. The God who made you – made the gospel to match you. If it’s supposed to save you, then there’s got to be a real way for you to deal with it. And there is. There is something else to remember – you get to know that you’re saved. Now I know that I’m saved, the same way that I know anything.
Let’s say you know that you’re saved. Do you realize that isn’t going to be everything? You probably think – if I knew I was saved everything would be wonderful. But what is the next level? There’s something different when you know you’re saved. There’s another whole department for those that know they’re saved. Not only are you going to be different, but your life takes a different turn – something unique. Why does the New Testament say: “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward” (Heb.10:35? It’s for the same reason. The truth is – you have very little or no confidence at all right now and neither does a baby. Do not throw away your confidence – that is part of this next level, this next department.
Remember, we are being changed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). The first glory is to know that you’re saved. And you can. But then what? Think that way. We’re being changed into His image. Genesis chapter 1 – that is a plan and that plan has not been fulfilled yet for us. It is this ongoing process. We’re being changed into His image. This business of Genesis Chapter 1 of popping into existence (creation). It is not. It’s something else. This is God’s plan being discussed.
The last level is “we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn 3:2). That is the final – we shall be like Him. That’s at the end. We will then have eyes as He does and therefore able to see Him. Right now, we don’t have the eyes to see Him, then we will. You read the verse in 2 Cor. 3:18 – with an awful lot of glory talk. You don’t understand it, but you can see it’s there. You’ve got to understand these things and you know you can. But the question then what?
Start reading the New Testament and try to decide – how much of it, is actually talking about you being saved? How much of the NT is talking about other things beyond.? You know every time the New Testament says “we” – it’s talking about saved people. So, by definition, the New Testament is talking about something beyond being saved. Every time you see the word “we” and almost every time you see the word “you” – it’s talking about people already saved. That’s what you read most of the time. You getting saved is a small area in the Bible. It’s after that, that it’s all about.
You could just open your Bible and hold it above your head. Then turn some pages, put your finger on a spot, and start reading there. Do that 10 times, 100 times, and keep a record of what you think it’s talking about. Is it talking about how to be saved, or is it talking after saved. You will see that most of the time it’s talking about after saved – about people that are saved. It’s not talking about unsaved people very much at all. It’s ways like this that you can learn the nature of the Bible – the overall picture of it. This helps to get the overall picture – while you’re getting specific verses. The idea is that the two approaches meet in the middle – your specific studies reach up to some overview that you learn.
After you know you’re saved (like a baby), that next area is things like growing. “When I became a man, I put away the things of a child” (1 Co 13:11). Growing – after saved – is the nature of the next area. The main description of after you’re saved is drawing near to God according to His plan. It’s not just your feelings and ideas like a baby. Like the true vine (Jn. 15) – drawing near to Him according to His plan. You can understand this if you have the mind of Christ growing in you. “Having the mind of Christ” (1 Co 2:16) – that isn’t talking about unsaved. That’s talking about the saved. Go over this, read it, listen to it. Realize you can know that you’re saved but that’s the easy part. Then comes the real thing.
Faith in God. You should never speak of faith in God – Jesus said, Have faith of God. But you never read, “Have faith in God,” you’re turning faith into believe when you say that. You’ve got to get these things straight.