Question: How will I know if I'm right with God?

Answer: First of all, you can only be "right with God" through faith in Jesus Christ. Are you trusting in Jesus, and in Him alone, for your salvation? No one will ever become "right with God" through their own good deeds, through religious activity, or by trusting in anyone (or anything) besides Jesus. As Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6).

Here are some questions to help you know if you are "right with God."

1. Do you believe in the one true and living God who exists eternally in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

2. Do you understand that you deserve God's wrath because your sin is an offense against His holiness?

3. Do you believe that unless God had provided a Savior, you would perish without hope and face eternal punishment for your sin?

4. Do you believe that Jesus was and is both God and man-the Son of God and the only Savior for mankind?

5. Do you believe that Jesus, who never sinned, was put to death on the cross and suffered the wrath of God to pay the just and necessary penalty for your sin?

6. Do you believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave and ascended into heaven where He lives forever as the one and only Mediator between God and man?

7. Are you trusting in the finished work of Jesus and in Him alone for your eternal salvation?

8. Are you pursuing holiness through obedience to the law of Christ and through ongoing repentance from any and all known sin?

If you can honestly and truly answer each of those questions with a "yes"-in other words, if you say "yes," and if God knows that your "yes" is really true-then you can be certain that you are right with Him. All who truly trust in Jesus are "right with God" and will be saved (read John 3:16; 5:24)

One more important thing: All who truly trust in Jesus turn away from their sins and obey His word, which is the Bible (read John 14:15, 21, 23; John 17:17; 1 John 2:3-4). True saving faith produces righteous living. There are many who say they trust Jesus, who do not live like they trust Him. Such people cannot be certain that they are right with God.

by Daryl Wingerd
(editorial assistant to Jim Elliff and co-pastor of Christ Fellowship of Kansas City)