That is a common question and one that draws the attention of everyone; because even the most faithful of servants of Christ has had doubts one time or another.
Instead of trying to answer directly the question as it stands, I would like to draw on the opposite premise, the one of not being saved; and God permitting we will arrive to the right conclusions.
How Do I Know When I Am Ovulating
For starters we know we are not saved if we reject the things of God, if we find only boredom and annoyance in the word of God; if there is any sort of heaviness and dread to the idea of reading the Bible. Then we can categorically say we are out of the Kingdom, because the children of God find beauty and attraction in the Bible, even when sometimes they might not feel like reading it.
If going to church is a drag for you, and if every time church is mentioned you think "here we go again"; unless you have a special reason not wanting to Go to a specific church, which may happen in some cases. But if going to church change your demeanor, regardless of which church you are going to, and if being in church becomes a long and desperate ordeal, you definitely need to search your heart.
If you have a preference to hanging out with "non Christians" and doing the things they do, or if you see no problem in partying with your buddies, going to clubs, getting drunk, and being loose and sexually active as a single person; you definitely are not going to heaven unless you repent.
If you are hanging on to your habits; like smoking, drinking, doing mild or hard drugs once in a while. If you are stuck with habits like pornography, promiscuity, sexual addiction, etc. and if you do not feel that you are doing something wrong and you need to change; if you do not have a conviction about these things; if there is no guilt there is no salvation. The holy Spirit would definitely convict us about these habits even if we are stuck on them.
If you are having marital affairs, or if you love gossiping (speaking about others in a negative context in their absence), or being judgmental; if you are continuously bending the truth or picking up things that are not yours, or breaking the established laws (even the small ones); and if you do not feel remorse and regret about doing these things, then you must fall on our knees and repent.
And the most basic one: if you have not confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9) even if you are de kindest person on earth, then you are still bound to condemnation.
It hurts my heart to have to recognize that our local churches are all filled with dead bodies, with people that have confused religion with salvation, or that simply come to church out of habit or obligation.
I have preached in churches where conviction has truck the congregation, where the Holy Spirit has said "it is enough", and where every single person has come forward in tears with a repented heart. And that can only happen by the power of God; yet God convicts individuals consistently about their sins, and so many of us prefer to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the screams of warning from the Holy Spirit.
There is an abundance of people who still believe that they are saved, even though they know they are in sin, and they walk impervious to the evidence at hand, adapting their believes to an unbiblical understanding, that "I have already been forgiven".
The Bible says: "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace". (Hebrews 6:4-6)
And this in itself is a disgrace; so how can anyone expect while living in sin to be partakers of the grace of God, of the gift of Salvation?
I believe it is not necessary that I expand much on the subject of the original question.
How do I know that I am saved? But as a form of conclusion I will add that when you are saved you love the things of God, you enjoy praying even though you might not have a lot of time for it, you delight in reading the word of God even when at times you might detract from it, you find joy in congregating and spending time with the brethren, and you despise the mundane things that used to be attractive in the past.
The Bible says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You might not be a perfect Christian, there might be a lot of flaws still in you, and your growth process might be slow, you might even fall into the traps of the devil once in a while and end up flagrantly sinning. But if you are in Christ, you are in Christ; and the Holy spirit will be knocking on the door of your heart at every turn, and every time you miss a step; you will feel convicted about it and you will know that you need to repent. But if you repent and learn from your mistakes, the Bible says: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love (God's love) for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a Father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:11-13)
May the gift of Salvation be in you, and may the lord continue Blessing you always.
Rev. Jose A. Luna
A servant of Christ Jesus
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