How to Know if You’re a Christian

Last week, Kevin DeYoung wrote a fabulous post explaining 3 evidences of true faith given to us in the book of 1 John.

Whenever counseling Christians looking for assurance of salvation, I take them to 1 John. This brief epistle is full of help for determining whether we are in the faith or not. In particular, there are three signs in 1 John given to us so we can answer the question “Do I have confidence or condemnation?”

DeYoung’s article models some important principles of good Bible study:

• DeYoung shows why it’s important to understand the main point of not only passages but also books. Many people quote verses from 1 John but miss the thrust of John’s argument (“that you may know that you have eternal life” – 1 John 5:13). We ignore this main idea to our peril. We won’t know what to do with John’s extreme statements, such as “you have no need that anyone should teach you” (1 John 2:27) and “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning” (1 John 3:9).
• DeYoung models the value of a good book overview.
• DeYoung masterfully shows how the hard work of getting the main point right enables you to make practical, specific, and penetrating application for people today.

I unpacked these same three tests from 1 John when I wrote about evaluating the success of your Bible study. DeYoung writes more briefly and with more personal application to those struggling with assurance.

Check it out!