My child is scared & questioning if she's saved...
Q: My daughter is scared she is not saved and is questioning her salvation. I can’t provide assurance for this, but if you have had this yourself or guided someone through this, what have you done that has helped? Thank you!
A: These resources will be a good help for her. The first two talk about how you know if you are saved, the other one goes into some self examinations and assurances.
How do I know if I am really saved (Casual)
In addition, I would say you *can* have assurance, and can know based on what God has told us based on Scripture (His promises & our transformation). We trust & believe God.
Biblical Christianity affirms that believers can have assurance of salvation. While some may struggle with assurance the Westminster Confession of Faith and in Scripture—makes it clear that true believers can and should have assurance, though it may vary in strength over time.
I. Biblical Support for Assurance of Salvation
1. God’s Promises to Save Those Who Believe
These verses show that salvation is based on God’s promise, not our performance:
John 5:24 –
> “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Romans 10:9 –
> “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
1 John 5:13 –
> “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may *know* that you have eternal life.”
➤ This verse is key: You can know that you have eternal life.
2. The Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit
Assurance also comes from the Spirit’s witness in the heart of the believer.
Romans 8:15–16 –
> “...you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Galatians 4:6 –
> “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
This is the internal assurance—God gives us confidence by His Spirit.
3. Evidence of a Transformed Life (Fruit)
Though assurance isn’t based on works, it can be confirmed by the fruit of the Spirit and sanctification:
2 Corinthians 5:17 –
> “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
1 John 2:3 –
> “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.”
Galatians 5:22–23 –
The fruit of the Spirit as evidence of God’s work in us.
4. God’s Faithfulness and Power to Keep Us
Assurance is ultimately based on God’s power to preserve, not our power to hold on:
Philippians 1:6 –
> “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
John 10:28–29 –
> “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Jude 24 –
> “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy...”
II. Christian Confessions on Assurance
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Chapter 18 ("Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation") affirms:
> 18.1: "Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes...yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus...may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace..."
> 18.3: “This infallible assurance does not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it…”
> 18.4: Assurance can be “shaken, diminished, and intermitted,” but “they are never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith...”
So, biblical revelation shows:
✔ You can have assurance
✔ Assurance is grounded in God’s promises, Christ’s work, and the Spirit’s witness
✔ Assurance may grow or waver, but is real and attainable
III. Summary: Sources of Assurance
God’s Promises
Trusting God's Word that salvation is by grace through faith
John 5:24, Rom. 10:9, 1 John 5:13
The Holy Spirit
The Spirit confirms to our hearts we belong to God
Rom. 8:16, Gal. 4:6
Transformed Life
Evidence of fruit and obedience shows real faith
1 John 2:3, 2 Cor. 5:17
Perseverance of the Saints
God will complete what He starts in us
Phil. 1:6, John 10:28
IV. Why Some Hesitate on Assurance
*Some Christians (even within Reformed circles) wrestle with assurance due to:
*Misunderstanding of the doctrine of election
*Over-emphasis on self-examination without gospel-centered hope
*Ongoing sin and doubt leading to guilt
But biblical theology, when rightly understood, holds that assurance is possible and desirable for the believer—and it's anchored not in ourselves, but in God's promises and work.
God bless
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