Q. How can I know if I am saved?

A. Your appetite, desires, and cravings determine the direction of your life. So the signs that you are not saved are apparent in these areas of your life.

Whether your appetite is for material possession, power, your personal passion, or it is for Elohim/God, whatever it is will determine if you are genuinely saved.

So the signs that you are not saved are manifested practically when you follow your selfish human desires and passion rather than doing that which is pleasing to Yahweh.

The Christian spiritual life is a very practical lifestyle, so for anyone who is genuinely saved, there will be practical evidence in the person's life.

There will be signs of being under conviction; this means you will have evidence of conviction of your sins, coming to Elohim/God for salvation, and being saved.

But when you feel no conviction of your sins, you don't see any need to repent or look for or believe in a saviour; this is one of the signs of an unbeliever.

So sometimes, when you ask yourself, "Why do I feel like I'm not saved?" this is not just because you are not sure of your salvation. It could be because you are not genuinely saved, or display the signs of an unbeliever.

As we intend to go further on this subject, let us briefly look into what salvation is....

If you find yourself asking, What is salvation? then I have a simple definition for you. Salvation in Christianity/Messianism means to be rescued and delivered by Elohim/God from the condemnation of sin which is Torah-disobedience.

In the Tanakh/Old Testament, it is the Hebrew word 'yasha'; this word paints a picture of a shepherd rescuing the sheep from the mouth of a wild animal. This is Yahweh saving us from the judgment of sin.

In the Messianic Scriptures/New Testament, it is the Greek word 'soteria' that is translated as salvation, and it means to be rescued and delivered from danger to safety.

Both words from the Old and New Testaments talk about being rescued and safe, so salvation carries an idea of victory and perseverance.

If you are struggling with the question, "What does it mean to be saved?" let me try to throw more light on it here. To be saved means to have your sins forgiven, to be justified (declared legally righeous) by grace (undeserved loving kindness) through faith in the finished work of the cross of Messiah Yah'shua/Christ Jesus.

It is Elohim/God declaring you not guilty and righteous in His sight. This can only be possible when you come to Yahweh as a sinner confessing and begging for forgiveness.

This is more than just knowing who Yah'shua/Jesus is; you must accept that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself. You must accept that Yah'shua/Jesus is the Son and the Lamb of Elohim/God that was killed for the sins of the world.

And you must confess your sins, confess Yah'shua/Jesus as Master/Lord and Saviour/Deliverer/Rescuer of your life. Then you must, with a sincere heart, ask Yah'shua/Jesus to save you; this is when you can receive salvation.

1. When You Have No Awareness Of Sin

Yes, we live in an imperfect, depraved world, so we cannot be completely perfect in any way; we will intentionally continue to live in sin.

But once a person repents and is regenerated inside, the Ruach haQodesh/Holy Spirit syncronises with the person's spirit, causing the person to be conscious and fully aware of sin.

But when the reverse is the case, that is, when you deliberately sin without any sense of feeling guilty and remorseful afterwards, then that is one of the signs that you are not saved.

2. When Your Desire For Sin Is Still Very Strong

You cannot be walking by the Ruach/Spirit, which means manifesting the fruit of the spirit according to Galatians 5:22-23 and still fulfill the flesh's desires.

This is why it is written:

"So I say, live by the Ruach/Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Gal.5:16, NIV).

Walking by the Ruach/Spirit and not fulfilling the desires of the flesh is one of the actual signs of salvation. Therefore, when your passion for sin is still very strong, it is one of the signs that you are not saved.

3. When You Feel Comfortable Living In Sin

The Bible says:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the New Creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor.5:17, NIV).

Therefore, this new spirit is what helps us to stay alert and not to feel comfortable in sin.

4. When Sin Still Controls You

The Bible says:

"For sin will not have authority over you, because you are not under legalism ('under the law' in most English translations), but under grace" (Rom.6:14, JNT/CJB).

But the natural (Adamic) man is bound to obey the sinful (carnal, Adamic, fallen) nature because the ability to live above sin is not there outside of Christ. So when sin still controls you, it is one of the signs that you are not saved .

5. When You Don't Manifest Fruit of the Ruach/Spirit

Scripture says:

"But the fruit of the Ruach/Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no [penalty] of] law" (Gal.5:22-23, NIV).

"By their fruits you shall know them" (Mt.7:16, NIV).

6. When You Are Not Willing To Deny Sin

The Christian life is a life of daily self-denial, so every truly converted believer in Christ must have the spiritual discipline of self-denial. It is an essential part of the Christian race.

You must be willing to deny yourself of anything that will directly or indirectly cause you to commit sin (break the mitzvot/commandments).

Self-denial means to say no to the persistent demands of our flesh and bring it into the subjection of thw Davar Elohim/Word of God (Bible) so that you will not give in to committing sin.

It is written:

"Those who belong to Messiah Yah'shua/Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Gal.5:24, NIV).

7. When You Cannot Endure Sound Teachings

Paul gave the following instruction:

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Tit.2:1, NIV).

This is because everyone who is genuinely saved needs sound doctrine to grow; it is necessary to build a strong foundation in Christ as a believer.

Because what we believe sharpens and shapes our lifestyle, as a true believer in Christ, we must love sound doctrine and endure it even when it offends us.

So when you don't love and cannot endure sound doctrine, there is something wrong with your faith in Yah'shua the Messiah/Jesus Christ, which could be one of the signs that you are not saved.

8. When You Love the World System/Spirit

The Bible teaches:

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world" (1 Jn.2:15-17, NIV).

Living righteously to please Yahweh must be first place and what dominates a Christian's life, not affection and devotion for the world (Mt.10:37-39; Phil.3:20).

The 'world' here does not mean the physical material world but the invisible spiritual system of evil dictated by Satan and his agents.

So if you are still devoted to the things of the world and enjoying the things that are opposed to righteous living, it is one of the signs that you are not saved.

9. When You Don't Hunger To Know More About Your Heavenly Father, Yahweh

Once you repent and are regenerated, one of the things that is ignited in you is a hunger to know more about Elohim/God; you will begin to desire to get more acquainted with your Father in heaven.

And this hunger cannot be satisfied by anything in this material world; it is only the true knowledge of Elohim/God that can accomplish this. Moreover, even when you feed this curiosity, the hunger to know more gets even more intensive than the previous time.

So it is an unending journey, an adventure that you must engage in all through your days on earth. However, such a hunger for Elohim/God does not come to the natural human because human nature is disconnected from Elohim/God.

Hence we do not hunger to know Yahweh except He draws us closer to Himself (Jn.6:44), also known as salvation. So if you don't desire to learn more about Him, it is one sign you are not a Christian.

10. When There Is No Transformation In Your Life

One of the marks of a truly repented believer is evident transformation; our desires, appetites, actions, and passions are transformed towards pleasing Father Yahweh.

The Bible says:

"If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are gone, and the new has come" (2 Cor.5:17).

This new spirit now transforms our lives, making us manifest the character of Elohim/God (Gal.5:22-23), something that we cannot do ordinarily of our own will.

So if you do not have any evidence or have not experienced a true transformation in your character, desire, and appetites, then it is one of the signs you are not truly saved.

11. When You Don't Desire To Fellowship With Fellow Believers

One vital part of our Christian/Messianic spiritual living is collective, corporate worship and fellowship in one place. This is why the Bible says:

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…" (Heb.10:25, NIV).

But when you don't desire to be in the company of fellow believers, it means you don't desire to obey the Davar Elohim/Word of God. And lack of desire to obey the Davar Elohim (Word of God - Scripture) is one of the signs that you are not saved.

12. When You Don't Hunger To Be Pure & Righteous

Righteousness in this context means to be right with Father, to have the right relationship with Elohim/God, and this means to do what is right in Yahweh's eyes.

And such a life is not something our human abilities can help us to do; hence we are to depend on the power and grace or unmerited favour of Elohim/God.

If you profess to have received salvation, you are supposed to have a hunger to be righteous, a hunger to lead a life that is right in the eyes of Elohim/God, which by implication means depending on the grace (undeserved loving kindness) of Yahweh to live a fulfilled Christian life pleasing to Elohim/God.

But when you are far from this and don't have any hunger for righteous living, it means you are far from what you profess, and it is one of the signs that you are not saved.

So to answer your question, can you be saved and not know it? the answer is this: you cannot be saved and not know it because salvation is not something that is hidden - it is not abstract but rather a concrete reality expressed in our actions and way of living.

You cannot have a personal encounter with Elohim/God and relevant changes occur without your knowledge, without you being aware that you now belong to Him.

But you can have a positive initial response to the gospel without being saved. An example of this is Simon, the sorcerer in Samaria. In Acts 8: 13, he was said to have "believed and was baptised" at the preaching of Philip. But later, he offered money to the apostles to have their ability/power to impart the Ruach haQodesh/Holy Spirit (Ac.8:18-19), but he was rebuked by Peter (Acts 8: 20 - 21). So, furthermore, you can know you are saved without being sure.

By this, I mean you have whole-heartedly confessed Christ as Master/Lord and Deliverer/Saviour on many occasions, and so much evidence in your life agrees with your confession. But because of some of the challenges that come your way and cause you to fall short, you begin to doubt and question your salvation.

Hence you have the knowledge of Elohim/God and the evidence in your life, but you are not sure because you keep falling short on different occasions.

But the conclusion of all these is that you cannot receive salvation and not know it. Because you must be transformed, your desires, passion, ambition, and many other areas of your life will be totally transformed, so you will know it.

If you ask yourself, how do I know I am truly saved? Here is a simple explanation.

To know if you are truly saved, you need to examine your life through the lens of the Scriptures to see if your lifestyle is in line with what the Bible says about one who has received salvation. The lifestyle of the saved is Torah-obedience.

The Bible says:

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Messiah Yah'shua/Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test." (2 Cor.13:5-6, NIV),

James 1:22-25 uses the mirror as a symbol for the scriptures. Because a mirror is used to examine our looks, we should use the scriptures to explore our lifestyle if it aligns with what is written in the Bible.

The true Christian/Messianic spiritual lifestyle is characterised by what you do, not what you say or claim to be. So if you are not saved, the signs will be evident in every area of your life.

So examine your life to see what you desire the most, what you are genuinely passionate about, and how your desires and passions control how you relate with people. Because the signs that you are not saved are buried deep down in these areas of your life.

This page was created on 22 April 2025 Last updated on 22 April 2025

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