Knowing if They Know Him, Part 2
How to Know if Someone is Saved
If it is true that we can and must try to discern who is truly saved and who is not, then how do we go about that? What are the variables to consider? To answer this, I did a quick survey of 1–3rd John as well as the gospel of John, and compiled a list of ways that John says we can know if someone is saved or not. This list is not exhaustive by any means, and I’m certain I missed verses during my survey, but these are nevertheless helpful, even though they are limited. I welcome you to read through John’s writings and expand upon what I have here; I’m sure you would find it as helpful as I did. With that, there are four tests I discovered regarding how to discern someone’s salvation. These four metrics form what I like to call ‘The Johannine Diagnostic’ (it’s a little much I know, but humor me). Before we dive in though, if you'd like to read about whether or not you can know someone's if someone is truly saved, click here to read part one.
1. Hearing
Maybe the test most rarely spoken of in John’s writings is this: A true believer hears the words of God, and a false convert hears the words of the world (John 8:47, 1 John 4:5–6). You hear those who are like you, who have the same father, whether God or Satan (John 8:42–47). To the perishing, the Gospel is foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14), yet to the saved, it is life (John 6:68). How does someone see God’s word and the sound preaching of it? Do they see it as arduous or dumb? Or do they embrace it in its pure truth; not some twisting of it? Matthew Henry says of the true Christian’s relationship with God’s words, “He is willing and ready to hear them, is sincerely desirous to know what the mind of God is, and cheerfully embraces whatever he knows to be so.” If this is the case, we must then test the spirits by seeing if they hear and treasure the words of God, or if they only endure it for a time (Psalm 119:103, 2 Timothy 4:3).
2. Confession
While we might think that the most sure test of salvation is whether or not someone proclaims themself to be saved or not, there is more to it than we might think. How have we gotten to the point where the Church sophomorically perverts the invincibility of true salvation into meaning that even if someone openly denies even the existence of any god— let alone the God of the Bible— we must then proclaim them still saved? The Bible recognizes confession as a legitimate diagnostic for salvation (Romans 10:9–10). However, this goes beyond the profession of belief, and into the definition of belief. What do they believe? 2 John 1:9 says, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of [or ‘about’] Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.” Which ‘Christ’ does someone profess? Do they confess the biblical Christ, the Jesus of Mormonism, the Universal Christ, or the Jesus of Catholicism? We must test the spirits by listening to what they confess and verifying its truth against the word of God to see if they bear witness of Him or if they speak as from the world (John 15:27, 1 John 4:1–3, 2 John 7–10).
3. Love
Love is used as a test for salvation by John a similar number of times confession is. Truly regenerate people love, and truly unregenerate people do not love(1 John 4:7–8). As a side note, this is one of the reasons we don’t date unbelievers: They can’t love you, at least not biblically. 1 John 4:20 says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” This means the test of love supersedes the test of confession, and, in terms of application, if someone’s actions paint a different picture than their words, then they are a liar. When someone’s confession and someone’s love proclaim two different verdicts on their salvation, you should believe the test results of someone’s love rather than their words. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the One who gives new birth loves also the one who has been born of Him,” (1 John 5:1). Perceiving someone’s salvation is wrapped up in their being ‘born again,’ but this takes us right into our final test.
4. Obedience
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments,” (1 John 5:2). By far the test John most frequently cites to discern if someone is saved or not is obedience. By my count, this test is spoken of more than hearing, confession, and love combined. Here are all the examples I found in my quick skimming of John’s writings (other than Revelation): John 3:36; 8:12, 31, 51; 14:15, 21, 23–24, 31; 15:8; 1 John 2:29; 3:10, 24; 5:1–5; 3 John 1:11. The Bible is replete with the instruction, “Do you want to know who is saved? Look at their life!” This makes a lot of sense, since the thing which we are in reality testing, is not someone’s salvation, but whether they are born again or not (1 John 5:1–5). This is about real obedience, not legalism. The Pharisees would not pass this test just because they were very structured and religious in their lifestyle. To steal a term from my counseling teacher, ‘churching’ is not what saves someone. ‘Churching’ does not denote salvation, true obedience from the heart does (John 14:23–24).
Conclusion
We are not omniscient, but we can know if someone is saved, just like we can know if an avocado is ripe, by testing (1 John 4:1–3). How can we say that when someone comes out in open apostasy, that they are still truly saved because they prayed a prayer? Isn’t that the point of their open apostasy, to make it evident that ‘they were not really of us’ (1 John 2:19). The Johannine Diagnostic is summarized in these two words: Test their doctrine, test their deeds. This is an act of love! Which is better, testing someone for cancer, or refusing to test them even when there are clear signs they are dying? How can we evangelize if we refuse to discriminate between people who are actually born again, and those who aren’t? Yet still, how can we know who is another of God’s children? We know God’s children by knowing God. “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness has been born of Him,” (1 John 2:29).
