How Do You Know?

If you've never heard the question, then you have been amazingly silent about your faith and you don't talk to yourself about your faith, because most everyone who believes in God has been asked and has asked themselves, "How do you know?" How do you know there is a God? How do you know if you have a relationship with Him? How do you know that what you see in the Bible is really in the Bible? How do you know??!!

Starting with the Bible's evaluation of human beings, we would each have to acknowledge that we must start with the acknowledgment that we might be wrong. Maybe we're deceived. Maybe we're blinded. These things are claimed in Scripture (Jer 17:9; 2 Cor 4:4). Further, the Bible itself urges us to test ourselves (2 Cor 13:5). So that shouldn't give you a starting point of confidence, but question. Is there, then, any reason to think that we might have any reason for confidence about our faith, our salvation, our understanding of Scripture?

Now, of course, at this point it becomes tricky. How do you know what? That you're a Christian? Good question! Much is written in Scripture on that very question. All of John's first epistle was written "so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:13) Important question, biblically. That the Bible is God's Word? Different question. That your understanding of God's Word is accurate? Another different question. Let's take the first one first, because the rest don't count if that question isn't answered.

We know that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works (Eph 2:8-9). In fact, Christianity is the only faith that offers that. But we also know -- Jesus Himself said so -- that many (He used that very word) will claim to know Him that do not (Matt 7:21-23), so it is possible to think you're saved but not be. You can see, then, that this question -- how can I know if I'm saved? -- is critical. Fortunately we aren't left to our own devices. The Bible offers several helpful statements. For instance,

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 3:9)

So, evaluating yourself, are you comfortable with sin? Do you defend it? Do you make it your practice? Or are you offended by it? Do you hate it and, even though you certainly fall into it, you try to run from it? Those answers will help.

Another one came up once in a conversation I had explaining that God painfully disciplines His own (Heb 12:5-11). "He's never done that to me," the other said to me. Well, okay, then, if that's true, here's what the text says:

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Heb 12:8)

If you have never experienced the painful discipline God provides, "you are illegitimate children and not sons." Not my evaluation. It's Scripture.

James says, without equivocation, faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Is your faith reflected in your life? That is something to consider.

John gives a helpful hint in terms of "location".

They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)

"They went out from us" is a reference to those who are anti-Christ, but note that they come from us. They don't start "outside". On the other hand, you can tell easily that "they were not really of us" if they "leave" -- go out from us. I put "leave" and "outside" in quotes because I think it's obvious that John isn't talking about geographic location. They exit orthodoxy. They depart from the faith. The clear teachings of Scripture are "here", and they go "there". John says that happens "so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." Have you departed from the historic, biblical faith? There's a good reason, then, to question your spiritual condition. The Bible itself, then, offers ways to carefully determine if you are in Christ.

Is the Bible God's Word? There are lots of good sources for arguments for the Bible as the Word of God. Go there.

So the question I get too often is that third one. They seem to think that they can be absolutely certain that I'm wrong because they're absolutely certain you can't be absolutely certain. I know ... confusing to me, too. But, seriously, is there any way that anyone can have any confidence that they are handling God's Word rightly? And the question isn't necessarily only from skeptics and the misguided. The simple truth is that many godly, serious-minded, Bible-believing Christians disagree. So, is there any way that anyone can have any confidence? Well, let me first say that I think that a healthy dose of self-skepticism is wise. On the other hand, a life of doubt isn't healthy (James 1:6-8). Those who argue against confident belief argue against God's Word. Still, since many are mistaken and everyone one of us has been mistaken, how can we gain a modicum of confidence on this question?

I believe it is possible. I believe it first because of those references telling us to be sure. And I believe it because of the nature of God. Jesus said He would send the Spirit to lead us into all truth (John 16:13). Since I believe Jesus to be reliable, I believe He (the Spirit) has done just that. So, I rely on the Spirit. Oh, no, not some mystical "I have a leading of the Spirit that this is what it means." I believe that He has led His own into the truth. So I examine the Word. I look at the words, the content, the context. I compare Scripture with Scripture (since I am confident that it is God's Word and, therefore, reliable). I use logic and reason and listen to the arguments. And, if what I see is what has been seen throughout Church history, I have a pretty high level of confidence that what I see is right. That would obviously mean that I have an equally high confidence that what others see there is wrong. Mind you, that level of confidence will vary. I can say with absolute confidence that Christ was born of a virgin, lived as a sinless man, was crucified, and rose again. No doubt. Do I have equal confidence regarding, say, end times? Not at all. So I'm open to being persuaded to something different. (Believe me, I have been ... a lot.) And, to tell the truth, there is a large body of doctrine -- understanding of Scripture -- that is standard, agreed upon, generally accepted. (As an example, at no time in history has anyone understood any different than that God's Word clearly calls homosexual behavior sin. Those who argue that it never meant that do so against all the texts, all the contexts, and all of Church history and, therefore, against the Spirit.) We differ in nuances, mostly. ("We" being Christians, as opposed to the larger body of folk who simply claim to be.) Christians generally agree on the fundamentals.

"You can't have any confidence in what you believe." That's what they tell me. I disagree. I believe what I see in the Bible. When what I believe aligns with the bulk of Church history, I can be pretty confident I'm in the right place. When I align with something new, I might very likely be in the wrong place. Or, let me put this another way. I am confident that what I believe is true because I am confident that God is reliable in His Word and the Spirit has been reliable in leading His own into all truth. It's not my ability, then; it's Him. I don't have the arrogance required to say, "I've found it! You guys were all wrong all these years! The Spirit just couldn't get through until I came along!" My confidence isn't in my ability; it's in the One who has called me and saved me. I take Him at His Word. Not my experience, my world's opinion, science's "better ideas", or "new and improved theology". That's how I know.