- You hate sin
Have you ever sinned once, and immediately such a hatred for what you did washes over you? You realised what you did was wrong, and boy do you hate it! If you could turn back time, you would, so that you could wipe what you did away from existence. You hate any kind of sin, and you are very serious about making sure you stop making the same mistake.
I liken a born again believer to this – you are a swan. A non-believer who doesn’t know Christ – a pig. A pig is content with rolling about in the mud, but a swan is not. The mud gets stuck in the swan’s feathers, so that the swan is unable to fly. The swan wants immediately to be rid of the mud, and does all it can to clean itself. That is what a true believer is like – a genuine stance against all that is called sin. Because the seed of God is in you, and God hates sin. Since you are a child of God, you naturally hate what your Father hates.
- There is a cutting away of your sinful nature
Colossians 2:11: When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision – the cutting away of your sinful nature.
I remember clearly how sinning was like before and after my salvation. I am able to narrow down my salvation to one particular point of time in my past. Before that night, I remember being met with temptation, and I wanted to resist it, but it was almost impossible to stop myself. After that night, when I was tempted again, it was much easier to resist, but the temptation was still there. I still had to make the conscious choice to turn away, and sometimes I failed to do so. This is what I believe the verse above is referring to. After coming to Christ, your ability to resist sin is much greater.
That said, not every true believer has a point of salvation as clearly defined as mine. I have known a brother in Christ who told me his salvation was gradual, and over a long period of time. In cases such as his, I can see how this spiritual circumcision is not so easily felt. If you did experience this, don’t fret. Look at the other signs.
- Sin doesn’t stick
1 John 3:9: Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
This is another verse that points to a sign of a true believer. Have you ever fallen into a bad habit of sinning, for example, viewing pornography? You were unable to stop for a certain amount of time, but ultimately, the desire to consume it fell away on its own.
I have experienced what this verse refers to personally. Over the course of my life since coming to Christ, I have gotten myself stuck in various habitual sins. They stayed with me only for a limited amount of time, and the habit never stuck. I believe that is because I am born of God, and a true believer cannot make a practice of sin. This verse does not indicate that you cannot sin, but that you cannot make a practice of it. The verse is very clear – the words are “can’t” or “cannot”. This means that turning any sin into a lasting habit is not possible with those who are born of God.
- Real communion with God
Do you feel that you have had a real relationship with Christ? Do you feel a fire within you, a burning in your heart for God? Is there a constant softness you feel within of His presence? A spirit feeling of “Abba, Father! I will give all I have for you, and I will not even spare myself!” Can you point to several instances in your journey with God that shows that His hand was strong in what happened? Do you know Him well, and have you weathered many storms with Him, storms that He delivered you out of on account of your faith and His power? A born again believer has real communion with God. If you feel like you are a stranger to God, you should question if you really trust that Jesus is your saviour.
- Evidence of spiritual fruit
Spiritual fruit is very different from natural fruit. For example, a person might struggle with lying. There are many self help books out there that teach you how to manage your tongue better. You can make several well-informed decisions to curb your urge to lie, and that will be the natural fruit of your labour.
Spiritual fruit can only occur as a foundation laid by God. Instead of struggling with sin through your own human effort, you can submit it to God to change parts of you that you cannot change. Through spiritual disciplines like prayer and bible study, God prunes you and helps your spiritual fruit grow, and your urge to sin will gradually lessen.
When I was stuck in the law teaching, I tried countless ways to improve my character. I bought self help books, researched so many websites, and tried using my critical thinking to go about this problem. I could never solve it, and my character success remained terrible.
But the moment came when God allowed mental illness to befall me, and through my suffering, He gave the growth to my character. I realised about two years after I recovered from my psychosis that I had the character success I had been praying for during those ten years of wandering. He had answered my prayer and given me what I wanted, but it wasn’t achieved through my human effort, and it was done by God Himself. If God seeks all the glory, then let Him do all the work. All foundations must be laid by Him, all the pruning belongs to Him. Spiritual fruit belongs to the Gardener, not to us.
So, can you find in your past signs that God has been giving growth to the fruits of the Spirit in your character? Refer to this verse:
Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The fight against sin belongs to the Holy Spirit, not you.
- Unable to fully apostasise
1 John 2:19: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
A true believer may fall away, but they cannot apostasise for good. Have you experienced a moment when you left Christ, and stopped being a Christian. Somehow down the way, you find yourself coming back to Christianity, and no matter how many times you leave, you just keep coming back to Christianity. You just can’t stay away. This is because the seed of God is in you. Temporary apostasy is possible with a born again believer, but only temporary. A true believer cannot fully fall away, and stay away.
So, these are the signs of a born again believer, as shown to you through Scripture. If you are uncertain whether you are saved, please ask God to make it clear to you. The day of salvation is now, do not tarry! Be saved! If you are not saved, please pray this prayer with me:
Lord, I confess to You that I am a sinner, and I trust that You died on the cross for my sins. I wash myself in Your blood, and I believe that God raised You from the dead. I have decided to accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
(Please click on the “Salvation” tag if you have similar concerns about losing your salvation.)
Leave a Reply