I know for a fact that a person CAN say they are SAVED right NOW, and these are the reasons WHY.
When sin entered into the world all human beings born after that were born already condemned before God, and unless they are “spared” they will die condemned.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
But God did not desire that all men should perish, so He made a way for them to be rescued, “saved”.
2 Samuel 14:14 “For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises a way, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.”
We are all banished in sin, but we will not all be expelled IF we are spared according to the way that God has prepared. That “way” is through His Only Begotten Son. He is the ONLY WAY to come to the Father.
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
God spoke of this plan long before He actually carried it out. He spoke of one who would carry our sin.
Isaiah 53:5 – 6 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
This prophetic plan was carried out by Jesus on the cross.
1 Peter 2:22 – 24 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.”
His death for our sins is ALL WE NEED to be spared from death and to restore our fellowship and peace with God, IF WE ACCEPT IT during this present life. Any person can accept this gift of salvation when they recognize that they are a condemned sinner who needs to be rescued from eternal separation from God, and hearing the good news of the gospel, turns to God in faith believing and trusting in the WAY God has ALREADY provided to save us. At the moment a person does this, they are “marked” or “sealed” as a child of God.
Ephesian 1:13 – 14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
When one has a “guarantee” it is a promise that what one has will NOT BE REVOKED. You can COUNT ON IT!
The Word of God declares that those who are so MARKED are ALREADY QUALIFIED for eternal life.
Colossians 1:10 – 14 “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who HAS QUALIFIED US to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He HAS DELIVERED US from the power of darkness AND CONVEYED US INTO the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we HAVE REDEMPTION through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
If the Bible says that believers are ALREADY QUALIFIED, that means they are certainly saved NOW. Many verses make it clear that the gift of salvation and eternal life belongs to the believer from the moment that person becomes a child of God, and that must happen during the time that we are presently living on this earth, before we die.
The fact is that when God looks at this present world, he already sees two distinct groups of people. He sees those who are in the world, under the sway of the evil one, and separated from Him; and He sees those who are NOW IN CHRIST, indwelt by His Spirit and ALREADY guaranteed the destiny of eternal life in His presence. Those who are IN CHRIST are no longer the same as those who are in the world. They are created NEW.
1 John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Note the present tense language of the following verses that clearly show that eternal life belongs to the believer from the moment he or she makes a decision to accept Christ’s gift of forgiveness for their sins.
John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son HAS everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 6:47 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me HAS everlasting life.”
John 10:27 – 28 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I GIVE THEM eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”
Scripture goes so far as to say that if any person does NOT already have eternal life, that person is NOT saved!
1 John 5:11 – 12 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son HAS life; he who does not have the Son of God does NOT HAVE life.”
Yes, God’s Word tells us to consider our salvation as a PRESENT truth.
Romans 6:11 “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:22 – 23 “But now HAVING BEEN set free from sin, and HAVING BECOME slaves of God, you HAVE your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are told to depend on it. We can rest in the hope that we have eternal life in Christ, and will be with Him in His Kingdom.
Colossians 3:2 – 4 “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life IS hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then YOU ALSO WILL appear with Him in glory.”
Again, who is qualified to have this kind of confidence? All those who have placed their believing trust in what Jesus did to save them.
John 3:14 – 18 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him IS NOT CONDEMNED; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
How can this be so? Because the moment a person is saved, that person is instantly transformed into a CHILD OF GOD. (One of His treasured possessions.) Jesus describes this change as being “born again” because our first birth, (the birth of the body into physical life on earth) is not enough.
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:5 – 7 “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Whoever will have eternal life must also go through the birth of the spirit, (because, on account of sin entering the world, all human beings are initially born spiritually DEAD to God.)
Ephesians 2:1 – 5 “And you He made alive, WHO WERE DEAD in trespasses and sins, in which YOU ONCE WALKED according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also WE ALL ONCE conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when WE WERE DEAD in trespasses, MADE US ALIVE together with Christ by grace you have been saved.”
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
This spiritual re-birth, (called regeneration) is what enables a person to live eternally in God’s presence. This must happen while we are living in our present human lives. The Bible says that at the moment a person trusts in God for the forgiveness of their sins, they are “passed from death to life.”
John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
In other words, that person IS NOW SAVED!
1 Peter 1:23 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
When does the Holy Spirit transform a sinner into a child of God? From the moment that person has believed the Gospel of salvation.
Ephesians 1:13 – 14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Yes, we can know that our eternal inheritance is GUARANTEED IF we have trusted in Christ who died to save us.
John 11:25 – 26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus also said, “Rejoice that your names ARE written in heaven.” Luke 10:20b Those who trust in Christ ARE His treasured possession, and their names are already recorded in His Book. These are the ones who WILL enter the Kingdom of God.
Revelation 21:27 “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
God has a book wherein the names of all those people who “fear the LORD and honor His name” are written. (Malachi 3:16) This book is called the “Book of Life”.
Of these people, the LORD declares . . . “They will be mine in the day when I make up my treasured possession.” (Malachi 3:17a)
What is His treasured possession? It is His people, the ones who are adopted by the Father to be the children of God. They are the ones who will dwell with Him forever in the Kingdom of God.
What else is special about them? God will “spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.” (Malachi 3:17b) He will spare them from having to pay the penalty for their own sin. This penalty is the “second death” and eternal separation from God.
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
Revelation 2:11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”
Jesus speaks of these “overcomers”, the ones who are “counted worthy” of the “first resurrection” which is unto life. He calls them “children of God”.
Luke 20:35 – 36 “But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
(Note that they are not actually angels, but sons of God who are “equal” to the angels. They have just as much access to God because they are counted as His CHILDREN.)
This is what it means to be “saved”. To be saved is to be “spared” from eternal damnation, (the second death). All human beings are born into this world facing this horrible end. Human beings are appointed to die once, (physical death), but after this comes the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) Those who are not “spared” will be condemned to the “second death”, also known elsewhere as hell.
The Book of Life is the list of all those who have become the Children of God. Those whose names are written in it see the evidence that they are, and are already looking forward to eternal life with Him! They KNOW that they ARE SAVED!