Not everyone can receive salvation just because they heard the gospel and called on the name of the Lord. In addition to calling upon His name, they should know the will of God and practice it to be saved (Matthew 7:21).
Whoever accepts Jesus Christ can be God's children, their names are written in the Book of Life, and the Holy Spirit is given to them in their hearts as a gift.
Thereafter the Spirit helps them not sin but live righteously in the Word of God. That is, He guides them to keep themselves from old habits, cast away sin and evil, and live in the truth as God wants. Only with the Holy Spirit can they be born again as new creatures in the Lord and attain perfect salvation.
So then, what is the 'proof' that people received the Holy Spirit, the sign of salvation? Here are the eight proofs. Check them now and see if you have received the Spirit.
Do you try to keep the commandments?
With the Holy Spirit in you, you feel grateful for God's love and grace forgiving you of sins and you naturally have love for Him. To the extent you love, you can better keep His commands, as said in 1 John 5:3, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome."
You may have previously found it hard to understand God's Word and know His will. After receiving the Spirit, however, you grasp God's will so you try to keep His Word. It's because the Spirit in you never stops guiding you to keep His commands.
Are you willing to obey the Word of God?
Some of you might have been forced to attend church by others. But once you receive the Spirit, He lets you feel the love of God who unsparingly sacrificed His only begotten Son on the cross and that of the Lord who became atoning sacrifice for you. Then you willingly and voluntarily attend all kinds of worship services and obey the Word.
You may sometimes disobey having weakness in faith, but if you keep praying fervently to obey and don't give up, the Holy Spirit will help you. Under His help you will grow up in faith and be able to obey perfectly.
Do you try to live a holy life?
You should have no desire to return to your past life that was stained with sin and evil since you have the Holy Spirit living in you. You hate sins and evil and try to dwell in goodness and light, thereby achieving the Lord's heart.
If you act in lawlessness even with the Spirit in you, He laments causing you to feel distressed. If you divert from such sinful way to the truth quickly, however, you will no longer feel distressed and peace and joy will come. In that way, the Spirit helps us live in the truth.
Do you love brothers and sisters in Christ?
With the Spirit in you, you learn brothers and sisters in Christ are your real family who will live with you in the eternal Heaven as God's children. So you come to love them more than your own family.
Then you also love God and the church which is the Lord's body, and love the shepherd and try to serve him.
It is just as 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."
Do you overcome the world with faith?
1 John 5:4 states, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith."
God's children who received the Holy Spirit don't befriend the world in which sin and lawlessness are rampant. Instead they follow the will of God in the Spirit's help, by which they can gain spiritual faith to overcome the world and with that faith they can get over any kind of hardship fearlessly.
Do you have assurance in salvation?
However long you have attended church, you can't be assured of salvation unless you have received the Spirit. But, if you have received the Holy Spirit, even as new believers you can confidently say you have been saved.
As you practice the Word of God, faith is given from above and hope and assurance for Heaven sprout in you. By the Spirit's help, you can believe you are saved with your hearts and then you can confidently confess it, resulting in true salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
Do you pray with faith knowing answers will come?
1 John 5:15 reads, "And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
If you received the Holy Spirit and became God's child, you know God is your Father. So you can ask Him for what you want and believe He answers you. The Spirit teaches you how to ask within God-pleasing will and thereby you can receive overflowing blessings from Him.
Do you live a God-first life?
If you realize the love of God who loves you to the point of having sacrificed His only begotten Son, you cannot but live a 'God-first' life
A liar is transformed into an honest man; a person lacking love, into a person abounding with love; a 'peace-breaker' becomes a peace-maker; and people in darkness come into light. Following the God-pleasing truth and living as God wants, it is the proof of receiving the Spirit.
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