How Can I Know I’m Still Saved When I’m Being Tempted?
I’ve heard there are many who question their salvation because they are tempted to sin, or have backslidden in a sinful area. How can someone have an assurance that they are saved in a time of temptation?
The mere fact that a person is concerned about this demonstrates that they have a changed heart. People who are really headed to hell don’t care that they’re headed to hell. They don’t care about the temptations. In fact, they run after their temptations. But that’s not how it is for the people of God. They may be tempted, and they may even stumble under that temptation from time to time. But there is a constant thing within them that says, “I’ve got to walk right. I’ve got to walk straight. I’ve got to come back to that place where I was before.”
People who are really abandoned to their sin don’t care about it, and we see such cases in our modern world. In times of temptation, a believer can have an assurance that they’re saved by noting that they care about it, it matters to them, and they want to deal with it.