Are You Really Saved?

There are so many people out there who are claiming to be Christians, but are they really saved, or are they under a false assumption because they said a canned prayer when they were young?  How can you tell if you are really saved?  How can you tell if others are true Christians or just lost, misinformed souls who are so sure they are saved that they won't even enterain the thought that they may not be a child of God at all?  How can we know if we are Christs Chosen or if we are just going through the motions?  Some aren't even going through the motions, but still believe they are saved.  How can we tell the difference, in our lives and in others, if we are true children of God or children of satan?  God has given us a book, his holy inspired word in which to find the answers.  If you really want to know, and are not afraid to find out the truth, then you will continue to read.  If, on the other hand, you are not one of Gods elect, then you will most likely read no further.

I would like to go over two scriptures that can pretty much sum up and answer this question.  These two areas of the Bible are by no means the only place these statements are made in the word of God, but it will help you to understand and know if you are truely saved.  It will also help you in telling the difference when someone says to you "I am a Christian" if they are truely a Christian or just a nay sayer.  The first scripture I am going to share with you is I John 4:7-8
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 
So, if someone is saved, then what can we see in their lives?  Love, Gods love.  The second question is, what is Gods love?  What is real love, true love?  How can we know if we are showing true love or just going through the motions?  This brings up the second area of scripture I would like to share,  I Corinthians 13:4-8.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. 
Are you impatient?  Are you unkind?  Do you envy others?  Are you boastful or proud, or dishonoring to others, or self-seeking?  Are you easily angered and keep track of others wrongs?  Do you delight in evil?  Then you do not have the love of God, and you are not saved.  You can not know God if you do not have love.  This doesn't mean you may still not be one of the chosen, only that God has not revealed himself to you yet.  If you want Him to reveal Himself, and you are one of the chosen, then read more to find out how. 

On the other hand, are you patient and kind?  Are you humble, and honoring to others, not self seeking and slow to be angered?  Do you forgive easily, knowing what God has forgiven you for and always keeping that in mind before keeping track of others wrongs against you?  Do you delight in good and rejoice in the truth?  Do you protect, trust, hope and persevere in times of trouble and trials?  Is your love unfailing?  Because the only love that is unfailing is Gods love.  If you answered yes to these questions, then congratulations, you are one of the chosen ones!  You love God, and God has chosen you!  Keep in mind always, that your salvation is not anything you have done, but that Christ died to save His chosen ones that were written in the book of life before time began.  He chooses us, we do not choose Him.  If we chose Him, then we could loose our salvation, but the scripture says we cannot lose our salvation, because He chooses us!  He gives us his Holy Spirit, which allows us to love in the way that is described above.  If you do not love with Gods love, then you do not love at all.  He knew all before the beginning of time.  He knows your hurts, he knows your fears, and he knows your heart.  Do you have a heart after God like David did?  Or do you have a heart like Judas Iscariot did, a hardened sinful heart that betrayed God?  I pray everyone who reads this will be a chosen one and believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved as one of Gods chosen elect.