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Witnessing Without Fear   -Appendix One-   Questions for Discerning Genuine Salvation   The following outline is for use with those who either aren’t sure of their salvation or profess to be saved but give reason to question their profession. Allow the individual to give more than a quick, knee-jerk response. You are using these questions to discern both their comprehension of the gospel and the reality of salvation in their life. Some answers are provided (in italics) as samples of acceptable responses to aid you in evaluating their responses.   I.    The Gospel of Jesus Christ A.  Do you believe in the God of the Bible?       B.   What happens to a person after death?       C.  Are you a sinner by nature and by choice?       D.  What does every sin deserve? God’s righteous condemnation and the penalty of death. E.   Apart from Christ, would God be just and righteous to send you to hell for eternal punishment for your sins?       F.   What remedy has God provided for the saving of sinners? G.  What is the only thing that can prevent you from going to hell? (Heb 2:1-3). The sacrifice of Christ.       H.  Have you gladly received God’s provision of salvation in Christ? I.    What are you trusting in to be made right with God? Christ alone as my representative head and advocate before God. J.    How does God apply the work of Christ to your account? (Eph 2:8-9) By faith alone apart from works.. K.  From where do you hope to obtain the perfect righteousness that God requires of you? The righteousness that Christ has is imputed to me.       L.   Who bears the penalty for your sins? Christ bore the penalty in full on the cross.   II.  The Need for Regeneration and On-going Repentance A.  What change must be made upon all who will be saved? (Titus 3:5-7) Regeneration, new birth.       B.   Have you ever experienced this great change in your own heart? C.  Have you experienced a change in your soul that causes you to despise your sin and the world and to set your hope and affection on things above? D.  Do you order your life so as to be happy in the life to come? Is this where you lay your happiness and hopes? (Matt 6:21; 1 John 3:1-3)       E.   Can you say that you love God more than anything else in your life? F.   Are you pained and grieved by the sins of your past and present? (Rom 6:21) G.  Do you believe your sins are primarily against God? (Ps 51:4)       H.  How do you respond when you commit sin? (1 John 1:9)       I.    Can you honestly say that you loathe and hate your sins? J.    Have you noticed yourself decreasing in your practice of sin and increasing in the practice of righteousness? (Rom 6:22) K.  Can you honestly say that the glory of God is your primary ambition in life? (1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 5:9; Col 3:23). L.   Do you confess your faith in Christ before others, including non-believers? (Matt 10:32-33)       M.  Do you welcome the examination of your heart by the Scriptures? (Ps 139:23-24)       N.  Do you delight in the Law of God according to the inward man? (Rom 7:22; Heb 8:10) O.  What is the source of peace to your conscience? (Heb 9:14) The blood of Christ shed for my sins.   III. The Character of Genuine Saving Faith[1] (2 Corinthians 13:5)       A.      Evidences That Neither Prove Nor Disprove One's Faith             1.      Visible Morality: Matthew 19:16-21; 23:27.             2.      Intellectual Knowledge: Romans 1:21; 2:17ff. 3.      Religious Involvement: Matthew 25:1-10 4.      Active Ministry: Matthew 7:21-24 5.      Conviction of Sin: Acts 24:25 6.      Assurance: Matthew 23 7.      Time of Decision: Luke 8:13, 14 B.   The Fruit/Proofs of Authentic/True Christianity: 1.      Love for God: Psalm 42:1ff; 73:25; Luke 10:27; Romans 8:7 2.         Repentance from Sin: Psalm 32:5; Proverbs 28:13; Romans 7:14ff; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1:8-10 3.      Genuine Humility: Psalm 51:17; Matthew 5:1-12; James 4:6, 9ff. 4.         Devotion to God's Glory: Psalm 105:3; 115:1; Isaiah 43:7, 48:10ff.; Jeremiah 9:23, 24; 1 Corinthians 10:31 5.         Continual Prayer: Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18ff.; Philippians 4:6ff.; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:16-18 6.      Selfless Love: 1 John 2:9ff, 3:14; 4:7ff. 7.      Separation from the World: 1 Corinthians 2:12; James 4:4ff.; 1 John 2:15-17, 5:5 8.      Spiritual Growth: Luke 8:15; John 15:1-6; Ephesians 4:12-16 9.         Obedient Living: Matthew 7:21; John 15:14ff.; Romans 16:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 22; 1 John 2:3-5 If List A is true of a person and List B is false, there is cause to question the validity of one’s profession of faith. Yet if List B is true, then List A will be also.   Direction to those whose lives do not manifest the evidences of true salvation[2]   Seek to attain a thorough work of grace in your heart. Do not rest until such a change is performed upon you. All those whom God intends to pardon and save are regenerated by God's Spirit. In the act of giving them His grace, God gives them a new heart (Jn 3:5-7). God's grace in giving this change begins with conviction of sin. God brings a conviction that will make a man feel his sin as the heaviest burden in the world. He will make him understand that he is liable to God's wrath and curse. He will make him see that he is a lost man facing damnation unless pardoned by the blood of Christ. There is no true conviction of sin until one breaks off all false peace of conscience (Heb 10:22). A false peace of conscience keeps a man from seeking after Christ. God's peace is a peace that keeps a man from sin (Phil 4:7). The sinner's peace is a peace with sin. The sinner must be wounded for sin and troubled under it before Christ will forgive him and give him peace. God makes a man truly aware of the bitterness and misery of his sin before he allows the man to experience mercy. The sinner must see the wickedness and unprofitableness of his sin before he is able to profit by Christ's righteousness. One must be convinced of the misery and danger of one's natural condition. Until a man sees the corruption of his heart and the wretchedness of his state by nature, he will never forsake self-righteousness to seek the help of Another. One must be convinced of the utter insufficiency of anything below Christ Jesus to minister relief to his soul. Duties, performances, prayers, tears, self-righteousness, religious practice avail nothing in themselves. Only an infinite righteousness can satisfy for us. Our sin has offended an infinite God. Your case requires infinite mercy to pardon you, infinite merit to reconcile you to God; infinite power to renew your heart, and infinite grace to save you from hell. 7.                      You must know that a sinner can never come to Christ by his own power. For he is dead in sin, and in a state of enmity against Christ. He is an enemy of God and the grace of God. No man comes immediately out of deadness of soul into conversion and belief in Jesus Christ without divine preparation. Central in this preparation is sound conviction of sin (Luke 5:32; 19:10; Isa 61:1). [How can we aid this preparation? What plows the soil of the heart?         A.      Preach the moral law.         B.      Preach the holiness of God.         C.      Preach their need for repentance.         D.      Preach original sin (sin nature, spiritual death).         E.      Preach the need for a new nature (regeneration, new birth).       F.      Preach the dangers of dying in sin (judgment, eternal hell).         G.      Preach that the more truth they reject, the greater their condemnation. H.      Preach the cross as the place where God’s love and justice came together.] Get sound convictions over your sin. Without them you will never seek after Christ for sanctification and salvation. Never rest in your convictions until they end in conversion. Some rest in their conviction of sin as if sorrow over sin is the same as forgiveness. Seeing one's need of grace is not the same as a work of grace. Let your conviction of sin effect repentance. Do not dismiss your conviction of sin. Only by following the conviction of sin will a man turn to Christ who is ready to pardon and save. Therefore, seek to have your convictions improved and deepened (not ignored). Do not rest in your convictions until they rise up to a thorough settlement with the Lord Jesus Christ and end in a sound and perfection conversion.     [1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville, Tenn.: Word Publishing; 1997), p. 2191. [2] From Matthew Mead, The Almost Christian Discovered (Ligonier, Penn.: Sola Deo Gloria Publications, 1661, r.p. 1989).

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