Know, that you know, that you know! The "old time" preachers used to say that phrase frequently. Ralph Cox a long-time pastor at Milan Baptist Church in Maynardville was the first preacher I recall saying "know, that you know, that you know". The Apostle Peter said it this way, " Give diligence to make your calling and election sure" (see 2 Peter 1:10). Both phrases mean make sure you are saved!

Some people would say, "They would not say anything to make a person’s faith waiver or make them doubt their beliefs regarding salvation." I'm not one of them. When discussing faith, Jesus told the Jews, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (see John 5:39). These scriptures plus others begs that we ask, how can we know we are saved?

The scriptures are very plain on how we can know we are saved. In 1 John 3:14, the Apostle explains it succinctly when he says, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." Jesus famously said, "Love thy neighbour as thyself." So, if we love our neighbor as we love ourself, then we would want our neighbor to also have salvation. Therefore, it stands to reason that we would live in a manner that demonstrates Jesus’ love to our neighbor. In other words, our neighbor will know what kind of tree we are by the fruit we bear. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

By doing the things that Jesus commanded, we not only show love to our brothers and sisters, but we first prove to ourselves that we believe Him and thus have salvation. So, when we look in the mirror to examine our features it is Christ we see and not ourselves. It is by grace that we are saved, that we won't boast of our own goodness. However, it is by works that we prove it to the world.

James 1:22-25 KJV
[22] But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. [23] For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: [24] For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. [25] But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.