How can I have assurance of salvation? How do I know I'm saved?
Assurance rests on God's promise, not your feelings. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). If you have believed on Christ, you may know.
What the text states
John wrote his whole first letter so believers could know. Security is objective, grounded in what Christ did and the Spirit's seal; assurance is subjective, your confidence in it, and the two are distinct. When assurance wavers, the cure is not to look inward at the strength of your faith but outward at the object of it: "he that hath the Son hath life" (1 John 5:12). The Spirit Himself "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom 8:16).
(Reformed teaching also affirms assurance but often ties it to evidence of perseverance; some traditions discourage present assurance entirely. We hold that assurance is available now, on the promise, to anyone who has believed.)
Go deeper
Checked 2026-09-29 by Darren. 59 Scripture citations verified against the KJV rows. 59 quoted fragments table-passed against the verses table. One correction: once-saved-always-saved cited “unto the day of redemption” to Eph 1:13; the phrase is Eph 4:30, corrected to (Eph 1:13, 4:30) to match the convention used in eternal-security-vs-perseverance. 18 exhibit links checked, all resolve.
wsb.bible/answers/assurance-of-salvation