“Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin” (2 Peter 1:10 NET).
The following author lists a series of questions that can help us “make every effort to confirm [our] calling and election” (CSB)…
“…[W]hat will serve as evidence of genuine conversion? What can give real assurance to a real believer? We can list three categories of questions that a person could ask of himself or herself.
1. Do I Have a Present Trust in Christ for Salvation?
“…[A] person should ask himself or herself, ‘Do I today have trust in Christ to forgive my sins and take me without blame into heaven forever? Do I have confidence in my heart that he has saved me? If I were to die tonight and stand before God’s judgment seat, and if he were to ask me why he should let me into heaven, would I begin to think of my good deeds and depend on them, or would I without hesitation say that I am depending on the merits of Christ and am confident that he is a sufficient Savior?…”
2. Is There Current Evidence of a Regenerating Work of the Holy Spirit in My Heart?
“…[I]f the Holy Spirit is genuinely at work in our lives, he will be producing the kind of… character traits that Paul calls ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22). He lists several attitudes and character traits that are produced by the Holy Spirit: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Gal. 5:22-23). Of course, the question is not ‘Do I perfectly exemplify all of these characteristics in my life?’ but rather ‘Are these things a general characteristic of my life?…'”
3. Do I See a Long-Term Pattern of Growth in My Christian Life?
“…But Peter gives one more kind of test that we can use to ask whether we are genuinely believers. He tells us that there are some character traits which, if we keep on increasing in them, will guarantee that we will ‘never fall’ (2 Peter 1:10). He tells his readers to add to their faith ‘virtue . . . knowledge . . . self-control . . . steadfastness … godliness … brotherly affection … love’ (2 Peter 1 :5-7).”
“…The way that we confirm our call and election, then, is to continue to grow in ‘these qualities.’ This implies that our assurance of salvation can be something that increases over time in our lives. Every year that we add to these character traits in our lives, we gain greater and greater assurance of our salvation.” (1)
(1) Excerpted from Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, Ml: Zondervan Academic, 2020).[pp. 33-38]