How can we know that we are saved? And, Are we saved by our works? Let's see how these questions are answered in this devotional by Dr. Robert M. McMillan:
Knowing That We Know
When we speak of salvation by "works" we seldom stop to define the term. "Works," as applied to salvation, means the submitting to God of words, thoughts and deeds of ethical value which might be expected to outweigh our unrighteousness before Him who is Judge. The whole premise of this argument is that we are condemned before God for our deeds, whereas, in the Bible our condemnation is based upon the nature of Adam which becomes ours at the moment of conception in our mother's womb. (Psalm 51) The deeds of sin are the inevitable results of the disease of sin. Calvary touches and heals the disease by imputation of Christ's righteousness while the discipline of Christian ethics tackles the symptoms which still remain. After we are saved, then, our problem is not with the disease of sin but the symptoms that remain in our lives. We should make it clear, therefore, that because of the foregoing I am not saved by my works, nor yet does my salvation continue in accordance with my works.
John now declares his doctrine of works and, simply stated, it is, "The believer does not work to be saved but he works because he is saved." The genuinely born-again believer needs no impetus toward Christian ethics other than that which is his by the new birth. Thus John says that the impetus to keep the commandments of Christ is certification of the new nature within us. Before we were Christians it was of little moment whether our ethics were Christian or not. Now that we are saved it becomes a constant concern of our lives to be like Jesus. This new motivation is the means by which we know that we know Him. A true believer ought not to be cajoled and coerced into living by the Christian ethic for it should spring up within his heart as a stream of living water.