Dear God

Am I Really A Christian?

Well, we all know we need to be saved in order to get into heaven. And we all know there is only one way. But how do we know we are really saved. After all, in Matthew 7:22-23 He says Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!'. And that can be terrifying, because in essence, there, those people have tricked themselves into believing they were saved when they weren't really. And believe me, the fear is real. I'm terrified of that sometimes. But, at the end of the day, I can rest in assurance that Jesus has saved me, and I truly believe that, and am continually growing. Now, only God can truly see if your intent if pure and real or not, so this will simply be a self examination. I cannot say if you really are, because you may do everything correctly, but not really believe. Here we go!
How do you know you're alive in Christ?
You are not one just because you say you are. As said above, all those people said they were believers, but they were not really. Tying into the second point, you are not one if you haven't been born again. They go hand in hand. Just because you say you are, doe pant make you one, you have to have been born again. So how do you know? It will show in how you live. You will act differently than before, because everything you do now will be for Christ. Thirdly, you are not one just because you like Jesus. I'm sure many people like Jesus, and say he was a good teacher. But you need to believe he is more than that. He should be your Lord and Savior.
Fourth, you are not one if you enjoy sin. The old you is in sin, the new you wants to please God so you won't want to sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! What team are you playing for, if you like sports? Are you growing to love God and despise sin? Are you playing for God's team, or do you crave sin? Are you playing against God? Or do you want to straddle the fence? Are you trying to play for God and against Him? Let me tell you, God hates it when you do that! He'd rather you be one or the other. Fifth, you are not a Christian if you do not endure to the end. But, wait! Does this mean I can loose my salvation by not enduring? Not at all! You cannot loose your salvation, however, a genuine Christian will try to stay away from sin.
Sixth, you are not a Christian if you do not love other people. But not just others, because even no believers love others. No, we need to love everyone. Everyone? Yes. Even those who do horrible things? Yes. We need to love the people, which is not the same thing as loving what they're doing. We need to be like a parent in a sense. You know how a parent normally will always love their child? They don't stop loving them just because they did something bad. They hated the sin, but loved their child. We, too, need to love the person but hate the sin. Remember, love covers a multitude of sin. And lastly, you are not one if you love your stuff. You're saying we can't love our stuff? Well, compared to God, no. He should always be number one. It's like in Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - such a person cannot be my disciple. Again, it doesn't mean we need to hate our family, but our love for them should be like hate in comparison with our love for God.
Now, I think we can never be 100% certain, after all those people believed they were when they weren't, so I think the only real way is to lean on Jesus. We can't be certain of really anything except that I am a great sinner and God is a great savior. If we truly believe that, I believe you will be saved.