Assurance of Salvation
Things that Prove NOTHING About One's Salvation
Proof of
NOTHING.
Scripture is very clear that certain things prove absolutely NOTHING about a person's salvation. Such things may be necessary obligations (and saved people will do them), but they can also be imitated by the unsaved. Because of this, the absence of such characteristics may suggest that a person is unsaved, but their presence guarantees nothing. We cannot use such characteristics as "proof" of a person's salvation. If we do so, we may be convincing them (and/or ourselves) about a lie that has eternally-devastating consequences.
Things that Prove NOTHING
Good Deeds - a Morally Upright Life
It's easy to do "good" things and and not be saved. Atheists can do it... and so can religious people.
Knowing the Bible - even accurately - does not prove that the God of the Bible has become your God and changed your life.
The Performance of Religious Activities
Anyone can do religious activities. Even atheists do them ... they just redefine the activities as "secular."
Scripture is filled with examples of people who had the gifts and abilities... but not the salvation.
There is a huge difference between being sorrowful about one's sin, and having genuine repentance.
"Feeling Assured" about One's Salvation
It's easy to have an "assurance" that is nothing more than subjective opinion. But Scripture warns us that many people who think they are saved will find out (too late) that they were deceived.
Knowing the time of a "conversion experience" is not proof that the "conversion" was the type that results in salvation. Also, as part of the "anything else" category, "the ability to perform miracles" is shown by Scripture to NOT be proof.