As someone said many years ago,
“If you go to Heaven, there you will find Popes, Priests and Kings.
If you go to Hell, there you will find Popes, Priests and Kings.”
True enough. One’s earthly office isn’t the same as one’s heavenly guarantee. One could be shucking and jiving us and we might find it exceedingly hard to tell, if possible at all this side of glory.
One very auspicious sign is to find oneself falling further and further into the blessing arms of the Lord, and understanding further and further how desperately it is needed, and finding more and more acts of gratitude (in an eternal dimension) coming from the heart. It rises above the world.
What is often confusing is to find a mix of heavenly and worldly viewpoints. This happens because of yet-unresolved sin, but it makes for difficulties in witness. Baptists are known for “once saved always saved” and while this is robustly supportable from a bible viewpoint, it is NOT AT ALL EQUIVALENT to “once saved always a wonderful witness.” To ride new Christians like a horse to get out there and give out the whole nine yards like a Peter or a Paul, leads to an artificial spiel at best.