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Having said that, I must admonish you, just as Paul admonished the Corinthians, to "test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor. 13:5). You never want to be deluded about your relationship with Christ. When you trust in the living Lord, you have a living hope and a glorious eternal inheritance. Anything less results in an inheritance of eternal damnation.

This passage of Scripture is often overlooked but it is a critical part of understanding our salvation. It's one thing to say, "I believe in God.", but it's a whole other thing to actually LIVE like we do. There are a lot of what I call "functional atheists" out in the world. They'll affirm belief in God and say they are Christians, and they may go to church regularly. But Jesus is taken down from the shelf and dusted off on Sunday but then put back up for the rest of the week and it's hard to tell any difference between them from those who have no faith. A genuine faith WILL result in a changed heart - not because we must do the work but because the Holy Spirit is within us conforming us to Christ. There may be setbacks, backsliding even, but there is evidence of progress. We should examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. If nothing has changed and we're unaffected by professing Jesus Christ in our lives, then something is wrong - and it isn't with Christ.