It seems that most people in the south claim the name of Christ.  People have prayed prayers, walked aisles and stirred the waters of baptism.  But, how can we know if we really are His children?  According to Jesus, there will be many who say that they are His, but they really aren’t (Matthew 7:21-23).  How can we know that we are born again and are His children.  John addresses this in his first letter.  Here is a note from Crossway’s ESV Study Bible that I found very helpful!

“Being born again, having received the Spirit, abiding in God and God abiding in them, and knowing and loving God, Christians bear observable fruit:

• Practice truth/righteousness (1 John 1:6; 2:29; 3:7, 10)
• Walk in the light/as he walked (1 John 1:7; 2:6)
• Confess sins and have forgiveness (1 John 1:9; 2:12)
• Keep/obey his commandments/Word (1 John 2:3, 5; 3:22, 24; 5:2, 3)
• Love one another/the brothers (1 John 2:10; 3:10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 23; 4:7, 11, 21)
• Overcome the evil one/them/the world (1 John 2:13, 14; 4:4; 5:4)
• Do the will of God/cannot keep on sinning (1 John 2:17; 3:9, 22)
• Confess the Son/believe in Jesus (1 John 2:23; 3:23; 4:2, 15; 5:1, 4, 13)”

ESV Study Bible Introduction to 1 John