If you think that a change in one’s lifestyle is evidence of being saved, then the thief on the cross didn’t make it to heaven, and Messiah lied to him. The thief didn’t have an opportunity to demonstrate any change in his outward lifestyle as the evidence that he was saved.
No measure of human activity or behavior is evidence of being saved, as those are things that humans can produce of their own power and will, and feelings are the devil’s playground. A lot of people at AA meetings have changed their lives, but it doesn’t mean they have received the covenant, which is the eternal seal of the Holy Spirit.
When one receives the covenant, it is because of his belief in Messiah, and faithfulness to that belief. It is not based on his own works, or on his feelings about himself or the physical words of scripture he has read. The only way that one knows he has been made a child of Yah is by the Holy Spirit telling him that he has been redeemed. Just like the thief on the cross was told, so too are all of those who are adopted as Yah’s children.
There is no insult in being led by the Holy Spirit, but not yet having received His confirmation of being adopted. One must first be led to that point. The false teachings in christianity are what corrupt our thinking that we must be able to be “in the club” right now, or else we’re less than others in status, or He’s given up on us. That’s simply not true. It is a gift from the Father for the Spirit to lead anyone to salvation, but the covenant is given by the will of the Father alone, and in His time alone.
Knowing that, it then becomes necessary to learn exactly HOW the Holy Spirit testifies directly to individuals. That, then, is specifically HOW He confirms one’s salvation to him. It cannot be read, and it isn’t a decision. It isn’t measured in outward activity or desires. The Holy Spirit literally TELLS the believer he has been made a child of Yah.
Without that, everything else is nothing but man’s own efforts, or man’s own declaration about himself–and, man doesn’t have the power or authority to declare himself to be justified before the Father.
For more information: How Do You Know You Are Saved?