When christians are asked why they think they’re saved, the most common response, by far, is simply to make reference to some passage of scripture. Imagine being asked for proof of your physical birth (which, I suppose, would be a birth certificate), and your response being to quote a passage from a biology book that details how physical reproduction occurs. That passage would tell how all people come into being, it would not confirm anything about you specifically.
Christianity has misled so many people about the doctrines of salvation, teaching that man is saved by his own decision, and his proof is something that is written. There are no scriptures that can tell an individual that he is born again. Period. The scriptures will equip those who are already born again in the understanding of how that process works, but scripture cannot actually tell anybody he is born again.
So, no, John 3:16 says nothing about you. What it says is that those who believe have eternal life. But, Satan and his demons believe. Are they saved? Messiah said in Luke 8:13 that some will believe, but then fall away, because they have no root (they have never been given the source of life, who is the Holy Spirit).
So, who are the “believers” in John 3:16? John tells us in 1 John 5:10 who they are: they are those who have been given the witness (the Greek word there means “evidence”).
So, those who are seen by the Father as believers are the ones who have been given the evidence. The evidence is not something that is read. The evidence is not something man can declare about himself. The evidence is not received by man’s direction or control. The evidence is given directly to the one to whom it applies, and the evidence is the actual testimony of the Holy Spirit communicated to the one who has been adopted. Feelings are not evidence of adoption, what a person has done is not evidence of adoption, and one’s claim that “I just know” is not evidence.
To better understand what Romans 8:16 teaches, consider the words “bears witness” to mean “communicates,” and you’ll better grasp what it means. “The Spirit Himself communicates with our spirit that we are children of Yah.” And, that communication is a legal decree–evidence provided by a witness. The Holy Spirit communicates with Yah’s people today just as He always has–and, most often, that is in dreams and visions.
For more information: How Do You Know You Are Saved?