Saved Without a Doubt: Being Sure of Your Salvation, he Assurance of Our Salvation (Studies in John 17): Exploring the Depth of Jesus Prayer for His Own Kindle Edition, The doctrine of the assurance of salvation, https://biblical-christianity.com/what-happens-at-the-second-coming-of-christ, https://biblical-christianity.com/the-three-phases-of-salvation. (17) 1 John 5:13, NASB. Required fields are marked *, 2023 Biblical Christianity | Powered by, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. WHAT IS THE BASIS OF ASSURANCE OF SALVATION? It warns that not everyone who claims Jesus as their Lord is sincerely saved. Take a look at the nation of Israel who experienced many miracles and yet many of them perished due to their rebellion and unbelief. Those who begin to deny the major doctrines give serious negative indications regarding salvation. 8;24-25; 1 Cor. What assurance do Christians have with regards to their salvation? By stressing these spiritual disciplines as means that the Spirit uses to grow assurance, the Puritans were teaching their people that it is every believers duty to pursue assurance diligently, and how best to do it. Moreover, this text emphasizes that Jesus does the will of the Father, which is that He should lose nothing of all that He has given Me (John 6:39). Rather than skate over the surface, I want to address twelve of the most important pastoral ways that Puritan pastors, as physicians of souls, assisted the members of their flocks, helping them to gain robust measures of full assurance of faith. They often raise the questions, Am I really saved? or How can I be sure I will go to heaven when I die?. If you are concerned about . They stressed this linkage between assurance and obedience in very practical ways, stating that the believer ought to lose his assurance when he backslides and starts acting like an unbeliever. You did raise an excellent point that I seldom get to raise myself:- you are saved when you were saved by being born again so where is the doubt? Living in Sin Christians who are living in sin often forfeit their assurance. There is eternal life in Him, forgiveness, escape from hell, and entrance into the glories of God's own heaven. Because of the substitutionary work of Christ, God has justified all people, that is, God has declared them to be not guilty. search my heart and see if I possess salvation, if Jesus truly lives within. Once again, those given to the Son by the Father will not be lost. Jesus stands as the inaugurator of new life. Pointing toward their sin of spurning their Savior, St Paul declares: They [i.e., those who lost their salvation by rejecting Christ] were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. Jesus said, The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.(2) If you come to Jesus with genuine repentance and faith, He promises that He will save you. He wants you to define salvation in such a way that it includes complete assurance of salvation. The Reformers were occupied largely with hammering out great cardinal doctrines such as justification by faith alone, how to worship God publicly, Gods irresistible free grace versus human free will, and more much of which is summarized in their five major solas: sola Scriptura, sola fide, solus Christus, sola gratia, and soli Deo gloria. Every believer has wrestled with these questions at some point in their journey. If we possess eternal life, then we are saved! Ultimately, assurance is confirmed within us as we see God conforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. And what lessons can we learn today from their pastoral specialization in the vast field of experiential Christianity connected with the assurance of salvation? I have never really asked myself before if I am assured of salvation. They wrote at least forty books on how to meditate. My question to you is: Who are the people who are going to inherit the coming Kingdom of God which Jesus is coming back to establish? Christ offers us the gift of salvation, and he will not go back on his word. The Bible teaches that the assurance of salvation rests securely upon four unshakable pillars: First, assurance is based on the absolute trustworthiness of Scripture. Penance 5. In this, the Puritans followed Calvin, who said in his Commentary on John 20:3 that the disciples seem to have had saving faith without awareness that they had it as they approached the empty tomb. It is no exaggeration to say that the entire scheme of salvation is designed for the express purpose of providing the believer with the full assurance of his or her salvation. Salvation is eternal life; it is the life of God; it is Divine life. Peter tells us that there are some character traits, which if we keep on increasing them, will guarantee that we will never stumble or fall. You have His word on it. It appears that the only sure foundation for assurance is the Traditionalist view that assurance is based on the accomplishments of Christ and His promises to anyone who believes by faith. They often talk about personal salvation, about "how you get saved," and the familiar answer is: Accept Christ as your personal Savior in sincere prayer, ask Him to come into your heart and forgive your sins, and you are saved. Many Christians place their faith in Christ alone for redemption but still live wi Assurance of salvation is possible only if salvation is a work of God alone. Observe the Sabbath Day (Sunday, for Christians). I appreciate your comment and I take that as a sign that Im on the right track. If you doubt your salvation, does that mean you are not truly saved? Doctrine is something that is taught; a principle or creed of principles presented for acceptance or belief; a system of beliefs. Assurance of Salvation S alvation is a work of God. Some of them could be in the process of moving towards genuine saving faith. But where does doubt come from? But salvation is a gift received by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). St. Johns assurance that you have eternal life is a proclamation of every Christians moralnot absoluteassurance of salvation. (3) John 19:30, NASB. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, we can have confidence that His death and resurrection has put an end to it. The only "action" necessary for us is to turn to Jesus and place our lives in his hands. Pastorally, this helped Puritan pastors maintain in their people the conviction that though full, robust assurance of salvation may not be common to all believers, some degree of assurance is (even if it is only in seed form) and is always inseparable from saving faith in Christ. Your email address will not be published. He will save all who call upon Jesus Christ. What about you Robert? There is assurance of salvation to everyone who has truly been born again and we should never doubt that. 1 John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. The Puritans did not write extensively on assurance of faith because they wanted to be excessively introspective or navel-gazers, as they have been accused by some who have, for the most part, not read their books. They added more volumes on how to do our daily work to Gods glory, how to live a godly life in our secular professions, and how to live zealously for the glory of God in every area of life. The Puritans taught that this may actually benefit believers, as it may have the purpose of allowing them to taste the bitterness of sin, or to grow in humility, or to treasure the gift of assurance more, or to depend more fully on the grace of Christ and endeavor after a closer walk with God. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. Jews who practice Judaism are doing their best to follow the Law while Muslims could only hope that at the end of their journey here on earth, their good deeds will far outweigh their bad deeds. If salvation depended upon man's ability, assurance of salvation would require answering two questions: (16) Hebrews 6:11, NASB. The book of First John details what are the vital signs of our new life in Christ. 4:11-16). To have the assurance of salvation is to be absolutely confident that we are saved and that if we die suddenly, we would go immediately to heaven. Anyone who falls away from their profession of faith in Christ and life of obedience in Him was never really saved. The words are easily enough said, but execution is difficult and practice rare. Although some have objected to this and reasoned that even if no one else can take believers out of Christs hand, we might remove ourselves from Christs hand. We have fellowship with Christ. Salvation is primarily a work of human will rather than a work of God. No person currently possesses ultimate salvation. Topics: Salvation. 3. 8:31-39). But how can we be sure? How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? Assurance of salvation is Gods blessed gift for all who believe: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.(17), (1) Romans 10:13, NASB. Permissions For Saint Paul gives a strange description of the Christian life, and the color and characteristics with which he describes it render it decidedly unattractive. Do not misuse the name of God. Remember that the second part of the definition of assurance of salvation is that only those who persevere to the end have been truly born again. The particular, electing love of God from before the foundation of the world is the reason why anyone becomes a Christian. If you have received Christ then your salvation is guaranteed by God. Likewise, John writes, other vital signs will follow: Love for other people,(9) love for God,(10) refusing the world,(11) understanding biblical truth,(12) righteous behavior,(13) opposition from the world(14) and answered prayer. a. Do not murder. If Job and David recovered from their loss of assurance (Job 19:2527; Psalms 42:58; 51:12), why shouldnt the believer today? Of course the Divine does, such idiosyncrasies belong to the human real. You make a number of valid points about the assurance of salvation and why the genuine Christian cannot lose it. The Bible says, Come now, and let us reason together. Good works just validate what has taken place when we placed our faith in Jesus. The Health & Wellness Manager is responsible for the day to day operations of the H&W Department. If you fear losing your salvation, these passages are your peace. Thats something I always have struggled on, but now I have a great insight from your post. But the more important question is, can those who fall away be restored again into repentance (Hebrews 6:4-6)? He then exhorts us to be more zealous and diligent to confirm our call and election (2 Peter 1:5-10). In God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, whom the Father sent into the world to reprove it is of sin, righteousness and judgment and to testify of Jesus Christ. In actuality, no preacher, evangelist, parent or friend can give us assurance. a. Is it possible for a Christian to lose salvation? For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.. What is Christian redemption? Thanks for commenting. III. The doctrine of assurance of salvation also referred to as the perseverance of the saints, means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by Gods power and will persevere until the end and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again. Matthew 7:21-23 is one of the most alarming passages in the Bible. Should you have further questions, please feel free to reply back to this comment thread. Among all the Puritans writings, chapter 18 of the Westminster Confession of Faith captures their pastoral wisdom on assurance in four clear, succinct paragraphs. The Puritan pastor used this truth to encourage believers to walk in faithfulness before God in accord with his word, and to avoid every backsliding as a serious offense to God and as destructive to their own soul. This gracious preservation of faith offers hope for the revival of assurance, for the flame of Gods life within the soul can never be completely snuffed out. 7:21-23; Matt. On the other hand, the doctrine of the assurance of salvation, if properly understood, should cause genuine worry and concern to anyone who is backsliding or staying away from Christ. You are saved when you were born again and the evidence that you were truly born again is if you continue in your faith up to the very end. We can't lose our salvation. Indeed, the child of God may be losing assurance even while he advances in grace. 8:28-29), but. This is because the grace and essence of faith abides with the believer even though he is blind to the acts and practice of faith. The Puritans are clear here and elsewhere in teaching pastorally that the Christian cannot enjoy high levels of assurance while he persists in low levels of obedience. To make this distinction clear, Puritan pastors distinguished for their church members the difference between what they called historical and temporary faith on the one hand, and saving faith on the other. Christians also seek to follow the ten commandments God gave Moses to give the Israelites: Worship no other God but me. Copyright 2011-2023 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved. Bible verses marked NASB are taken by permission from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. But the unforgiving servant proceeded to mistreat a fellow servant and when the King discovered this, he reinstated his debt and threw him into prison. A person who was truly born again will manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and will continue to live in sanctification (growing in Christ). (15) As we see this spiritual fruit produced in our lives, we may be confident that Christ lives within us. How does a Christian possess assurance of their salvation? (15) 1 John 3:22-24. The author of Hebrews was arguing for the superiority of the person and work of Christ. Matthew 7:22-23 is about believers who performed miracles in the name of Jesus and yet at the last day Jesus says He never knew them. Hi Robert, thanks for dropping by. But because of the threat of persecution, they were tempted to return to legalistic Judaism. Will Graham Devotion: Whats Communion All About? When it comes to the assurance of salvation for believers, its so very important to stick to the Word as many among the so-called Christian denominations tend to lean more on good works while others solely depend on grace. But what does the Bible really say? It is this inward transformation that provides strong confirmation of our salvation. Such a person must be warned that only those who persevere to the end have been truly born again. A number of Puritans (such as Thomas Goodwin and Henry Scudder) taught that a direct witness of the Holy Spirit to the believers soul through the word can give a substantial increase to a believers assurance and comfort, especially in times of great need. 5. 2) Also in John 10:27-29 Jesus says that those who follow Him, those who are His sheep, are given eternal life. Summary: Death and the grave hold no fear to a child of God. 2:5-11; Rom. I wasnt sure of my salvation because I was not always obedient to Gods commands and often times I neglect my quiet time. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's wrath. When I was a new believer I was always fearful that I will not make it to heaven because I might stumble along the way and get lost. In other words, that person will receive the seal of ownership as proof that he belongs to God. Yes, believers in Jesus will end up in heaven once they leave this world, either by physical death or at the rapture when Jesus will come back in the clouds to gather together all those in Christ, whether dead or alive, to bring them all to heaven. Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish): yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love Him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. In the context of this article, I will use their term "Bible Christians" to present what Christians since the time of Christ have believed the Bible teaches regarding eternal life and the assurance of salvation. 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