Thread: On Having Assurance that you are Saved...........
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On Having Assurance that you are Saved...........
Posted : 19 Apr, 2011 02:04 PM
God wants His people to be assured that they are truly saved, and belong to Him. A Christian who is NOT sure that they are saved will truly be an ineffective Christian. I just wanted to start a thread on this subject and HOW we can know we are saved. The Westminister Confession of Faith is probably the best Confession ever written, and you can find it online if you wish to study it further. Below is just the part about having assurance that we are truly saved..........
I. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with
false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor 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.
II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a
fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the
promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are
made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the
children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to
the day of redemption.
III. This infallible assurance does 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.
And therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and
election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost,
in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of
obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; so far is it from inclining men to looseness.
IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken,
diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some
special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit; by some sudden or
vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light of His countenance, and suffering
even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never so
utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren,
that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the
Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the mean time,
they are supported from utter despair.�
--Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, �On Assurance of Grace & Salvation�
I think the first place I would tell the Christian to go in finding assurance that they are saved is the book of Romans.
I would tell them to pretend that Paul is a college professor, giving a lecture on how to be saved.
They should start out in Romans 1 and read all the way to Romans 5:1.
The reason is, that all the way from the beginning of Romans to chapter 5, Paul IS teaching plainly that the ONLY way to be saved is by faith in Christ alone. Paul says in 1:16 that "the righteous shall live by faith".
After showing HOW wicked mankind is, and that God is just in judging them, and that a person CANNOT be right with God by following the Law, Paul starts teaching in 3:21 that the Righteousness of God comes through FAITH.
In chapter 4 Paul teaches that NO ONE has EVER been saved any other way than Faith in the Messiah.
He shows that Abraham was saved by FAITH ALONE. That King David was saved by faith alone.
In 4:16 he says that salvation DEPENDS on FAITH.
And like a college professor ending his lecture and summing it up, he says in Romans 5:1 "THEREFORE"
Now, that word is used to say, "because the things just mentioned are true, THIS.....is true.
And he sums it all up by saying: "Therefore, since WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED by FAITH, WE HAVE
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Bible plainly teaches that IF you are trusting in Jesus alone to be right with God, to have paid for your sins, then YOU ARE SAVED! It is NOT your feelings at the moment that count. It is not your supposed good deeds, it is not ANYTHING you have done in this life, it is ONLY by FAITH IN JESUS. And if you are trusting in Christ, the Bible says you ARE SAVED.
I think it is also important for the Christian to know that God WANTS you to KNOW that you ARE saved!
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."�1 John 5:13.
The REASON Christians have done SO MANY heroic deeds is because they KNEW they were safe in God, and they were going to heaven when they died!
Now, I would also deal with the different kinds of Christians when talking about this subject. One reason we have to emphasize that our FEELINGS are NOT the evidence that we are saved, is because some of us are very introspective, and some of us are not! If you are a person who struggles with FEELINGS of guilt all the time, then you need mainly to be REMINDED, that we are saved by FAITH ALONE. That it is the PROMISE OF GOD, that we depend on, not anything else.
If you are a Christian who is NOT introspective, then you need to remember that from time to time, you need to TEST yourself to see if you are in the faith. Is there evidence in your life that you have been born again? Is there the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
And finally I would say that the list of questions and answers below would be great for the Christian to have a copy of, and put it in their Bible. The following is from an article by John MaCarthur:
Let's take the first step toward doing that by applying an ancient technique--a question-and-answer process known as a catechism--to help us think through what God's Word teaches about assurance. The Greek word katacheo means "to echo back." So echo back God's truth as you slowly and thoughtfully read the following:
* Question: What is the essential duty a person has in this world? Consummating a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, which is to recognize His work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead as the satisfying atonement for sin, and to walk in accordance with that relationship.
* Question: Don't all members of the church have a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? No, only those who are truly saved.
* Question: How can I be certain I have that saving relationship? The Lord will have done in your soul His own sovereign will--that of calling you to Himself through a work of conviction and humiliation so you will have discovered your sin and misery, and, being so seriously agitated and threatened by it, you long for the Savior.
* Question: How can I know if I've made sufficient discovery and admission of my sin? By taking salvation to your heart above any other pursuit in life. It will make Christ, your Redeemer, very precious to your soul. It will make you fear sin, repent, and seek to be saved on God's terms.
* Question: What's another way of discerning a saving relationship to Christ? A strong and serious affection that reaches toward Christ as He is progressively revealed to you in the gospel. Such love is the product of saving belief.
* Question: Are there other marks of a relationship with Christ? You are truly saved when you have been made a whole new person, graciously changed and renewed. That is best evidenced by a desire to shun sin and pattern your life in obedience toward God's righteous demands.
* Question: What if I find sin prevailing over me? Although every sin deserves eternal vengeance, if you regularly confess your sins with unhypocritical repentance and shame before God--fleeing to Christ for forgiveness for all known and unknown iniquities--He will grant you mercy and pardon because you stand in grace, and your salvation is forever secure.
* Question: What if my sins are serious and repeated? Whatever they are, Jesus Christ has paid the price for them so that if you sincerely and earnestly have turned to Him in repentant faith, you will never enter into condemnation. Moreover, His gracious provision for those who believe includes power to overcome sin and live righteously.
* Question: Is faith alone the requirement for salvation? Yes, it is the only basis upon which God offers peace and pardon to mankind. However, faith--if it is genuine--will not be alone in the soul, but will always be accompanied by true repentance and an eager desire to conform to God's will and way.
* Question: How can I be sure I've settled my eternal destiny with the Lord? Express with your mouth to God what the Holy Spirit through Scripture has led you to believe in your heart.
* Question: What are the results of a relationship with Christ? Union and communion with God here, and blessed fellowship and glory hereafter.
* Question: How can I come to full assurance that I have such a relationship? By affirming the promises of God as revealed in Scripture by the internal witness of the Spirit, and by manifesting real and righteous fruit born out of love for the Person of Christ and the desire to bring Him honor and glory.
Don't continue to live with doubts about your eternal salvation. Rather, live with the blessed assurance God wants you to enjoy as His child.
Well James if one grew up in a Calvinist church and heard that only the elect would be saved of course, the question concerning what if I am not elect would come up.
