Do you have a biblical assurance of salvation?

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There are some things in life that we want to be really sure about. One of them is our salvation. We especially want to know our eternal destiny. Maybe you have doubts about your salvation. The Bible warns that many are deceived about this crucial matter. Perhaps you are like the elderly man who said to Dr. H.A. Ironside, "I will not go on unless I know I'm saved, or else know it's hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can't be mistaken about!" Ironside replied, "Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?" "Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right." Ironside continued, "But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, 'I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.' What would you say?" The man was speechless. Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him, all our sins are gone. Ironside read 1 John 5:13, "that ye may know that ye have eternal life..." Then he said, "Is that not enough to rest on? It is a letter from heaven expressly to you." God's Spirit used that to bring assurance to the man's heart. — Dr. H. A. Ironside

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In the New Testament and especially in the Epistles, "full assurance" is mentioned three times.

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FIRST: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). It is the confidence of a believer that he is saved without any doubt. It is the result of believing what God says in the Bible. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). He is absolutely sure that this promise of God is true because God does not lie. In other words, his confidence is based on God's promises and not on his emotional experiences.

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SECOND: "The full assurance of hope unto the end" (Hebrews 6:11). The hope of the Bible is not the same as man's "wishing hope." The Christian's "hope" is "an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast..." (Hebrews 6:19). The full assurance of hope is the result of believing and accepting God's Word. This confidence will keep the believer to the end.

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THIRD: "All riches of the full assurance of understanding..." (Colossians 2:2). This full assurance is God's reward to Christians who study His Word. It starts with His plan of salvation as proclaimed in the gospel of the grace of God. When one who believes and begins to understand God's Word, he comes to the point where he can enjoy all the blessings and "riches of the full assurance of understanding."

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It is different knowing that you are saved than hoping that you are saved. The apostle John wrote to assure God's people about their salvation and eliminate any doubt they may have: "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). He uses the Greek words "ἵνα εἰδῆτε," which mean to know, to see, to have surely seen. The verse gives you the assurance that you have eternal life. You are saved, period.

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You may ask, "How can I know?" Because God promised eternal life to all, who believe in Jesus Christ. He died not only to forgive your sins but to give you full assurance of going to heaven. The following are a few of God's promises:

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• "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25-26).

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• "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29).

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• "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38,39).

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• "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

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• "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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 5:11-13).

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• "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day" (John 6:37, 39).

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• "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

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• "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

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• "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).

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• "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:15,16).

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We have to believe what God says to us. If we do not, we will pay the price. Evangelist Dwight L. Moody said, "Now, I find a great many people who want some evidence that they have accepted the Son of God. My friends, if you want any evidence, take God's word for it. You cannot find better evidence than that. You know that when the Angel Gabriel came down and told Zachariah, he should have a son, but Zachariah wanted a further token than the angel's word. He asked Gabriel for it, and Gabriel answered,

'I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Lord.'

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Because Gabriel had never been doubted, he thundered out this to Zachariah. But Zachariah wanted a further token, and Gabriel said, 'You shall have a token: you shall be dumb till your son shall be given you.'" — CCEL

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Several years ago, our church had revival meetings with a famous evangelist. A Catholic Priest attended one of the meetings. He was an educated man and had even memorized all the New Testament, but he was lost spiritually. He admitted he was lost, but he did not have the courage to accept the Lord by faith as his personal Savior even though many leaders of our church encouraged him to do so. Sadly, he came and left a lost sinner, instead of a redeemed child of God. This happened because he did not believe what God said in the Bible even though he knew the scriptures and had them memorized.

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It is wonderful to read and know the scriptures. However, even the devil knows the scriptures, as well as many people from other religions, but they are not saved. Regarding the story about the Catholic priest, we understand that only knowing the scriptures cannot save us. We have to believe and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior as the scriptures teach us very clearly.

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"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

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Numerous times, I ask people who claim that they are Christians, "Are you born again? Do you have the assurance of your salvation? Do you have a personal relationship with God?" The people who are not true Christians answer with many different statements that do not have anything to do with the question I asked. They say something like, "I have been baptized,"

"My parents were Christians, and I am," "I once said the sinner's prayer and I feel I am a Christian," "I am going to a Christian church," or "I think I am a Christian, but I have some doubts."

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Sadly, all these people are not sincere followers of Jesus Christ, and we see them continue to live in sin, to love the world, and not obey God's commandments. These people deceive themselves and think that they are Christians, but they are not according to the Holy Scriptures. Pastor Steven J. Cole said, "If you do not know God personally, you are not saved." Many people know a lot of things about God but do not know God. It is much different knowing about God than to know God. It is much different, knowing Psalm 23 than to know the Shepherd.

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I hope you have the confidence to say as the blind man who was healed by Jesus "one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25). Joyful is the soul that can truly say, "One thing I know, is that I used to be blind (spiritually) and now I can see (spiritually)!" or "One thing I know, is that I used to be lost and now I am saved!" Apostle John used the word "know" 177 times in his writings because he dealt with the truth and reality. The gospel of John is the most assuring book in the Bible. Read it if you have doubts.

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Christians must live by Bible principles and not by their feelings. They do not have to feel that their sins have been forgiven, but they have to know by faith that they have been forgiven because God says so in His Word. There is no more powerful testimony than that which is drawn from your own experience. I hope all of us have that experience so we can say, "I have the assurance of my salvation," "I know that I have eternal life," and "I know God personally through Jesus Christ." Also, to say as Job said in Job 19:25, "I know that my redeemer liveth,..." and with the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

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by Ted Matamis, copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.

 

 

BLESSED ASSURANCE

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Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

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Refrain:

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

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— Hymn by Frances J. Crosby, 1873

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