Assurance of Salvation

1) Establishing Personal Assurance

Question for Consideration: Biblically, can we have assurance? Does the Scripture say anywhere that we can know for sure that we will inherit eternal life?

TURN & READ: A. 1 John 5:10-13 ESV “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

a. CONTEXT: TESTIMONY = GOD’S TESTIMONY,, CHRIST = SON of GOD.

b. GOD’S PROMISE = to THOSE WHO BELIEVE.... (V11) TESTIMONY of GOD--- is THAT GOD GAVE US ETERNAL LIFE.

c. The clear conclusion is that WHOEVER HAS the SON HAS LIFE., therefore THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED SHOULD HAVE FULL ASSURANCE that they are amongst the redeemed and will possess eternal life.

JOHN TELLS us THAT HE’S WRITING THAT WE MAY KNOW....WE DON’T NEED to HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING OUR SALVATION!!

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B. A BELIEVER’S ASSURANCE SHOULD REST IN:

THE FINISHED WORK of CHRIST

THEIR ACCEPTANCE of CHRIST’S WORK

THE EVIDENCE/FRUIT THAT THEY’VE ACCEPTED IT.

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C. Our ASSURANCE MUST COME FIRST & FOREMOST THROUGH the SCRIPTURAL WITNESS

SECOND, FROM the TESTIMONY of OUR OWN LIFE...

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ALL BELIEVERS SHOULD BE ABLE to POINT to SCRIPTURE to EXPLAIN THEIR SALVATION.

(Q) WHY SHOULD GOD LET YOU INTO HEAVEN?

i. POINT to VERSES SUCH AS:

ROMANS 5:8; JOHN 3:16 ON GOD’S PROVISION FOR SALVATION

Romans 10:9-10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8-9; and Acts 16:31 ON RECEPTION of SALVATION...SHOW HOW WE’RE SAVED,, HAVE WE RESPONDED in KIND?

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b. SECONDLY, WE SHOULD BE ABLE to SEE FRUIT in OUR OWN LIVES...

GROWTH in GODLINESS

CHANGE of AFFECTIONS

GOOD WORKS

C.S. LEWIS: SOMEONE SHOULD BECOME BETTER in COMPARISON to WHERE THEY STARTED,, CONSIDERING NATURAL DISPOSITIONS.

ii. OUR ASSURANCE SHOULDN’T COME FROM SOME WARM FUZZY FEELING,, OR A PRAYER in SUNDAY SCHOOL...

ASSURANCE RESTS in THE TESTIMONY of SCRIPTURE REGARDING CHRIST…

OUR RECEIPT of THE FREE GIFT PROVIDED BY CHRIST,,

AND the PROOF of NEW LIFE in CHRIST,, THAT WE’RE FRUITFUL CHRISTIANS...

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2) The Expectation of Fruit: The Proof of New Life in Christ

TURN & READ:A. 1 John 3:1-10 ESV “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

TURN & READ:B. 1 John 5:18 ESV “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

i. WHO HAS BEEN BORN of GOD = GK. PERFECT TENSE: PAST ACTION W/ CONTINUING RESULTS,, NEW STATE of BEING...

A BELIEVER’S PAST SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAY CHANGES EVERYTHING in THE PRESENT!!

>>> FOR CHRISTIANS,, THE PAST ALWAYS AFFECTS the PRESENT… <<<

&& HERE JOHN SAYS THAT BELIEVERS SHOULDN’T CONTINUE in SIN— “PRESENT TENSE”

b. ***PARADOX: JOHN DOES POINT OUT in 1 JOHN 1,, THAT NONE of US ARE WITHOUT SIN…YET WE AREN’T to CONTINUE in SIN!

WE WON’T BE PERFECT…BUT WE ALSO WON’T LIVE in THE MIRE...

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C. LIKEWISE, GOOD WORKS ARE EXPECTED of GENUINE BELIEVERS

>>> GOOD WORKS ARE NOT THE ROOT of SALVATION,, BUT MERELY the FRUIT <<<

TURN & READ:a. James 2:14-17 ESV “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (emphasis added).

i. IF THE FAITH WE’VE PROFESSED HAS MADE NO DIFFERENCE,, WE HAVEN’T GENUINELY BELIEVED!!

TURN & READ:b. Titus 3:3-8 ESV “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

i. HELPFUL PASSAGE:

NOT SAVED BY GOOD WORKS… ONLY BY GRACE & MERCY of GOD.

BUT THOSE WHO ARE SAVED,, SHOULD BE DEVOTED to GOOD WORKS...

>>> THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SAVED (PAST TENSE) SHOULD BE DEVOTED to GOOD WORKS (PRESENT TENSE)…SAME CONCEPT FROM JOHN’S LETTER <<<

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3) The Security of One’s Salvation

A. SALVATION = SUPERNATURAL WORK BY a SUPERNATURAL GOD....

>>> WE DON’T SAVE OURSELVES… LIKEWISE WE DON’T KEEP OURSELVES <<<

BY GRACE WE ARE SAVED,, && BY GRACE WE ARE KEPT

TURN & READ:B. Phil. 1:6 ESV “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

TURN & READ:C. 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

TURN & READ:D. John 10:27-30 ESV “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

TURN & READ:E. John 6:35-40 ESV “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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F. SOME WILL SAY,, IF SOMEONE is SECURE & WON’T “LOSE THEIR SALVATION”....THEN WHY WOULD THEY AVOID SIN?

(Q) ANY THOUGHTS?

i. ***SIMPLY SPEAKING THOSE WHO ARE BORN-AGAIN DON’T THINK LIKE THIS.

TURN & READ:ii. 2 Cor. 5:17 ESV “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

iii. The new covenant promises a new heart.

TURN & READ:1. Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

iv. i. BEING BORN AGAIN = SUPERNATURAL WORK… CAUSES US to HAVE NEW DESIRES of PLEASING GOD && A NEW CAPACITY FOR GODLINESS/UPRIGHT LIVING!

TURN & READ:1. Phil. 2:12-13 ESV “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

TURN & READ:1. 2 Peter 1:3-11 ESV “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

2. WE MUST NEVER FORGET ABOUT the SUPERNATURAL SIDE of SALVATION.

>>> DON’T FOCUS SO MUCH on “CONVERSION” THAT YOU FORGET “REGENERATION” <<<

REMEMBER:

CONVERSION = HUMAN PERSPECTIVE

REGENERATION = GOD’S PERSPECTIVE

DON’T LET: “I HAVE DECIDED” to COMPLETELY REPLACE BEING TRANSFERRED FROM DOMAIN of DARKNESS INTO KINGDOM of GOD’S BELOVED SON!

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a. WE HAVE to ASK: “IF GOD HAS DONE SUCH an AWESOME/PROFOUND WORK in SOMEONE....COULD THEY REALLY TURN & LIVE in PERPETUAL REBELLION??”

i. AGAIN,, THIS DOESN’T GUARANTEE WE NEVER SIN…BUT IT DOES SHOW THAT WE DON’T LIVE in CONSISTENT, LONG-TERM DISOBEDIENCE to GOD.

ii. **IF SALVATION WAS ONLY NATURAL & SOMEONE CHOOSING to BE RELIGIOUS && FOLLOW a SET of PRINCIPLES…SURELY THEY COULD “LEAVE” or “LOSE” IT...

BUT SCRIPTURE NEVER PRESENTS SALVATION LIKE THIS.

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G. (Q) WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE SEEMINGLY “LOST THEIR SALVATION?”

i. THERE’S CLEAR SCRIPTURE THAT SHOWS THAT THOSE WHO TURN AWAY PERMANENTLY WERE NEVER SAVED.

THEY DIDN’T GET UNBORN-AGAIN

THEY DIDN’T LOSE THEIR SALVATION

THEY WEREN’T EVER GENUINE BELIEVERS.

TURN & READ:ii. Matthew 7:21-23 ESV “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

TURN & READ:iii. 2 Peter 2:20-22 ESV “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 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. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: ‘The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.’”

1. (Q) CAN I ASK YOU WHY PIGS RETURN to THE MIRE? (THEY’RE PIGS)

(Q) WHY DO DOGS RETURN to THEIR VOMIT? (THEY’RE DOGS)

1ST CENTURY THESE ANIMALS WERE BOTH LOOKED DOWN UPON.

IT’S THEIR NATURE. IT’S WHO THEY ARE.

THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH the “WAY of RIGHTEOUSNESS”… BUT THEY WERE NEVER BORN-AGAIN…THEY WERE NEVER SAVED.

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ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

iv. PARABLE of THE SOWER & PARABLE of THE WEEDS

TURN & READ:1. Matthew 13:3-9 ESV “And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.’”

a. THOSE WHO ARE SAVED & BORN AGAIN = GOOD SOIL...

**SEEDS on ROCKS,, THORNS,, INITIALLY GREW, BUT DIDN’T LAST

THERE WAS INITIAL OUTWARD EVIDENCE...

BUT THEY WERE NEVER GOOD SOIL.

TURN & READ:2. Matthew 13:24-30 ESV “He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

a. ***NOTE WEEDS & WHEAT LOOKED SIMILAR...

BUT ONE is WHEAT

THE OTHER is a WEED...

WEEDS DON’T BECOME WHEAT.... AND WHEAT DOESN’T BECOME WEEDS...

>>> THEY’RE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT in NATURE. <<<

i. PASSAGE SHOWS US THERE ARE SOME THAT LOOK REAL THAT AREN’T.

GOING THROUGH MOTIONS of CHURCH ETC. W/ FALSE ASSURANCE of SALVATION

ASSUMING THEY’RE GETTING to HEAVEN BECAUSE THEY’RE “GOOD PEOPLE” THEY “WENT to CHURCH” ETC.

TURN & READ:v. 1 John 2:19 ESV “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.”

1. CONTEXT: JOHN WRITING ABOUT FALSE TEACHERS CALLED “ANTICHRISTS”,, BUT PRINCIPLE STANDS...

>>> THEY LEFT BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T EVER PART of THE CHURCH. <<<

H. THE BIBLICAL DATA is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT SALVATION = GOD’S WORK… AND THUS SALVATION = SECURE.

.IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO “LOST THEIR SALVATION” THEY JUST WEREN’T SAVED.

*****WE MUST BE INCREDIBLY CAREFUL to INTERPRET OUR EXPERIENCES in LIGHT of THE SCRIPTURE…NOT to INTERPRET THE SCRIPTURE in LIGHT of OUR EXPERIENCES...

I. IF YOU COULD LOSE YOUR SALVATION, YOU WOULD. YOU COULD NEVER HAVE ASSURANCE.

GOD SAVES. GOD KEEPS.

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4) The Need for Perseverance

A. “PERSEVERANCE is the MARK of GENUINENESS” (TOM SCHREINER)??

**PERSEVERANCE in FAITH = FINAL PROVING GROUND/ NECESSARY FRUIT.

B. W/ PERSONAL ASSURANCE & CONVICTION of ETERNAL SECURITY,, WE STILL HAVE to DO JUSTICE to N.T. CALL FOR CHRISTIANS to PERSEVERE...

TURN & READ:i. Colossians 1:21-23 ESV “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

ii. THROUGHOUT REVELATION THERE’S a THEME THAT PERSEVERANCE is NECESSARY...

1. There are MANY PROMISES to THOSE WHO CONQUER (OVERCOME/PERSEVERE) (Rev. 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; 21:7).

2. There is also a SPECIFIC CALL FOR the ENDURANCE & the FAITH of THE SAINTS under the activity of the beast (Rev. 13:10).

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TO the CHURCH in SARDIS: “WAKE UP”

Revelation 3:5 (ESV)

5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

EMPHATIC DOUBLE-NEGATIVE in GREEK… HE WILL NEVER, NO NEVER BLOT US OUT.

NEGATIVE INFERENCE FALLACY??…HOW COULD YOU LOOK AT “HE’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU” AND THEN SAY,, WELL THAT MEANS HE COULD,, WHICH MEANS HE MIGHT...

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iii. JESUS HIMSELF TAUGHT THAT the ONE WHO ENDURES to THE END WILL BE SAVED..(Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13).

C. ***According to the biblical data IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT PERSEVERANCE = REQUIRED FOR THOSE WHO WILL INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE…SO WE CAN CONCLUDE THAT THOSE WHO ARE BORN-AGAIN WILL PERSEVERE…AS SUCH THEY ARE SECURE.

i. OUR HOPE & SECURITY DOESN’T REST in OUR OWN ABILITY OR SELF-CONFIDENCE…BUT in THE GRACE & POWER of GOD to PRESERVE US...

ii.REMEMBER GOD KEEPS OUR HEAVENLY INHERITANCE && HE GUARDS US THROUGH FAITH...(1 Pet. 1:4-5).

THESE ARE ACTIONS THAT GOD DOES…NOT US. HE DOES the KEEPING.

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5) Takeaways

1. BELIEVERS CAN & SHOULD HAVE ASSURANCE of THEIR SALVATION...

ASSURANCE = BIBLICAL CONCEPT (1 JOHN 5:13)

2. A BELIEVER’S ASSURANCE SHOULD FIRST REST on FINISHED WORK of CHRIST

THEN THEIR ACCEPTANCE of THAT GIFT

LAST: THE PROOF of THEIR NEW LIFE in CHRIST.

3. THE PAST ACTION of a BELIEVER’S SPIRITUAL NEW-BIRTH HAS SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR the PRESENT.

BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN,, YOU DON’T CONTINUE in SIN (PRESENTLY)

4. A BELIEVER’S SALVATION = a WORK of GOD… THUS SECURITY RESTS in GOD,, NOT ONE’S OWN ABILITY.

HE KEEPS THOSE WHO ARE HIS.

5. BELIEVERS MUST PERSEVERE in FAITH,,

BUT THIS SHOULDN’T CAUSE US to WORRY…

BECAUSE TRUE BELIEVERS WILL PERSEVERE in FAITH.