Defining Assurance: Gospel Promise and Comfort

Schedule

1/21: Defining Assurance: Gospel Promise & Comfort

1/28: Lacking Assurance: Reasons why

2/4: Cultivating Assurance: Lessons from the Marrow Brethren

2/11: Cultivating Assurance: Certainty from the penal, substitutionary atonement of christ

2/18: Cultivating Assurance: The testimony of the Holy Spirit

2/25: Applying Assurance: Living with gospel certainty in our pursuit of holiness

Certainty

Mr. Rogers: Am I a sheep?

Joanne Rogers: If anyone is a sheep, you are.

When the Apostle Paul came near the same stage of his life, that is, when he came to the end of his life, he said this:

2 Timothy 4:6–8 ESV

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

There is a confidence that is unaffected by the impending reality of death.

He expresses no fear in acknowledging the fact that the Lord is the righteous judge. He knows He will stand before the throne of God, but He knows the verdict already.

Certainty is a precious treasure, perhaps because certainty is not something we can have in many aspects of our lives.

We don’t know what will happen later today or in any time in the future.

We don’t know the future of the economy.

We don’t know the stability of our health or of those we love.

Our cars may or may not start when we go to turn them on when we leave church today.

We don’t know who will win the 2024 presidential election

We don’t know, we cannot be certain.

The Justification for Assurance

Assurance is desired

Heb. 6:11.

Hebrews 6:11 ESV

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,

Col. 2:1-2.

Colossians 2:1–2 ESV

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,

Assurance is prayed for

Col. 4:12.

Colossians 4:12 ESV

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Assurance is possessed

Heb. 6:17-19.

Hebrews 6:17–19 ESV

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

Rom. 4:20-21.

Romans 4:20–21 (ESV)

No unbelief made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Assurance is encouraged

Heb. 10:22.

Hebrews 10:22 ESV

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

The Foundation of Assurance

1. The Promises of God

God’s people lack nothing

Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Because the Lord is his shepherd, David expresses his confidence that he lacks nothing to the extent that he will not be in want.

The shepherding ministry of God is described in verses 2 & 3: lying down in green pastures, beside still waters, soul restoration, leads the pursuit of righteousness.

And in the first 3 verses David refers to God in the third person (He). When we get to verse 4, David refers to God in the second person (You). When it comes to the difficulties of life, David recognizes his dependence on God, and his need for intimacy with God to walk through his trials in a way that honors God. And what this Psalm makes clear is that God is there in David’s life on that level. Comfort and protection in the darkest valley.

Jesus puts this idea of not lacking anything positively when he said

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

As you and I pursue righteousness, we will gain all that we need.

God uses our conflict to increase our assurance

Rom. 5:3-4.

Romans 5:3–4 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Often our trials are a source of uncertainty. We wonder how our unpleasant circumstances will be resolved. We wonder how soon they will be resolved and we wonder if they will be resolved.

The problem with these kinds of questions is that they distract us from God’s purposes and work in our suffering. And the more we ask these dead-end questions, the less certain we will be about anything.

And as we continue down this endless road of despair, the more vulnerable we become to doubting whether God is aware of our suffering or cares that we are suffering. All-the-while, God’s purpose is to use our suffering for our good.

If you and I can embrace this promise, that God uses our conflict to increase our assurance, we will come to possess a fortitude that is able to withstand the struggles of our lives with certainty and experience the blessings of our lives with a clear connection to the Giver of our blessings.

2. Faith in God

A definition

“Faith then is seeing things not plain . . . and brings what are not seen to the same full assurance with what are seen.” - John Chrysostom

Heb. 11:1-2.

Hebrews 11:1–2 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.

conviction of things not seen

with respect to the things that are not seen, faith is not sight. In other words, while one day the people of of God will see Jesus face to face (1 John 3:2), until then to have faith is to have certainty that the promises of God that are not yet visible (the return of Christ, Christ’s reign over the earth, the new heavens and new earth) are real and will be fulfilled.

assurance of things hoped for

literal translation is substance instead of assurance

Faith gives substance to the things for which we hope.

It is one of the evidences that the things we do not see—for example, Jesus sitting on the throne in heaven, the coming renewal of all creation—are real.

Believing that something is real despite our inability to see it is insufficient in and of itself to make it real. The Bible provides us historical testimony and other objective evidences unseen.

But to be sure, the author of Hebrews is making clear that present faith is one confirmation that the things for which we hope actually exist and will actually be accomplished according to God’s plan.

by it people of old received their commendation

faith, real faith was the key to the commendation of the OT saints.

The Word of God praises people for their obedience, but any good that can be found in their obedience is grounded in the fact that they trust the Lord and are moved and empowered by Him to service.

So this is the foundation of assurance. The promises of God: that God’s people lack nothing and that He uses the times in our lives that challenge our assurance the most (our suffering) to bolster our assurance. And the nature of true faith, that certainty in God’s promises does not require sight to exist. That we believe the Jesus is on His throne today, not because we can see Him there but because the Bible makes this claim… this promise… If we have faith, we believe, that is, we are certain these things are true. And like the OT saints, faith is our commendation. We live, and serve and worship by faith. What we do is grounded in an immovable (maybe challenged) trust that the promises of God are the ultimate reality.

These are the grounds for assurance. But what does assurance produce in those who possess it?

The Fruit of Assurance

Hope

If we possess assurance of our salvation, we will be hopeful people. Of course, we need to understand what we mean by hope.

Thomas Brooks, in his Heaven on Earth suggests that hope is a grace of God whereby we expect good to come, waiting patiently till it come.

I think Brooks is right in connecting the possession of hope to the grace of God. Hope is a gift from God, that is grounded in salvation.

Rom. 15:13.

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul’s benediction towards the end of his letter to the Romans

People are not born with hope. People are given hope by God.

Notice that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we abound in hope. So the God of hope grants His people joy and peace as they believe His promises, and the result of this is the Holy Spirit will empower His people to abound in hope. Abound in our expectation that good will come because God’s promises are true. This is one fruit that comes with assurance

Another is

Perseverance

Perseverance is stability, but we need to be clear on what distinguishes this stability from worldly stability.

Heb. 4:14.

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

The same author expresses a similar idea later in the epistle:

Heb. 10:23.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

To hold fast is a forcible holding on. It’s holding on with both hands. Holding fast the confession is recognizing the that the gospel is true, but beyond it is true, it is our life. When we are confronted with our own sin, our trials, the burdens of this world, we hold fast, as if our lives depend on it, to the gospel. And though our clinging to the truth is hard and even exhausting, it is a certain work.

We are not holding onto something that is immovable. It’s not going to give way. Back to Heb. 4, the reason given for being confident in holding fast to our confession is because of Jesus who secured this confession. Look at Heb. 4:15.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus knows the struggles we face. The struggles that challenge our assurance, yet the Author and Perfector of our faith never sinned. He is God, and we cling to Him. That is what we are doing when we hold fast to our confession, we hold fast to Christ, and this is the work of persevering.

Obedience

Obedience that springs from assurance is not merely conformed behavior. It is a response that results from the transforming work of God.

Rom 6:17.

Romans 6:17 ESV

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

Paul said this in response to the rhetorical question he posed in the previous verse: are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace?

Of course the answer is no but the reason we don’t look at grace as license to sin is due to the transformation that God accomplished in us. We want to obey because we love God. Assurance of our salvation clarifies this for us. We obey because we are happy in our salvation. We are happy in our salvation when we are assured of it.

Witness

I’m not a sales person. You know that because you know I’m here as a pastor. But beyond my occupation, I don’t consider myself to be a person who possess the skill set to sell people on something.

If you and I do not live with the assurance that God gives us when we are united to Christ, we will end up being a poor witness. But if we live with this assurance, it will be evident.

When we are assured of our salvation, we will possess a joy that transcends our experiences.

When we live with this assurance, we will be able to more effectively speak the truth into the sin and despair the plagues the unsaved world.

This is not to suggest that if we lack assurance we will be unusable by God to proclaim the gospel to others, but it is to suggest the the strength of our witness is increased as we lay hold of the assurance God desires His people to have.

The example of Queen Esther

Esther and her people are living in exile in Persia

She is chosen by King Xerxes to be the queen

Haman, on the the king’s royal officials seeks to have all the Jews killed

Mordecai (a Jew), finds out about the plot and sends word to Esther to urge her to petition the King to stop it.

Esther is afraid because no one is allowed to approach the king without a summons or they will be put to death.

Mordecai says in response

Esther 4:14 ESV

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

So Esther has her people fast and pray and she then approaches the king.

All worked out, but what I want us to see is that while Esther was scared and even uncertain what would actually happen, she was confident in God. How do we know, she turned to God for what she needed to do what she was called to do. She called on others to do the same. She had a confidence in God and His promises, and this resulted in a powerful witness to the faithfulness of God to His people.

Yearning

Heb. 9:27-28.

Hebrews 9:27–28 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

A question that someone may ask in response to considering these verse is, am I among the many.

We can know that our sins have been forgiven through Christ in our eagerly waiting for Him.

Those assured of their salvation long for Jesus to return. For all the joys and blessing that we may experience in this world, we know it is no comparison to the joy it will be to be with our Savior in this new and glorious way.

The Definition of Assurance

Assurance is God’s gift to those whom He has united to Christ and His righteousness that results in a certainty that His promises have been personally applied to them.