Basis of Assurance

Picture a traveler on a long, winding road who often stops to check their map. At times, frustration and uncertainty arise, making them doubt if they’re indeed on the right path. Similarly, many Christians question their salvation, feeling lost amidst life's uncertainties. But God’s Word is the map we can trust. When we align our hearts with His promises, our assurance grows stronger; we are on the right journey, led by Him.

We should all be concerned about our assurance of salvation, because if we lack assurance we lack joy, and if we lack joy our life is probably of a poor quality. The Sons of God, 16 David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

In John 15 has the parable of abiding in the vine. In it Jesus says that these things I have spoken to you that your joy be made full (or complete) [John 15:11]

The story of the Prodigal Son illustrates assurance beautifully. When the son returns, he doubts his father's acceptance due to his failures. Yet, the father runs to embrace him, symbolizing God's readiness to accept us regardless of our past. Our lack of assurance often mirrors the son's insecurity, but through this parable, we learn that our position as God's children is secure in His grace, not our merit.

Assurance - Romans (4 reasons)

READ– Romans 8:1–4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Question: What does the passage teach us about the difference in our walk after we put our faith in Christ?

A: It is not on your own walking (flesh). That will lead to condemnation. To walk in the Spirit means that we yield to His control, we follow His lead, and we allow Him to exert His influence over us. To walk in the Spirit is the opposite of resisting Him or grieving Him (Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” ). Galatians 5 examines the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. The context is freedom from the Law of Moses (Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”)

1) Assurance is based upon the certain knowledge of God

Exodus 6:5–6 ““Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Philippians 3:8–9 “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,”

2) Assurance is based upon the certainty of God’s word

John 17:8 “for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.” 1 John 5:9–10 “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.”

3) Assurance should be the normal experience of every believer

1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

4) Assurance comes through the work of the Holy Spirit

It is not up to us to give assurance to doubting souls. Remind them of the truths in Scripture. But it is the Holy that gives assurance

READ- Romans 8:12–16 “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”

READ - 2 Peter 1:3–10 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more …”

It is possible for Christians to lack assurance. (There is nothing really unusual about this)

In Matthew 14, Peter walks on water, but when he doubts, he begins to sink. Jesus reaches out immediately to save him, emphasizing that our assurance of salvation is active—He catches us when we falter. Just like the strong hand of Jesus, holding us in our weakest moments, we can be assured that our faith is secure—not through our own strength, but through Christ’s unwavering grip.

Causes (7 potential areas).

1) Lack of Spiritual maturity. Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” “It is possible so to stress them, and so to play down the rougher side of the Christian life – the daily chastening, the endless war with sin and Satan, the periodic walk in darkness – as to give the impression that normal Christian living is a perfect bed of roses, a state of affairs in which everything in the garden is lovely all the time, and problems no longer exist – or, if they come, they have only to be taken to the throne of grace, and they will melt away at once.” J. I. Packer, Knowing God “These inward trials”

2) Inability to accept forgiveness. Matthew 11:28–30 ““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

3) Failure to understand the truth of the gospel and the work of Christ. - This is why Brian has been so diligent to cover the gospel - God-Man-Christ-Response. We want the hearer to clearly understand.

4) Failure to understand the remaining power of their unredeemed sin. Romans 7:24–25 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

5) They don’t see the hand of God in their trials. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

6) Sensitivity to sin. Sensitivity is good and proper in the maturing of the believer but when it turns to be ungodly introspection it can lead to a lack of assurance. Scrupulosity - an ungodly introspection. “We all have something which is peculiarly difficult for us, and it is generally something that belongs to the realm of our temperament or natural make-up. So the person who is naturally given to introspection and morbidity and depression, will still have to bear that in mind in the Christian life. The danger for such a person will be to become depressed, and particularly in connection with this question of the feelings.” - David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Spiritual Depression).

7) Childhood conversion. Some have never had a time when they did not believe which sometimes can cause one to think that your conversion is less meaningful. This in itself is not a problem to be overcome.

Because of your sin, you hear the words of the hymn, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine,” but they are meaningless to you. You lack the assurance of salvation. For Christians who lack assurance, John writes this message of comfort and confidence: “If anybody does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 Jn 2:1). Jesus is their helper. He died for sinners and represents them as their defense lawyer before the judgment seat of God. And on the basis of his death he pleads for their acquittal. Jesus has met God’s demands, has defeated Satan and silences his accusations. When sinners come to him in prayer and ask for remission, Jesus offers them salvation full and free. The writer of Hebrews testifies, “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s [spiritual] descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:16–17).

Question: How do I know I am a Christian? When I accept Jesus’ testimony that he has died for me and has cleansed me from all my sins, then “I know whom I have believed” (2 Tim 1:12). And then in thankfulness I am ready and willing to obey his commands and do his will. (Romans 10:9–10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” ) Belief = trust, allegiance, loyalty.

Is is possible for non-Christians to have a false assurance of salvation.

Matthew 7:17–23 ““So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Question: Does the tree determine if their fruit is good? No. It is observed by others.

This is a shocking end of life reality, at the moment of judgment. All you have to do is believe, and it is true that once saved always saved but we can base our conversion on a faulty decision- ism. Because you prayed a pray or walked an aisle, does not mean that the momentary decision was believing. Here is where our testimony can bring clarity, in what you believed – I know that I am saved because He lived, and died and rose again for me. There was nothing I could do, or did do, or will do to merit this salvation. Never ground your assurance in the “me” phrases of your conversion.

Believing in Christ is not an assent to some facts about God or even Jesus, nor is it because you can point to your deeds, believing they are indicative of your salvation. Believing means trusting.

Four Truths that will help you experience assurance in your own life:

1. Assurance of salvation rests on God’s character — 2 Timothy 1:12 “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” cf. John 6:37 ““All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

2. Assurances of salvation rests on God’s promises — Acts 16:31 “They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”” John 3:16, etc.

3. Assurance of salvation rests on the completed work of Jesus Christ — Matthew 1:21 ““She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” From birth’s declaration to death’s completion - salvation rests on the completed work of Christ.

4. Enjoying the assurance of salvation, partly dependence on your attitudes and actions. Attitudes and actions will accompany your salvation. Syllogism – Premise A – Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Premise B – I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Premise C-Therefore, I am saved.

Objective vs Subjective Truth

The objective truth is established completely and solely by the Scripture. Premise A The subjective truth can only be derived from self-examination, self-reflection, reflection of the community of God. Premise B It can only be proven by our own attitudes and actions. So what kind of attitude and actions? 1) You continue to have faith in Jesus Christ (Phil 2:13,14). 2) You love Christ, and you love the church (1 John 2:9-11) 3) 1 John 2:15 – You know longer love the world cf. 1 John 3:1 Your beloved hope is that He will soon appear, and you will be made like him.

1. You continue to have faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:12–13) “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

Question: Does our subjective faith depended on our “working out” or “our striving” A: No, it is a fruit of our faith, trust, and love that realizes “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

2. You love Christ and love the Church - 1 John 2:9–11 “The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

3. You know longer love the world - 1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

4. Your beloved hope is that He will soon appear and you will be made like him. 1 John 3:1–2 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Justification vs. Sanctification

Justification – once and for all. Sanctification is on-going.

· Sanctification is present in every Christian. Every Christian loves Christ and hates sin. If you still love your sin, and you treated Christ like an add on then you are not “of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” If there is no change then there is no inheriting of the kingdom of God. Hebrews 12:12–14 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ... Strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Trust, in a Christian context, involves relying on God and Jesus Christ even when we cannot physically see them[1]. It means turning to God for help rather than depending solely on human wisdom or strength[2]. The Bible encourages believers to trust in God's promises and power, recognizing Him as the creator of heaven and earth and the keeper of His word[2]. However, trusting oneself can be problematic, as the human heart can be deceitful and prone to self-favoring assessments[3]. Scripture warns against this self-deception, emphasizing that God alone truly sees and weighs the intentions of our hearts[3]. Ultimately, trust in God involves looking beyond temporary, visible circumstances to focus on eternal, unseen realities[1], and finding contentment and peace in God's care, like a child with its mother[1].

Sanctification varies more or less from Christian to Christian. We do not know what another Christian is going through. We do not clearly know what another Christian’s spiritual maturity is. We are all in different places. When another believer is struggling we are to come alongside them, gently encouraging and exhorting them. Not with condemnation. Not in judging them for “not being as spiritual as you are.” Galatians 6:1–5 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.”

The key is how you struggle. It is to be a struggle. We are not to be apathetic about our sin. We are to see the beauty of Christ and the heinousness of our sin. If you are not battling with this but have chosen your sin over your Savior. Here the church is commanded to make a judgment – 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” Matthew 18:15–20 ““If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”” Titus 3:10–11 “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.” “I know I am in sin and I don’t care!”

Concluding thoughts on Justification and Sanctification

Justification is the point of origin of our Christian life. We live an obedient life because of what Christ did to justify us not to be justified. Sanctification flows out of this truth.

Questions 1: Is salvation forever? And the answer is? Yes and Amen!

Question 2: Can a Christian enjoy assurance? And the answer is? Yes! and Yes. And we enjoy that assurance as we understand the theology of the gospel, as we experience our affections toward righteousness and toward Christ and as we see the glorious hand of God in the trials of our life.