How Does God Give Assurance?

Introduction: Can I Know?

Suppose a man receives a legally executed will stating that he is to inherit an estate. The inheritance is a gift; he did not earn it. Yet the will may contain conditions he must meet. Does the existence of conditions mean he can never know whether the inheritance is his? Of course not. He reads the document, examines the terms, agrees to them, and trusts the legally binding document. In the same way, God has not left Christians wondering about their eternal inheritance. John said, “These things have I written unto you…that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

Life is brief; judgment is certain — Psalm 90:10 “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”; Hebrews 9:27

Which sentence will I hear? — Matthew 7:21–23 “I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity” Matt 25:34 “...Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”

God does not expect faithful Christians to live in daily dread.

I. What Is Assurance?

Warranted confidence — not perfect knowledge of every future choice.

Trusting God’s promise while honestly examining whether I presently meet His conditions.

Can I know:

I am right with God?

My sins are forgiven?

I may confidently anticipate heaven?

“These Things I Have Written”

1 John 5:13

Assurance is grounded in revelation—not an unexplained inward feeling.

John provides objective tests by which Christians may know. (we will get to those later)

Humility submits to God’s testimony; it is not presumptuous to believe His promise.

II. Errors About Assurance

A. “No Christian Can Ever Know”

Confuses humility with hopelessness.

“I hope God accepts me”; “No one knows until judgment.”

But John says: “that ye may know” — 1 John 5:13.

God wants salvation, not condemnation — 1 Timothy 2:3–4; 2 Peter 3:9.

God is not searching for an excuse to reject the sincere Christian.

Key thought: We depend entirely upon God’s mercy and faithfulness, but that dependence gives hope—not uncertainty.

B. “Once Saved, Always Saved”

Calvinistic Perseverance

1689 London Baptist Confession, 17.1:

“Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of His elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”

Hiscox, Standard Manual for Baptist Churches, Article XI:

The truly regenerate “will not utterly fall away and perish, but will endure unto the end.”

The question is not whether God is powerful enough to preserve.

The question is whether His promises are unconditional.

Conditional preservation:

“If ye continue in the faith” — Colossians 1:22–23

“If we hold fast” — Hebrews 3:6 “Take heed, brethren…departing from the living God” — Hebrews 3:12–14

“Kept by the power of God through faith” — 1 Peter 1:5

John 10:27–28

Sheep hear and follow Christ.

Present action: continuing character of Christ’s sheep.

No outside power can seize faithful followers.

The text does not say one cannot voluntarily forsake Christ.

John 10 teaches that no “sheep stealer” is stronger than God, not that a sheep cannot leave the flock.

“They Were Never Saved”

If one leaves permanently, Calvinism concludes his faith was only temporary.

Present belief, devotion, and fruit may all supposedly be counterfeit.

That is a terrifying doctrine that promises assurance but really gives uncertainty.

Problem: “How do I know my present faith is not temporary?”

Biblical assurance is not based upon discovering a secret decree.

III. Biblical Assurance Is Conditional but Real

Conditional does not mean earned, meritorious, or unreliable.

God states the covenant terms and unfailingly keeps the promise attached to them.

Initial Salvation Is Conditional

Willingness to come — John 5:34 “But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved”, 40 “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

Acts 2:38

People possess a genuine choice.

Continuing Salvation Is Conditional

Possibility of future abandonment does not erase present covenant standing.

Marriage illustration:

“Because I could theoretically abandon my wife someday, I have no idea whether I am married now.”

Future unfaithfulness is possible.

Present covenant membership is still objective and knowable.

A Christian may know:

I obeyed the gospel.

I trust Christ.

I am walking in the light.

I confess and forsake sin.

I am presently in fellowship with God.

I intend to remain faithful.

IV. First John Explains How We Know

1 John 5:13

John’s tests may be grouped as:

Doctrinal — right faith in Jesus Christ.

Moral — righteous living.

Social — love for the brethren.

Evidence:

Walking in the light — 1:7

Confessing sin — 1:9

Keeping His commandments — 2:3–5

Abiding in Christ — 2:28

Loving the brethren — 3:14

Believing Jesus is the Christ — 5:1

Continuing to believe — 5:13

These tests:

Give confidence to the Christian whose conscience has been educated by Scripture.

A. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:6–7

“If” introduces a condition.

Walk — present active subjunctive: keep walking.

Cleanses — present active indicative: continuing cleansing.

Walking in darkness makes our claim false.

Walking in light brings fellowship and cleansing.

Walking in the light cannot mean sinless perfection; otherwise, there would be no sin from which Christ’s blood must cleanse us.

B. Walking Does Not Mean Never Failing

1 John 1:8

Claiming sinlessness is self-deception.

Walking in light means sin is not the defended direction of life.

We do not hide, excuse, or protect sin.

We acknowledge it and return.

Distinction: A confessed and forsaken failure is not the same as a settled practice of rebellion.

C. Confession and God’s Faithfulness

1 John 1:9

Confession means agreeing with God concerning sin.

Assurance rests upon His character:

“He is faithful.”

“He is just.”

He forgives and cleanses.

Christians are not required to possess flawless memory of every imperfect moment.

The passage describes an honest, penitent posture—not compulsive cataloguing.

The Christian law of pardon: repentance, confession, and prayer — Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9.

God knows our weakness — Psalm 103:13–14 “Like as a father pitieth his children, So the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust”

D. Christ Our Advocate

1 John 2:1–2

Paraklētos: one called alongside to help or plead a case.

“That ye sin not” — never treat sin casually.

“If any man sin” — failure need not produce despair.

Our Advocate is:

Jesus Christ.

The righteous One.

The propitiation for sin.

His advocacy comforts the penitent Christian who continues walking in light.

Key thought: My confidence is not in my flawless record but in my faithful Advocate.

V. Assurance Through God’s Character and Promises

A. The God of Hope

Romans 15:13

Joy and peace in believing.

Abounding in hope—not constant spiritual terror.

God encourages His children through the promises of His Word. fileciteturn1file8

B. No External Power Can Separate Us

Romans 8:35–39

Tribulation, persecution, death, rulers, and created powers cannot overpower God.

Nothing outside the faithful Christian can tear him from Christ.

But: Romans 8:13 “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.”

Same chapter.

Powerful assurance and explicit condition.

C. Christ Saves Completely

Hebrews 7:25

Able to save “to the uttermost.”

Identifies the people: those who come or draw near to God through Him.

His continuing intercession gives full confidence.

D. The Father Receives the Returning Child

Luke 15:11–24

Same son:

Dead—alive again.

Lost—found.

The far country was genuinely dangerous.

The son recognized his sin, arose, and returned.

The father did not reluctantly tolerate him—he ran to receive him.

Assurance rests upon the character of the Father to whom we return.

Conclusion: Humble Confidence

Hebrews 10:22–23 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised”

Draw near in full assurance.

Hold fast without wavering.

“He is faithful that promised.”

Assurance and perseverance are partners:

I came to Christ on His terms.

I trust Him.

I walk in the light.

When I sin, I confess and return.

His blood continually cleanses.

Christ advocates for me.

No outside power can remove me from His hand.

My Father wants me home.

Revelation 2:10: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”