Lies that Kill Assurance

In the few sermons through this topic of assurance I’ve already spoken with several of you who deal with doubt. Not doubting the existence of God, not doubting his love, not doubting the deity of Christ or his finished work on the cross, not doubting that he is a savior, that he is willing to save. But rather you’re doubting your share in his grace.

Jerry Bridges, author of so many modern classics like Trusting God, The Pursuit of Holiness, The Discipline of Grace, has written so helpful books on so many practical issues of the Christian life that in some circles when one Christian invites another Christian into a discipling relationship, the question isn’t what are we going to do, it’s which Jerry Bridges book are we going to read? Which is actually great, because his books are fantastic.

And I think the reasons his books are fantastic is because he struggled with many of the same things that are common to Christians. In particular, he too struggled with assurance. He tells the story of how he had been feeling convicted about the depths of sinfulness in his own heart. He was leading a Monday night Bible study at a military base about an hour away. He writes, “Every Monday night as I left the fellowship of that Bible study, Satan would begin to attack me: ‘How can anyone who is have the struggles you are having be a Christian?’ he would ask. I began to fight him by resorting to an old gospel hymn, which begins ‘Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to Thee; O Lamb of God, I come.’

I would sing through that hymn, and by the time I finished I would be praising God for his salvation given freely to me through Jesus Christ. You too, if you diligently pursue holiness, must often flee to the Rock of your salvation.”

I hope you’re seeing what I’m trying to do by continually telling you stories about people who have battled doubts. I’m telling you their stories, because I’m pretty confident, there are many of you who think you’re alone, and Satan wants you to think that your doubts are abnormal, weird, and something to hide in shame. I want us to see that we are a church that talks openly about our frailty, our struggles, and our great and glorious Savior. We are in this together.

At the heart of our lack of assurance we are believing lies. Whether these lies are systematic and doctrinal, like an Arminian theology that teaches one can lose salvation, or whether they’re unarticulate propensities and reflexes within the heart, these lies are like acid that erodes our sense of security.

Which are the most effective lies? The ones clothed in truth. Poison is most effective when mixed in with delicious food. A hook is most effective when it’s covered in bait. Lies are most effective when they sound like biblical truth. Each one of these lies can sound very true, you pull Bible verses out of context and make a case for them.

Our hearts may have reached out and taken some of these in. And my hope is that this sermon is a flashlight for your heart to see if you’ve grabbed hold of any of these lies.

Lie # 1: Jesus loves us, but the Father is against us.

One of the earliest heretics recognized by the Christian church was a man called “Marcion.” His heresy was that he didn’t like the God of the Old Testament, so he eliminated him. He was suspicious the Father but really liked Jesus, so he kept all the stuff that focused on him.

People in church today aren’t like Marcion in the sense that disavow the Old Testament, but they do sometimes get this belief that the Father is against us. You may have even heard (or have said) statements that seem to imply this. Think of some of these common statements:

“When God would have destroyed you for your sin, Jesus stepped in and cried, ‘No!’”

“Jesus stood between you and the Father’s wrath to save you.”

Now, these statements are so close to truth, but they miss something. They make it seem like God the Father is against us, and God the Son is for us. They make it seem like your salvation is not a result of the Father and Son working together, but the Father and Son in opposition to one another. The Father’s intent is to damn but Jesus’ intent is to save.

God’s wrath is against sinners? Yes. Is it true that Jesus entered his creation to take upon himself the wrath of God so it would not fall on his children? Yes.

But let’s reflect on how the Bible actually teaches us that this happens. Look at Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Who put Christ forward? God the Father.

Why? Look at Romans 5:8 “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Listen, don’t miss the logic here. It doesn’t say that Christ died for us while we were sinners, and then God loved us. It’s the opposite: God loved us, and that’s why Christ died for us.

Who saw us in our suffering and was moved with compassion? Who loved us so deeply he would buy us for himself with the blood of his own Son? It’s the Father.

Sinclair Ferguson in his fantastic book The Whole Christ, writes, “The subtle danger here should be obvious: if we speak of the cross of Christ as the cause of the love of the Father, we imply that behind the cross and apart from it he may not actually love us at all…”

He went on a few pages later, and this paragraph stopped in me my tracks: “If this is the atmosphere in which we [understand the gospel], a suspicion of the Father may linger long and prove to be a serious hindrance in the course of the Christian life. While often dormant in our souls, from time to time the thought will erupt that perhaps the Father himself, in himself, does not love us as the Son does. Such a disposition leads to a spirit of suspicion, and even of bondage, not one of freedom and joy.”

Are you suspicious of the Father’s love for you? Do you, at times, think that the Father does not love you like Jesus does?

It is completely true that our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s death. But it is not true that the only reason God loves us is because of Christ’s death. God loves us so immensely that he sent his Son to die in our place, for our sins. The gospel crushes this lie because it reveals that the true nature of God is love, and that his love for sinners moved him to send his son.

Now, in addition to this suspicion, this lie causes us to believe that God is naturally stingy, not generous. He’s a tight-fisted withholder, not a open-handed giver.

You might remember in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the good one, not the new one), at the very end Charlie’s grandfather approaches Willy Wonka and asks when Charlie will get what he won-- a lifetime supply of Chocolate. Do you remember how it ends? Wonka replies: “He doesn’t get it. He broke the rules.” What rules?

Wonka: “Under section 37B of the contract signed by him, it states quite clearly that all offers shall become null and void if-- and you can read it all for yourself in this photostatic copy: I, the undersigned, shall forfeit all rights, privileges, and licenses herin and herein contained etc”

And he goes on to point to some unknown technicality that keeps from him getting his prize. And we think God is this way, like he doesn’t really want to give salvation, and so he’s got an Eagle-Eye on your faith looking for a good reason to swindle you out of heaven.

What is God really like to you? Is he a Savior? The Bible says he is, and that he loves to save sinners -- do you believe it?

Lie # 2: I must repent before I can come to Jesus

Doesn’t it sound so biblical? You must repent!

Now is repentance the only appropriate response to the gospel? Yes. This lie isn’t about whether God calls for repentance. Of course he does. All throughout Scripture, humanity is called to turn from sin to place their trust in him. Jesus’ first sermon in Matthew was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” A gospel without repentance is a false gospel.

Let me repeat the lie: “I must repent before I can come to Jesus.” Where’s the lie? Did you catch it? The lie is not that repentance is required, the lie happens when we make repentance a pre-condition for coming to Jesus. I cannot come to Jesus unless I have repented.

Some people get caught thinking that because Jesus calls for repentance, that they must clean themselves up first (their idea of repentance) before they can come to Jesus. They need to adequately repent, and then they’ll be welcome. They need to feel bad enough. They need to feel sorrowful enough. They need to punish themselves long enough, mope for enough time.

It’s as if we come to Jesus and he stops us and says, “Hang on, not sure you felt bad enough. Nope, you’re not sorry enough. Sit in the corner and think about what you did.”

When I was in high school I went on a trip to the Philippines around Easter and the community we were visiting was entrenched in a form of Roman Catholicism. One of their religious rituals was to take a whip themselves, take a step, whip themselves, take a step, all the way down this long road. And I think some Christians -- especially after they sin -- feel they need to whip themselves for a while before Jesus will welcome them back.

Do you see the subtlety here? Does Christ call for repentance? Yes. Must you repent before you can come to Christ? No. Instead, the call is to come to Christ, and that is repentance.

To say repentance is something other than coming to Jesus Christ, something we do before we come to Jesus, is to believe in some form of self-salvation.

Here’s how you know you’re doing this: you constantly worry if you’ve repented enough for a sin you struggle with.

I sinned -- and I think I repented, but I didn’t feel as bad as I should. I didn’t feel as happy about God’s forgiveness as I should have. I sinned like again later the same week. Is my repentance enough?

We start analyzing our repentance because we’ve, in a very subtle way, begin to think that my salvation and my assurance rest on the quality of my repentance.

That’s when our focus shifts: suddenly we’re asking “Is my repentance good enough?” when we should be asking “Is my Savior good enough?” You will never think your repentance is good enough, but if you know your Bible you’ll know your Savior is good enough.

You don’t need to repent and then come to Jesus. You have a savior who came for you, who calls you to him, who invites you, welcomes you, calls you. Bring your filth to him, bring your sin to him, bring your burdens to him. There’s literally nothing you need to “do” to get Jesus except take him by faith. This kind of faith that receives Christ is repentance.

Lie # 3: I must have enough faith to be saved

Now, before we dissect this lie, we need to examine carefully what the Bible says about faith. I think this is going to be important for many of you to hear, because you for you it’s not a question of whether your doctrine is right, your question is whether you have saving faith.

Faith, or belief, or trust, or hope -- obviously is a main theme in the Bible. We can’t go over everything contained here but let’s just ask ourselves what is the relation of faith to salvation.

Consider Jesus’ own teachings:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

3:18 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”

6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.”

6:47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

Listen to Paul

Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

10:13 “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Listen to other passages

Acts 10:43 “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”

Acts 13:39 “By him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses”

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Rom. 10:11 “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

1 John 5:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

Listen: these are promises from God. Let that sink in. You’ve broken a promise, I’ve broken a promise, God has never broken a promise. What he says will happen, and here is an absolute certainty you can bank your eternity on: “If you believe in Jesus, look to Jesus, trust in Jesus, confess him as Lord and believe he’s alive, calling upon him, you will be saved.”

God has made promises. That’s why it’s important that we spent a few weeks looking at the objective realities of salvation. We’ve looked at how the Father initiates salvation with his eternal choice, the son accomplishes salvation with his perfect redemption, and the Spirit seals it with his permanent indwelling.

Last week we looked at how we are justified by faith alone, apart from works, and that results in peace with God, standing in the grace of God, rejoicing in hope, experiencing his love-- we enjoy complete reconciliation.

That’s what salvation is. And now, we’re seeing that this great salvation is ours for the taking by simple faith in what God has said. We simply believe what he has said is true, and the Bible says we are saved. Why do people who believe all this still doubt?

Well, it’s usually because they think that it’s not merely the reality of faith that matters, but the quality and quantity of faith. They’re worried about how big their faith is, how strong their faith is, how deep their faith is. Yes- the Bible calls us to have great faith, but it never says great faith is required for salvation. It simply says faith.

Look at some examples of this. Luke 8:43-48.

How strong was her faith? She tried to sneak some healing from Jesus when he was in a crowd. And Jesus response, “Your faith has made you well.”

Or think of the thief on the cross. His entire life is one of rebellion and sin, he had no good works to show for himself, and his faith on that cross was the desperate cry of a dying man. And what’s Jesus say? “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Let’s stop thinking of God (back to our first lie) like he’s sitting there in heaven going, “Nope, I only want people with strong faith.” When you say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous, but that’s what many doubters think. My faith is weak, I might not be a Christian.

God promises to save everyone who trusts in Jesus. There is no fine print. Listen, it would be un-Jesus like to refuse people of weak faith. You struggling, weak, trembling soul, you have the faith like a terrified, trembling woman, or you have the faith of a dying, desperate thief, you come to Jesus and he will not refuse you.

If you’re struggling, stop staring at the quality of your faith and start staring at the quality of your Savior. Don’t wonder if your sword is sharp, marvel at the hero who wields it to defend your soul. You can’t grow faith by staring at faith, you grow your faith by staring at Christ.

So it’s not about the quality of your faith, that’s a lie. It’s not about having enough faith, in light of the infinite worth of Christ, we will never feel we have enough faith. It’s about have faith -- even mustard seed faith -- in Jesus Christ. The smallest faith is saving faith.

Lie # 4: If I struggle with sin, I cannot be saved

Some conversations about assurance go like this: “Hey, I’m struggling with assurance.” Me: “Why?” Person: “I’m still struggling against sin, and seem to fall back into certain sins again and again.”

Now this poses a question for us. What should Christians expect in their lifelong sojourn here on earth. Should they expect an increase in the inward spiritual battle, or a decrease as they get older?

Many passages make it clear that Christians will never fully overcome this in this life. Some Christian groups teach perfectionism, and even groups that don’t formally teach it think that way. But they are surprised that they’re so far along in their Christian life and still struggling against sin! I thought I should be over this whole sin thing by now!

1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Galatians 5:17 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh., for these are opposed to one another, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” This is true of brand new Christians and experienced, mature Christians. Spirit and flesh are at war.

The idea is that Christians should expect war. All their lives.

I remember as a student in college an old, old man got up to speak. He wasn’t particularly dynamic, he wasn’t funny or charismatic. But something about his age-- the years put a kind of weightiness and solemnity to his words. And the first words he spoke to us was this: “If I were to choose one word to describe the Christian life, I would choose battle.”

He went on to describe how a Christian battles sin. And I remember sitting there thinking, “Look how old he is, he’s still battling sin?” I don’t remember the man’s name, I don’t remember the rest of his talk. But I remember him saying that the Christian life is a battle.

In fact, I believe the need for assurance ever goes away. The more you grow in your understanding of God, the more you’ll see the depths of your sin, the more you’ll have to come back the grounds of your assurance: Jesus Christ.

Listen, if you struggle with sin, that does not mean you’re not saved. In fact, it is a brilliant, infernal strategy of Satan to convince you Christians that your struggles is unique and that your struggles mean you’re cut off from Christ. He wants to clothe you in shame. He wants you to hide your sin. He wants you to isolate yourself. He wants you to despair.

You resolve to stop sinning. You do it again. Satan whispers, “You’re not really a Christian, give up.” You feel discouraged. You compare yourself with other Christians who seem to be doing well. You feel lost, confused, and drifting.

Real quick here: I want to say something as your pastor: one of your membership responsibilities is to help people cling to Christ. The dark ally of isolation is where assurance goes to die. Assurance is cultivated in community.

You’re struggle with sin doesn’t mean you’re not saved. God could have, on the moment you trusted him, taken away all your struggles with sin. He has not. We are all like Jacob, who after wrestling with God must walk with a limp for the rest of our lives. We are all sinners, we are all broken, and we are all banking on Jesus Christ.

Jerry Bridges writes, “To experience practical, everyday holiness, we must first accept the fact that God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit to allow this daily battle with indwelling sin.” That is not an excuse for sin. It is a reminder that your struggle is normal, and part of God’s plan for the church.

When you begin to think that your struggle with sin is a sure indication that you’re not saved, stop. It is likely the voice of the enemy. Return to Jesus, remember your unchangeable justification, his outpouring love, his promise of glory. And then, by grace, in God’s strength, make war against your sin. Do not surrender to your sin. Prepare for battle again.

On a practical note, those of you who are struggling with sin and have hidden doubts about your salvation, you’re not likely to climb out of that pit by yourself. God gave you a church for a reason. You need to open your life up, let people in. You need more than acquaintances. You need someone you can bare your soul to.

So, let me ask you. Have these toxic lies infiltrated your mind and heart?

Do you believe the father really, really loves you? Or, somewhere deep down, are you suspicious, wondering if the only reason he ever loved you is because of what Jesus did?

Are you trying to repent before coming to Jesus? It’s as hopeless as trying to do heart surgery on yourself. You never have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. Simply come to Jesus, and he’ll do the cleaning.

Are you worried the faith you have isn’t strong enough? Deep enough? Even though you believe what the Bible says about God’s holiness, your sin, Christ’s perfect redemption, you’re just not sure if your faith is enough. Be comforted -- it’s not the strength of the faith, but the strength of the Savior that saves.

Do you think your struggle means your lost? If you’re right, none of us are Christians. Paul, who wrote Romans 7, isn’t a Christian. The people we’ve mentioned in this series aren’t Christians-- Martin Luther, David Brainerd, Charles Spurgeon, etc. No, you will struggle on your way home to glory. That’s God’s plan. Be humble, be meek, and get up and let’s keep stumbling forward together.