Assurance Of Salvation (part 2)

Father in heaven, thank you for bringing us to this place this morning where we can be in your house and worship you through Teaching preaching and in song father. Thank you that you've brought all of these people here for Sunday school to discuss you your word your scripture father the salvation that you've given to us and The assurance that we can have of that salvation is pray father that you would use my words to encourage others and that you would just Help everyone here to to rest in knowledge that you have provided a more sure word for us to trust in your name.

We pray Amen. So last week I started talking about assurance of salvation. We did a couple of things we defined assurance. We talked about what it is what it really means. We talked a little bit about church history.

We talked about The evolving theology in the church and how that informed our assurance or informed the doctrine of assurance throughout the church and we talked about a couple of passages of scripture that that would help us to get a good sense of what the Bible actually Says about assurance and by the way, I always like my lessons to be interactive.

So if you have any comments questions Please feel free to raise your hand. I'll do my best to call on you. So In in studying this one of the one of my my favorite books for for a quick Reference is a book by OC Sproul called the central truths of the Christian faith.

There's a book that was recommended by one pastor Stephen Cooley if you know who that is. It's a it's a really great book. It's I Think it goes through like a hundred different Truths of the Christian faith of doctrines and you know, it's just a page and a half if you have small children.

It's a great way to kind of read up really quick, you know before you you maybe give a family lesson. So I I looked at this book and it has a chapter on assurance of salvation and one of the things I really like about the way RC teaches is that he's very scientific about a lot of what he does and being an engineer that kind of speaks to me pretty well so What he says in in reference to assurance of salvation is that there's kind of these these two things.

There's either you are saved or you aren't saved and either, you know it or you don't right? So you take these two variables and you get four possible combinations of you know person type of people type.

And so this this is I'm just gonna go through these quickly and then and then we'll we'll step through them in a little bit More detail. So first we have people who are not saved right and they know they're not saved uh people like this tend to be aware of the Enmity that they have in their hearts toward God and they clearly want nothing to do with Jesus Christ as their Savior.

They are perfectly happy to proclaim that they don't need Christ a lot of I mean this would be atheists or anybody who who doesn't believe in the word and is very comfortable in that fact and a lot of times.

You'll end up with people like Richard Dawkins who are very actively and openly hostile to The gospel and even all religion, but specifically Christianity. So those are people who are not saved and they know that they are not saved.

And then we have people who are saved and they don't know it. Okay. So so these are people that maybe they're lacking in in their assurance, right? They're in a state of grace, but they're uncertain of it.

Maybe they're wrestling with sin in their lives. And and so they doubt their salvation because of that that troubled conscience. In this group are those who have not yet made certain that they are among the elect.

And then we have the people who have assurance. We have people who are saved and they know that they're saved. This is this is the group we want to be in by the way, just just in case you're not sure.

These are people that are certain of their election and they're certain of their calling. They have a clear and sound understanding of what salvation requires and then they know that they have met those Requirements through the grace of God they have believed in the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

When he witnessed to them. And to their spirit that they are the children of God. Romans 8 16. And then finally we have people who are not saved who do not have a saving faith. But they think that they do this is actually where we're gonna spend a lot of the most of our time today.

So they have assurance of salvation, but they don't have Salvation their assurance is a false one. So those are I just wanted to go over those really quickly. And then what we're gonna do is we're gonna we're gonna go over them in a little bit a little bit more detail.

And then I want to focus today on the issue of false assurance and then next week We'll talk about. If we have maybe some doubts in our assurance how we can grow that and how we can have more assurance.

But so let's let's talk about these a little bit. People that are not saved and they know that they're not saved. The beginning of Romans talks about this a lot. Romans 1 through 3 talking about the depravity of mankind specifically Romans 1 18 to 23 says.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all Ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes.

Namely his eternal power and divine nature had been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without Excuse for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.

But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools and isn't that what happens is now as we have this culture of these. You know educated people who think that this this silly old-school religion thing is just crazy claiming to be wise they've become fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal men and birds and animals and creeping things.

And here's the thing. The reality is that unbelievers for the most part don't think they're sinful. Right because if they did think they were sinful. They probably wouldn't be unbelievers because they would they would have this thing that they're wrestling with they don't actually characterize their actions as sin.

What do they say when you when you are preaching the gospel to somebody and you and you posit to them? That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What is it that they say? I'm a good person, right?

Nobody is Perfect. Nobody's perfect. What I mean, come on like I'm not Hitler. I mean, nobody's perfect, right? We know that that's sin. But they don't recognize it in that way the same person who would say that nobody is perfect.

If you ask them, do you think you're a sinner? May very well say no because they don't. It's it's that it's it's all about if you ask a question in a positive way or a negative way. You'll get a different answer, right?

So that's this so they suppress the truth in unrighteousness and they refuse to Regard God as Lord over them. I Mean by and large, this is true of most people that that are Unbelievers there are some who are actively uncaring and actively shaking their fist in God's face and they know it.

But for the most part No matter how they I mean no matter how they would characterize it essentially. This this idea that they aren't saved and they know they aren't saved is absolutely true. The way they represent it as a material right because it's it's about the way that God sees it.

Anybody have any comments or questions about people that are not saved and and are quite sure of that. It's not it's not a heavy commentary a group of people. So that doesn't really surprise me. But the second group is people who are saved but don't know it or they don't have a lot of assurance about it and like I said I want to hold off and talk about them a lot because I Plan to really focus on on that issue that basically that's that core issue of assurance of salvation.

How we can get more assurance of salvation or if we you know are doubting our salvation or whatever that is. That that that group of people I would like to hold off on but the thing I do want to say about that is that even if now We have assurance of salvation, right?

There will be times when we struggle with it. It's something that every Christian I think deals with is this especially to what Charlie was talking about last week with Catholics and having this concrete thing in which to root their salvation and in in the liturgy and and in the mass as Protestants.

Because we don't have that concrete thing that we actually struggle a little bit more with with assurance I think then then Catholics tend to because they don't have this System by which to you know perform the tasks to get to the goal.

So I really want to dive in on that next week, but let's move on for now. So people that are saved and they know that they're saved. So this is kind of like if this was a grid. This is the corner opposite of people that are not saved and know that they're not saved.

There's not really a lot of commentary, I don't I don't think but this goes back to what I said before even if this Sunday and next Sunday you are Confident in your salvation I would suggest that it is still valuable for us to Look at assurance and look at how we can have more assurance because it's always better to prepare for a trial before you're in it.

Right, and it's always better to have that awareness and and have these tools or these scripture references or or whatever. It may be before we're in the place where our head is spinning and we don't know what's going on.

And we're just falling on our face and trying to figure out, you know, what's what's real and what isn't so even seasoned Saints who are comfortable in their salvation sometimes can struggle with this and Hopefully next week Will be will be helpful to it.

You know this kind of doctrinally sound assurance. Which is the key and we'll get more into that in a little bit it is very much comes from that Philippians 2 idea of working out your salvation in fear and trembling because You are rooting yourself in Scripture.

And then finally, like I said where I want to spend our time today. People who are not saved but they think that they're saved. This is a very bad place to be this is false Assurance false search is so and so dangerous and so insidious that in his book faith works John MacArthur said that false assurance is a more serious problem Than no assurance.

Why would that be by the way? Why would false assurance be a more serious problem than no assurance? Because they think they're all set very true anything else. Right. Absolutely. So I'll never forget Steve Lawson came up here and he said, you know in some ways you people up in the Northeast I kind of envy you because Down south we have to get people lost before we can get them saved.

Right and and here We have that we have that that they're not saved and they know it idea, right? So it's a little bit different I don't think that we maybe share that same idea that you know, we're the envied ones.

But Bruce, did you have something? No, you're all set. Okay anything else? Oh nice tie and shirt. That's good. Did anybody want to add anything to that? Okay. So here's the thing and if you've heard me teach before you know that I'm kind of this thinker and I like to think outside the box which is a little weird, but whatever when we think about Assurance and false assurance.

We immediately are thinking about Faith, okay, so we're immediately like, okay. Well, so somebody has done something and now they have false assurance of salvation in terms of their relationship with God.

And that's not necessarily always the context when we talk about this idea of false assurance doctrinally sound assurance Absolutely is a relationship between God and man. But false assurance not necessarily as I talked about believers or unbelievers rather who you know, basically think they're okay.

They don't think that they're sinful like they think you know, nobody's perfect. But whatever and this is very much an example of a false assurance. That's not based on a relationship between people and God.

Okay, so you can have you can have you know Church people or a man of God or whatever who have a false assurance and maybe they're not saved but they think they are and at the same time you can have people who have false assurance because they don't believe that there's a God to answer to and So their false assurance is the sense that they don't believe that they're going to be, you know punished for any Wrongdoings that they've done there.

There are false assurance essentially has merely convinced them that there's no condemnation. And in that they feel safe. They think you know that when you die your your atoms explode into a million billion bits and You know, you're reincarnated or whatever it is, but they don't they have no faith in God.

Therefore they have no no sense of condemnation and therefore there they have assurance in this idea of being a good person. But it has nothing to do with that God to man relationship. But within Christendom, which is really where where I think that that we should focus False assurance has always existed.

It is existed. Even when Christ was walking on the earth, right? Can anybody think of any examples of false assurance? Yep. Yep. Absolutely that the parable of the rocky soil would be an example of False assurance or certainly at least non saving faith where there would be an initial response to the gospel, right?

But then as time went on that response would die out that response would Peter out and there was not a life of fruit. Brian, did you have some sure? Absolutely. So right, absolutely and You know one of the things that has always kind of struck me Steve.

I see your hand I'll get to you in a moment. One of the things that always struck me about the Pharisees, especially is that There's a lot of warnings in Scripture about being aware of being where you're being deceived and and maybe it's just in my head but In my learning I've always sort of looked at the Pharisees and said, okay.

So now they're they're these evil deceivers who are trying to. Maybe this is because I read Lord of the Rings one too many times or something I don't know but they're trying to you know. They know what's right and they're trying to deceive people to go on the wrong path and that is totally not true at all right, they had a false idea of salvation right and this goes even back to what we're talking about last week with as The all this as the theology in the church evolved it informed how we get assurance and so it very much is related to salvation and What it is that gains us our salvation and that that very much affects our assurance and whether or not we have it Steve.

Do you want to add? Mm-hmm, right because he just didn't get it. You know, he didn't understand. It's like I've done everything right for my youth. But his the heart was was was not a converted heart.

So even In conversation with the God-man Jesus Christ, we had people who did not have a proper assurance of salvation. The Pharisees. Oh look at that. They didn't perform their ritual because they knew is wrong.

They had assurance in the wrong thing, right and that's that exactly that idea. Acts 15 you see people coming out of Judea and what is what is the thing that they're trying to do? They're trying to circumcise why?

Acts 15 1 but some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers. Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses. You cannot be saved. They had assurance in the physical act of circumcision, right?

That is a false assurance. It's always been there any time. This is the thing anytime there is errant doctrine that concludes salvation is anything other than the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is an assurance in something incorrectly, which is false assurance and I love the way that I Read so many books.

I don't even know who said this. They referred to false assurance is the plague of false assurance that really started in the 19th century with the introduction of something called Decisionism. Does anybody ever heard the word decisionism before?

Okay, I see some nods who would like to define decisionism for me. Not one of my teachers pets somebody who hasn't answered maybe. All right, Steve. Good. It actually goes beyond that. So that that is very much just the the Arminian idea of free will that anybody want to add to that?

Another false view of assurance, but not what decisionism actually is so I'll give you the the thing so Charles Finney Was the guy who who popularized this salvific technique. That had became known as decisionism and it's this idea that after Messages preached that you call people that it's the altar call, right?

It's you call people down and you get them to make a public decision or profession of faith and that idea that decisionism Begets this plague of false assurance because what happens they look back at their decision and Paul Washer fans here Happen to like Paul Washer a little bit.

There's a YouTube clip go ahead and search for it on YouTube. Just type Paul Washer decisionism. You'll find it. It's about four minutes long. I'm gonna I'm gonna I transcribe some of it because I thought it was so good.

This is what he said if you talk to most Southern Baptists today you talk to them about their souls and this is what they'll do. They will go back to a decision as the basis for their salvation. You know what that is.

It's idolatry. That is what it is. If the foundation and the basis of the assurance of your salvation is a decision and not the person of Jesus Christ. Do you see how dangerous that is people are trusting in a decision?

I Love listening to him. It gives me like goosebumps. I can't really do the Paul Washer thing, but Reminds me of Steve Lawson a little bit. Right, so there's this passage in Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount that I think we've all heard before.

Not everyone who says to me what Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven 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?

And then I will declare to them. I never knew you Depart from me you workers of lawlessness. I did some searching because I wanted to actually reference it, but I couldn't find it someone said. And I've heard pastor Mike say this many times that For people like this at the gates of heaven.

There's what there's a trapdoor to hell. Because they go to the gates of heaven and they have all of these things that they've done this false assurance. The rich young ruler and they're like going in.

All right live my life ready pearly gates. Here we go streets of gold and they have a false assurance and There's a trapdoor for them directly to hell. So I've got. You can right and I mean, of course, you know, we know and it it's sort of a fact that transcends this specific discussion that as Christians were commanded to love Christ and and we perform our works in response to the love that we have for God that is of course given to us and we know that feelings follow actions, right and so.

You know Charlie you were saying that essentially that assurance is the human response to whatever it is in the the emotional aspect to it, which makes it a little bit nebulous sometimes and sometimes hard to define but as we are, you know, there's a very cerebral aspect to Christianity in some ways and and as we look to this and Just getting to next week's stuff, but looking to if we if we feel like we don't have assurance.

Well, we need to look to Scripture and say, you know, we're commanded to love and obey the Savior and if we Act in a way that is in accordance with obedience to God those feelings will come right, so I was having conversation with somebody this week about The Beatles and all you need is love and you know, is that really a true thing or not?

And it's like well on the one hand. No, it's not true. But on the other hand, yes. If you believe that love is not an easy thing if you believe that love is hard work. Then maybe that's actually a true statement, right?

Because love is not just a feeling it is an it is an active thing that we do and and so when we look at assurance and maybe not having that assurance that Emotional response to a knowledge of saving faith that we have through Scripture and through the power of God as if we act on that in a way that is accordance in accordance with Scripture in accordance with his Commandments then those feelings will come.

So thank you very much for that Charlie. So other than this decision is an idea Who can give me some examples of the kinds of things that create false assurance? Maybe this will help us to identify things in our lives that perhaps we're trusting in or that are giving us Assurance when maybe they shouldn't can anybody think of anything John?

Being baptized. It's a huge one, right? That's a I mean, that's way up a second on my list right after decisionism. Right, so a false understanding of sin and hell right. Charlie yep, so Exactly involvement in the church, right?

So this idea that well because I because I'm involved in the church because I You know do the sound room or I take out the trash or I set up the chairs or whatever it is. That that that kind of earns me some some good merit.

There's something over here. Good Misinterpretation of Scripture basically a false understanding of God and a false understanding of theology. That goes beyond necessarily sin and hell anything else. Yep, good works.

Absolutely an abundance of good deeds. Confirmation from peers might stem from a weak gospel. So that would go back to that false understanding of God that that. You know, maybe they don't believe in Lordship salvation, right?

It's it's you know, God is my Savior and and hey look I mean, I got my health insurance. So that means I'm safe right and if everybody around you agrees with you then then that certainly is false assurance.

Bruce. Did you have something? Okay, I took your answer. How about a strong Christian family heritage, right? So I I mean I I didn't grow up in a Christian home. So so when I say this, I'm not actually being me.

But my dad was a pastor and his dad was a pastor and so, you know, I'm sitting here I'm front row every Sunday, you know Family Bible time that must mean that I'm a Christian right because I you know I have to live this life whether I want to or not.

So that would be an example of false assurance. Maybe we had some Like words from God some kind of thing, you know. We passed out on the side of the road and we woke up and God said Oh Walk around this corner and there's gonna be a honey farms and you'll get some milk and you'll be okay.

You know, it's some kind of extraordinary experience. It's not being ridiculous for the sake of Example but so, you know words from God God told me that I needed to take this job and not that job and because I took that job now I'm at this church and and so these kinds of things that falsely confirm our salvation and give us assurance a Dramatic personal lifestyle difference so you go to somebody's house or whatever some day camp that you went to because your neighbor was going and you wanted to hang out with them and.

And maybe it was a Christian camp and and it kind of made you change some of your lifestyle, right? It's like oh, well, you know I used to be doing drugs and I quit doing drugs or I used to steal from my parents and now I don't do that.

Anymore and looking at changes in lifestyle not because of a changed heart but just because so there is this idea of right and wrong in the world whether it's really right and wrong is not not necessarily true, but Changing from doing something wrong to doing something right can be false assurance.

It kind of goes back to good deeds. I think good. Mm-hmm. Absolutely knowledge of the word. So that would be the The perfect example of that is the Pharisees, right? They didn't have the New Testament.

So they wouldn't have knowledge of the New Testament, but they I mean if you wanted to find somebody who knew the Torah. That's who you went to they had knowledge of the word, but they didn't have saving faith.

How about material blessing financial security, right. Well Job, maybe, you know, my family left me a bunch of money. I have a big house I have everything I could possibly need obviously God is blessing me and I'm good to go, right?

So there are many things that we have that that we can look to to say these are these are Potentials for false assurance. These are kind of stumbling blocks for us. We can look to these things and be comforted incorrectly in them.

So what do you think? By the way, there's a this book by Don Whitney. How can I be sure that I'm saved I think is the name of the book? And I took a lot of these bullet points out of that. So If you read that book and you sound familiar Opened with my bibliography.

So let's talk about characteristics of people that have false assurance. So I have five. They casually disregard conversations about false assurance, right they become angry or unconcerned about them they're Legalistic or Very loose with their spiritual disciplines, right?

Because if they're like the Pharisees trusting in their works trusting in obeying these particular rules and not trusting in the power of God to save them and then responding to that by obeying or You know going back to like this decision isn't thing they went to camp they made the decision they walked up the thing that had The goosebumps it was great.

They got some water on the head whatever it was and then they went back to just living the life that they lived before you know very loose in the spiritual disciplines they Have very little Bible knowledge.

They have no interest in reading scripture and learning about God. They have no love for the Savior. I like this one. They have a vicarious Christianity right there. This is kind of like the the the What they call them the ministry of I don't remember this word for it, but telling people that they're wrong.

They're not doing the right thing. It's like oh, well This is what it says in scripture and you're not doing that. All right, but they this is the idea of like they can't get the log out of their own eyes.

So they have this vicarious Christianity there. They're quick to point out the faults in other people and because you know. If if you rebuke somebody then it makes it look like you know what you're doing and you maybe you're doing the right thing.

And that's that's not not correct. Constantly resisting the truth or never able to come to the truth. So if you just can't even bear to open the scripture, but you still have assurance odds are pretty good.

That's. That's a false assurance if you feel like you know what? I don't really need this. I'm good. Right. There's a problem. They could you know, I've had those conversations with people where oh, you know.

The red flags go up when it's like, oh, I'm a seeker. Yeah. Well, let's have a conversation pal. No, but um. You know this this idea that people feel like they don't need to go to church or they don't really need to read their Bibles.

Because they just get you know. Comfort from from God right or maybe TV Church or eyes are going. You know any of these kinds of things where their their faith is not driving them back to the Word of God and They have assurance in their faith.

They're comfortable with where they're at. That is a problem. One commentator said this which which I really like the common feature in false assurance. With both the lost and the saved who are plagued with false assurance because saved Christians can have false assurance.

We can have a saving faith, but be trusting in works that we've done incorrectly. Right and Will be corrected, right? I mean So our salvation is something that that God does right this is a work of God and so there are bumps in the road of Of the sanctification process and and it is very possible that someone who is saved will Fall off a little bit.

They'll backslide a little bit. They'll be comforted in something. And then you know, they will be corrected. So there is this possibility of false assurance in some ways because remember assurance is an emotion.

We're not talking about false salvation. We're talking about false assurance. But the common feature in false assurance is their Reliance upon a past experience that they remember vividly is a source of their assurance that they are safe and secure in Christ.

With Christians it is their conversion experience usually with unsaved people. It is what they wrongly misinterpret as their conversion experience. So going back to that the Paul Washer quote that I read before is that this kind of assurance is based on past events.

It's based on things that have happened in our chronological past and that is a form of Idolatry. This view of assurance roots our salvation effectively and experience and not in Scripture. But what we must do is we must root our faith in the words of Scripture and nothing else.

We talked about Peter before in his second epistle he was wise enough to know that Experience was not necessarily his best guide even though he was on the mountain when Christ was transfigured. Are you guys know this passage?

I think for when he received honor and glory from God the father talking about Jesus and the voice was born to him by the Majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain and We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed.

Okay. To which you will do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in dark place until the day dawns and the morning star Rises in your hearts, so we can look at all the experiences that we had. But we can be pretty sure that Peter's experience was a better one.

Okay, he stood on the mountain as Christ was transfigured and yet. What does he say? He says that we have new American Standard more sure word right. I read this and I like the way the American Standard says that better.

More fully confirmed right there's something Don Kistler said it was interesting. So many today base their assurance on things that are not scriptural. Praying a prayer signing a card walking an aisle raising a hand in a meeting.

But when you go to the mat with them you find out that they have given their lives to a God that doesn't exist. Mark Twain once said that God created man in his own image and man has returned the favor.

Consequently in our churches men are able to exercise a faith that is not from God. That is not a saving faith and have not repented of sin, but merely of its consequences. So it's a little bit funny, but that last bit I think is pretty cutting that we haven't repented of our sin the Committing of a sin, but man those consequences they can they can come back and bite you.

So certainly we would want to avoid those so. Can anybody think of some ways that we can maybe examine the assurance that we have like look back and say why am I? Comforted in my comfortable and in my salvation.

How can we examine our assurance and make sure it's not a false one. Does anybody have any thoughts Steve? Absolutely, it will be heavily in first John next week. But please continue if you okay. I mean I think that essentially the the crux of a lot of.

What you're working through there is that it's it's all about the condition of the heart and and. So the actions don't matter if the heart condition is not changed and as we go through our lives. Even even if we do things in private.

We read our Bible you know before everybody's awake. If we say our prayers we do our devotions if we do these things well. We can know oh, you know God's the only person who sees me doing this right now, but it.

Even those things which are good things to do if the heart condition has not been changed by God. And if we are not purposing to do these things in obedience to God. Because these are the commandments of him and and we love him and so we obey him.

Sure mm-hmm right when so. Yeah, absolutely in trials it went in those times when we're pushed to our limits. Right those are the times and you see it in like you know World War Z kind of crazy movies where it's like now you see what like people are really like or.

You know the videos of Walmart on Black Friday. It's like what what is you know? These are the like this is this is like how can you watch that and then say no mankind is inherently good? I don't know what you're talking about.

You know what I mean. It's like look. It's a $7 shark vacuum. I'll give you mine. It's cool. Just calm down, but you know and it's absolutely it's it's When we break everything that we get everything else out of the way it is your heart.

And it is it is whatever it is that you're dealing with you know oh well I can take this thing at the victimless crime. Do you do it like those are the kinds of things where? They really will will Betray so to speak what your heart condition truly is like Dave.