The ABC’s of the Christian Life (17): Following Jesus Christ Rightly (11): Assurance of Salvation

The Basics of the Christian Life and the Need for Assurance

We have attempted in recent weeks to set forth biblical principles and lessons that are foundational and important in order that we might live the Christian life in a right manner. And so this list is growing.

We've addressed the following subjects regarding following the Lord Jesus Christ rightly, which of course is the essence of the Christian life, following Jesus rightly. And so there is the list before you, joining the local church, believers' baptism by immersion, seeking first the kingdom of God, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, keeping your heart.

And then because of the complexity of the matter, we spent three Sundays understanding law and grace, a life of prayer, sanctification of the believer, Christian liberty and toleration, and last, Lord's Day, our identity in Christ.

Well, today we want to address a very important matter that should characterize us if we're following Jesus rightly, and that is the subject of assurance of our salvation. Again, these are basics, the ABCs of the Christian life.

And so I hope I'm saying things that are familiar to you, that you've heard before. And if you're hearing things and you've been a part of this church, attending for some time, and you hear something new, that probably reflects poorly on me, because these are the kinds of things that need to be rehearsed regularly and faithfully.

Again, the subject of assurance. To possess a true and full confidence of one's own salvation is the grounds for a settled peace in one's soul, which will affect many areas of our Christian living. And it will affect the way we serve our Lord and serve one another as well.

It will give us a higher and purer motivation for serving God if we have an assurance of our own salvation. This is not a new subject to us. In fact, it's one that we have addressed rather frequently.

We addressed it, well, originally 10 years ago. It was the summer of 2007. We gave 10 Sundays to this matter of assurance, and those are available in notes if any of you are interested. But it wasn't that long ago we gave attention to this matter.

In fact, it was just, well, almost two years ago, January of 2016, when we were addressing our study of Colossians. Paul wrote in Colossians 2 of his own desire and concern for Christians and the churches, that they would have assurance of salvation.

We also addressed the subject two and a half years ago in July of 2015. We spent a number of weeks addressing the nature of true conversion. And so we emphasized that really one of the great tasks of gospel preachers is to undeceive those who have false assurance of salvation.

And that's a difficult task at times. So that they come to experience true salvation. For the Holy Scriptures give many warnings of the danger of presumption, which is to imagine oneself to have salvation when there's really no biblical basis for believing it is so.

And so we, at that time, emphasized this matter through these words,. The importance of our study regarding conversion to Jesus Christ is magnified because of the many warnings we have in Scripture of many who will think that they are converted when Jesus Christ returns, only then to discover they're still in their sins.

Can you imagine the horror? The Holy Scriptures press upon all who claim to be converted to be watchful and prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ and the great day of judgment that will then take place.

When the Lord Jesus returns a second time, he will find his professing church comprised of professing believers, some of which are true Christians, some of which are not. All profess to have faith in him.

All claim to be his disciples. All are anticipating the return of the Lord. All are assuming that they will receive their full and final salvation when he comes. But not all are true Christians who profess to be Christian.

And that's concerning. And so in considering this subject of assurance, let us first reflect upon the great problem of nominal Christianity. People who are Christian in name only. They're not true Christians, according to the Holy Scriptures.

And this is a great problem in today's Christendom. A great number of people who believe themselves to be true Christians, but they are not. They are Christians in name only. This problem is linked directly to the common experience of false assurance among those who claim to be Christians.

Many have a false sense of security with respect to their salvation. And one of the reasons for this problem is the ease in which people may gain false assurance, but also due to the difficulty in dispelling false assurance.

You have many who are quick to believe the worst about their case, but most of the time people are willing to believe the best about their case. They're presumptuous. Actually, we could classify people into five groups, as I stand back and consider people with respect to their assurance of salvation.

First, there are some who have a true assurance of salvation, and they should have. The Bible says you can have assurance. And this is because they have examined the biblical teaching, and they've passed a test in their own conscience regarding their condition.

And I don't know that there's a great number of these, frankly. And secondly, there are some who are true Christians who do not have assurance of salvation, but they should have. It's a sad thing they don't, but they're true Christians, but they don't have assurance.

Third, there are many in this world who have assurance of salvation, but they should not have. There are many of those. They have no legitimate biblical grounds for assurance. For God's word says of them, they are without hope, without God.

But they don't know so. They don't think so. Fourth, there are some who are true Christians who have assurance, but the basis of their assurance is faulty. They've been taught wrongly about assurance of salvation.

And so they have assurance, but they're believing it's based upon things that are not biblical. They need to be instructed and corrected. Unfortunately, sometimes when you reveal the error, they become quite concerned, understandably so, even as they're learning what the Bible says about these matters.

And then fifth, there are those who have assurance. They're true Christians, but their assurance is weak in nature. Sometimes they feel assured, but at other times they quite despair of their condition.

And there's quite a few of those around, too. They're true Christians, but they don't have the full assurance that the Holy Scriptures promise are available to His people. The work of biblical evangelism, I believe, is tied to this matter of assurance.

An understanding of the biblical teaching of assurance of salvation will help us to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And much of the work of witnessing involves convincing people who have false assurance of salvation that it is false.

The fact that they have error means they need to be taught rightly about these matters. This might take some time. Much of the devil's hold on people and their sins is their false reasoning that they are okay, when in reality they are not okay.

And much of spiritual warfare is, as Paul described, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Many of these arguments that we try and cast down and correct, that we must dispel, are bases for false assurance of salvation. Many times in winning people to Jesus Christ, we must first convince them that they're not Christians in order for them to become true Christians.

The fact is, oftentimes, the Lord comes and saves people who are in the church, lost and in the church. And the Lord comes and brings salvation to them. Doubting your salvation is not a curse.

All right?

It's not the greatest blessing you can have, but really doubting your salvation in some respects can be considered a blessing of God. As we've quoted Spurgeon so many times, his words are true. The greatest blessing is to have a true assurance of salvation.

The second greatest blessing is to doubt your salvation, for the second will lead to the first. And that's a truism. The Lord Jesus said, To some who are righteous in their own eyes, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

Now, the ones he was speaking with were not well.

They were sick.

They just didn't think so. They thought they were well. But the Lord came to call sinners. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And so most people think falsely they are well in their relationship with God because their grading is a curve.

I'm better than most, maybe not as good as the saints, but I'm better than most, and so I'll be okay. We're to show them they're not okay so that they will seek Christ. The Lord Jesus himself addressed this matter of nominal Christianity.

He gave the parable of the wedding procession in Matthew 25. There were ten virgins who were to be ready to join the wedding party that would occur at an unexpected time, sometimes in the middle of the night.

The five of these ten were wise, but there were also five who were foolish. And Jesus said the five wise virgins had salvation. The five foolish virgins did not have salvation, but they thought they had.

And so in this parable, our Lord gave a 50 ratio of professing Christians to those who were deluded, who thought they had salvation. They were nominal in their profession,.

In name only.

Can you imagine if the Lord returned today and only 50 of professing Christians were in reality true Christians who were ready for the Lord's return? That was the ratio our Lord gave in that parable.

I don't know that that should be extended, you know, if it's going to be 50%, 50%. I would never say that. But it's something to think about. Charles Burge and the 19th century London preacher wrote,.

Let us feign hope that we are not to gather from our Lord's words that one half of the professing church is composed of those whom he calls foolish. Yet our Savior would not have spoken of so great a proportion if there were not really a large admixture of foolish professors with the wise professors of the grace of God.

And in another sermon, Spurgeon referenced this parable. These are his comments on Luke 13 .24,.

Which reads,.

Many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. Talking about at the end, just before the coming of Christ. Spurgeon wrote,. So the text teaches us, it does not say a few may be misled, but many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.

That many professors are deceived is clear enough from the language of Christ himself, both here and in other places. For instance,. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were wise, and five were foolish. We hope that in our churches we have not such a division as this. For it were fearful to contemplate, only one half as sincere and the other half graceless, having the lamp of profession without the secret vessel of spiritual life.

And yet so alarming a proportion as five out of ten should make us search ourselves very carefully, lest we be found among the virgins, and among the virgins having lamps, ay, and among those whose lamps are burning, and yet should be cast away as having no oil in our vessels with our lamps.

The number of truly saved people in any given congregation is a common concern for pastors. Who have any measure of spiritual sense about them, they think about these matters. We ask our Lord, How many in our body truly know you?

How many are wise as these five, and how many are foolish as these other five? J .C. Ryle, a wonderful writer, he was a Church of England bishop, by the way, but a wonderful writer, reformed guy in the 19th century, voiced concern in his day about professing Christians who were strangers to God's grace.

And he also referenced this parable of the ten virgins.

He wrote,.

The professing Church is compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. All of them had lamps, but only five had oil in their vessels to feed the flame. All of them professed to have one object in view, but five only were truly wise, and the rest were foolish.

The visible Church of Christ is just in the same condition. All its members are baptized in the name of Christ, but not all really hear His voice and follow Him. All are called Christians and profess to be of the Christian religion, but not all have the grace of the Spirit.

In their hearts.

And really are what they profess to be. Our own eyes tell us that it is so now. The Lord tells us it will be so when He comes again. Let us mark well this description. After all our preaching and praying, after all our visiting and teaching, after all our missionary exertions abroad and means of grace at home, many will be found at last dead in trespasses and sins.

The wickedness and unbelief of human nature is a subject about which we all have much to learn. Now, it should be recognized that Ryle, again speaking of his denomination, the Church of England, and everybody who lived in the Church of England in England at that time, baptized his babies, brought them to church, and they were taught their baptism brought about the new birth.

Ryle was brighter than that, but you can imagine how many nominal Christians were in that denomination, and they are today too. And so we see there is a great problem of nominal Christianity. However, secondly, we recognize that true assurance is possible for the true Christian, thankfully.

Although there are many.

Who falsely believe they have salvation, the Holy Scriptures teach us that assurance of salvation is possible for us, and we are to use all the means that God has provided for us to gain this assurance.

And we can consider any number of passages that speak to this, but I want us to consider one first, and that is Peter's second epistle, 2 Peter 1 .2 -10. And as we read this, I want us to take note of the instruction Peter gives these Christians to do certain things with view to attaining a sound assurance of their salvation.

He wrote,.

Grace and peace we multiply to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

And therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. In other words, make sure you have assurance that you're a Christian. And then he says, for if you do these things, you shall never stumble.

For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so Peter identified the privileges that we have as Christians and that all we have is due to God's grace and he imparts these blessings through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, of God and Jesus Christ.

And he's granted us through this knowledge.

Everything that we need.

In order to live lives of godliness. This is so much the case that we've already escaped the corruption that is in the world. And why is there corruption in the world? Because of lusts, because of sinful desires of people.

Or as ESV translates, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. That's why the world is corrupt. But these privileges and blessings of God's grace should not lead us to be idle or to presume all is okay in that nothing is required of us.

We see our responsibilities set forth in verses 5 -9. Peter exhorted his readers to put forth all their effort to grow as Christians, to become more godly and more holy, to be more Christ-like in their attitudes and behavior.

And he uses a rhetorical device adding one upon another, but he's not advocating you focus on one for the next three months and then take up point number two. These things we're working on all the time, but it's a rhetorical device in which he is speaking forth the importance of these that should characterize us and we ought to work on them.

Peter promised them if they would do these things they would assure themselves that they are of the elect. They would assure themselves that God had called them unto salvation, that he freely bestows through Jesus Christ.

And so what Peter is stating is that through the use of the means that the Lord has set before us, we can assure ourselves that we're numbered among his elect, that he's called us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So we read in verses 10 and following,. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. In other words, make certain that this is taking place in your life. For if you do these things, you'll never stumble and that entrance will be a glorious one.

This passage of 2 Peter 1, 3 -10 is consistent with the first paragraph in our confession. Article 18 addresses the matter of assurance. And that first paragraph reads,. Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men, in other words, he describes temporary believers as not born again.

Temporary believers and others who are unregenerate, not born again, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions, nominal Christianity, of being in the favor of God in the state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish.

Yet such, and note how the confession describes people who can have true assurance, yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, secondly, love Him in sincerity, thirdly, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.

They can have assurance. And so we may conclude from the passage we read in 2 Peter 2, verse 1, that assurance of salvation may not necessarily be easy to acquire, as many as are led to believe who attend church today.

In fact, many are told, as long as you believe on the Lord Jesus, you need not consider anything else. Certainly not anything you do, they would argue. You're not to question yourself at all, for that's a failure to have faith.

That is to depend upon your own works and not grace. Just believe, and that's all that's required of you. After all, we're justified by grace through faith alone, which is a truism, of course, but it's a twist, a perversion, saying that all you have to do is believe and nothing else lays upon your shoulders.

This is not what the word of God teaches. We are to use means in order to gain a sound assurance. God has set forth tests in his word by which we may assess our own spiritual standing before God, whether we're true Christians or not.

And we're commanded to examine ourselves so that we may prove to ourselves that we're true Christians. And so Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. He standed in doubt of them. They had some significant problems.

He didn't stand in doubt of the church at Thessalonica. He says, I'm convinced, brethren, of your election, but of the church at Corinth. He exhorted them, examine yourself to see whether you're in the faith.

He doesn't say examine what you believe, but examine you, yourself, to determine whether or not you're a Christian. Test yourselves, or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet the test?

We're to examine ourselves. And the Lord has set forth the criteria for testing ourselves. And the outcome of that testing is either assurance, or we discover, I'm in my sin still. Thankfully, God has provided us tests by which we may perform this self-examination.

And they may be categorized under three headings. So let's consider first, three objective tests to a sound assurance of salvation. There is the test of faith. This has to do with what you believe. There are some essentials you have to believe, or you can't have salvation.

But secondly, there's the test of fellowship. This concerns whom you love. That'll reveal if you're a true Christian or not. And then thirdly, there's the test of life. How do you live? And so you must pass all three tests if you're to have a clean bill of spiritual health, have a sound basis of assurance of salvation.

To fail in one test is fatal to assurance. And so you, for example, may pass test number one, the test of faith.

You believe all the right things.

Well, that just means you're no heretic. Scripture says, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Well, you believe on the Son.

That's good.

You don't fail there. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine or the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

Secondly, however,.

If you fail the test of fellowship, your case is hopeless, unless you repent and turn to Christ for cleansing and forgiveness of sins. And so the test of fellowship concerns whom you love. Again, the Scriptures.

If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Now, I'd have to admit, some of us are probably not very lovable people. But the Lord helps us in this way, doesn't he? He commands us to do so, and he'll give us grace to do so as we look to him and trust him.

To fail this test would mean you're no Christian, but a nominal Christian in name only. For again, John wrote, if someone says, I love God, hates his brother, he's a liar. And so loving the brethren just goes with true salvation.

Paul was on his way to Damascus to bind and drag Christians to Jerusalem. He gets converted by the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, and now he's meeting with those Christians there in Damascus. Thank you very much.

I appreciate that. I needed that. And so the Lord puts a love in our hearts for one another as Christians. But if you fail the test of life, this would mean you're not a Christian, but rather, again, a heretic.

As John wrote, now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Not perfectly, nobody does, except the Lord Jesus. He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. And so to fail any of these tests is to reveal in your present condition unless you repent of your sin.

And none of us do these things perfectly, and so the Lord confronts us with this, and so we repent as he enables us. We humble ourselves. Lord, I'm not right in this area. Please give me grace that I would be.

Well, the person who's characterized by these things may have a true and full assurance. He's a child of God. He passed those tests. He's done this self-examination. And so again, as our confession states, true assurance belongs to those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, to those who love him in sincerity, to those who endeavor to walk in all good conscience before him.

They may in this life enjoy assurance. They may be assured that they will be glorified one day. Their hopes shall never be disappointed. They will stand unashamed before God one day. They may have assurance.

The Subjective Witness of the Holy Spirit

But aside from those three objective tests, by which we can assess ourselves, there are three subjective ways in which God gives assurance. He gives assurance in different ways. Yes, if you pass the objective test that we've just set forth, you can have assurance.

But there is a subjective basis of assurance that the Lord gives his people also. There is an assurance that God himself gives to his own, an assurance that's produced and sustained and renewed in those times of personal decline and hardening.

It's a personal, spiritual sense of peace and well-being that the Holy Spirit himself gives to the soul. I was converted in the second week of January 1972. What is that? Is that 45 years coming up, I think?

Yeah.

Or 46, maybe. Yeah, 46 in January. I tell you, one more month, I was damned. I was lost. I knew it. And 10 seconds later, I was saved and at peace, and I knew it. The Holy Spirit gave me a peace. And that was a wonderful thing.

But that's not the experience of everybody. But it's a wonderful thing. Several verses speak to this about the Holy Spirit giving a sense of assurance. 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 through 5, we give thanks to God always for you, for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God our Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election of God. See, Paul knew that they were elect.

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. Thankfully, God gives that assurance. It's personal. It's subjective. It's the Lord confirming in your soul.

I'm a Christian. I have salvation. It doesn't happen to everybody, but it's a wonderful thing when it does. Romans 8, 12 through 17, Paul wrote,. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And here being led by the Spirit is not this mystical experience.

He's leading me, you know, in the way I should go each day. But being led of the Spirit is enabled to live according to the law of God in this passage. For then he writes,. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.

The Lord just made it clear to you He's no longer your condemning judge, but He's your loving Father. And you know that intuitively. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.

And so there are three different ways in which God imparts assurance to His people. Assurance is possible just through believing the Word of God and God's promises. Jesus said, All that the Father gives me shall come to me.

Him that comes to me, I will know I is cast out. You look at that verse, God's made this promise. Jesus made this promise. If I come to Him, He won't cast me out. I'm going to believe that promise. And assurance can come from that.

Or secondly, again, as we mentioned above, assurance is possible through the passing of the test of Scripture. And then thirdly, assurance is possible through this grace that the Holy Spirit imparts directly to the soul.

The 20th century Reformed expositor, preacher, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, believed that this was the highest and most convincing manner of possessing the assurance of salvation when the Holy Spirit Himself settles your soul.

I read a Puritan, I can't remember who it was, whether it was Thomas Brooks or Thomas Boston, that thought this was actually the least reliable basis of assurance because you can be so easily deceived about this matter, I don't know.

But after writing about the first two ways to have assurance, he wrote of this third from the Romans 8 passage, There is yet another and higher form of assurance. The Spirit bears witness with our spirits we're the children of God.

The first two I've mentioned refer to our spirits, but the Spirit Himself also bears witness with our spirits that we're the children of God. This is the highest and the most glorious assurance of all, and it's given to us and is not the result of our deductions from the Scriptures.

Goodwin, he cites some Puritans, Goodwin, Owen, Bolton, John Preston, John Howe, and many others of the Puritans, as well as Jonathan Edwards, and indeed John Wesley, even the Armenian, even John Wesley have eloquent teaching concerning this.

The Beatitudes as a Basis for Assurance

What did our Lord teach about assurance of salvation? He came, of course, inaugurated the kingdom of God through His life, death, resurrection, ascension. But when He began His earthly ministry, He began to separate those who were truly, who truly had salvation from those who did not.

And so He sought to give some assurance of salvation, even as He sought to dispel the false assurance of many. And so who could be assured they had a part in God's salvation? Well, He identified those in His Sermon on the Mount and the opening Beatitudes.

These are very familiar to us. But what the Lord Jesus was doing was giving a basis of assurance to some people that were standing before Him. Not all, but some. And so seeing the Beatitudes, He went up on a mountain.

When He was seated, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and He taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes. The word blessed, of course, carried the idea that they were blessed of God, the objects of God's favor, the recipients of His mercy and grace.

They have salvation from their sins. Not all would be saved, but blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Not all would be forgiven of their sins, delivered from God's wrath upon sin, but rather, blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.

And so the Lord identified those who could have legitimate assurance, who were the objects of God's mercy and grace. They, and they only, may be assured they were recipients of salvation. They could have assurance.

Notice the nature of the tests, as if you were sitting there listening to Jesus teach. One of the nine Beatitudes, of the nine Beatitudes, the first six describe a condition of a person's heart. Isn't that right?

He didn't just stand back and say, if you believe on me, you can have assurance of salvation. But he was examining their hearts, or leading them to examine their own hearts. Either an attitude, aspiration, or affection.

The seventh Beatitude speaks about what the man does. He's a peacemaker. And then the eighth and ninth describe how he's treated by others. And Jesus is setting these forth as a basis of assurance. These are indicators that a person has the grace of God operative in his life.

And so we may conclude from the Beatitudes that one of the primary ways of gaining true assurance of salvation is to assess whether or not a work of God's grace is manifest in one's soul. Are you poor in spirit?

Do you mourn over your sins? Do you desire, do you hunger after righteousness? And again, this is consistent with what our confession, those guys were wise. And what they said about assurance. Paragraph two.