Assurance of Salvation
Objective:
The disciple is sure that he has honestly asked Christ to enter his life:
a. Christ has indeed come into his life;
b. he has been reborn as a whole new creation;
c. all his sins – past, present and future – have been forgiven;
d. a new relationship has been established between him and God;
e. he will never again be separated from God.
Biblical Basis for this Objective:
It is clear from Scripture that God would have us know we are saved. There is no need to doubt, and with the question resolved once and for all in the believers mind, he can go about the business of growing up in Christ and becoming an effective ambassador of God.
Each of these passages deals with the salvation Jesus Christ has bought for us; each gives us insight into why or how we can know we are saved.
John 3: 16-18 Acts 10:43 Col. 1:12-14 John 5:24
Acts 16:31 Col. 2:13,14 John 6:37 Rom. 8:1-3
Heb. 7:24,25 John 6:51 Rom. 8:31-39 Heb. 13:5
John 10: 27-29 Rom. 10:13 1 Peter 1:23 John 11:25,26
Applicable Definition:
Assurance of Salvation: The conviction that, though he was previously lost and separated from God, he is now redeemed by Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and saved for all eternity. He may or may not have had a dramatic experience upon conversion, and he may or may not feel any different, but he has the settled confidence that Christ has entered he life, has saved him, has re-created him, and will never leave him or forsake him.
Suggestions for Growth
I. Defuse the “experience bomb.”
In Campus Crusade for Christ’s evangelistic tract “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?” and “Knowing God Personally” there is an excellent illustration to this end. On page 12 they show a train engine labeled “Fact” pulling a coal car labeled “Faith” and a caboose labeled “Feeling.” Either use the tract and read the text that’s written there, or draw and explain your own diagram.
The engine, “Fact,” represents what we know to be true on the basis of the Word of God.
The coal car, “Faith,” represents our beliefs, our confidence in certain truths, which leads to opinions and actions. When we say we have faith in something, we are saying we believe it to be absolutely true, and we are willing to take action based on that belief.
The caboose, “Feelings,” represents our subjective, emotional sensitivities and impressions. The train will run with or without the caboose, but it goes nowhere without the engine. Also, the train moves only if you shovel coal from the coal car into the engine. In the same way, our Christian lives will move only if we place our faith in the facts of God’s Word and not our feelings.
It doesn’t matter how much faith you put in your feelings, they won’t get you anywhere. The facts will. Jesus said in John 8:32, “Then you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” David said in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path,” not my hunches, intuition or feelings.
II. Understand the Truth of what happened when you trusted Christ.
A. Christ has indeed come into your life:
Read Revelation 3:20
· What do you think the ‘door’ in this verse represents?
· Did you open that door?
· What does it say He’ll do if you open the door?
· So where would you say Jesus if right now?
B. He has been reborn as a whole new creation.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
· What do you think the verse is talking about when it says you have become a “new creature.”
· Look at John 3:1-8, a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.
· What does Jesus mean in verse 3, when he says: “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
· What does Jesus mean in verse 7, when he says: “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
C. All your sins – past, present and future – have been forgiven.
Read Colossians 2: 13,14
· According to these verses, who has made you “alive with Christ?”
· In verse 13, how many of our sins has God forgiven?
· According to this passage what did God do with our sins?
Other passages for consideration:
Ps. 32:5 Jer. 33:8 Ps. 103:3 Matt. 26:28
Heb. 8:12 Ps. 103:12 Acts 10:43 Heb. 10:16,17
Isa. 1:18 Acts 26:17,18 I John 1:9 Isa. 38:17
Eph. 1:6,7 I John 2:12 Isa. 43:25 Eph. 4:32
D. A new relationship has been established between you and God.
It has been said, concerning a persons decision to place his faith in Christ as savior, “we are not just sinners in need of forgiveness, we are dead men in need of life.” When you placed your trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, you went from being a dead man to being alive spiritually. Before you were an enemy of God, totally separated from Him. Now you are a friend of God, and He looks upon you with incredible favor. The Lord has loved you all along, but now, at long last, He can express that love directly! He now sees you as a friend, an heir, a genuine, legitimate son!
Other passages to consider:
John 1:12 2 Cor. 5:17 Romans 5:6-8 Eph. 2:1-7 Rom. 8:15-17
E. You will never again be separated from God.
Jesus told us that He would give those who believed in Him eternal life (Matt. 19:29, John 3:16,36, 5:24, 6:40,47; 10:28; 17:2,3). The only word that Jesus ever used to describe the kind of life that He would impart to those who belonged to Him was aionios, which means “indeterminate as to duration, eternal, everlasting, forever.”
Other passages to consider:
Hebrews 13:5b John 6:37 John 10:27,28
Evaluation
1. If you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He were to say, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say?
2. If someone were to ask you, “How can I be sure I’m a Christian?” What would you say?
3. On a scale of 0%– to 100%, (0% being no assurance, 100% being absolutely sure) how sure are you that if you died today, you would spend eternity with God in heaven?