by Keith Sharp
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)
Several years ago a friend of mine who believes that sincere Christians are continuously cleansed by the blood of Christ from sins of ignorance and weakness asked me two questions: first, Do you think you might be wrong about some issue of faith? I replied, “Of course.” Then he asked, “How do you know you are saved?” Let’s come back to that.
The apostle John knew that having the assurance of salvation rather than living in doubt was sufficiently important that he wrote the book of First John for the purpose of assuring Christians that we can know we are saved. This assurance of salvation gives us the incentive to keep on believing. How can we know we are saved?
Basis: God Is
Loving: Our assurance begins with a proper understanding of God. Our denominational friends emphasize the love of God (1 John 4:8, 16) while ignoring His wrath (Hebrews 12:28-29), but we must not let that cause us to overlook His great love. There’s a whole lot more to salvation than John 3:16, but John 3:16 is still the foundation for our assurance of a home in heaven. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is still true that “so” is an adverb of degree. It expresses the depth of God’s love for all the people of the world. He loves us so much He did not withhold His one and only Son from dying on the cruel cross so we could spend eternity with Him in heaven. This was and is the greatest expression of the greatest love possible in all the world and for all eternity. That love is for all people without exception or limit. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan preacher in New England in the 18th century, he is considered the greatest theologian of Colonial America, and he became president of Princeton. He was a strict Calvinist who believed God’s saving love was limited to the elect. His famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God,” is still in print. Here’s a paragraph from it as preached in Enfield, Massachusetts, July 8, 1741.
“The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than to bear to have you in his Sight; you are ten thousand Times so abominable in his Eyes as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours.”
Edwards was talking to and about unrepentant sinners.
Ethan Allen, the father of the State of Vermont, grew up in this period hearing this kind of preaching. Allen even considered becoming a preacher, but this doctrine so incensed him, he became an unbeliever in the Bible and Christ. He became a hard cussing, hard fighting, hard drinking deist. Many others of this period became like Allen for the same reason.
Gracious: God’s saving grace is for all mankind without exception or limit. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Because of His love and grace He has done, is doing, and will continue to do everything possible consistent with His nature and ours to bring us to eternal life.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
This is reasoning from the greater to the lesser. He gave the greatest possible gift to effect our salvation, His only Son. Therefore, He will not hold back anything else we need to gain heaven, but will freely, abundantly grant these needs as well.
But He cannot violate His own nature, and He will not violate ours. He is so infinitely holy He cannot even be tempted to sin (1 Peter 1:15-16; James 1:13). Therefore He cannot fellowship sin nor sinners in their sin (1 John 1:5-6).
You and I are not robots but have freedom of will to choose salvation or condemnation (Revelation 22:17). If you choose to turn away from Christ into sin, though it grieves Him terribly, He will not rob you of your inherent free will.
Longsuffering: God is longsuffering; He puts up with our sins without immediately casting us into hell. This is because He wants everyone to be saved from our sins (2 Peter 3:9). We should be thankful for every day of life we are given, and consider each day an opportunity to learn our sins and repent, so we can be saved (2 Peter 3:15).
Faithful: God is faithful, trustworthy (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24); He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). As a young parent I sometimes lied to my children without meaning to do so. I promised them a treat or trip and later forgot or was unable to do what I had promised. I sinned against my children when I did that. God is not so. He always delivers what He promises.
Able: Unlike me, our Father is always able to do as He promises. Paul had delivered the keeping of his spirit to God in regard to the day of judgment, and he knew the Lord God was able to safely keep it for that day (2 Timothy 1:12). The Lord is stronger than Satan and will not allow the wicked one to send us such a strong temptation that we are unable to resist it (1 Corinthians 10:13). I can turn away from the Lord if I choose, but Satan cannot make me deny Christ or turn to sin. No one has to sin or turn away from the Lord.
Accessible: Our Father is accessible to His children. The deists of Ethan Allen’s day believed God created the world then simply withdrew into His heaven to watch what we do but never interfered in the affairs of men, leaving us completely to our own devices. Not so. God is near to His people (James 4:8). We have an Advocate, a High Priest, through whom we can boldly come into the very presence of God through prayer (1 John 2:1-2; Hebrews 4:14-16).
Active: Thus, again in direct contrast to the philosophy of deism, God is active though unseen in our salvation. He promises He will hear and answer our prayers that are in harmony with His will (1 John 5:14-15).
Means: We Walk
The means of our assurance of salvation is our walk, our manner of life. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
We can know God’s will. We have the ability to know the will of God for us. Those Christians to whom John wrote knew all things (1 John 2:20). We can have the same knowledge in the mystery of Christ the apostle Paul had (Ephesians 3:4). In fact, it is our duty to understand the will of God (Ephesians 5:17).
We can avoid sin. Brother Edgar J. Dye said a member of a congregation where he once preached claimed he couldn’t drive across town without sinning. Brother Dye informed him he needed to start repenting. Many brethren are so influenced by denominational teaching that we have a sinful nature that they view sin as unavoidable. We have all sinned (1 John 1:8, 10), but sin is not inevitable in our future lives. John wrote so that brethren would not sin, and told us what to do “if” rather than “when” we sin (1 John 2:1-2). Paul commanded us not to sin (1 Corinthians 15:34). Those who go on sinning belong to the devil rather than to Christ (1 John 3:8). The Lord’s “commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). They are within our ability and for our good.
We can know our sins. Since sin is a transgression of the will of God (1 John 3:4), and we can know God’s will, we can know whether or not we have sinned. We don’t accidentally sin. All sin springs from the heart and reveals a defect of the heart (Matthew 15:18-20).
We can know enough to go to heaven. There is danger in ignorance (Matthew 15:14), so we all need to become mature in knowledge and conduct (Hebrews 5:12 – 6:1). But there is security at various levels of maturity, so long as we are walking by the proper standard with the proper attitude (Philippians 3:15-16).
We don’t have to understand everything in the Bible. Some who are weak do not understand their liberties in Christ, which the strong comprehend (Romans 14:1-3). Regardless, as long as such a one is not transgressing the will of God, “God has received him” (Romans 14:3).
When we are unsure, we can refrain from a practice. The way we maintain our security as we mature from weak to strong is by refusing to participate in things we are not sure about (Romans 14:23) while refusing to censoriously judge those who do participate (Romans 14:3).
The sincere seeker will be successful. Now if I admit I might be wrong on a question of faith, and if I must repent of every sin to be forgiven of it (Acts 8:22), how can I have confidence in my salvation?
Faith. God who cannot lie has promised if I will sincerely seek His righteousness, I will receive it (Matthew 7:7-8). I must trust Him. I must believe “that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). If I am diligently, sincerely seeking to do His will, I will find and do His will, and He will ultimately save me in heaven.
Conclusion
My friend, If you lack confidence in your salvation, either you lack faith in God, or you know you are not living right, or both. Trust God to save you (Hebrews 11:6). If your heart condemns you for the life you are living, God is greater than you, and He knows your sins as well. If your heart, honestly guided by His word, does not condemn you, you have confidence toward God (1 John 3:20-21). This will bring great joy (1 John 1:4).
The story goes that a sail ship in the eighteenth century was off the coast of Maine when it was struck by a tremendous Nor’easter. As the gale force winds and mountainous waves were driving the struggling ship toward the jagged rocks of the coast, passengers were crying, praying, and singing. One little girl was perfectly calm. A frightened passenger asked her how she remain calm in the dire circumstances. She calmly replied, My daddy is the captain of the ship. He won’t let us be wrecked.
Friend, you can have confidence in your eternal salvation. Trust and obey the Captain of your salvation.
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”
(“Trust And Obey,” John H. Sammis)
