Assurance of Salvation

Salvation¹ is a work of God. More than that, salvation is solely a work of God. Assurance of salvation is only possible if salvation is only a work of God. If salvation depended upon man or man's ability, then assurance of salvation would be impossible for two questions would have to be answered:

The Scriptures make it clear that it is impossible for man to gain the approval of God and to attain his righteousness by doing good works. Isaiah wrote, "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment" (Is. 64.6a). This is the Old Testament witness of man's righteousness before God. The New Testament is consistent with this assessment. Paul summed up the problem with, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3.23). There has only been one righteous man and from that follows that there has only been one man's works which were satisfactory and approved by God. This is Jesus the Christ. The proof of Jesus' righteousness and the approval of his work on the cross for our sins was Jesus' resurrection from the dead. It is because of Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection that we can have assurance of salvation.

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrated His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart form the works of the Law" (Rom. 3.21-28 emphasis mine).

"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.' Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom. 4.1-5 emphasis mine).

Surely this Scripture is the greatest statement of hope and comfort ever written. It declares that righteousness is a free gift--we can not work for it.

"Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2.16 emphasis mine).

"I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly" (Gal. 2.21).

Is this clear? God's righteousness is available through exercising faith in Christ. Period. Each of us has sinned and is unrighteous before God. Only by exercising faith in Christ (in his death and resurrection) can we be justified before God. No amount of good works can achieve this. It does not matter if you have all the good deeds of a Mother Teresa or an Albert Schweitzer. None of these works count towards approval by God for salvation. The only way to God is by trusting in his Son, Jesus Christ.

God desires that all who have put their faith in Christ know that they have eternal life. The most important thing is to be saved and the second most important is to know it. The one who has trusted in Christ can be as certain that he will be in heaven as Christ is. Is this arrogance? No. It is not arrogant to believe what God has declared. It is not arrogant to depend on Christ's righteousness. It is not arrogant to believe that Christ's work satisfied the just demands of a holy God to pay the penalty for our sins. John wrote regarding this matter,

"And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 Jn. 5.11-13 emphasis mine).

Those who have the Son have eternal life. This is clear and plain English. Notice John says that we may know that we have eternal life. It is not something that is hoped for. It is something that can be known now. Furthermore, eternal life is not something for the future. It is a present posssession. Those who put their trust in Christ have, not will have, but have eternal life. How long does eternal life last? It lasts for eternity! What a wonderful assurance!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn 3.16).

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Eph. 2.8-9).

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Rom. 5.8-9).

Donald Grey Barnhouse recounted the following story of assurance of salvation of an old Scottish lady:

"The story goes that a young minister came to visit in the home of an aged woman who was dying. He was recently out of theological seminary and had more theology than Bible in his head, and had not known much of the experimental joys of long and close living with the Saviour in the knowledge and power of the divine love. He was somewhat appalled at the apparent joy and certainty of the patient and began to counsel her to give diligence to make her calling and election sure. But the dear old saint had been walking with the Lord for many a year and was long past the stage of learning the ABC's of the gospel. She gave a testimony so clear that the young man was frightened and pressed her to go back and be less presumptuous with God. She answered, 'Young man, if I should nae be in Heaven the guid Lord would lose more that I cauld ever lose.' This amazed him more than her first attitude, and he broke out at once, asking for an explanation. The old lady answered, "If I should nae be in Heaven all that I could lose would be my own soul, for that is all I have to lose. But if I should nae be in Heaven the guide Lord would lose His name and honor, for He has promised to save them to the uttermost that come to Him by Christ, and that is the way which I have come."²

One English hymn, which expresses a believer's security and relationship to God, says,

This is hope! Once a person exercises faith in Christ and his work a new relationship begins. He becomes a child of God with direct access to Him. This new relationship was illustrated by Dr. Barnhouse in the following story:

"During student days in France, I was the pastor of a little Evangelical Reformed Church in the French Alps. Once a week I went to a neighboring village for an instruction class for its children. En route, I passed the local priest who was on a similar errand in the opposite direction. We became good friends, and often stopped to chat. Once he asked why we do not pray to the saints. I replied by asking why we should pray to the saints. He launched into an explanation that involved an illustration of how one might get an interview with the president of the French Republic. One could go to the ministry of agriculture, or through the departments of war or finance etc. and any one of the cabinet members might succeed in opening the door of the president's office. He smiled with an air of triumph, as though to say that the simplicity and clarity of his argument would preclude any rebuttal. At that time Raymond Poincaré was President of France and lived in the Palace of the Elysée in Paris. I said, "But Monsieur le curé, suppose that I were the son of Monsieur Poincaré? I live in the Elysée with him. I get up from the breakfast table and kiss him goodbye as he goes to his office. Then I go down to the ministry of finance, for example, and ask the fourth secretary of the second assistant if it is possible for me to see the minister of finance. If I do succeed in reaching his office my request is for an interview with papa." My friend appeared thunderstruck, and I went on to say that I am a child of God, heir of God and joint-heir with Christ, that I have been saved through the death of the Savior and thus as a son I have immediate access to the Father."³

We begin new life in Christ through trusting in him and him alone. No amount of good deeds can approve us to God. Trusting in Christ is simply believing what God says. The Bible says that Christ died for your sins and was raised from the dead. This is the gospel. Do you believe it? Do you trust your life to what it says?

Some have confused the simple matter of trusting in Christ with unscriptural appeals to "invite Christ into your heart" or "accept Christ as your Savior". Such appeals while no doubt well-intentioned are not the gospel. We become Christians by believing in the person and work of Jesus on the cross for us and in his resurrection--not by "inviting Christ into our hearts"!

Is your trust for salvation in the fact that Christ died for you and was raised for you? Do you trust in Christ's death and resurrection on your behalf? If the answer is "yes", then you can be assured that you have eternal life and will spend eternity with Christ. Furthermore, salvation is not something that can be "lost" because you sin. Jesus' death solved the sin problem once and for all. What you do or do not do has no effect on your salvation because it is Christ's work that is sufficient before God. To believe that you can commit some sin and thereby "lose" your salvation is to believe that your sin is greater than Christ's sacrifice for you on the cross. It means that you believe that your work is greater than Christ's work. That is arrogance and it is also ridiculous! The silliest people in the world are those who teach that a believer in Christ can "lose" his salvation. Such a belief strikes at the very heart of Christ's work and insults the integrity of God. The only possible way one can "lose" salvation is to reject the work of Christ.

¹Salvation is defined by Christians as deliverance from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. This work is both immediate and ongoing. The moment one believes the gospel one is delivered from the penalty of sin. The believer is given a new nature which is alive to God that can fight against the old (i.e. Adamic) nature. The believer is also given the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12.13) as a deposit for the hopeful expectation of being finally delivered from the presence of sin. In salvation, God imputes his own righteousness to us and judicially declares us righteous in his sight. See also Salvation.

²Barnhouse, Donald Grey, Romans, Eerdmans, 1959, Book 3, God's Remedy, p. 66.

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