The primary ground of assurance is rooted in the promises of God, but those promises must become increasingly real to the believer through the subjective evidences of grace and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.
Feed My Sheep, ed. Don Kistler, Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 2002, p. 123.
The primary ground of assurance is rooted in the promises of God, but those promises must become increasingly real to the believer through the subjective evidences of grace and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.
Focusing on Christ, Reformation 21, April 21, 2020. Used by Permission.
Three means by which God assures us that we do have eternal life:
1. The promises of His Word.
2. The witness of the Spirit in our hearts.
3. The transforming work of the Spirit in our lives.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 150. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
It is not only by grace alone that we become God’s people but by grace alone we remain His people.
The Holy Spirit is the one who gives assurance, not the evangelist or any other person. We are to help people understand the basis of assurance, but leave the actual assuring to the Spirit.
A Close Look at Invitations and Altar Calls, Shepherds Conference, Grace Community Church.
The Holy Spirit has no skeptic. He has written neither doubt nor mere opinion into our hearts, but rather solid assurances, which are more sure and solid that all experience and even life itself.
Letter to Erasmus.
The Bible teaches clearly that the evidence of God’s work in a life is the inevitable fruit of transformed behavior (1 John 3:10). Faith that does not result in righteous living is dead and cannot save (James 2:14-17). Professing Christians utterly lacking the fruit of true righteousness will find no biblical basis for assurance they are saved (1 John 2:4). Real salvation is not only justification. It cannot be isolated from regeneration, sanctification, and ultimately glorification. Salvation is an ongoing process as much as it is a past event. It is the work of God through which we are “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29, cf. Romans 13:11). Genuine assurance comes from seeing the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in one’s life, not from clinging to the memory of some experience.
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 23. Get this book!
The worst thing you can do to somebody is talk to them about Christ, and when they’ve prayed a prayer and verbally invited Christ in their life, then to sit there and assure them they’re really saved, because you don’t have any idea whether they are. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work; He’s the one who grants assurance, and He grants it by the inward testimony, Romans 8, and by the outer exhibit of works that prove it, because faith without works is what? It’s dead.
Grace to You Radio, Examine Yourselves Whether You Be in the Faith, Part 1.
Our security is not our grip on Christ, but His grip on us (David Smith).
Epistles of John, 1897.
Our perseverance is a gift from God. In our salvation, God blesses us with assurance through His gift of perseverance (2 Thessalonians 3:5). However, many Christians lack full assurance of their salvation because their understanding of assurance is founded on the constantly changing emotions of their hearts rather than on the eternal Word of God.
Assured by God, P&R, 2006, p. 19-20. Used by Permission. Get this book!
It is only in proportion as the Christian manifests the fruit of a genuine conversion that he is entitled to regard himself and be regarded by others as one of the called and elect of God. It is just in proportion as we add to our faith the other Christian graces that we have solid ground on which to rest in the assurance we belong to the family of Christ. It is not those who are governed by self-will, but “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
What is the one thing that cuts us off from heaven? The answer is unbelief. Not trusting God. Not living “by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us” (Gal. 2:20). So what does [1 Peter 1] verse 5 mean then when it says we are “protected [from losing our final salvation] by the power of God through faith.” It means that God’s power protects us for salvation by sustaining our faith. The only thing that can keep us from heaven is forsaking our faith in Christ, and turning to other hopes, other treasures. So to protect us God prevents that. He inspires and nourishes and strengthens and builds our faith. And in doing this he secures us against the only thing that could destroy us; unbelief, lack of trust in God.
Sermon, The Elect Are Kept By the Power of God, October 17, 1993, www.desiringgod.org, Used by Permission.
1. The Spirit awakens a person’s heart. 2. The Spirit teaches a person’s mind. 3. The Spirit leads to the Word. 4. The Spirit convinces of sin. 5. The Spirit draws to Christ. 6. The Spirit sanctifies. 7. The Spirit makes a person spiritually minded. 8. The Spirit produces inward conflict. 9. The Spirit makes a person love the brethren. 10. The Spirit teaches a person to pray. These are the great marks of the Holy Spirit’s presence. Put the question to your conscience and ask: Has the Spirit done anything of this kind for your soul?
Our security is not in our own strength or feeble freewill, but in His strength and His will, it is not (as much about) us holding on to Him but the Good Shepherd holding on to us (Psm. 18:35).
Sermon, Can I Trust God? Lamentations 3:19-23, August 16, 2020.
The basis for our security in salvation is not ultimately our righteousness or obedience but God’s promise, God’s power, God’s purpose, and most of all God’s passionate love for us in Christ. God is committed to preserving us in faith, for if we were to stumble so as to fully and finally fall away, God stands more to lose than we do.
A Defense of the Perseverance of the Saints – Part II, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
We should find the assurance of our salvation in the objective truth of God’s Word. We should have confident trust that we are saved based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.
Got Questions, How can I have assurance of my salvation? Used by Permission.
