How can I have assurance of my salvation?

Quasar92 · Sep 22, 2017

How can you know for sure if you are saved? Consider 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Who is it that has the Son? It is those who have believed in Him and accepted Him (John 1:12). If you have Jesus, you have life. Not temporary life, but eternal.

God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We cannot live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether or not we are truly saved. That is why the Bible makes the plan of salvation so clear. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, that He died to pay the penalty for your sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)? Are you trusting Him alone for salvation? If your answer is yes, you are saved! Assurance means “having been put beyond all doubt.” By taking God's Word to heart, you can “put beyond all doubt” the fact and reality of your eternal salvation.

Jesus Himself affirms this regarding those who have believed in Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:28-29). Eternal life is just that—eternal. There is no one, not even yourself, who can take Christ's God-given gift of salvation away from you.

We hide God's Word in our hearts so that we do not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11), and this includes the sin of doubt. Take joy in what God's Word is saying to you, that instead of doubting we can live with confidence! We can have the assurance from Christ's own Word that our salvation will never be in question. Our assurance is based on God's love for us through Jesus Christ.

Recommended Resources:

Logos Bible Software and The Assurance of Our Salvation: Exploring the Depth of Jesus' Prayer for His Own by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

FSource: gotquestions.org

Quasar02

Aimz · Sep 22, 2017

Sometimes I think I take my salvation for granted I do not doubt it but I do worry about the amount I cause the Holy Spirit to grieve and how many tears I will cry when I pass through the fire to see if the things I have built on the foundation of Christ will last or melt away. I find a lot of things in Scripture by the Spirit easy to accept whereas some others find it difficult or never accept hard truths.
My faith is simple and I am simple minded but my faith is the richest thing I own and though I have nothing to recommend me I will boast in our LORD!

Quasar92 · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Sometimes I think I take my salvation for granted I do not doubt it but I do worry about the amount I cause the Holy Spirit to grieve and how many tears I will cry when I pass through the fire to see if the things I have built on the foundation of Christ will last or melt away. I find a lot of things in Scripture by the Spirit easy to accept whereas some others find it difficult or never accept hard truths.
My faith is simple and I am simple minded but my faith is the richest thing I own and though I have nothing to recommend me I will boast in our LORD!

No matter what, you will still be saved, as recorded in 1 Cor.3:15.

Quasar92

Wordkeeper · Sep 22, 2017

Quasar92 said:
How can you know for sure if you are saved? Consider 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Who is it that has the Son? It is those who have believed in Him and accepted Him (John 1:12). If you have Jesus, you have life. Not temporary life, but eternal.

God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We cannot live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether or not we are truly saved. That is why the Bible makes the plan of salvation so clear. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, that He died to pay the penalty for your sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)? Are you trusting Him alone for salvation? If your answer is yes, you are saved! Assurance means “having been put beyond all doubt.” By taking God's Word to heart, you can “put beyond all doubt” the fact and reality of your eternal salvation.

Jesus Himself affirms this regarding those who have believed in Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:28-29). Eternal life is just that—eternal. There is no one, not even yourself, who can take Christ's God-given gift of salvation away from you.

We hide God's Word in our hearts so that we do not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11), and this includes the sin of doubt. Take joy in what God's Word is saying to you, that instead of doubting we can live with confidence! We can have the assurance from Christ's own Word that our salvation will never be in question. Our assurance is based on God's love for us through Jesus Christ.

Recommended Resources:

Logos Bible Software and The Assurance of Our Salvation: Exploring the Depth of Jesus' Prayer for His Own by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

FSource: gotquestions.org

Quasar02

Wrong.

Having the Son is metonymy, synechdoch for suffering like Christ.

If you are not suffering, then you are illegitimate children.

Hebrews 12:8
8If you are not disciplined--and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Aimz · Sep 22, 2017

Please explain further for me, Quasar92 and Wordkeeper.
I thought synecdoche was a part of the whole or the whole for a part?

Wordkeeper · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Please explain further for me, Quasar92 and Wordkeeper.
I thought synecdoche was a part of the whole or the whole for a part?

When someone says 9/11, we picture the whole incident. Similarly when someone says he has the Son, it means he has been baptised into Christ's death.

Aimz · Sep 22, 2017

Thank you for replying, Wordkeeper.
So if you are not being persecuted for believing in Christ you are not truly saved?
Or if your conscience is not suffering when sin occurs you are not truly convicted by His Spirit?

bling · Sep 22, 2017

The indwelling Holy Spirit.

Wordkeeper · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Thank you for replying, Wordkeeper.
So if you are not being persecuted for believing in Christ you are not truly saved?
Or if your conscience is not suffering when sin occurs you are not truly convicted by His Spirit?

Eternal life is to know Jesus, know a person as Joseph knew Mary, be united with Jesus.

If you have the Son, you have eternal life.

Having the Son is having the ministry of blessing the world through delivering people from living self serving lives, set them free from slavery to selfishness, by demonstrating God's ability and willingness to make them blessings to the world too, if they are willing to be corageous.

Didn't God give Moses and Jesus ways to prove to those enslaved by self interest that He was able and willing to give them lives that could be used to serve others?

Didn't they make outrageous claims, claims that sparked persecution, and didn't God confirm those claims with signs and save them from death at the hands of mobs?

Aimz · Sep 22, 2017

Yes I agree. I think if you trust Jesus in who he says he is and in what he says he came for and in what he says he will do then you have eternal life and the evidence for self assurance of his spirit being in you and sanctifying you is made tangible through the daily exercising of faith and witness.

Wordkeeper · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Yes I agree. I think if you trust Jesus in who he says he is and in what he says he came for and in what he says he will do then you have eternal life and the evidence for self assurance of his spirit being in you and sanctifying you is made tangible through the daily exercising of faith and witness.

Very good summary! You said in a few words what I struggled to do in many.

Aimz · Sep 22, 2017

Thank you, Wordkeeper. I shall treasure that feedback I usually get told off for being too wordy!

Wordkeeper said:
Very good summary! You said in a few words what I struggled to do in many.

iwbswiaihl2 · Sep 22, 2017

Quasar92 said:
How can you know for sure if you are saved? Consider 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Who is it that has the Son? It is those who have believed in Him and accepted Him (John 1:12). If you have Jesus, you have life. Not temporary life, but eternal.

God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We cannot live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether or not we are truly saved. That is why the Bible makes the plan of salvation soclear. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, that He died to pay the penalty for your sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)? Are you trusting Him alone for salvation? If your answer is yes, you are saved! Assurance means “having been put beyond all doubt.” By taking God's Word to heart, you can “put beyond all doubt” the fact and reality of your eternal salvation.

Jesus Himself affirms this regarding those who have believed in Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:28-29). Eternal life is just that—eternal. There is no one, not even yourself, who can take Christ's God-given gift of salvation away from you.

We hide God's Word in our hearts so that we do not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11), and this includes the sin of doubt. Take joy in what God's Word is saying to you, that instead of doubting we can live with confidence! We can have the assurance from Christ's own Word that our salvation will never be in question. Our assurance is based on God's love for us through Jesus Christ.

Recommended Resources:

Logos Bible Software and The Assurance of Our Salvation: Exploring the Depth of Jesus' Prayer for His Own by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

FSource: gotquestions.org

Quasar02

Wordkeeper · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Thank you, Wordkeeper. I shall treasure that feedback I usually get told off for being too wordy!

South Londoners!

faroukfarouk · Sep 22, 2017

Aimz said:
Yes I agree. I think if you trust Jesus in who he says he is and in what he says he came for and in what he says he will do then you have eternal life and the evidence for self assurance of his spirit being in you and sanctifying you is made tangible through the daily exercising of faith and witness.

John's First Epistle has a lot of material about assurance of faith; how it is to be found.

iwbswiaihl2 · Sep 22, 2017

Just wanting to remind others that the wages of sin are death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So once that is taken away there remains nothing that can separate the believer from having eternal life in Christ. Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. Those who live by faith are not as this verse says charged with/imputed with sin. Not a license to sin of course, but no wages of for that sin resulting in eternal death. Add this passage which I highly thank the Lord for giving, Rom 8:1l-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, a who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Notice no condemnation, why, v2 for the law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus has me free from the law of sin death. Where there is no law, makes the believer free----from the law of sin and death. How great is that?

Quasar92 · Sep 22, 2017

Wordkeeper said:
Wrong.

Having the Son is metonymy, synechdoch for suffering like Christ.

If you are not suffering, then you are illegitimate children.

Hebrews 12:8
8If you are not disciplined--and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Baloney! At 94 years of age I have suffered more than you would care to know. Which has Zippo to do with my salvation - or what the Bible teaches about it in Jn.3:16; Rom.10:9-10 and in Eph.1:13-14, as well as in many other places.

Quasar92

Wordkeeper · Sep 23, 2017

Quasar92 said:
Baloney! At 94 years of age I have suffered more than you would care to know. Which has Zippo to do with my salvation - or what the Bible teaches about it in Jn.3:16; Rom.10:9-10 and in Eph.1:13-14, as well as in many other places.

Quasar92

What did God ask Moses, Paul and Jesus to do?

To turn people away from dependence on mammon to dependence on God.

Dependence on mammon requires little risk, much work, and results in treasure that rusts , bread that requires replenishment because it does not satisfy hunger permanently and water which only quenches temporarily.

Dependence on God requires much faith and great risk, and leads to treasure, wages, bread and water that last forever.

Were the listeners of Moses, Paul and Jesus believers? Not all. They preferred the low risk, and hard work of serving mammon for low but visible and immediate returns.

Were Moses, Paul and Jesus in danger when they preached God’s message?

Sure, because the people thought they were liars, teaching that God would act on their behalf, fight for them, give them water from wells they did not dig, fruit from trees they did not plant. That was so outrageous, who could believe such a thing? On top of that, it required tests of faith to reach those rewards, crossing a great desert, persistence under testing by deprivation of food and water and safety. Even though God had given Moses, Paul and Jesus the power to manifest God’s ability and willingness to transport them to those rewards.

Since God had given Moses, Paul and Jesus proof of those abilities and willingness, they set out to show the people that God was indeed involved, that He was with them.

So picking up the cross was what Moses, Paul and Jesus did daily, telling people to repent, turn away from serving mammon, to serve God, by spreading his message of caring for others, even though it seemed non intuitive counterproductive to stop working and depend on God for providing. It is called picking up the cross because it is dangerous, people will attack you for giving foolish advice, persecute you. It is made easy because God gives us ways to prove that the message is indeed God's will for humans.

So have you told people to leave serving mammon/Egypt/the world for selfish reasons and turn to serving God by spreading His message for unselfish reasons? Have you been attacked either literally or figuratively, physically or through criticism and survived, been vindicated/raised up?

If so, you have the Son. Recognition that God is with you. Success in doing God’s work. Are in God’s good books. Have his grace. Irrespective of whether the people believe you. Because His grace is sufficient, is the only thing necessary.

2 Corinthians 11:23-33
23Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from mycountrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

30If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

2 Corinthians 12:12
12The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.

Philippians 3:7-11
7But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Galatians 6:17
From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:10
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

2 Corinthians 5:20
20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

How can I have assurance of my salvation?

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