Having established that assurance of salvation is first, necessary; and second, the will of God, I wish to establish now the sources of my assurance. From where does my assurance come? When I make bold statements regarding my salvation, on what grounds do I make those statements? Do I have a right to make such statements? Perhaps the reader may believe that I am presumptuous in making a statement of absolute, positive assurance of my salvation. However, any statement of mine that reveals my assurance of salvation is not presumptuous; it rather has valid sources. I will look now at those sources.
The Spirit of God Says I’m Saved!
John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” If you are a child of God, you became His child by believing on Him. One does not become a child of God by obeying laws and commandments; one does not become a child of God by keeping sacraments or ordinances; one does not become a child of God by dressing a certain way. It is by believing. I have stated a few times in this blog that “believing” is not merely believing in God’s existence (the devils do that, but they are not saved, James 2:19). “Believing” is not mentally affirming that Jesus died upon the cross. Biblical “believing” is associated with faith. Hebrews 11:6 bears this out – “But without FAITH it is impossible to him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Believing is “placing faith in.” It is casting off every feeble, sorry, lousy effort to save yourself, and completely trusting Jesus Christ to save you. This is what makes you a child of God, according to the Bible.
When you become a child of God by believing on Jesus Christ, the Father places His Spirit within your heart. Galatians 4:6 states this plainly – “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Why does God send the Spirit of his Son into our hearts? Not because we “live right;” not because we are baptized; not because we “dress right;” not because we keep laws and commandments; not because we are faithful to church; not because we tarried for eight and a half years; but BECAUSE WE ARE SONS, or CHILDREN OF GOD. God’s Spirit, the Holy Ghost, lives within a person when they become a son or daughter of God. Notice Romans 8:9 – “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you: now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Some interpret this to mean that, if a person is not FILLED with the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues, they are not saved. This is error. I have already shown, that in John 1:12, you belong to God, becoming His son or daughter, by believing on His name. If you belong to God, you are His son or daughter, and you have His Spirit living within you.
When you are saved, and God’s Spirit moves into your heart, he lets you know that you are saved.
Romans 8:14-16 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
I John 3:23, 24 – “And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandment dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
I John 4:13 – “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
These verses tell us that we know we are saved, because the Holy Ghost lives in us! This does not mean that you will always “feel like praising God and shouting.” This does not mean that you will always “feel saved.” Now, listen to me closely. Even when I struggle with doing what the Lord wants me to do, this gives me assurance of my salvation. Shocking? It shouldn’t be. When I was lost, I didn’t care about what pleased God. I did my own thing, and it never dawned on me what God wanted me to do. Before the Lord saved me, I cursed all the time. It never bothered me. After I got saved, I immediately quit cursing! I had no desire for it. The reason I did not want to curse any more, is because the Spirit of God lived in my heart! The flesh was accustomed to it; but the Spirit fought against it! If I would’ve cursed after I received salvation, it would’ve bothered me greatly. Why is this? It never bothered me before. It bothers me now because I have an inward man inside who has been regenerated. He lives by the Spirit of God who lives within. When a part of you wants to please God, but the other part desires the things of the world, it is because there is a struggle in you between the Holy Ghost and your flesh. THIS STRUGGLE WOULD NOT BE PRESENT IF THE SPIRIT OF GOD DID NOT LIVE IN YOU! The very fact that there is a struggle where there was no struggle before is evidence that God’s Spirit dwells in you, and you are a child of God!
The Word of God Says I’m Saved
An even greater witness to my salvation is the Word of God. God’s Word, the Bible, testifies that I am saved. In my previous post, I discussed some verses that state plainly that we can know that we have eternal life. However, the scriptures give more assurance than just those verses.
I am going to give a list of scriptures that tell us explicitly how to obtain everlasting, or eternal life. The scriptures are very clear about this. When the Bible tells you clearly what to do to be saved, and you do it, this gives you solid assurance that you are saved. If the Bible would have said, “Place your hand on top of your head, and thou shalt be saved,” and I respond by placing my hand on top of my head, what does that make me? SAVED! If salvation were attained by me placing my hand on top of my head, that would be a simple salvation. But did you know that not everyone can place their hand on top of their head? They would be left out of salvation’s plan. But God’s plan of salvation is easier than that! Even people who cannot place their hand on top of their head can be saved. I am going to give a list of verses that explicitly and clearly show that salvation is obtained simply by believing on Jesus Christ, and by nothing else.
Many of these verses in this list will be from the book of John. In John’s gospel, Jesus makes it extremely clear that everlasting life is gained by believing on Him. As a matter of fact, according to John 20:31, the gospel of John was written solely for the purpose of showing us that everlasting life is attained by believing on Jesus Christ! When God puts an entire book of the Bible in place to show you that everlasting life is attained by believing in Christ, you might want to think about believing that everlasting life is attained by believing in Christ. It never ceases to amaze me how people who have supposedly been ministers of the gospel for many years, and yet do not understand the gospel of John. In John’s gospel, when everlasting life is mentioned, you will notice that everlasting life is always accompanied with a verb in the present tense – “He that believeth on the Son HATH (or, has) everlasting life.” When you believe on Christ, you have, right now, everlasting life! I am not waiting to see if I’m going to have everlasting life; I have it at this very moment! This is nothing short of blessed assurance! Look at these verses closely:
John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
John 3:14-18 – “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36 – “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 5:24 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
John 6:28, 29 – “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:35 – “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
John 6:40 – “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:47 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
John 8:24 – “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
John 11:25, 26 – “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
John 12:46 – “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
John 20:31 – “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
Acts 8:36, 37 – “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 10:43 – “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
Acts 13:39 – “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
Acts 16:30 – “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Romans 3:21, 22 – “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
Romans 3:26 – “To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Romans 10:9-13 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I Corinthians 1:21 – “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
Galatians 3:22 – “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
I Timothy 4:10 – “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
Hebrews 4:3 – “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
Hebrews 10:39 – “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
These are not all the scriptures that declare that salvation is attained by believing. Others make it clear that is not by works, but by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:19: Galatians 2:21; Romans 3:25; and others).
So, there are many things of which I am not sure. But one thing of which I am absolutely, positively sure. I am sure that I am trusting Jesus Christ and Him alone for full salvation, and the scriptures say that, in this case, I presently possess everlasting life. There is only one possible way that I, who am presently trusting Jesus Christ solely for my salvation, could be lost. The Bible would have to be wrong. Therefore, I will lose no sleep tonight worrying about whether or not I’m saved. I am not presumptuous to have assurance of salvation; I have the greatest sources in the world to testify that I am saved – The Spirit within me and the Word before me!
So, upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His Word, I say it again – “If I’m not saved, nobody’s saved!”
The Spirit of God Says I’m Saved!
John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” If you are a child of God, you became His child by believing on Him. One does not become a child of God by obeying laws and commandments; one does not become a child of God by keeping sacraments or ordinances; one does not become a child of God by dressing a certain way. It is by believing. I have stated a few times in this blog that “believing” is not merely believing in God’s existence (the devils do that, but they are not saved, James 2:19). “Believing” is not mentally affirming that Jesus died upon the cross. Biblical “believing” is associated with faith. Hebrews 11:6 bears this out – “But without FAITH it is impossible to him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Believing is “placing faith in.” It is casting off every feeble, sorry, lousy effort to save yourself, and completely trusting Jesus Christ to save you. This is what makes you a child of God, according to the Bible.
When you become a child of God by believing on Jesus Christ, the Father places His Spirit within your heart. Galatians 4:6 states this plainly – “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Why does God send the Spirit of his Son into our hearts? Not because we “live right;” not because we are baptized; not because we “dress right;” not because we keep laws and commandments; not because we are faithful to church; not because we tarried for eight and a half years; but BECAUSE WE ARE SONS, or CHILDREN OF GOD. God’s Spirit, the Holy Ghost, lives within a person when they become a son or daughter of God. Notice Romans 8:9 – “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you: now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Some interpret this to mean that, if a person is not FILLED with the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues, they are not saved. This is error. I have already shown, that in John 1:12, you belong to God, becoming His son or daughter, by believing on His name. If you belong to God, you are His son or daughter, and you have His Spirit living within you.
When you are saved, and God’s Spirit moves into your heart, he lets you know that you are saved.
Romans 8:14-16 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
I John 3:23, 24 – “And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandment dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
I John 4:13 – “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
These verses tell us that we know we are saved, because the Holy Ghost lives in us! This does not mean that you will always “feel like praising God and shouting.” This does not mean that you will always “feel saved.” Now, listen to me closely. Even when I struggle with doing what the Lord wants me to do, this gives me assurance of my salvation. Shocking? It shouldn’t be. When I was lost, I didn’t care about what pleased God. I did my own thing, and it never dawned on me what God wanted me to do. Before the Lord saved me, I cursed all the time. It never bothered me. After I got saved, I immediately quit cursing! I had no desire for it. The reason I did not want to curse any more, is because the Spirit of God lived in my heart! The flesh was accustomed to it; but the Spirit fought against it! If I would’ve cursed after I received salvation, it would’ve bothered me greatly. Why is this? It never bothered me before. It bothers me now because I have an inward man inside who has been regenerated. He lives by the Spirit of God who lives within. When a part of you wants to please God, but the other part desires the things of the world, it is because there is a struggle in you between the Holy Ghost and your flesh. THIS STRUGGLE WOULD NOT BE PRESENT IF THE SPIRIT OF GOD DID NOT LIVE IN YOU! The very fact that there is a struggle where there was no struggle before is evidence that God’s Spirit dwells in you, and you are a child of God!
The Word of God Says I’m Saved
An even greater witness to my salvation is the Word of God. God’s Word, the Bible, testifies that I am saved. In my previous post, I discussed some verses that state plainly that we can know that we have eternal life. However, the scriptures give more assurance than just those verses.
I am going to give a list of scriptures that tell us explicitly how to obtain everlasting, or eternal life. The scriptures are very clear about this. When the Bible tells you clearly what to do to be saved, and you do it, this gives you solid assurance that you are saved. If the Bible would have said, “Place your hand on top of your head, and thou shalt be saved,” and I respond by placing my hand on top of my head, what does that make me? SAVED! If salvation were attained by me placing my hand on top of my head, that would be a simple salvation. But did you know that not everyone can place their hand on top of their head? They would be left out of salvation’s plan. But God’s plan of salvation is easier than that! Even people who cannot place their hand on top of their head can be saved. I am going to give a list of verses that explicitly and clearly show that salvation is obtained simply by believing on Jesus Christ, and by nothing else.
Many of these verses in this list will be from the book of John. In John’s gospel, Jesus makes it extremely clear that everlasting life is gained by believing on Him. As a matter of fact, according to John 20:31, the gospel of John was written solely for the purpose of showing us that everlasting life is attained by believing on Jesus Christ! When God puts an entire book of the Bible in place to show you that everlasting life is attained by believing in Christ, you might want to think about believing that everlasting life is attained by believing in Christ. It never ceases to amaze me how people who have supposedly been ministers of the gospel for many years, and yet do not understand the gospel of John. In John’s gospel, when everlasting life is mentioned, you will notice that everlasting life is always accompanied with a verb in the present tense – “He that believeth on the Son HATH (or, has) everlasting life.” When you believe on Christ, you have, right now, everlasting life! I am not waiting to see if I’m going to have everlasting life; I have it at this very moment! This is nothing short of blessed assurance! Look at these verses closely:
John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
John 3:14-18 – “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36 – “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 5:24 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
John 6:28, 29 – “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
John 6:35 – “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
John 6:40 – “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:47 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
John 8:24 – “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
John 11:25, 26 – “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
John 12:46 – “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
John 20:31 – “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
Acts 8:36, 37 – “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 10:43 – “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
Acts 13:39 – “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
Acts 16:30 – “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Romans 3:21, 22 – “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
Romans 3:26 – “To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Romans 10:9-13 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I Corinthians 1:21 – “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
Galatians 3:22 – “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
I Timothy 4:10 – “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
Hebrews 4:3 – “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
Hebrews 10:39 – “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
These are not all the scriptures that declare that salvation is attained by believing. Others make it clear that is not by works, but by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:19: Galatians 2:21; Romans 3:25; and others).
So, there are many things of which I am not sure. But one thing of which I am absolutely, positively sure. I am sure that I am trusting Jesus Christ and Him alone for full salvation, and the scriptures say that, in this case, I presently possess everlasting life. There is only one possible way that I, who am presently trusting Jesus Christ solely for my salvation, could be lost. The Bible would have to be wrong. Therefore, I will lose no sleep tonight worrying about whether or not I’m saved. I am not presumptuous to have assurance of salvation; I have the greatest sources in the world to testify that I am saved – The Spirit within me and the Word before me!
So, upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His Word, I say it again – “If I’m not saved, nobody’s saved!”
