Why So Many Have No Assurance
The reader may deem my analysis of assurance irrelevant. However, when I speak to so many church-goers who know little or nothing of the subject, I am convinced thoroughly of its relevance. You may say, “But the subject of assurance is so basic.” I say, “You are right.” Still, so many in the church lack it, in spite of the fact that it is basic.
It is appalling that in the church we have faith for almost every circumstance. If you were to ask someone in the church whether they believe Jesus can heal a child with cancer, the reply is likely to be an instant, resounding “Absolutely!” If I were inquire of you whether you believed Jesus can perform miracles, supply great financial needs, control the winds and waves, and keep a hand of protection upon someone who is many miles away, the answer would be a clear “Yea, and Amen!” But when I ask someone whether they believe that Jesus Christ has saved them to the uttermost, and that they are saved this very moment, and that He which hath begun a good work in them WILL perform it until the day of Jesus Christ – their tone changes. Their level of confidence drops dramatically. Their faith dwindles. Suddenly, the ability of Jesus Christ to save depends on their abilities. The bottom line is this – so many have little or no assurance of their salvation. It is sad, but ever so true. I don’t know how people trust the Lord to heal them, meet their financial needs, and take care of their loved ones, but cannot fully and completely trust Him to save and keep their eternal souls.
In my two previous posts, I have spoken of my own salvation with absolute certainty, complete confidence, and positively full assurance. My salvation is not followed by a question mark; it is followed rather with a series of exclamation points! When you read my two previous posts, you may have thought that I was too confident of my salvation. But how can one be too sure of their salvation, when its author and finisher is Jesus Christ? My salvation hinges on the ability of my Saviour to save. And I am reminded in scripture that He is mighty to save! How about your saviour? Is he as mighty to save as my Saviour? Some have read the bold statements I made concerning my salvation, and as they read it, they said to themselves, “I wish I were that sure!” But I say to each one who desires to have solid assurance, that you can have it! If you lack assurance, then this post is for you. I am going to look at just a few reasons why some have little or no assurance.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Are Not Saved
This may seem obvious, but I am not in the business of supplying anyone with a false assurance. I do not wish to make anyone believe they are saved if they are not. Many churches today are fearful of giving people a false assurance, so they offer no assurance at all. Having no assurance is bad; but having a false assurance is far worse. The man who has no hope of any assurance may seek some hope and assurance and find it. The man who has a false assurance will believe that he is all right, and will die in his sins. As I showed in detail in my previous post, the Bible offers truckloads of assurance to the one who believes on Jesus Christ. You can go back and read the long list of verses I provided. You will find that “he that believeth hath everlasting life;” “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” and many other words of assurance. If you trust Jesus Christ and Him alone to save you, you are saved, and you have full assurance of this salvation in the Word of God. But if you are trusting in anything other than Jesus Christ, it is no wonder you have no assurance of salvation; you have no salvation of which to be assured. If a person admits to having no assurance that they are saved, the first step is make sure that they are indeed trusting Jesus Christ to save them.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Do Not “Feel Saved”
Many preachers today are the blame for so many doubting their salvation due to feeling. Preachers sometimes get people to come to an altar, and weep, pray, beat the altar, sniff snot, and everything else. Then, after an hour or so, these preachers will ask the one praying to be saved, “Do you feel like the Lord saved you?” That’s the wrong question to ask. It is completely irrelevant whether a person seeking salvation FEELS saved or not. Many preachers today do not even know how to tell someone how to be saved. If you were to ask some preachers what you must do to be saved, their reply would be, “Oh, just kneel down here and pray until you feel like God saved you.” What’s the problem with that? If someone prays until they “feel like the Lord saved them,” what are they going to do in a few days when they wake up and…don’t feel saved? I’ll tell you what they’re going to do – they’re going to doubt their salvation. Instead of instructing a seeker to pray until “they feel” like the Lord saved them, we preachers need to instruct them to believe (trust in, place faith in, depend on, rely on) the Lord Jesus Christ to save them. Then, we can show them a vast number of scriptures that plainly state that if we believe on Jesus Christ, we are saved. This will give them a rock-solid assurance for times when they do not “feel saved.” “Feeling” has nothing to do with actual salvation. One preacher said it this way – “I do not know I’m saved because I feel good; I feel good because I know I’m saved!”
Some Have No Assurance Because Their Experience Does Not Match Someone Else’s
If you are saved, you and I have one thing in common. We both have trusted Jesus Christ to save us. Other than this similarity, our salvation experience may be vastly different. It is often the fault of someone who is saved to try to impose their exact experience on everyone else. Sometimes, people think that if they cried when they got saved, everyone needs to cry when they get saved. But that is not the case. In the Bible, the jailhouse shook when the jailer got saved; but nothing shook when Saul of Tarsus got saved. Saul of Tarsus had a vision when he got saved; but the publican in the temple had no vision when he got saved. The publican in the temple smote his breast when he got saved; but Zacchaeus didn’t smite his breast when he got saved. Are you getting the picture? Just because your experience isn’t like someone else’s is no reason to doubt your salvation, as long as you are trusting Jesus Christ.
I thank God daily for my salvation experience. I was sitting on the front pew in a Baptist church. The gospel was made plain. I had determined to go to the altar and receive salvation as soon as the invitation was given. The invitation was given, and I went. I was not going to the altar to “see if God would save me;” I was going to the altar “to get saved.” I was not experimenting; I knew for a fact that God was absolutely going to save me when I called upon Him, because He said He would! This is faith. This is what it means to believe. When I knelt at the altar, I was there for a very short time. I know I was there for less than ten minutes, possibly less than five. I don’t believe I shed any tears, but I really do not remember. But I know for a fact that I trusted Jesus Christ to save me completely, and that is exactly what He did! At that moment, salvation was mine!
I know others who, contrary to my salvation experience, wept for a long time when they got saved. I know some who beat the altar, and begged and pleaded with God for hours to save them. I know of others who claim to have sought God for days, weeks, and months before they obtained salvation. If this is your experience, I am not knocking it. I will tell you this. If it took you four hours, four days, four weeks, or four months to get saved, it didn’t take God that long to save you. He saved you the very split second you trusted Him to do so with all your heart. The moment you believed is the moment you were saved. I’ll tell you something else. You may have prayed a lot longer to be saved than I did, but when you finally got saved, you were not a bit more saved than I was when I got saved! My point is that everyone is not going to have the same experience when we get saved. Some will kneel; others will stand. Some will pray softly; others will pray loudly. Some will be emotional; some will be still. It is trusting Christ that saves, regardless of anything else about your experience.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Are Not Sure of What it Takes to Be Saved
This is a big one. It is somewhat obvious, but it is very true. This is especially true of those who are saved by grace, but kept by works. Once you put works in the plan of salvation, there is usually no assurance that one has performed enough works to satisfy the Father. In short, the one who believes in justification by works never knows how many works it takes to be saved; and, as a result, they are never assured that they have performed enough works to be saved. I heard a preacher on a CD some time ago. In his message, he made this statement – “I have been ‘resaved’ six times…and I think I’m going to have to be ‘resaved’ a seventh.” I’ll say first that the word, “resaved” is not in the Bible. What this preacher is saying is simple: He does not know if he is saved or not. You may ask, “Why isn’t he sure of his salvation?” He reveals that information at the end of his message, when he makes this statement – “Folks, I don’t know what it takes to go heaven. Being saved has something to do with it, but if I read the Bible right, it’s going to take a lot more than that.” Well, although he is obviously confused, it is crystal clear to me – this man doesn’t know what exactly it takes to go to heaven; so he naturally cannot know if he’s doing it all!
If you’re not sure how to be saved, you can’t be sure that you are saved! The Bible is plain on what it takes to be saved. I listed a multitude of verses in the previous post. They tell explicitly how to be saved. It is believing on the Son of God that saves. When you do this, the scriptures repeatedly proclaim that you saved. This is the place from where assurance comes!
Some Have No Assurance Because They Have an Overall Mindset That Salvation is Difficult
“It’s a close walk,” “I’m striving to make heaven my home,” and other phrases such as these prevail in churches where “assurance” is a byword. Perhaps the reader has not heard these phrases. Allow me to explain their meaning. When someone gets up and says, “It’s a close walk,” what they mean is this – salvation is so fickle, so hard to attain, and ever so difficult to maintain that they are going to go to hell if they hold their mouth the wrong way. They believe that their final salvation and eternal heavenly home depends on how close they keep the laws of God, and has nothing to do with Jesus’ work on the cross. Oh, they may mention the cross once in a while, but they don’t believe in it. They don’t cling to it. They don’t believe that Christ’s work upon it is sufficient to save them completely. To them, the cross is a decent start, but we’re going to have finish our salvation by doing right things and abstaining from wrong things. The Galatians thought the same thing when they were so heavily rebuked by Paul. In Galatians 3:3 – “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Paul demanded an answer. “You began your walk with God trusting in Christ’s work to save you, and you’re going to finish your walk with God by your own works?” This may sound shocking, but the crowd who thinks salvation is difficult desires no assurance. They hate the thought of someone having assurance. They do not know if they are fully saved, and they do not want you to know either. If I were to make some of the statements I’ve made concerning assurance in my most recent posts to some pastors, they would have quickly quoted I Corinthians 10:12 to me – “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.” It says, “Let him that thinketh he standeth…” What they are missing about this verse is the fact that I do not believe that I’m standing. My salvation has to do with whether the Saviour is yet standing. It is HIS saving power, keeping power, and standing power that gives me assurance; not mine! The one who thinks salvation is difficult – they’re the ones who think that they are standing. They are standing on their own abilities and works. I’ve got enough sense to know that if the Father is pleased with the Son and His work on Calvary (and He absolutely is), I need to trust the atoning work of Christ!
Salvation is free to us, but it is not cheap. It cost the Saviour dearly. He paid a great price, but He purchased a great plan! What the Father demanded for our salvation IS difficult; but Jesus Christ supplied the hard part at the cross. If you think salvation is hard (for us), you need to get on your knees, open your Bible to Isaiah 53, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19, and read those passages on your knees. These are the passages of the crucifixion of Christ. If you believe that salvation is hard, you need to take a long, hard look at Calvary. You missed something. Jesus did not die the cruel death he suffered to make it hard for us to be saved. He concluded His sufferings on the cross with the words, “It is finished.” If it is finished, why do so many add so much to it?
Conclusion
What’s the big deal about assurance? What difference does it make how sure I am of my salvation? Lack of assurance is, first, an assault on the Word of God. When the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” and you claim that you believe on Him, and you still do not know if that is enough to save you or not, you are proclaiming that you are not sure if you believe the Bible. It is God’s Word you are assaulting. If you are certain that you believe on Christ, but somehow you don’t know if God meant what He said when He said, “Thou shalt be saved,” you need to repent. You need to ask God to forgive you for doubting His word! Lack of assurance is, secondly, an assault on the work of God. Jesus performed the saving work upon the cross. To say that you have believed on Christ and are not sure of your salvation is to say that you are not sure if His work upon the cross is enough. What an assault to the cross! It is enough! It needs nothing added to it! Baptism won’t complete it; it is already complete. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost won’t finish it; Jesus already said, “It is finished!” Good works won’t complete it; Galatians 2:21 says that the trusting in good works frustrates, or voids it. The work of Christ upon the cross is complete, and it is sufficient to save anyone who will trust Jesus Christ today.
Let me give a final word for preachers before I close. The job of the preacher is to make the ways of God plain. If there is a preacher reading this who has no assurance of salvation, and does not preach assurance of salvation, you need to get out of the ministry and make an honest living. Stop robbing God’s people. If you cannot tell someone who is lost exactly what to do to be saved, and show them by the scriptures that they most certainly are saved, then you are robbing God’s people. You may say, “I don’t get a salary.” Then get out of the ministry and quit robbing God’s people of their time. You may think that your calling is to teach people how to live. But if you can’t even show someone how to get saved and know it, you have nothing to teach me about how to live. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if a person doesn’t know addition and subtraction, he has no business trying to teach me algebra. And if you don’t know the basics of salvation and assurance, the ministry is not for you. You’re either not called or not true to your calling. God didn’t call you to preach how hard it is to be saved. God didn’t call you to preach salvation by works. God didn’t call you to preach baptismal regeneration. God didn’t call you to preach salvation in speaking in tongues. If God called you to preach, He called you to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’re preaching these other doctrines I’ve mentioned, I know you’re not preaching the gospel; you don’t even understand the gospel! We, as preachers, need to proclaim the gospel to this lost and dying world, give them the gospel so they may be saved and absolutely, positively know it!
The reader may deem my analysis of assurance irrelevant. However, when I speak to so many church-goers who know little or nothing of the subject, I am convinced thoroughly of its relevance. You may say, “But the subject of assurance is so basic.” I say, “You are right.” Still, so many in the church lack it, in spite of the fact that it is basic.
It is appalling that in the church we have faith for almost every circumstance. If you were to ask someone in the church whether they believe Jesus can heal a child with cancer, the reply is likely to be an instant, resounding “Absolutely!” If I were inquire of you whether you believed Jesus can perform miracles, supply great financial needs, control the winds and waves, and keep a hand of protection upon someone who is many miles away, the answer would be a clear “Yea, and Amen!” But when I ask someone whether they believe that Jesus Christ has saved them to the uttermost, and that they are saved this very moment, and that He which hath begun a good work in them WILL perform it until the day of Jesus Christ – their tone changes. Their level of confidence drops dramatically. Their faith dwindles. Suddenly, the ability of Jesus Christ to save depends on their abilities. The bottom line is this – so many have little or no assurance of their salvation. It is sad, but ever so true. I don’t know how people trust the Lord to heal them, meet their financial needs, and take care of their loved ones, but cannot fully and completely trust Him to save and keep their eternal souls.
In my two previous posts, I have spoken of my own salvation with absolute certainty, complete confidence, and positively full assurance. My salvation is not followed by a question mark; it is followed rather with a series of exclamation points! When you read my two previous posts, you may have thought that I was too confident of my salvation. But how can one be too sure of their salvation, when its author and finisher is Jesus Christ? My salvation hinges on the ability of my Saviour to save. And I am reminded in scripture that He is mighty to save! How about your saviour? Is he as mighty to save as my Saviour? Some have read the bold statements I made concerning my salvation, and as they read it, they said to themselves, “I wish I were that sure!” But I say to each one who desires to have solid assurance, that you can have it! If you lack assurance, then this post is for you. I am going to look at just a few reasons why some have little or no assurance.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Are Not Saved
This may seem obvious, but I am not in the business of supplying anyone with a false assurance. I do not wish to make anyone believe they are saved if they are not. Many churches today are fearful of giving people a false assurance, so they offer no assurance at all. Having no assurance is bad; but having a false assurance is far worse. The man who has no hope of any assurance may seek some hope and assurance and find it. The man who has a false assurance will believe that he is all right, and will die in his sins. As I showed in detail in my previous post, the Bible offers truckloads of assurance to the one who believes on Jesus Christ. You can go back and read the long list of verses I provided. You will find that “he that believeth hath everlasting life;” “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” and many other words of assurance. If you trust Jesus Christ and Him alone to save you, you are saved, and you have full assurance of this salvation in the Word of God. But if you are trusting in anything other than Jesus Christ, it is no wonder you have no assurance of salvation; you have no salvation of which to be assured. If a person admits to having no assurance that they are saved, the first step is make sure that they are indeed trusting Jesus Christ to save them.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Do Not “Feel Saved”
Many preachers today are the blame for so many doubting their salvation due to feeling. Preachers sometimes get people to come to an altar, and weep, pray, beat the altar, sniff snot, and everything else. Then, after an hour or so, these preachers will ask the one praying to be saved, “Do you feel like the Lord saved you?” That’s the wrong question to ask. It is completely irrelevant whether a person seeking salvation FEELS saved or not. Many preachers today do not even know how to tell someone how to be saved. If you were to ask some preachers what you must do to be saved, their reply would be, “Oh, just kneel down here and pray until you feel like God saved you.” What’s the problem with that? If someone prays until they “feel like the Lord saved them,” what are they going to do in a few days when they wake up and…don’t feel saved? I’ll tell you what they’re going to do – they’re going to doubt their salvation. Instead of instructing a seeker to pray until “they feel” like the Lord saved them, we preachers need to instruct them to believe (trust in, place faith in, depend on, rely on) the Lord Jesus Christ to save them. Then, we can show them a vast number of scriptures that plainly state that if we believe on Jesus Christ, we are saved. This will give them a rock-solid assurance for times when they do not “feel saved.” “Feeling” has nothing to do with actual salvation. One preacher said it this way – “I do not know I’m saved because I feel good; I feel good because I know I’m saved!”
Some Have No Assurance Because Their Experience Does Not Match Someone Else’s
If you are saved, you and I have one thing in common. We both have trusted Jesus Christ to save us. Other than this similarity, our salvation experience may be vastly different. It is often the fault of someone who is saved to try to impose their exact experience on everyone else. Sometimes, people think that if they cried when they got saved, everyone needs to cry when they get saved. But that is not the case. In the Bible, the jailhouse shook when the jailer got saved; but nothing shook when Saul of Tarsus got saved. Saul of Tarsus had a vision when he got saved; but the publican in the temple had no vision when he got saved. The publican in the temple smote his breast when he got saved; but Zacchaeus didn’t smite his breast when he got saved. Are you getting the picture? Just because your experience isn’t like someone else’s is no reason to doubt your salvation, as long as you are trusting Jesus Christ.
I thank God daily for my salvation experience. I was sitting on the front pew in a Baptist church. The gospel was made plain. I had determined to go to the altar and receive salvation as soon as the invitation was given. The invitation was given, and I went. I was not going to the altar to “see if God would save me;” I was going to the altar “to get saved.” I was not experimenting; I knew for a fact that God was absolutely going to save me when I called upon Him, because He said He would! This is faith. This is what it means to believe. When I knelt at the altar, I was there for a very short time. I know I was there for less than ten minutes, possibly less than five. I don’t believe I shed any tears, but I really do not remember. But I know for a fact that I trusted Jesus Christ to save me completely, and that is exactly what He did! At that moment, salvation was mine!
I know others who, contrary to my salvation experience, wept for a long time when they got saved. I know some who beat the altar, and begged and pleaded with God for hours to save them. I know of others who claim to have sought God for days, weeks, and months before they obtained salvation. If this is your experience, I am not knocking it. I will tell you this. If it took you four hours, four days, four weeks, or four months to get saved, it didn’t take God that long to save you. He saved you the very split second you trusted Him to do so with all your heart. The moment you believed is the moment you were saved. I’ll tell you something else. You may have prayed a lot longer to be saved than I did, but when you finally got saved, you were not a bit more saved than I was when I got saved! My point is that everyone is not going to have the same experience when we get saved. Some will kneel; others will stand. Some will pray softly; others will pray loudly. Some will be emotional; some will be still. It is trusting Christ that saves, regardless of anything else about your experience.
Some Have No Assurance Because They Are Not Sure of What it Takes to Be Saved
This is a big one. It is somewhat obvious, but it is very true. This is especially true of those who are saved by grace, but kept by works. Once you put works in the plan of salvation, there is usually no assurance that one has performed enough works to satisfy the Father. In short, the one who believes in justification by works never knows how many works it takes to be saved; and, as a result, they are never assured that they have performed enough works to be saved. I heard a preacher on a CD some time ago. In his message, he made this statement – “I have been ‘resaved’ six times…and I think I’m going to have to be ‘resaved’ a seventh.” I’ll say first that the word, “resaved” is not in the Bible. What this preacher is saying is simple: He does not know if he is saved or not. You may ask, “Why isn’t he sure of his salvation?” He reveals that information at the end of his message, when he makes this statement – “Folks, I don’t know what it takes to go heaven. Being saved has something to do with it, but if I read the Bible right, it’s going to take a lot more than that.” Well, although he is obviously confused, it is crystal clear to me – this man doesn’t know what exactly it takes to go to heaven; so he naturally cannot know if he’s doing it all!
If you’re not sure how to be saved, you can’t be sure that you are saved! The Bible is plain on what it takes to be saved. I listed a multitude of verses in the previous post. They tell explicitly how to be saved. It is believing on the Son of God that saves. When you do this, the scriptures repeatedly proclaim that you saved. This is the place from where assurance comes!
Some Have No Assurance Because They Have an Overall Mindset That Salvation is Difficult
“It’s a close walk,” “I’m striving to make heaven my home,” and other phrases such as these prevail in churches where “assurance” is a byword. Perhaps the reader has not heard these phrases. Allow me to explain their meaning. When someone gets up and says, “It’s a close walk,” what they mean is this – salvation is so fickle, so hard to attain, and ever so difficult to maintain that they are going to go to hell if they hold their mouth the wrong way. They believe that their final salvation and eternal heavenly home depends on how close they keep the laws of God, and has nothing to do with Jesus’ work on the cross. Oh, they may mention the cross once in a while, but they don’t believe in it. They don’t cling to it. They don’t believe that Christ’s work upon it is sufficient to save them completely. To them, the cross is a decent start, but we’re going to have finish our salvation by doing right things and abstaining from wrong things. The Galatians thought the same thing when they were so heavily rebuked by Paul. In Galatians 3:3 – “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Paul demanded an answer. “You began your walk with God trusting in Christ’s work to save you, and you’re going to finish your walk with God by your own works?” This may sound shocking, but the crowd who thinks salvation is difficult desires no assurance. They hate the thought of someone having assurance. They do not know if they are fully saved, and they do not want you to know either. If I were to make some of the statements I’ve made concerning assurance in my most recent posts to some pastors, they would have quickly quoted I Corinthians 10:12 to me – “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.” It says, “Let him that thinketh he standeth…” What they are missing about this verse is the fact that I do not believe that I’m standing. My salvation has to do with whether the Saviour is yet standing. It is HIS saving power, keeping power, and standing power that gives me assurance; not mine! The one who thinks salvation is difficult – they’re the ones who think that they are standing. They are standing on their own abilities and works. I’ve got enough sense to know that if the Father is pleased with the Son and His work on Calvary (and He absolutely is), I need to trust the atoning work of Christ!
Salvation is free to us, but it is not cheap. It cost the Saviour dearly. He paid a great price, but He purchased a great plan! What the Father demanded for our salvation IS difficult; but Jesus Christ supplied the hard part at the cross. If you think salvation is hard (for us), you need to get on your knees, open your Bible to Isaiah 53, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19, and read those passages on your knees. These are the passages of the crucifixion of Christ. If you believe that salvation is hard, you need to take a long, hard look at Calvary. You missed something. Jesus did not die the cruel death he suffered to make it hard for us to be saved. He concluded His sufferings on the cross with the words, “It is finished.” If it is finished, why do so many add so much to it?
Conclusion
What’s the big deal about assurance? What difference does it make how sure I am of my salvation? Lack of assurance is, first, an assault on the Word of God. When the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” and you claim that you believe on Him, and you still do not know if that is enough to save you or not, you are proclaiming that you are not sure if you believe the Bible. It is God’s Word you are assaulting. If you are certain that you believe on Christ, but somehow you don’t know if God meant what He said when He said, “Thou shalt be saved,” you need to repent. You need to ask God to forgive you for doubting His word! Lack of assurance is, secondly, an assault on the work of God. Jesus performed the saving work upon the cross. To say that you have believed on Christ and are not sure of your salvation is to say that you are not sure if His work upon the cross is enough. What an assault to the cross! It is enough! It needs nothing added to it! Baptism won’t complete it; it is already complete. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost won’t finish it; Jesus already said, “It is finished!” Good works won’t complete it; Galatians 2:21 says that the trusting in good works frustrates, or voids it. The work of Christ upon the cross is complete, and it is sufficient to save anyone who will trust Jesus Christ today.
Let me give a final word for preachers before I close. The job of the preacher is to make the ways of God plain. If there is a preacher reading this who has no assurance of salvation, and does not preach assurance of salvation, you need to get out of the ministry and make an honest living. Stop robbing God’s people. If you cannot tell someone who is lost exactly what to do to be saved, and show them by the scriptures that they most certainly are saved, then you are robbing God’s people. You may say, “I don’t get a salary.” Then get out of the ministry and quit robbing God’s people of their time. You may think that your calling is to teach people how to live. But if you can’t even show someone how to get saved and know it, you have nothing to teach me about how to live. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if a person doesn’t know addition and subtraction, he has no business trying to teach me algebra. And if you don’t know the basics of salvation and assurance, the ministry is not for you. You’re either not called or not true to your calling. God didn’t call you to preach how hard it is to be saved. God didn’t call you to preach salvation by works. God didn’t call you to preach baptismal regeneration. God didn’t call you to preach salvation in speaking in tongues. If God called you to preach, He called you to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’re preaching these other doctrines I’ve mentioned, I know you’re not preaching the gospel; you don’t even understand the gospel! We, as preachers, need to proclaim the gospel to this lost and dying world, give them the gospel so they may be saved and absolutely, positively know it!
