The greatest gift I have ever received is salvation. The second greatest gift I have ever received is assurance of salvation. Webster defines “assurance” this way – “Firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; freedom from doubt; certain expectation; the utmost certainty.” Assurance of salvation is simply “knowing beyond any shadow of doubt that one is saved.” This assurance of salvation is one of the greatest blessings ever afforded to mankind. Perhaps one of the most tormenting places for a man to be is a place where he possesses no absolute, positive assurance that he is saved. But thanks be to God, assurance of salvation is possible! It is not only possible for a saved individual to have such assurance; it is God’s will for a saved individual to have such assurance. In so many churches with which I fellowship, salvation is fickle. Salvation is presented by many as a leaning tower, ready to topple at any moment. This, my friend, is not the salvation of the Bible. Jesus Christ is the salvation of the Bible. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it, and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). The salvation which I received is eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9), authored by the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I am saved with a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3)! The Lord saved me in 1994, and He has kept me from then until now. He is my Saviour and my Keeper. I am not saving myself by keeping commandments and laws; Christ is keeping me by His power (I Peter 1:5). While I have striven to be faithful, I understand clearly what every believer needs to understand; and that is, that the keeping of my salvation has much more to do with His grip on my hand than it does with my grip on His. When my hand had well nigh slipped, I found that His strong arm upheld me. This blessing of assurance is the key to victory in the Christian walk. I have found that if a person is not sure of their own salvation, they will not win others to salvation, for they do not have anything to which to win them. I have witnessed that if one does not know positively that they are saved, they speak little of their faith. This is rightly so, for they have little that is worth saying. Assurance is the first step to a life of victory.
How Sure Am I?
I was speaking recently to a man about salvation, and this subject of assurance came up. To illustrate how positively sure I am that I am saved, I made a statement that many will deem a bold statement. I said, “If I’m not saved, nobody’s saved!” I have made this statement in churches where I have preached. You should see the looks of faces from the pulpit! When most people hear that statement, they are startled. For most, the first thought upon hearing a statement such as this is, “This man has an awful lot of confidence in himself.” But the individual who thinks that thought is dead wrong. I do not have the least bit of confidence in myself. When I make a confident statement as that one, it is not my saving power I am commending; it is His saving power I am commending. I am not the Saviour; He is the Saviour! When He saves, He does not “barely save;” He rather “saves to the uttermost!” People like the confidence that they hear in such a statement, and even wish that they had that kind of confidence. However, assurance this strong goes against the mindset of so many in our churches. Many in our churches are “striving to make heaven their home.” Many are “working to hear Him say, ‘Well done.’” Many are “hoping to be saved.” But very few are positively, absolutely sure that they are, at this moment, saved. Listen to me carefully. I am not striving to be saved; I AM saved! I am not hoping to be saved; I AM saved! I am not working for salvation; I am a recipient of it! I got into a discussion several years ago with a man concerning salvation. He was a saved man. He said, “I do not like to use the term ‘saved.’ I prefer to use the term ‘born again.’” I replied that I did not have any problem using the term “saved.” He informed me that the Bible teaches that the man who endures to the end shall be saved. So, he believed that he was not yet saved; he was only “born again.” I gave him I Corinthians 1:18, which states, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which ARE SAVED it is the power of God.” Yes, there is a final salvation in the future where we will be saved from the very presence of sin; but there is a present salvation where we ARE SAVED at this very moment. This group of people that ARE SAVED is the group in which I am numbered! I am not waiting to be saved; I am saved, and I am sure of it!
Allow me to use this illustration to show how sure I am of my salvation. Let us say that I am in my home. I am praying. Suddenly, the angel Gabriel appears. He is wearing a white, shining garment. Somehow, I know that it is Gabriel, the same angel that appeared to Mary. Gabriel says, “Bob, I came to tell you something. I just checked the Lamb’s book of life in heaven, and I came by to tell you that your name is in there – you are saved.” I would look at Gabriel and say, “Gabe, thank you; but I already knew that.” Listen carefully. If an angel came from heaven and told me that he was positively sure that my name is in heaven, it would not give me any more assurance of my salvation than I have right now!
Allow me to go a little further. Say I am at home, and the angel Gabriel appears to me. He says, “Bob, I don’t know how to tell you this. But I just came from heaven. I looked for your name in the Lamb’s book of life, and it is not there. You are not saved.” I could reply with confidence, “Gabe, I don’t know how to tell you this. But you don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” You say, “You would talk to an angel that way?” I say, “Absolutely. I am commanded to talk to an angel that way!” The scripture says in Galatians 1:8, “Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which ye have heard, let him be accursed!” I am believing, trusting, resting, relying, depending on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and Acts 16:31 states, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!” Well, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and according to the word of God, I am saved. For an angel to come with a different message would mean that he is preaching a different gospel, and should be accursed. Praise God for blessed assurance!
Is it really possible to know positively of one’s salvation? Let us see what the scriptures declare:
Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
I Thessalonians 1:5 – “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”
II Timothy 1:12 – “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
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 commandments 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.”
I John 4:15 – “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
I John 5:10-13 – “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood!*
*Fanny J. Crosby
How Sure Am I?
I was speaking recently to a man about salvation, and this subject of assurance came up. To illustrate how positively sure I am that I am saved, I made a statement that many will deem a bold statement. I said, “If I’m not saved, nobody’s saved!” I have made this statement in churches where I have preached. You should see the looks of faces from the pulpit! When most people hear that statement, they are startled. For most, the first thought upon hearing a statement such as this is, “This man has an awful lot of confidence in himself.” But the individual who thinks that thought is dead wrong. I do not have the least bit of confidence in myself. When I make a confident statement as that one, it is not my saving power I am commending; it is His saving power I am commending. I am not the Saviour; He is the Saviour! When He saves, He does not “barely save;” He rather “saves to the uttermost!” People like the confidence that they hear in such a statement, and even wish that they had that kind of confidence. However, assurance this strong goes against the mindset of so many in our churches. Many in our churches are “striving to make heaven their home.” Many are “working to hear Him say, ‘Well done.’” Many are “hoping to be saved.” But very few are positively, absolutely sure that they are, at this moment, saved. Listen to me carefully. I am not striving to be saved; I AM saved! I am not hoping to be saved; I AM saved! I am not working for salvation; I am a recipient of it! I got into a discussion several years ago with a man concerning salvation. He was a saved man. He said, “I do not like to use the term ‘saved.’ I prefer to use the term ‘born again.’” I replied that I did not have any problem using the term “saved.” He informed me that the Bible teaches that the man who endures to the end shall be saved. So, he believed that he was not yet saved; he was only “born again.” I gave him I Corinthians 1:18, which states, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which ARE SAVED it is the power of God.” Yes, there is a final salvation in the future where we will be saved from the very presence of sin; but there is a present salvation where we ARE SAVED at this very moment. This group of people that ARE SAVED is the group in which I am numbered! I am not waiting to be saved; I am saved, and I am sure of it!
Allow me to use this illustration to show how sure I am of my salvation. Let us say that I am in my home. I am praying. Suddenly, the angel Gabriel appears. He is wearing a white, shining garment. Somehow, I know that it is Gabriel, the same angel that appeared to Mary. Gabriel says, “Bob, I came to tell you something. I just checked the Lamb’s book of life in heaven, and I came by to tell you that your name is in there – you are saved.” I would look at Gabriel and say, “Gabe, thank you; but I already knew that.” Listen carefully. If an angel came from heaven and told me that he was positively sure that my name is in heaven, it would not give me any more assurance of my salvation than I have right now!
Allow me to go a little further. Say I am at home, and the angel Gabriel appears to me. He says, “Bob, I don’t know how to tell you this. But I just came from heaven. I looked for your name in the Lamb’s book of life, and it is not there. You are not saved.” I could reply with confidence, “Gabe, I don’t know how to tell you this. But you don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” You say, “You would talk to an angel that way?” I say, “Absolutely. I am commanded to talk to an angel that way!” The scripture says in Galatians 1:8, “Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which ye have heard, let him be accursed!” I am believing, trusting, resting, relying, depending on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and Acts 16:31 states, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!” Well, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and according to the word of God, I am saved. For an angel to come with a different message would mean that he is preaching a different gospel, and should be accursed. Praise God for blessed assurance!
Is it really possible to know positively of one’s salvation? Let us see what the scriptures declare:
Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
I Thessalonians 1:5 – “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”
II Timothy 1:12 – “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
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 commandments 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.”
I John 4:15 – “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
I John 5:10-13 – “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood!*
*Fanny J. Crosby
