Two Essentials for Assurance
by Mark Nitz
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 31, 1987
One of our greatest needs in serving God is a feeling of confidence regarding our present acceptance by God and future home in heaven. Unfortunately, this assurance is sadly lacking among many of God's people. Extremes are taken in both directions ("once saved — always saved" .... "cannot know for sure until judgment"). A balanced, biblical view is needed.
A good summary on the subject of assurance is found in I Peter 1:5. We are "protected by the power of God through faith." This verse emphasizes God's faithfulness and the Christian's faith as essential elements in assurance.
Protected by the Power of God.
As for God's part, He will never forsake the faithful saint or cast him aside (Hebrews 10:13). He will provide all the resources we need to protect us from our enemies, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Bible, prayer, the church with its fellowship, etc. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-39; I Corinthians 10:13; II Thessalonians 3:3; I John 4:4).
Romans 5:1-11 shows the extent to which God has gone to save us (this passage should be read, digested, and meditated upon). If God had given us the ultimate gift, His Son, while we were his enemies, He would certainly not have failed us now that we are His friends. Is God's love for His friends less than for those who hate him? The point of this passage is assurance — for if God's love for those who were sinful and unreconciled was so strong that He gave His only Son, will He not do even more for those who are now justified and reconciled?
Through Faith
This short expression shows that assurance is not absolute and unconditional. God's grace is received through man's faith (Ephesians 2:8-10). As long as we continue to trust God's gracious promises, He will keep us in His grace. If we cease to submit in trust, then by our own decision, we cut ourselves off from Him (Galatians 5:4).
The fact that God's protection is ours "through faith" leads to a second conclusion: that our assurance of salvation is not conditioned upon works of merit. We are justified by faith apart from works measured by law (Romans 3:28). Knowing that we are justified by faith is the real key to assurance.
Of course, to be justified means to be at peace with God and free from condemnation (Romans 8:1). To be justified by faith means that this peace and freedom are not conditioned on how good we are but on our continuing trust in the all-sufficient blood of Christ. To put it another way, our sense of assurance derives from knowing we are justified by Christ's blood, not from having achieved a certain level of sanctification. The question is not "How good am I?" but "How forgiven am I?" And we know that we who are faithful have been one hundred percent forgiven ever since our baptism because of Christ.
Knowing this gives us hope (Romans 5:2; Colossians 1:27). Not hope in the sense of "wishing" for something, but having a confident expectation that heaven is our home. This leads to the final thought — "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (I John 3:3). ·
