Assurance – Bob Christopher

Can a Christian have assurance of salvation? According to the Bible, the answer is “Yes!”
The Apostle John wrote in his first letter these encouraging words: “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” (1 John 5:11-13).
assurance There is no wishful thinking in John’s statement. He boldly asserted that we can know with full confidence that eternal life is ours, that our salvation is sure.
For John’s words to become a reality in your life, you must understand what salvation truly is and what Christ accomplished for you through His death, burial and resurrection.
Paul gives us the most succinct statement concerning the nature of salvation in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
You and I come into this world under the wages of sin, dead spiritually. Ephesians 2:1 puts it this way, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” In other words, we were not just sinners in need of forgiveness; we were spiritually dead and in need of life.
Salvation, then, is God’s act of making us alive in Christ. The following passages spell this out in detail.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– Eph 2:4-5 (ESV).
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses Col 2:13 (ESV).
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory Col 1:27 (ESV).

So, salvation is going from death to life. Jesus described it this way; “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
Jesus’ death on the cross guarantees that your salvation is secure. Through His death, Jesus took your sins and paid the penalty that you justly deserved. Your sins were judged. The verdict was guilty, and the punishment was death. God was satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Jesus dealt with sin once and for all.
The writer of Hebrews shows the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice: “Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin” (Hebrews 10:17-18).
Your eternal life is secure because of the eternal consequences of the cross.
When Jesus saves, He does so completely. Because of the cross, you can know with confidence that “He will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

According to the Bible, the answer is “Yes!” The Apostle John wrote in his first letter these encouraging words: “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” (1 John 5:11-13).
There is no wishful thinking in John’s statement. He boldly asserted that we can know with full confidence that eternal life is ours, that our salvation is sure.
For John’s words to become a reality in your life, you must understand what salvation is and what Christ accomplished for you through His death, burial and resurrection.
Paul gives us the most succinct statement concerning the nature of salvation in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We were under the wages of sin and were spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1 puts it this way, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.”
Salvation, then, is God’s act of making us alive with Christ. God’s grace reverses in us the death we inherited from Adam. He was alive spiritually, and then died because of sin. We were dead, and then through faith in Jesus Christ were made alive.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– Eph 2:4-5 (ESV).
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses Col 2:13 (ESV).
You may be asking this question: “If the wages of sin is death, do you forfeit eternal life when you sin today?” Here is the good news. Jesus took your sins and paid the penalty that you justly deserved. As John wrote, “I write to you dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.”
You are a forgiven person. Your sins were dealt with once and for all by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Not only are you forgiven, you are alive in Jesus. His Spirit now lives you. His Spirit testifies to your spirit that you are a child of God, an heir and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
When Jesus saves, He does so completely. Because of the cross, you can know with confidence that “He will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

Tag: Assurance

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