Discipleship_Assurance from Word of God Ministries on Vimeo.

 

ASSURANCE

Assurance is the spiritual certainty that one belongs to God and possesses salvation. God does not want us to be in doubt about where we will spend eternity. The Bible plainly states that a person can, and should, know that he is on the way to heaven. By knowing this he may enjoy his salvation.

I. Faith Produces Assurance

1. Judgment Day

The Bible says that salvation comes through one avenue, Jesus Christ. His name is the only name that God will accept on judgment day, where we will all stand before the Lord to give an account for our lives. Imagine God asking, “why should I let you into heaven?”

A. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that _______________________________________which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,                Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?And then will I profess unto them, _______________ ____________________depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”(Matthew 7:21-23)

This verse is not intended to bring fear or doubt. On the contrary, it brings reassurance to those who have truly trusted Jesus for salvation. There will be two groups of people present when we stand before the thone of judgment: Those who know Jesus, and those who do not.

2. Those Who Dont Know Jesus

Consider the group of those addressed in the verse above. When they are confronted in judgment, their answer is to fall on the works that they did. They argue, “have we not prophesied in your name… and done many wonderful works?” (v.22). To this, Jesus responds, “I never knew you: depart from me…” He calls this “iniquity”. We know that salvation is not of works. No man can earn salvation. It is gift of God. The gift must be received by faith.

This verse brings to light the condition of the heart. The “many” to whom Jesus refers are them that proclaimed to know Him, but their hearts were not His. They were in it for the wrong reasons. The word Lord means “owner”; it means we are His. Simply calling ourselves Christians is not enough. We can profess to be His, but have we searched our hearts? We must not let fear prevent us from doing so. It is in this honest evaluation that we allow Jesus to impart to us genuine assurance.

3. Those Who Do Know Jesus

Those who know Jesus will seek the will of God. His Spirit is placed inside of us the moment we are saved, and at that moment He begins transforming our hearts. He calls to us to get in the Word, and to seek Him. In fact, our whole lives are spent getting to know God more. Every human institution that God ordained is for one basic reason, to know Him. All things we participate in are to better know Him.

The word “know” comes from the Greek word “ginōskō” which refers to intimacy in marriage. “Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain” (Gen. 4:1). The Bible tells us that marriage is meant to portray Christ and the church. This “knowing” or becoming one flesh is the gift that God has given to married couples. It is meant to portray the way we become one with Him when we get saved. Upon salvation, Christ comes to live inside our hearts, and we become one with Him. Its interesting to note that the same word “ginōskō” is used by Jesus in Matthew 7:23. When He states, “I never knew you,” He is saying, “you never believed on me, therefore I never came to live I your heart. We never became one.” This is essential. Those who know Jesus have assurance because they know that God sees them not for their works, but for the righteousness that exists inside them, Jesus.

A. “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you ; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and .” (John 14:14-17, 23)

Those who truly know Jesus make call Him Lord. They were purchased by His blood, and forever sealed with His spirit.

B. “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worked all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:9-14)

4. Faith Is The Work Of God

In John chapter 6, the people want to know exactly what the work of God is so that they may do it. “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). His answer redirects them from their own works to faith in His work. Jesus knew, even here, that He would be the one to satisfy the wrath of God. It was His death that won the victory. Knowing this, He tells the people to believe on Him.

When we are truly believing Jesus for salvation, we have faith that it His righteousness with God, not ours, that will get us into heaven. It’s our faith in Him that produces our assurance. If there was nothing we could do to earn our salvation then there is nothing we can do to lose it. Once we have believed, we are sealed with His spirit. We cannot “un-believe”, therefore we have assurance that we are redeemed.

A. “Being of this very thing, that which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 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 6:38-40).

B. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall _______.” (John 8:51)

II.  Assurance Is Confirmed by God

Assurance is not based on feeling; it is based on truth!  Knowing Jesus means He lives inside us, and “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). The promises of God’s word are true.  Believe them and the ‘feeling’ will follow.  Salvation affects different people in different ways.  Everybody’s experience is different.  Do not try to imitate someone else’s experience. Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie.

A. Believers shall _____________ perish. (John 10:28)

B. Believers cannot be___________out of the hands of the Father by anyone (John10:28-29).

C.    Jesus shall never________________ those who come to Him for salvation (John 6:37).   We must trust His promises.

D. It was God’s great love that caused Him to send Jesus to die for us, and it is God’s great love that keeps us saved. Romans 8:35-39 says can separate us from this love.

E.    For the __ and calling of God are without  (Romans 11:29). The __  of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23).

F.    He that has Jesus has____________ (1 John 5:12).

III. Signs of Assurance

1. Thanksgiving

Thank God for His gift of salvation, which you have received(2 Corinthians 9:15).  Thanksgiving is an evidence of faith.  This may be the reason you lack assurance.

2. A Public Testimony Before Men

A. Jesus said, “Whosoever__________me before_________, him will I confess before my Father which is in Heaven (Matthew 10:32).

B. Notice how assurance is connected to confession in 1 John 4:2, 15.

C. If thou shalt______with thy______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 rigtheousness; and with the mouth is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

3. A Rigtheous Life

A. Sometimes a full assurance does not come until God sees that we mean business for Him.   We must live for Him. Isaiah 32:17 says that the effect of_______is quietness and   ____  – For how long? _________ . Remember, your peace and assurance is based on believing God’s promises and not on emotions or feelings.

IV.  Sin After Salvation

The Bible teaches that after a person is saved, he can still commit sin because of the sinful nature of the flesh.  This will be the case until we get to heaven and receive a glorified body.  However, a believer also has a new nature within him that was given to him when he trusted Christ.  Because of this a believer has the ability to overcome sin, and should not practice sin. (1 John 3:8-9; 2:1)

A.  God wants us to learn how to have victory over the power of sin.

Jesus died to______the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).  As believers we can and will be tempted by Satan. What we do in that situation is up to us. The victory to overcome has been placed inside us.

B. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because is he that is , than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

C. If a believer sins, he must __________________ his sins to God (1 John 1:5). When he does this God promises to ___________________ him of his sins and also to _____________ him from ALL ___________ (1 John 1:9, Proverbs 28:13).

D. A believer who sins may lose his assurance of salvation, but he will never lose his salvation.  Upon confession, God will restore a sinning Christian to fellowship with Him.  Remember, Jesus is our______________ (1 John 2:1). The promises of God were given that we might not practice sin.

ANSWER KEY

I.

1.      A .  doth the will of my Father,   I never knew you

3.      A.  forever,   know,   make our abode with him

B.  sealed,   purchased possession

4.     A.  confident,   he

B.  never see death

II.

A.  not

B.  plucked

C.  turn away

D.  nothing

E.   gifts,   repentance gift

F.   life

III.

2.      A.  confess,   men

C.  confess,   mouth,   confession

3.      A.  righteousness,   assurance,   forever

IV.

A.  destroy,

B.  greater,   in you

C.  confess,   forgive,   cleanse,   unrighteousness

D.  advocate