THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

1 JOHN 5:13

Morning Meditation 5/11/16

“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.”

The Bible is clear in this verse that we can know that we are saved. In fact, the book of First John was written for this very reason. Now there are people who claim to believe the Word of God and know this verse is in the Bible and yet they vehemently deny that a person can know he is saved. The only conclusion that we can come to is that some people just CLAIM to believe the Bible.

WE KNOW WE ARE SAVED BY AUTHENTIC FAITH

The assurance of salvation is based on an authentic faith. This is the primary reason for knowing you are saved. What is an authentic faith? Authentic means “genuine, not counterfeit.” A counterfeit faith is spoken of in the Bible. 2 Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” The word “unfeigned” means “undisguised, sincere.” Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:5 “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” A “feigned” faith is pretense.

Authentic faith has nothing to do with the strength of faith. It is just faith. The opposite of authentic faith is unbelief. Don’t be confused by my use of the word authentic. I am not talking about a different kind of faith than the simple faith of the Bible. I am using it in contrast to the claims of those who say they have it and what they have makes absolutely no difference in their lives. Salvation is a life changing experience.

Let me illustrate what I mean by authentic faith. A person is interested in being saved. The plan of salvation is explained. He is told that Jesus died for him, was buried and rose again the third day. It is explained that Jesus is in heaven now as the one Mediator between God and man. He is shown Romans 10:9-13 where if he believes in his heart that Jesus died for him and calls on the name of the Lord he will be saved. You ask him if he wants to pray and ask God to save him. He says, “Yes.” You pray. He prays. When you are through, you ask him if God saved him? Ye says, “I don’t know.” That answer does not represent authentic faith. That is unbelief.

God makes a promise in Romans 10:13. He says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” He calls but he still says, “I don’t know.” That is unbelief. This man has not come to faith yet. I am not saying, “This man does not have enough faith.” It has nothing to do with the amount or the strength of his faith. He is just a plain and simple unbeliever. Some will even try to talk him into believing that God saved him in spite of his unbelief because he prayed the sinners prayer.. Repentance and faith are required on man’s part. I will not and no one else has authority from God to tell this person that God has relaxed his requirements. If I tell a man he is saved when he is not, he is going to hell by faith in my lie. I don’t want to account for that at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Do you?

When is faith authentic? It is authentic when a man calls on the Lord for salvation and says when he is through praying, “I am saved.” And he is not just saying it. He is believing it. I ask him, “How do you know you are saved?” He replies, “God said he would save me if I called and I did and he did.” It has nothing to do with how you feel about it. Salvation and assurance has to do with believing that God will do what he says he will do BEFORE you are saved and then believing he did what he said he would do AFTER you call on him for salvation. It is not great faith. It is faith in the truthfulness of God. It is believing God is trustworthy. God is not a risk and it is not a great thing to believe in God. It is absolutely amazing that sinners would not believe in God.

A PERSON KNOWS HE IS SAVED BECAUSE OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TWO NATURES

Something happens when we are saved. God creates a new man inside the old. It is called “regeneration.” The part of us that is saved is called the “inner man” in Eph 3:16: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” It is also called the “new man” in Eph. 4:24: “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” This inner man, this new man in Christ, is in conflict with the flesh which is still a part of our physical and psychological makeup. Paul says in Galatians 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” We can know we are save by the conflict experienced between the two natures of a child of God.

A PERSON KNOWS HE IS SAVED BECAUSE HE LOVES THE BRETHREN

We can also know we are saved because we love the brethren: 1 John 3:14 says: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” God gives his children a love for one another. John uses this to say this is a way you can know that you are saved. The words “he that loveth not his brother abideth in death” means that he has never passed from death to life (John 5:24). The word “abideth” means “to remain.” It is a present tense verb which means that he continues in the state of spiritual death. This one professes but has not passed from death unto life. When a person passes out of death unto life, God puts his love in his heart for others who have also put their trust in Christ: 1 John 5:1: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” We know we are saved because we love the brethren.

A PERSON KNOWS HE IS SAVED BECAUSE OF THE SEALING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ephesians 1:13 says, “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 sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” The Holy Spirit becomes the Seal of our salvation. This Seal is for the purpose of assuring us that we belong to God. 2 Corinthian 1:22 says, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” The word “earnest” (arrhabon) refers to “money which in purchases is given as a pledge or down payment that the full amount will subsequently be paid.” When a man puts down earnest money, it is his pledge that he will complete the transaction. The completed transaction in salvation is a glorified body in heaven forever with God. While we are here waiting on his return, he has given his Spirit to indwell us as an assurance that what he has begun, he will finish (Phil. 1:6). We know we are saved because we have God’s seal of ownership in us.

May the Lord bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White