Assurance and Security
II Peter 1:5-11
I wanted to talk today about two very important matters of faith- assurance and security. They are not the same thing, but they should go together. In our text for today, Peter gives his readers some spiritual fruits that ought to be present in a Believer's life. A very important thing Peter says is misunderstood by many. Read verse nine-
For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Many read this chapter and say, “Aha! If you don't exhibit these things, you are not really saved!” But this is an incorrect reading of the text. What does Peter say? He says if you lack these things, your spiritual sight is stunted and you have forgotten that you are saved! BIG DIFFERENCE! In other words, Peter says if you lack these things, you have become blinded and will have lost your assurance of salvation, NOT the salvation itself! Clark's Bible Commentary summarizes it this way,
“he has lost the testimony of his sonship; and then, darkness and hardness having taken place of... confidence, he first calls all his former experience into doubt...his memory becomes indistinct and confused, till at length he forgets the work of God on his soul”
When we cease pursuing God and allow sin to take root, the assurance and joy of salvation departs because in such a state, basically, one becomes too worldly (sinful) to enjoy following Christ. The sin and doubt cloud the mind until such a believer begins to doubt his or her standing before God and when that happens...the devil has a really strong foothold in a person's life! That sort of person, becomes unproductive, unfruitful for the kingdom of God. They are still saved, still born-again, just not much use to God for the work He has for them to do to further His kingdom. Loss of assurance of salvation is a serious thing, it doesn't put salvation at risk, just makes for a miserable, joyless, ineffective Christian. In order to maintain assurance and subsequently the joy of salvation, you must first have and understand security.
Security, also called Eternal Security, is a work of god that guarantees what God has given (salvation), cannot be revoked. Security emphasizes God's saving power to keep us when we fail Him.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son In the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4).
Paul tells us, there is no condemnation for those that believe in Christ, which is how we are saved (See John 3:16, 5:24, Romans 10:9). He tells us that Jesus did what the law could not do, make us free from sin, death, and Hell. The security of salvation, like salvation itself, rests on God, not man. It is the reason we can have the sense of security because it does not depend on our strength or power, but on God's saving grace.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:12-13)
Security is very simple- if you believe in Jesus, you have it; end of discussion. If you have the Son by faith, you have life, so says the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle John. We have security the same way we have salvation- through faith in Jesus Christ.
Security exists even if assurance is not there. Let me explain, suppose a child has a trust-fund waiting that will ensure he never has to work a day in his life. He is unaware of this trust fund because he is a child and the parents have not told him. He has security for the rest of his life, but he has no assurance of it, because he is unaware of it. Likewise, many people place their faith in Jesus, but because they have not been properly taught/discipled, they may lack assurance. Assurance is simply the believer's confidence of what he has- salvation/eternal life. If he or she has not been taught the scriptures, Satan can attack them at their weak points and cause them to doubt what they have. They do not lose what they have (eternal security), but they lose their confidence of having it. The truth is, security never changes. If it can, if eternal life can be lost, then “Eternal life” is a bad name for it! Assurance of eternal life, however, can be obscured and vanish. How/why?
Doubt of one's commitment- In our text for today, Peter warned, regarding the fruits, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” If one stops pursuing God, if his Bible reading and prayer life suffer, if he stops producing fruit, such a person may begin to doubt his commitment to the Lord, and subsequently doubt his salvation itself. BUT, our salvation does not rest on our commitment, but on God's!
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” II Timothy 2:13
Don't believe in security- Having been part of a denomination that taught one could lose salvation, when I first got saved, I went to one of their colleges. I would doubt my salvation nearly every time I sinned. When you are part of a denomination that teaches one can lose salvation, it is hard to have any assurance. They are not the only ones, there is a movement, “Lordship Salvation” that was drummed into me in a Baptist seminary that did the same thing. LS is a conservative theology that emphasizes submission to the Lordship of Christ. We should submit daily to God, out of gratitude for being saved by grace. But, our works do no guarantee we are saved, but faith in Christ does. Lordship Salvation had the same effect on me as the denomination I began in did. If I sinned, I doubted my submission and consequently my own salvation. It resulted in a faulty thinking, a falsely thinking, “I sinned, I must not be saved.” A lack of fruit or even the presence of a problem sin is not necessarily a sign of being unsaved. Even the best of believers, struggle with sin, Paul the Apostle struggled with ongoing sin in his own life, yet no one calls his salvation into doubt!
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me...There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 7:15-16, 8:1).
Paul recognizes the inner struggle that remains in every believer. He admits to wrongs that he could not stop doing! Would any conclude Paul was a false convert?!? Certainly not! Such a struggle, does not preclude salvation. It means we are human beings with two natures- spirit and flesh. We are redeemed, but the flesh still struggles to be in control. When it does, we often see a decrease in fruit, but again, this is not cause to doubt one's salvation. Psalm 1 says if we meditate on the Word of God, we will produce fruit in season. In the natural world, in actual fruit trees (apples, pears, etc.) growing season isn't year round, there is a time of growing and a time of harvest. You may not have much fruit at the moment, doesn't mean you are a dead tree, just means the fruit hasn't matured yet. If you look at an apple tree out of season, do you assume the tree is dead because of a lack of apples? Certainly not, there are other signs of life in the tree. Maybe you're not producing all the fruit you'd like to, but are you praying? Are you reading His word? Do you have a love for Christ in your heart? Those are fruits as well, there is still life in you. We can have assurance when we see fruit, but even more, we have assurance because of the belief in the promises of God's word!
Security, like salvation itself, is based o n God's grace, not man's performance. How strange many believe in salvation by grace, but believe salvation is kept by our works!!! But what does God say?
Son- His death procured our eternal life. Romans 8:33-34 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Christ has died for us, we trust in Him- who can lay a charge against us? Not Satan, not man. If we know our trust is in Christ, we have security and assurance. If you know Jesus told the truth that whoever believes in Him has eternal life and you know you believe in Him- you have security and you should have assurance. All it takes to be assured is knowing you take Christ at His word!
Spirit- Seals us for eternity (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30) you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession...do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Who can break the seal of the Holy Spirit? Is Satan that strong? No. Can man? No, no man is that strong. We have been seal until “the day of redemption!” That is the promise of God! If we meditate and believe on the promises of God, we can have full assurance that we belong to Him. We have been saved, we have been sealed! It is the very acts and work of God. We are saved and kept by His grace and power, not our own. It's when we look at our performance, we will doubt our security and lose our assurance. Look at God's performance and God's promises, then your assurance will not wane. Nothing can separate us from him, Romans 8:38-39-
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
II Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Don't be scared you're not strong enough to stay saved. It doesn't work that way. God saved you. God sealed you. He remains faithful. Those are His promises. Do you believe them? Then you have both security and assurance- you belong to Jesus forever. Amen.
