“Blessed Assurance”
INTRODUCTION: We begin a new series … on the assurance of salvation.
We will take a look at the vital signs of a Christian from the perspective of the book of I John.
Let me ask you two questions:
o ARE you a Christian?
o How do you KNOW you are a Christian?
No one can be a vital, victorious, effective Christian if you do not have the assurance of your salvation.
It’s like being MARRIED … but don’t KNOW it … How effective can you be as a husband or wife?
It’s like having a CHILD … but don’t KNOW it … How effective a parent can you be?
In this study, you will see how to evaluate … EITHER:
o You’re NOT a Christian, and KNOW it.
o You’re NOT a Christian, and DON’T KNOW it. (much more dangerous than the former)
o You ARE a Christian, but DON’T KNOW it.
o You ARE a Christian, and KNOW it.
Sometimes, a false sense of assurance is given to those who repeat the “Sinner’s Prayer”.
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“Say the prayer … you are saved … don’t doubt … God’s Word says you are.”
THEN … they will read Romans 10:9-10 to give them the assurance of their salvation … WHETHER THEY ARE SAVED OR NOT!
The DANGER of this is that they may NOT truly be saved … but NOW they have the false assurance that they are.
They may be like the seed that fell on the stony places – Mt. 13:5-6, 20-21
THEN … when anyone tries to talk with them about salvation, they turn them away, by saying that they have already done that …
WHEN … in fact they have never been saved … and they have a false assurance of something that never took place.
Salvation is MORE than saying a prayer.
Salvation is a SPIRITUAL experience … not a MECHANICAL experience.
When you are saved, you receive a new nature … the Holy Spirit takes up residence in you … you are a new creation … you become a child of God … you are a changed person.
If that has never happened to you, then you aren’t saved.
There are certain EVIDENCES of a Christian … that you have been truly “born again”.
You can be ABSOLUTELY SURE, and know with certainty that you will go to Heaven when you die.
It’s not because:
o Somebody told you that you were saved.
o You repeated a prayer.
o You’ve been baptized or joined a church.
o You come from a Christian home.
o You’ve been saved all your life.
o You’re a good, moral person.
God’s Word in I John gives us a CHECK-LIST of vital signs to check to see if we do indeed have ETERNAL LIFE.
It’s IMPORTANT!
2 Peter 1:10
Are you a BELIEVER … or a MAKE-BELIEVER?
Are you a CONTENDER … or a PRETENDER?
How do you “get somebody saved”?
I’ve had people wanting me to go talk to a friend or relative and “save them”.
o I can’t CONVINCE somebody that they need to trust Christ as their Savior.
o I can’t PERSUADE them to call on Jesus to save them.
o I can’t WIN somebody to Jesus.
o I can’t TALK somebody into being saved.
o I can’t create an INTEREST or DESIRE in their heart for God.
o I can’t CONVICT someone of their sins.
How does someone come to Christ and become “born again”?
Jesus said, in John 6:44 – “No man can come to Me, except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him.”
Jesus also said, in John 12:32 – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”
All you & I can do, is give them God’s message of salvation … THEN … turn it over to God to draw them to Himself - Romans 10:14, 17
The WORD is the ROPE that the Holy Spirit uses to DRAW people to Himself.
Psalm 3:8 says: “Salvation belongs to the LORD.”
I can’t “save” anybody … that’s God’s job.
Once God saves you, you ought to be able to KNOW that you’re saved.
NOW … Turn with me to 1 John 5:13.
John wrote this letter for 2 express purposes:
o To help those who are already saved to have the ASSURANCE of their salvation.
o To help those who are religious but lost, to see their unsaved condition so they might come to Christ for salvation.
Sometimes I will ask someone if they are saved.
They might reply: “I HOPE so … I GUESS so … I THINK so … I ASSUME I am …”
God want you to be SURE … no “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts” about it.
“written” - God wants you to have a “know-so” salvation … not based on “feelings” or “emotions” … but on His Word … on His “say-so”.
We don’t always “feel” saved.
Our emotions may vary like a roller-coaster … up 1 day, and down the next.
When everything is going well, we are praising the Lord, and we “feel” saved.
When everything is going from bad to worse, we may not “feel” saved.
Just like we can’t base our SALVATION EXPERIENCE on “feelings” or “emotions” … We can’t base the ASSURANCE of our salvation on our “feelings” or “emotions” either.
You can “believe” all the right things, and still not be saved.
Even Satan and the demons “believe” – James 2:19
They’ve got all the facts:
o They KNOW that Jesus is the Son of God.
o They KNOW that Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sins (they witnessed the crucifixion).
o They KNOW that faith & trust in Jesus will make you a child of God.
KNOWING the facts … BELIEVING the facts are true … never saved anyone.
You see, there is a difference between “belief” and “trust”.
ILL.: A famous circus performer wheels a wheelbarrow on a tightrope over a canyon. He looks at you & asks if you “believe” he can put a person in the wheelbarrow & wheel him/her across the canyon on the tightrope. You know he can do it … you’ve seen him do it before, many times. You say “Yes!”. Then he looks at you again and says: “Get in!”
NOW … do you just “believe” he can do it (that won’t get you to the other side) … or will you “trust” him enough to get into the wheelbarrow? There’s a difference between “belief” and “trust”, isn’t there?
When it comes to salvation, you have to get into the wheelbarrow … you have to put your “trust” in Jesus … your whole being … mind, emotions, & will.
Why do some people NOT HAVE the assurance of their salvation?
o Some people can’t point to an exact time & place when they trusted Christ … this causes them to doubt their salvation.
Can a person who can’t pinpoint the exact time of their salvation really be saved? YES!
ILL.: 2 people travel from Gainesville to Atlanta … 1 by car, the other by plane. The 1 traveling by car knows the exact moment they cross the Georgia border. The 1 traveling by plane can only guess the time they crossed the Georgia border. BUT … both have crossed the border and have arrived safely in Atlanta.
The same is true for salvation.
Some people, because of the circumstances, can recount the exact time & place they were saved.
Others, maybe because of age, the clarity of the gospel presentation, the depth of conviction of sin & repentance, or the discipleship that followed … can’t pinpoint the exact time of their salvation.
Are they any less saved? NO! As long as they have evidence NOW that they are a child of God … and have entered into the kingdom of God … the “when” is not important.
More important than the “when” is whether or not you have trusted Christ to be your Savior and Lord.
o Another reason some may NOT HAVE the assurance of their salvation … is because they aren’t living the Christian life.
There MUST be FRUIT – Colossians 1:3-6
John 7:16-23
If there is NO EVIDENCE of fruit in your life, then you don’t have the assurance of your salvation … because you aren’t saved.
If there is LITTLE fruit, you may DOUBT your salvation.
“eternal life” – 1 John 5:13 again
When you are saved, you have eternal life.
This means that you can’t lose your salvation … you can’t out-sin the love and grace of God.
Even your death cannot stop eternal life – John 11:25-26
When you are saved, the super-natural life of God invaded your vile, empty, sinful, dead soul.
Christ Himself came to live within you, and gave to you the very life of God – 5:20
You have now entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
When Christ comes into your life, He will CHANGE you.
If your life hasn’t been CHANGED by Christ, then you aren’t saved … a CHANGE must have taken place.
You should be able to see His life-changing power in your life.
The closer you walk in fellowship with Jesus, the more CHANGE you will see … as you are conformed into His image – Romans 8:29
The evidence of your spiritual birth will become more evident as your life is changed by the indwelling Christ.
CONCLUSION: In the weeks ahead, we will take a look in I John at the CHANGES that Christ has made in your heart and life.
These are the VITAL SIGNS of a true believer … that will give you the ASSURANCE of your salvation …
OR … the ASSURANCE that you have never been born-again.
When a Dr. wants to see if his patient is alive, he looks for the vital signs of life … pulse, heart-beat, breathing.
Without these vital signs, the Dr. knows that his patient is dead.
How can you know if you have eternal life?
How can you have the ASSURANCE of your salvation?
Next time, we will check 1 of the vital signs of the evidence of a changed life.
STAND - PRAYER
NOTE: This series uses the book by Steven J. Lawson, “Absolutely Sure” as the study guide for this series.
SERMON OUTLINE
“Blessed Assurance”
INTRODUCTION: ARE you a Christian? How do you KNOW you are a Christian?
o Some people are saved and don’t have the assurance of their salvation … others are not saved, and have a false assurance – Romans 10:9-10, Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21
o It’s important to KNOW that you are saved – 2 Peter 1:10
o John 6:44 – God draws the lost to Him.
o John 12:32 – Jesus draws the lost to Him.
o Romans 10:14,17 – We are responsible to give out God’s plan of salvation and then turn it over to God to draw them to Himself – Psalm 3:8
1 John 5:13 – Written for 2 purposes:
o To give assurance to the saved.
o To help the religious but lost see their lost condition.
Assurance of salvation is not based on “feelings” … but on God’s Word.
o Believing all the right things isn’t salvation – James 2:19
o Some people don’t have the assurance of salvation because they can’t pin-point the exact time.
- It’s more important to BE saved than to know WHEN.
o Some people don’t have the assurance of salvation because there’s no FRUIT in their life – Colossians 1:3-6, John 7:16-23
o Salvation means eternal life … you can’t out-sin the love and grace of God – John 11:25-26
o Salvation means you have partaken of the very life of Christ – 1 John 5:20
o If your life hasn’t been CHANGED, then you aren’t saved … the closer you walk in relationship to Jesus, the more you will be changed into His image – Romans 8:29
CONCLUSION:
o A Dr. will check for vital signs to see if his patient is alive.
o In 1 John, God gives the vital signs for a true believer … which gives the assurance that they are spiritually alive.
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
