Security And Assurance

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?