One of the frequently asked questions has to do with personal assurance of salvation. There are those who believe but who are concerned that their belief truly matches the saving belief of Scripture.  Assurance is a peculiar and most important issue. Our Lord speaks of many who will have false assurance thinking that because they have been religiously busy in the name of Christ their eternal soul is secure, but the Lord will say to them at judgment, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23). They never had a true relationship with the Lord. Their idea of assurance was misplaced. It is indeed a sobering and legitimate issue of which to be concerned.

There are many texts in Scripture that speak of eternal security. Those whom God has saved can never be lost. This is a very foundational and comforting doctrine. The real issue is not to be saved and then somehow become unsaved. The issue is a matter of possessing true salvation with a reliable inner sense of unreserved assurance. We know there are types of faith found in Scripture that are not saving faith. In John 8:30 we are told that as Jesus spoke to the crowds, “Many came to believe in Him.” The word for believe is pisteuo in Greek. This is the usual word for saving faith. But here we know it was not an adequate belief for salvation by what followed. Our Lord says, “If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). He tells them they are yet slaves of sin and that, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Their belief was inadequate for true transforming salvation. Ironically, their attitude was that they did not need to heed what our Lord, the One they believed in, said was necessary. These had misplaced or false assurance even though they had some form of a faith that Jesus was the Messiah.

The good thing to be said of those who express concern about assurance is they reflect the opposite problem of those just described. The fact that people are concerned for their spiritual well-being is a very good sign that their heart is under conviction, and they are listening to the Word of God. How does a person gain assurance that their belief in Jesus Christ is truly saving faith? Paul tells us, just as our text in John 8, that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). We know that the key in assurance is the Word of God itself. The Word of God provides three essential and distinct assurance roles. First, it addresses what is necessary for salvation. The focus is on salvation exclusively by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by grace. It cannot be earned. The substitutionary death of our Lord is the only way a person can be made right with God.

Secondly, God’s Word defines for us the elements or earmarks true salvation produces. There are many Scripture passages that clarify the changes salvation exhibits. The epistle of 1st John is written exclusively for this purpose. John says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). John elaborates the earmarks of fellowship, obedience, love, and faith as the essentials of the truly saved. Peter in his second epistle also addresses this. He first states that we become “partakers of the divine nature,” and then goes on to list nine qualities that are characteristic of those who know God (2 Pet. 1:4-8). Then Peter makes a qualifying statement, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins” (2 Pet. 1:9). He distinguishes by this who is real and who is not real in their relation to Christ. The key verse here follows, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Pet. 1:10). The idea of being diligent to practice the characteristics of saving faith serves as a means of assurance.

Finally, assurance is something God brings to our heart along our journey of being in His Word. This is what our Lord described in John 8:31-32 encouraging those believing to continue in His Word. Peter saw the glories of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration and yet tells us to continue in the Word of God as it is “more sure” than his eye-witness experience. The idea of being “more sure” is assurance. He writes, “To which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). This poetic picture of the morning star arising in the heart has been speculatively interpreted as the second coming of Christ. We are reminded that God’s work of salvation begins in our hearts. Chapter 8 of Romans teaches the abiding work of the Holy Spirit in all possessing true salvation. The idea of the morning star is like that of the sun rising to vanish our spiritual darkness. Here is God’s Word working in the heart to bring His light and His presence. As He works by arising in our heart, assurance takes place. God is now obviously resident within us. The person lacking assurance is wise to continue feasting on the Scriptures until the presence of God is known from within like a light shining in a dark place. O how wonderful is God’s Word and His working in us to make us new and grant us assurance. Praise His name!