CAN YOU KNOW FOR SURE
THAT YOU ARE
ETERNALLY SAVED AND SECURE? (Pt. 3)
by Dennis
Rokser
Yesterday, a Christian friend of mine related to me the following story. He had to fly to another U.S. city for business. In doing so, he was forced to rent a car. But when he went to drive the car out of the rental lot his mind inquired, “Does my car insurance cover this rental?” He honestly did not know. This lack of assurance caused him to drive anxiously in fear, terrified that any caused or uncaused accident would leave him in great debt and potential financial danger. It was not until the next day that he heard news from his insurance agent that he and his rental car were actually covered. What relief this news brought to his heart.
Unfortunately, there are
numerous people who live their lives like my friend drove his car – anxiously
in fear, and terrified of God’s judgment in Hell. They are convinced that no one can have the absolute assurance of
eternal salvation before they die. Such
was the case with the late Roman Catholic leader Cardinal O’Connor who said,
“Church
teaching is that I do not know at any given moment what my eternal future will
be. I can hope, pray, do my best – but
I still do not know. Pope John Paul
does not know absolutely that he will go to heaven, nor does Mother Theresa…”[1]
Sad to say, many Roman Catholics are not the only ones plagued by this problem, for the protestant teacher R. C. Sproul relates the following story about himself.
A while back I had one of those
moments of acute self-awareness that we have from time to time, and suddenly
the question hit me: "R.C., what if you are not one of the redeemed? What if your destiny is not heaven after
all, but hell?" Let me tell you
that I was flooded in my body with a chill that went from my head to the bottom
of my spine. I was terrified.
I tried
to grab hold of myself. I thought, "Well, it's a good sign that I'm
worried about this. Only true Christians
really care about salvation." But
then I began to take stock of my life, and I looked at my performance. My sins came pouring into my mind, and the
more I looked at myself, the worse I felt. I thought, "Maybe it's really
true. Maybe I'm not saved after
all."
I went to my room and began to read the Bible. On my
knees I said, "Well, here I am. I can't point to my obedience. There's
nothing I can offer. I can only rely on Your atonement for my sins. I can only throw myself on Your mercy."
Even then I knew that some people only flee to the Cross to escape hell, not
out of a real turning to God. I could
not be sure about my own heart and motivation. Then I remembered John 6:68.
Jesus had been giving out hard teaching, and many of His former followers had left
Him. When He asked Peter if he was also
going to leave, Peter said, "Where else can we go? Only You have the words of eternal
life." In other words, Peter was
also uncomfortable, but he realized that being uncomfortable with Jesus was
better than any other option![2]
Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is
passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
WHO ARE SOME BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF ASSURANCE?
Can believers know they have
trusted in Christ, and can they know that they have eternal life before
they die? Are there scriptural examples
of this? Let’s call to the witness
stand a dozen who would testify an emphatic “yes” to possessing the absolute assurance
of salvation.
1. Job
For
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth: And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
(Job 19:25-26)
2. David
Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell
in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23:6)
3. The
Apostles
Then
said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou
hast the words of eternal life. And we
believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
(John 6:67-69)
4. Martha
Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this? She saith unto
him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world. (John 11:25-27)
5. The
apostle Paul
We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians
5:8)
But
if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose
I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt
two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far
better: Nevertheless to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. (Philippians
1:22-24)
6. The
Corinthian believers
Unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. (1
Corinthians 1:2)
What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own? For ye
are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians
15:51-52)
7. The
Thessalonian believers
But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
(1
Thessalonians 4:13-18)
8. The
Ephesian believers
For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them. (Eph. 2:8-10)
9. The
Philippian believers
For
our conversation (citizenship)
is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Who shall change our vile
body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to
the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20-21)
10. The
Colossian believers
For
ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:3–4)
11. Jewish
Believers in Christ
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
12. The
apostle John’s readers
Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him
not. Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he
shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2)
WHY DON’T PEOPLE HAVE ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE OF
SALVATION?
1. Because
they are NOT SAVED.
I believe this is the number one
reason for having no assurance of Heaven.
Many are like those of Jesus’ day of whom he spoke,
Search the
scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they
which testify of me. And ye will not
come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:39-40)
Commenting regarding the meaning of the Greek word translated “think” (5:39), Greek linguists Louw and Nida write that it means “to regard something as presumably true, but without particular certainty; to suppose; to presume; to assume; to imagine; to think but not to be sure.”[3] These religious Jews had faith in a coming Messiah based on their knowledge of the Word of God. But they rejected Jesus as the Christ, along with trusting their own good works and religious rituals to make them righteous before God. This is why they did not KNOW that they had eternal life; they could only PRESUME it. In like manner, scores of unregenerate but religious people seek to earn heaven by trusting some false messiah or Jesus Christ PLUS their own good works. In doing so, they are rejecting God’s gift of salvation by His grace.
I
do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21)
When a
sinner seeks to earn God’s forgiveness by his works or church rituals, he can
never have the absolute assurance of salvation; for when does he absolutely
know that he has done enough?
2.
Because
they reject the biblical doctrine of ETERNAL SECURITY.
If a person who claims to be a believer in
Christ thinks he can lose, forfeit, or give back God’s gift of salvation, he
cannot honestly know with absolute certainty that he will go to heaven if he
dies in 5 years. Why? Because he could possibly lose his salvation
due to sin, unbelief, a pattern of carnality, etc. Instead, the best he could possess is some relative assurance of
heaven for today because he is remaining faithful to the Lord. But since he may fail between now and
tomorrow (like the apostle Peter who denied the Lord three times in a short
period of time) he cannot honestly know with certainly that he has eternal life
and will go to heaven tomorrow should he die.
But how long does “eternal life” last?
Others
who reject the eternal security of the believer for the Calvinist doctrine of
the “perseverance of the saints” lack the absolute assurance of salvation as
their enduring faith and good works act as the test-case to see if they are
TRULY saved. And should their faith
falter or fail at some later date, this supposedly would prove that they were
never elect. Logically, then, they lack
the absolute certainty of salvation for they must wait and see if their faith
perseveres to the end of their life.
But what saith the Scriptures?
And
brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
(Acts 16:30-31)
3.
Because
though they once had the assurance of salvation:
a)
they
now go by their feelings, instead of by faith in God’s promises.
And
this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. He that hath the Son hath life;
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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.
(1 John 5:11-13)
Verse
13 declares that the title deed of the believer in Christ is to “know
that ye have eternal life.” It does not
say “feel,” “hope,” or “wish.” It is
not a divine zap from heaven or a feeling in your soul that grants you the
assurance of salvation. Assurance comes
from accepting the unfailing promises of God.
Can you imagine a married man who wakes up
morning after morning, and who turns to his wife and asks, “Am I married? I don’t feel married today.” Her initial reaction might be one of insult,
but eventually she meets this daily inquiry by bonking him on the head with a
frying pan. In frustration he asks,
“But
how do I know I’m married?”
“Because
we live together,” she replies.
“But many people live together, honey, who aren’t married.”
“True, but don’t you remember that you took
me at my word on our wedding day.”
“Yes, I remember.
But I don’t feel married.”
In a fit of frustration, his wife slaps
before his eyes their marriage certificate and declares “See, honey, no matter
how you feel today, we are married, for it is written…” Is this not what God declares to the
believer in Christ in 1 John 5:13?
b)
they
look for assurance in their walk and works, instead of Christ’s completed work.
All churches that reject eternal security and/or
who teach Lordship Salvation must eventually view the believer’s assurance from
this standpoint. It logically follows
that no one could have the absolute assurance of salvation at the moment they
trust in Christ as Saviour, as a time lapse is needed to observe their later
walk or fruitfulness. One pastor tells
new converts,
“You
must be saved for at least three years before you have accumulated enough good
works to be sure that you are truly saved and not just a stony-ground hearer.”[4]
Five-point
Calvinist teacher A. W. Pink goes so far as to write, “Readers, if there is
a reserve in your obedience, you are on the way to hell.”[5]
So much
for any assurance of salvation for any sane person. To add to the confusion, the late Reformed theologian, John
Gerstner, follows the Calvinistic system to its logical end by erroneously
stating,
From
the essential truth that no sinner in himself can merit salvation, the
antinomian draws the erroneous conclusion that good works need not accompany
faith in the saint. The question is
not whether good works are necessary to salvation, but in what way they are
necessary. As the inevitable outworking
of saving faith, they are necessary for salvation…. Thus, good works may be
said to be a condition for obtaining salvation in that they inevitably
accompany genuine faith.[6]
But what saith the Scripture?
For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work
shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it
is. If any man's work abide which he
hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he
himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
(1 Corinthians 3:11-15)
c)
they
succumb to the wiles of the Devil.
Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:10-11, 17)
Satan’s
first wile toward Eve in the Garden of Eden was designed to cause her to doubt
the Word of God (Genesis 3:1). The “sword of the Spirit” is the “word
(rhema – specific sayings) of God.”
Believing the specific promises of God thwart this particular fiery dart
of the Wicked One.
A
new Christian was confiding with a mature believer about a period of darkness
and doubt he was going through. “In the
meeting yesterday I was filled with the joy of salvation, and I thought I would
never be in the dark again. But now
it’s all gone, and I’m in the depths. What's
the matter with me?" "Did you
ever pass through a tunnel?" asked his friend. "Certainly I have," said the convert. "But I don't see what that has to do
with my present situation."
"When you were in the tunnel, did you think the sun had been
blotted out of the sky?"
"No, I knew the sun was in the sky the same as ever, although I
couldn't see it just then. But what does that have to do with my
experience" he inquired.
"Were you distressed when you were in the dark tunnel?" asked
the other. "No, I knew I'd soon be
out in the light again." "And
did you get out?" "Of course! I'm out now!" replied the new Christian.
Then he paused as the truth dawned on his heart. "I see what you mean. Divine facts remain the same no matter how I
feel. I should rejoice in God’s Word
not in my feelings! I see! I see!” [7]
d)
they
fail to spiritually grow and live in prolonged carnality in their lives.
For
if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is
blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his
old sins. Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall. (2 Peter 1:8-10)
Ironically, one teacher of Lordship Salvation
admits to this potential reality in a genuine believers’ life by accurately
explaining.
“We
know Peter is referring to a believer because he is talking about people who
have the knowledge (epignosis) of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8) but have
become barren and unfruitful. A barren
Christian is spiritually useless.”[8]
“When
fruit is absent, the believer is blind.
What is he blind to? The
cleansing of his sins in past times. He
has forgotten that he has been saved.
He’s filled with doubt when he sees barrenness and fruitlessness in his
life. He doesn’t know if he is a
Christian.”[9]
While the carnal Christian cannot lose the eternal
security of his salvation, he may lose the personal assurance of it.
e)
they
think that they have to know the exact time or date of their salvation.
This
dilemma can especially be true of children raised in Christian homes. While no believer has “always been saved”
for we all were born “lost,” yet the issue is not knowing the exact moment of
personal faith in Christ. The apostle
Paul clarified this when he wrote,
I
know whom (not
when) I have believed (perfect, active, indicative), and am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which I have committed (entrusted) unto Him
against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)
The
bottom-line issue is not knowing “when” but “who” you have trusted to save you.
f)
they
have fallen prey to false teaching.
Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Tim. 4:2-4)
Only
God actually knows how many individuals have heard the Gospel and put their
trust in Christ alone, and then were later taught that they could lose their
salvation, etc. – undermining their absolute assurance of heaven.
Let me
end this article with these fitting words and closing story.
How
did the first-born sons of the thousands of Israel know for certain that they
were safe the night of the Passover and Egypt’s judgment?
Let
us take a visit to two of their houses and hear what they have to say.
We
find in the first house we enter that they are all shivering with fear and
suspense.
What is
the secret of all this paleness and trembling?
We inquire; and the first-born son informs us that the angel of death is
coming round the land, and that he is not quite certain how matters will stand
with him at that solemn moment.
"When the destroying angel has passed our house," says he, "and the night of judgment is over, I shall, then know that I am safe, but I can't see how I can be quite sure of it until then. They say they are sure of salvation next, door; but we think it very presumptuous. All I can do is to spend the long dreary night hoping for the best.”
"Well,”
we inquire, “but has the God of Israel not provided a way of safety for His
people ?"
"True," he replies,
"and we have availed ourselves of that way of escape. The blood of the spotless and unblemished first-year
lamb has been duly sprinkled with the bunch of hyssop on the lintel and two
side-posts, but still we are not fully assured of shelter." Let us now leave these doubting, troubled
ones, and enter next door.
What a
striking contrast meets our eye at once!
Joy beams on every countenance.
There they stand with girded loins and staff in hand, enjoying the
roasted lamb.
What can
be the meaning of all this joy on such a solemn night as this? “Ah,” say they all, "we are only
waiting for Jehovah’s marching orders and then we shall bid a last farewell to
the task-master’s cruel lash and all the drudgery of Egypt."
"But
hold. Do you forget that this is the
night of Egypt's judgment?"
"Right
well we know it; but our first-born son is safe. The blood has been sprinkled according to the wish of our
God."
"But
so it has been the next door," we reply, "but they are all unhappy
because all uncertain of safety."
"Ah,"
responds the first-born firmly, "but we have MORE THAN THE SPRINKLED
BLOOD, WE HAVE THE UNERRING WORD OF GOD ABOUT IT. God has said, 'WHEN I SEE THE
BLOOD I will pass over you.' God rests satisfied with the blood outside, and we
rest satisfied with His word inside."
The
sprinkled blood makes us SAFE.
The
spoken word makes us SURE. Could anything
make us more safe than the sprinkled blood, or more sure than His spoken
word? Nothing, nothing.
Now,
reader, let me ask You a question, "Which of those two houses think you
was the safer?"
Do you
say No. 2, where all were so happy?
Nay, then you are wrong. Both
are safe alike.
Their
safety depends upon what God thinks about the blood outside and not upon the
state of their feelings inside.
If you
would be sure of your own blessing then, dear reader, listen not to the
unstable testimony of inward emotions, but to the infallible witness of the
Word of God.
“Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me HATH everlasting life.”[10] ¢
[1] New York Times, interview on February 1, 1990.
[2] R. C. Sproul, Assurance Of Salvation,
(Table Talk, November 6, 1989), 20.
[3] Louw and
Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 369.
[4] Donald
Dunkerly, Hyper-Calvinism Today, The Presbyterian Journal, (Nov. 18,
1981), 15.
[5] George
Zeller, Arthur Pink’s Teaching on Saving Faith, An Analysis (Middletown,
CT: The Middletown Bible Church), 2.
[6] John H.
Gerstner, Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth: A Critique of
Dispensationalism (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc.,
1991), 210.
[7] Our Daily
Bread, February 27, 2001.
[8] John
MacArthur, Adding To Your Faith, 1 Peter 1 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press,
1987), p. 48.
[9] Ibid., 51.
[10] George Cutting, Safety, Certainty & Enjoyment (Addison, IL: Bible Truth Publishers), 9-12.