Assurance: You Can Know Youre A Christian
Contents:
When you entered, you came first to the brazen altar upon which the bloody sacrifice was made. Next was a laver, or great basin, in which the priests would wash.
First the blood, then the water. The blood of Jesus Christ pays the price for our sins, and the sanctifying water keeps us clean. That is a historical fact. That is the saving work of Christ. How do I know there was a man named Jesus Christ? How do I know He was the sinless Son of God?
How do I know that God sent Him? How do I know that He actually died on that cross and took my sin? Thank God I don't have to depend on somebody's argument. The Holy Spirit of God is here to make that real in my heart. You see, God gave us the work of Christ. But to make the work of Christ—the water and the blood—real to us, He gave us the Spirit.
Since we believe the witness of men. All of us believe the witness of men. One night I was in Augusta, Georgia, preaching at a missions conference. The next morning I went to the airport and flew back to Memphis. In order to do this, I had to exercise faith in an airplane pilot I didn't know.
I never saw his credentials. I never saw him fly before. But Delta Airlines put its stamp of approval on this man, so I just got on the plane and never thought too much about it. We accept the witness of men. Before I went to the airport, I had breakfast in a restaurant. How did I know the food was not poisoned? I had faith in that lady who served it. We receive the witness of men. When your doctor writes you a prescription, you look at it, and although you can't read it, pronounce it, or understand it, you give it to a pharmacist who puts pills in a bottle.
Then, without a second thought, you take them home and swallow them. In the same way, through faith we receive the witness of God through the Spirit that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead for our sanctification. There is, therefore, no excuse for not believing. The Bible promises that the Holy Spirit will help anyone to believe who wants to believe. First the Spirit witnesses to us; then He witnesses in us. Before I got saved, He witnessed to me. He told me what Christ did is true. Now He witnesses in me.
I have the witness in myself. Suppose I am enjoying myself by eating a piece of apple pie, and you come to me and say, "There is no such thing as apple pie.
I don't believe in apple pie. And if there is apple pie, it is no good. Despite your arguments, I have the witness within me. I have the witness on the inside. A Christian with a testimony is never at the mercy of an unbeliever with an argument, because he has the witness in himself. Here is the basis of our belief.
Rather than being shouting Christians, they're doubting Christians. Rather than having a "know-so" salvation, they have a "hope-so" salvation. Somebody once. But like most things in the Christian life, assurance is something that is my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are.
Here is the reason for our certainty. We are not just gullible fools. He came by water and blood. The Holy Spirit of God says yes, that is true. It is all attested by the Word of God. To doubt the Bible is to call God a liar. Some say, "Well, I'm trying to believe. Either this is His Word—His inerrant, infallible Word—or it is not. And the work of Christ, the witness of the Spirit, and the Word of God all say it is.
It is fact, a matter of record. Let me give you another example. Suppose I am in a courtroom, and the judge says to me, "Mr. Rogers, are you married?
Assurance: How to know you are a Christian by J. C. Ryle - Christian Focus Publications
You see, I was there in the church, and I saw Joyce coming down the aisle. My heart got all twitterpated, and I was so happy. Your honor, it's the most wonderful feeling in the world to be married. When I'm finished, the judge will say, "I'm sorry. While I am glad you feel that way, your feelings are not evidence in this courtroom. Do you have some proof?
- North American New Right, Volume One;
- How Can I Know that I am a Christian?!
- Christian Focus.
- !
- Editor's Picks;
- Pickup In Aisle Twelve (Angie Wharton Series Book 1).
- You Can Be Sure.
Then I go down to the courthouse. And I get that document, notarized, signed, and sealed, and I bring it before the judge. And he accepts my marriage as proven fact. My salvation does not hinge on my emotions. I have an official record. I have the Word of God: One night while out soul-winning, I asked a man if he wanted to receive Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
After we prayed together, I said, "Now, sir, I want to give you your spiritual birth certificate. We started to read it through again. Then I told him, "It's Jesus who is speaking. Do you believe this?
Assurance of Salvation
I said, "Let's read it again. Again, he answered yes to every question except the last. Again, he said, "Well, I hope so.
Is this all just some intellectual exercise, or has there been a change? My heart got all twitterpated, and I was so happy. He shows us how our salvation ought to show up in our behavior, and he gives three tests. All Christians doubt from time to time. The test is, do you believe in Jesus Christ now? You see, I was there in the church, and I saw Joyce coming down the aisle. It is all attested by the Word of God.
This time, when I asked him if he had everlasting life, the light went on inside. That is the basis of your belief. That's the source of your certainty. Isn't it better to have God's Word than Adrian's or your neighbor's or your opinions, emotions, wishes, or whims? In addition to the root of our belief, we need only look at the fruit of our behavior to know whether or not we are truly saved.
About J. C. Ryle
What has Jesus done in me? Is this all just some intellectual exercise, or has there been a change? The Apostle John is very practical here. He shows us how our salvation ought to show up in our behavior, and he gives three tests. I wonder if John had been in a testimony meeting where somebody was bragging about being saved—saying he was, but his walk and his talk did not get together.
If you say you are saved, it is absolutely going to show up in your life. You are going to be keeping the commandments of God. You do not keep the commandments of God in order to be saved; you keep the commandments of God because you are saved. This presents a serious problem, because not one of us has always kept all of God's commandments. I haven't since I've been saved, and you haven't since you've been saved. Yet the Bible says that we know we are in Him in that we keep His commandments.
Both the problem and the solution are found in the word keep. It is actually a mariner's word. In the apostles' day, sailors navigated by the stars. And a sailor setting his course by the stars was said to be "keeping the stars. To keep God's commandments, then, means to use the Word of God as the Guide for our lives. It is the desire of every child of God to live by His Word.
Recently On Pastors / Leadership
While we may be blown off course, distracted, or confused, the goal of our lives is to keep the commandments of God. Ever since I gave my heart to Jesus, there has been a deep, divine, radical change; and there is in me a burning desire to live for God. And there should be in you, too, if you are saved. This is not to say that I don't sin anymore.
- Boxed Set 3 Christian Spiritual Warfare.
- ;
- Subscribe to our mailing list.
- Description.
- Laisser parler les maux (French Edition)?
The difference is that before I got saved I was running to sin; now I am running from it. And if I fail, I turn right around and start running away again. The commandment test says: A lot of people say, "Well, I walked down an aisle somewhere, and I got saved. I know I'm just an old backslider now, but I'm still saved and going to heaven.
No, you are not. If you are living that way—high, wide, and handsome—and it does not break your heart, then you do not know the God of the Bible. When I am saved, I want to be right with my Father, and I want to be right with my brother. But there are some who would say, "Well, I'm saved, but I have no use for the church. The word saint singular appears in the Bible only five times. The plural appears nearly times. Now, going to church will not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage will make you an automobile.
But when you realize that you have been bought by the blood of Christ, when the Spirit of God comes into you, you receive a new nature, and you are going to keep His commandments and love the brethren. The greatest and strongest test is the commitment test. All of the others grow out of it. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God" 1 John 5: In the Bible, the words believe and commit are the same word.
Concerning Jesus, it says, "Many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men" John 2: They said they believed in Him, but He did not believe in them. He knew that they were just miracle-mongers. He knew that they were not true believers. Biblical faith is not just an intellectual exercise. You do not believe about Jesus, you believe in Jesus. You commit yourself to Jesus. I did not believe about the plane that flew me from Augusta to Memphis; I believed in it.
6 Signs to Know If You Are Saved
I committed myself to that airplane. I did not just say, "Those things can fly. I'm going to Memphis. This means we must walk in truth and holiness, not in doctrinal errors and sinful living. In fact, if we say we are perfectly walking in the light and are without sin, we are actually lying and showing we are not truly saved by God 1 John 1: When we sin, Jesus is right there, being our propitiation the sacrifice which turns the cursed into the blessed 1 John 2: But again, we must not settle in sin and confession without repentance, for John goes back to obedience 1 John 2: The Bible does not say we will be sinless once we are saved.
But the Bible does say we should be sinning less and less after we are saved. We are justified at the moment of our conversions, and when we are justified we will always begin down the road of signification as well Hebrews Justification is what God proclaims us to be and what he fully gives us in Christ. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy and learning to live from the blessings we have fully received in Jesus.
In 2 Peter 1: There will certainly be moments of backsliding for Christians. But you should have assurance of faith and know you are truly saved by God if your life has changed and if you are seeking to walk in the light more and more and not less and less as your life progresses with Christ. Whoever does not love abides in death. None of us do this perfectly, but rather than this cause us doubt, this should bring us more assurance of our salvation because any true love for God must come from Christ and the working of his Spirit.
For more on this idea, read R. One of the primary signs of salvation is perseverance. This means that those who are truly saved will endure to the end. They will keep professing their faith in Jesus, they will keep obeying, the will keep repenting, they will keep being sanctified, they will continue to love God and people, and nothing will be able to separate them from the love of God. So how can you know if you are truly saved by God? How can you have assurance of salvation? We must examine ourselves, we must pass the test of faith, but ultimately we must rest secure in the truth that God is faithful even when we are not.