Understanding Assurance: True vs. False Salvation
Summary
In our exploration of the assurance of salvation, we have delved into the complexities and challenges that believers face in this journey. Assurance of salvation is a topic that has sparked much debate across various theological camps. Initially, we examined the biblical call to seek assurance and the controversies surrounding its possibility. Today, we focused on the different types of people in relation to their assurance of salvation.
There are four distinct categories of people when it comes to assurance. The first group consists of those who are unsaved and know it. These individuals are aware of their estrangement from God and the consequences of their godless lives. They live with a negative assurance, fully conscious of their lost state. The second group includes those who are saved and know it. These individuals have full assurance of their salvation, grounded in their relationship with God and the promises of Scripture.
The third group is composed of those who are saved but do not know it. These individuals may struggle with doubts and lack the assurance of their salvation, often due to misconceptions about conversion experiences. It's crucial to understand that regeneration is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit, and not everyone is immediately aware of the moment they are saved. Assurance should be based on the Word of God, not solely on personal experiences.
The fourth and most concerning group consists of those who are unsaved but believe they are saved. This false assurance can be dangerous, as it leads individuals to a false sense of security. Understanding the counterfeit is essential to recognizing the authentic, much like how bank tellers are trained to identify counterfeit money. The church has historically been strengthened by addressing heresies, which force a deeper examination of the truth.
Ultimately, the challenge lies in discerning between true and false assurance. Assurance is not about mathematical certitude but about a confident trust in God's promises. Our assurance may fluctuate, but it is vital to ground it in the truth of Scripture, allowing us to say with confidence, "I know whom I have believed."
Key Takeaways:
1. Awareness of Lostness: Many people are aware of their lost state, even if they deny it outwardly. Deep down, they recognize their estrangement from God, as His law is written on their hearts. This awareness often surfaces in moments of crisis, leading to "foxhole conversions" where individuals seek last-minute reconciliation with God. [03:26]
2. True Assurance vs. False Assurance: Assurance of salvation is not about having a dramatic conversion experience. It's about trusting in the promises of God. Regeneration is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit, and assurance should be grounded in Scripture, not personal experiences. [10:42]
3. The Danger of False Assurance: Some individuals have a false sense of assurance, believing they are saved when they are not. Understanding the counterfeit helps us recognize the authentic. The church has historically been strengthened by addressing heresies, which force a deeper examination of the truth. [16:43]
4. The Role of Experience: Personal experiences can be misleading and should not be the basis for our theology. Our faith should be defined by Scripture, not by what we feel or experience. Checking our experiences against the Word of God is crucial for authentic assurance. [12:16]
5. Fluctuating Assurance: Assurance is not about mathematical certitude but about a confident trust in God's promises. Our assurance may fluctuate, but it is vital to ground it in the truth of Scripture, allowing us to say with confidence, "I know whom I have believed." [23:08]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:35] - Introduction to Assurance of Salvation
- [01:11] - Four Types of People
- [02:01] - Unsaved and Aware
- [02:47] - Natural Revelation and Conscience
- [04:17] - Foxhole Conversions
- [05:41] - Saved and Assured
- [06:29] - Saved but Unaware
- [08:04] - Conversion Experiences
- [10:00] - Instantaneous Regeneration
- [12:16] - Experience vs. Scripture
- [13:54] - Seeking Authentic Assurance
- [15:11] - Unsaved but Assured
- [16:43] - Understanding the Counterfeit
- [18:41] - Historical Heresies and Truth
- [20:00] - False Confidence
- [21:28] - Levels of Assurance
- [23:08] - Discerning True Assurance
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide: Assurance of Salvation
Bible Reading:
1. Romans 1:28-32
2. 2 Peter 1:10
3. 2 Timothy 1:12
---
Observation Questions:
1. According to the sermon, what are the four types of people in relation to their assurance of salvation? [01:11]
2. How does the sermon describe the awareness of lostness among those who are unsaved and know it? [02:01]
3. What does the sermon say about the role of personal experiences in understanding one's assurance of salvation? [12:16]
4. How does the sermon illustrate the danger of false assurance using the example of bank tellers? [16:00]
---
Interpretation Questions:
1. In Romans 1:28-32, Paul describes the behaviors of those who are estranged from God. How does this passage relate to the sermon’s description of those who are unsaved and aware of it? [02:47]
2. 2 Peter 1:10 encourages believers to make their calling and election sure. How does this relate to the sermon’s discussion on the importance of grounding assurance in Scripture rather than personal experience? [13:54]
3. The sermon mentions that assurance is not about mathematical certitude but about trust in God's promises. How does 2 Timothy 1:12 support this idea? [23:08]
4. What are the potential consequences of having a false sense of assurance, as discussed in the sermon? [20:00]
---
Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your own life. Do you identify with any of the four categories of assurance mentioned in the sermon? How does this awareness affect your spiritual journey? [01:11]
2. Have you ever experienced a "foxhole conversion" moment, where a crisis led you to seek reconciliation with God? How did that experience impact your faith? [04:17]
3. The sermon warns against relying solely on personal experiences for assurance. How can you ensure that your faith is grounded in Scripture rather than emotions or experiences? [12:16]
4. Consider the idea of false assurance. Are there areas in your spiritual life where you might be overconfident without a solid foundation? How can you address these areas? [16:00]
5. How can you cultivate a confident trust in God's promises, even when your assurance fluctuates? What practical steps can you take to strengthen your faith in times of doubt? [23:08]
6. The sermon discusses the importance of understanding the counterfeit to recognize the authentic. How can you apply this principle to discern truth in your daily life? [16:43]
7. Think about a time when you felt unsure of your salvation. What helped you regain confidence in your relationship with God, and how can you use that experience to support others who may be struggling? [21:28]
Devotional
Day 1: Awareness of Estrangement from God
Many people live with an awareness of their separation from God, even if they do not openly acknowledge it. This awareness is often rooted in the conscience, where God's law is inscribed on their hearts. In moments of crisis, this awareness can become more pronounced, leading to what are often called "foxhole conversions," where individuals seek reconciliation with God in desperate times. Recognizing this estrangement is the first step toward seeking true assurance of salvation. [03:26]
"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them." (Romans 2:14-15, ESV)
Reflection: Can you identify a moment in your life when you felt a deep awareness of your separation from God? How did you respond to that awareness, and what steps can you take today to seek reconciliation with Him?
Day 2: Trusting in God's Promises for Assurance
True assurance of salvation is not dependent on dramatic conversion experiences but on trusting in the promises of God. Regeneration is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit, and assurance should be grounded in Scripture rather than personal experiences. This understanding helps believers to focus on the reliability of God's Word as the foundation for their faith, rather than fluctuating emotions or experiences. [10:42]
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:11-13, ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on a promise from Scripture that assures you of your salvation. How can you remind yourself of this promise daily to strengthen your faith and assurance?
Day 3: Recognizing the Danger of False Assurance
False assurance is a dangerous state where individuals believe they are saved when they are not. This can lead to a false sense of security, preventing them from seeking true reconciliation with God. Understanding the counterfeit is crucial for recognizing the authentic, much like how bank tellers are trained to identify counterfeit money. The church has historically been strengthened by addressing heresies, which force a deeper examination of the truth. [16:43]
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV)
Reflection: Consider your own assurance of salvation. Are there areas where you might be relying on false assurances? How can you seek the truth of your salvation through Scripture and prayer today?
Day 4: The Role of Experience in Assurance
Personal experiences can be misleading and should not be the basis for our theology. Our faith should be defined by Scripture, not by what we feel or experience. Checking our experiences against the Word of God is crucial for authentic assurance. This approach helps believers to discern the truth and avoid being swayed by emotions or subjective experiences. [12:16]
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV)
Reflection: Think of a recent experience that influenced your faith. How can you evaluate this experience in light of Scripture to ensure it aligns with God's truth?
Day 5: Grounding Assurance in Scripture
Assurance is not about mathematical certitude but about a confident trust in God's promises. While our assurance may fluctuate, it is vital to ground it in the truth of Scripture. This grounding allows believers to confidently declare, "I know whom I have believed," and to find stability in their faith journey. [23:08]
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV)
Reflection: In what ways can you deepen your understanding of Scripture to strengthen your assurance of salvation? What specific steps can you take this week to immerse yourself more in God's Word?
Quotes
I remember once sharing the Gospel to a man in Cincinnati, and I asked him the evangelistic – Evangelism Explosion diagnostic questions, and I began with the first question. “Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for sure that when you die you’re going to go to heaven?” And this man didn’t flinch. He looked me straight in the eye, and he says, “Oh no,” he says, “I’m sure I’m not.” He said, “I’m sure I’m going to hell.” [00:01:37]
And what Paul is saying there is that in God’s natural revelation, not only in the Bible – one doesn’t have to be exposed to biblical preaching to be aware of this – but as God writes His law on the hearts of people, implants into the human mind His Word by way of conscience, people deep down know that they are culpable for their behavior, and they know that they are out of fellowship with their Creator. [00:03:13]
But then you have the second person and that is the person who is saved and knows that he is saved. That is, this person has full assurance of being in a state of grace and in a state of salvation, and we’re going to be talking further as we proceed here in this series on how it is possible to gain from Scripture and in our relationship with God a full assurance of our being in a state of grace. [00:05:42]
Then you have other people who can’t tell you the year or within five years when they became Christians. Ruth Graham, for example, Billy’s wife, doesn’t know when she became a Christian. And we have a problem in the church where we have a tendency to project our own personal experiences and try to make them normative for everybody else, so that people who have had a sudden dramatic Damascus road conversion, where you can name the day and the hour sometimes become suspicious of people who haven’t had that kind of experience. [00:08:48]
Now, here’s where the plot thickens and becomes a little bit problematic. Nobody is half regenerate or semi-regenerate; you’re either born of the Spirit of God or you’re not, and regeneration, which is that work of God by which we are transformed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, is a real conversion, and regeneration happens immediately by the power of God, by the work of the Holy Spirit. It happens instantly, and you’re either in that state or you’re not in that state. [00:09:46]
And that’s why it’s very dangerous when we create categories by which we suspect people who don’t meet our experience. In fact, as much as I talk about my conversion experience – I can tell you with certainty the day and the hour of my conversion experience – but that experience may not actually correspond to the work of God in my soul. God, the Holy Spirit may have regenerated me a week before that, a month before that, five years before that, before I experienced the reality of what had happened internally. [00:11:02]
One of the most dangerous things you can do as a Christian is to determine your theology by your experience, because your experience and my experience, neither of those is normative for the Christian life. We have to determine our theology from the Word of God, not from what we feel. And not only that, we are open to misunderstanding and misinterpreting the meaning and significance of the experiences that we go through. [00:12:08]
And so that’s a caveat that we need to be aware of as we work through this whole business of the assurance of salvation, because if we rest our assurance on an experience and not on the Word of God, we’re asking for all kinds of doubts and problems to assail us in our pilgrimage. Again, people have experience of feeling warm fuzzies in their spirit, in their soul, and say, well, I felt something that night and therefore I’m converted. It might have been indigestion, and we don’t know that. [00:13:05]
There are those who are unsaved who know they are saved. The fourth category, people who are not in a state of grace but who think they’re in a state of grace. They’re not saved, but they are assured that they are saved. Now, we’re going to spend some time on trying to unwrap that particular group and see why it is that people can have a false sense of assurance because it’s just as important for us to be able to understand the counterfeit if we’re going to be able to recognize the authentic. [00:15:18]
And in that sense, the church has been aided historically by false doctrine, by heresies, not because heresies are good or false doctrine is good, but what happens in the history of the church is that every time a serious heresy arises and the church has to address it, it forces the church to examine the truth much more carefully. We wouldn’t have a Bible today to read from, presumably, if it weren’t for the heretic Marcion. [00:16:29]
So maybe that’s what we’re talking about when we talk about these people who exude confidence that they’re on their way to heaven, that they are Christians, they’re sure of their salvation, they don’t worry about their salvations – or their salvation. They have assurance, but it’s false. So this is what creates the tension and the anxiety that we’re trying to deal with in this series, particularly as we compare number two and number four – this group comprises the people who are saved and have the assurance of salvation; this group comprises the people who are not saved but have the assurance of salvation. [00:20:19]
And the tendency for human beings when it comes to assurances of truth claims is that there is a broad continuum on which our assurance operates. For example, somebody could say to you, “Do you believe that God exists?” Now how – there are many ways you can answer that question. You could say, “No, I don’t.” Or you could say, “I don’t think so.” Or you could say, “I don’t know. I hope so.” Or you could say, “Maybe.” Or you could say, “Yes, I believe in God.” Or you could say, “Of course I believe in God.” Each of those answers describes a different level of intensity of confidence that attends a proposition or an assertion. [00:21:53]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Sep 14, 2024. Do you have any questions about it?