Understanding True Assurance of Salvation

Devotional

Day 1: Genuine Assurance Requires Understanding and Relationship

Understanding the assurance of salvation involves more than just feeling secure; it requires a true comprehension of salvation's requirements and a personal, authentic relationship with Christ. Many people may have a false sense of assurance due to misunderstandings or misapplications of these truths. It's crucial to discern between genuine assurance and false assurance, as highlighted by Jesus' warning in the Sermon on the Mount, where many will claim to know Him, only to be rejected for their counterfeit assurance. This calls for a deep, personal examination of one's faith and relationship with Christ to ensure it aligns with biblical teachings. [01:04]

"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." (James 1:23-24, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you deepen your understanding of salvation and strengthen your relationship with Christ today?

Day 2: The Deceptive Comfort of Universalism

Universalism offers a comforting but deceptive assurance that all are saved, undermining the biblical teaching of judgment and the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. This belief, akin to the doctrine of justification by death, suggests that merely dying is a ticket to heaven, ignoring the biblical teaching of judgment after death. It is essential to recognize that true assurance comes from a personal faith in Christ, not from a false sense of security that disregards the need for genuine repentance and faith. [03:11]

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14, ESV)

Reflection: How can you ensure that your assurance of salvation is based on faith in Christ rather than a comforting but false belief in universal salvation?

Day 3: The Flaw of Legalism and Works Righteousness

Trusting in one's own good deeds for salvation is a common but flawed assurance. The biblical teaching is clear that no one can be justified by works alone; true salvation is a gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The encounter of the rich young ruler with Jesus illustrates this, as he believed he had kept all the commandments, yet his heart was not fully devoted to God. It is vital to understand that salvation cannot be earned by works but is received through faith and grace. [09:31]

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:20, ESV)

Reflection: Are there areas in your life where you rely on your own deeds for assurance of salvation? How can you shift your focus to faith and grace?

Day 4: Sacraments and Church Membership Do Not Guarantee Salvation

While sacraments and church membership are important, they do not guarantee salvation. Assurance must be rooted in a personal faith in Christ, not in external rituals or affiliations. Sacerdotalism, the belief that sacraments or church membership ensure salvation, is a false assurance. Sacraments are means of grace, but they do not save on their own. Similarly, being a member of a church does not equate to being part of the true, invisible church. [21:09]

"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." (Matthew 7:21, ESV)

Reflection: How can you ensure that your faith is personal and genuine, rather than relying on external rituals or affiliations for assurance of salvation?

Day 5: The Need for Genuine Faith and Repentance in Evangelical Practices

Outward expressions of faith, such as praying the Sinner's Prayer or making a decision for Jesus, must be accompanied by genuine repentance and faith. Relying solely on these actions can lead to false assurance. It is essential to understand that these practices are not the sole basis for salvation; they must be part of a broader, authentic relationship with Christ. True assurance comes from a heart transformed by faith and repentance, not just from outward expressions. [22:54]

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on your own faith journey. Are there areas where you need to seek genuine repentance and faith beyond outward expressions? How can you cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ today?

Sermon Summary

In our ongoing exploration of the assurance of salvation, we delve into the complexities surrounding the certainty of one's salvation. There are four distinct groups of people: those who are not saved and know it, those who are saved and know it, those who are saved but unsure, and those who are not saved yet believe they are. The challenge lies in distinguishing genuine assurance from false assurance. Jesus' warning in the Sermon on the Mount highlights this issue, as many will claim to know Him, only to be rejected for their counterfeit assurance.

False assurance often stems from two primary issues: a misunderstanding of salvation's requirements and a failure to personally meet those requirements despite having sound theology. Universalism, the belief that everyone is saved, is a prevalent error, leading to a false sense of security. This belief is akin to the doctrine of justification by death, where merely dying is seen as the ticket to heaven, ignoring the biblical teaching of judgment after death.

Another common error is legalism or works righteousness, where individuals believe their good deeds earn them salvation. This is a misunderstanding of the biblical teaching that no one can be justified by works alone. The rich young ruler's encounter with Jesus illustrates this, as he believed he had kept all the commandments, yet his heart was not fully devoted to God.

Sacerdotalism, the belief that sacraments or church membership ensure salvation, is another false assurance. While sacraments are means of grace, they do not save on their own. Similarly, church membership does not guarantee salvation, as it is not synonymous with being part of the true, invisible church.

Finally, in the evangelical world, practices like praying the Sinner's Prayer or making a decision for Jesus can lead to false assurance if they are relied upon as the sole basis for salvation. These outward expressions must be accompanied by genuine faith and repentance.

Key Takeaways

1. Understanding Assurance: Assurance of salvation is not merely about feeling secure; it requires a true understanding of salvation's requirements and a personal, authentic relationship with Christ. False assurance can arise from misunderstanding or misapplying these truths. [01:04]
2. The Danger of Universalism: Universalism offers a comforting but deceptive assurance that all are saved. This belief undermines the biblical teaching of judgment and the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. [03:11]
3. Legalism and Works Righteousness: Trusting in one's own good deeds for salvation is a common but flawed assurance. True salvation is not earned by works but is a gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. [09:31]
4. Sacraments and Church Membership: While sacraments and church membership are important, they do not guarantee salvation. Assurance must be rooted in a personal faith in Christ, not in external rituals or affiliations. [21:09]
5. Evangelical Practices: Outward expressions of faith, such as praying the Sinner's Prayer or making a decision for Jesus, must be accompanied by genuine repentance and faith. Relying solely on these actions can lead to false assurance. [22:54]
** [22:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:31] - Four Groups of People
[01:04] - False Assurance and Jesus' Warning
[02:02] - Misunderstanding Salvation
[03:11] - The Error of Universalism
[04:19] - Justification by Death
[05:26] - Works Righteousness
[06:55] - The Last Judgment
[08:11] - Jesus on Heaven and Hell
[09:31] - Legalism and Assurance
[11:04] - The Rich Young Ruler
[12:37] - True Goodness and Righteousness
[14:04] - Civic Virtue vs. True Goodness
[16:32] - Judging Ourselves by Ourselves
[19:03] - Sacerdotalism and Assurance
[21:09] - Sacraments and Salvation
[22:54] - Evangelical Practices and Assurance

Sermon Clips

"SPROUL: Again, we're going to continue with our series on the assurance of salvation. In our last segment, we looked at the four different groups of people in the world -- those who are not saved and know that they're not saved; we looked at those who are saved and know that they're saved; those who are saved and don't yet know that they are saved; and then the one that messes everything up, the fourth category of those who are not saved but who have the assurance that they are saved." [00:08:38]

"And so what complicates our quest for the assurance of salvation is, we see that there are two categories of people here who are sure that they're in a state of salvation. The only problem is, one of them is, in fact, not in a state of salvation, and so those who are in a state of salvation now have to ask the question, how can I be sure that my assurance is not like the false assurance of those who think they're being saved, but are not?" [00:41:06]

"The first one is people have a false sense of assurance of salvation because they don't understand the requirements for salvation; they have a misunderstanding of what salvation entails. And so, if you have a bad theology of salvation, that can lead you to a false assurance. And then the second big problem is that if you have a correct theology, then you have to see that it's also possible for a person to have a sound theology, a sound grasp of what it is that is required, but they are mistaken in terms of whether they personally have truly and authentically met those requirements." [00:118:59]

"Universalism teaches that everybody is saved; everybody goes to heaven. And so if I'm persuaded of this doctrine of salvation, it's a simple syllogism for me to go from the doctrine of universal salvation to the state of my destiny as a particular individual. I can do it this way syllogistically: Everybody is saved. I am a body; therefore, I am saved. Obviously, if all people are saved and I am a person, then I can be sure that I will be saved as well." [00:183:37]

"This also carries with it the idea of what I call the doctrine of justification by death, which I believe is the most prevalent doctrine of justification in our culture today. The greatest controversy in the history of the church took place in the sixteenth century between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformers over this very question of how justification takes place. This issue of justification by faith alone or some other means became the most volatile theological dispute ever, and today however, this is not the prevailing issue in our culture, but rather, the doctrine that most competes with the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone is the doctrine of justification by death." [00:229:99]

"Now, the second false basis for assurance is what I would call legalism, which means that this is what, another way of being called works righteousness. This view teaches that what you have to do to get into heaven is to obey the law of God and to live a good life. That is, that your works, and your good deeds will get you into heaven. And so people think that they have met the standard that God has set forth, and in the basis of their self-evaluation of their character and of their performance they have a confidence that they're going to pass the exam, that they will meet the requirements and meet the standards for entrance into heaven." [00:532:79]

"If anybody embodies this false understanding of salvation, it would be the rich young ruler that encountered Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry. You remember that narrative when the rich man came to Jesus, and he came with compliments dripping from his lips; he says, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Now, he's asking the question about what is required for salvation, but he calls Jesus 'good,' and before Jesus answers his question about the requirements to be saved, He stops the man in his tracks, and challenges him by saying to him, 'Why do you call Me 'good?' Don't you know that no one is good but God?'" [00:667:069]

"The biblical standard of goodness is the righteousness of God, and we are judged two ways: one, by our behavioral conformity to the law of God, and two, by the internal motivation or desire to obey the law of God. Now, I can look at somebody on the outside, and I see people all around me who aren't believers who are performing what John Calvin called civic virtue; they do good things. They donate their money for good causes, they help the poor, they may even sacrifice themselves for somebody else, and they do all kinds of wonderful things on the horizontal level; they drive their car according to the speed limit, but they're not doing it because their hearts have a pure and full love of God." [00:792:089]

"Sacerdotalism means that salvation is accomplished through the priesthood, through the sacraments, and/or through the church. And so people can say, 'Hey, I was baptized,' or, 'I had the sacrament of penance,' or, 'I had the Lord's Supper,' or, 'I had last rights' -- whatever. 'I've had these sacraments and these sacraments are means of grace. They save me, and so I draw my confidence or my assurance from having experienced the sacraments.' This is the same error that the Pharisees committed in biblical days because they assumed that because they were circumcised -- that is, that they had had the Old Testament sacraments, that therefore they were guaranteed a place in the kingdom of God." [00:1211:06]

"The sacraments are very important; the sacraments communicate the promises of God to us for our salvation. The sacraments are means of grace, but no sacrament has ever saved anybody, and if you put your trust in the sacraments, then you have a false assurance of salvation, because you're trusting in something to save you that neither does save you nor can save you. Now, closely related to this is the idea of -- and many people have it -- is that all they have to do to be saved is to join a church. So if they join a church, they figure they're in; they're in the visible body of Christ, and they assume that if you're in the visible body, you must be in the invisible church as well." [00:1264:16]

"Now finally, as I mentioned earlier, in the so-called evangelical world, we have other ways: pray the Sinner's Prayer, raise your hand in evangelistic nature, go forward in an altar call, make a decision for Jesus. These are all techniques or methods that are used to call people to repentance, to call people to faith, and they're fine, but the danger is that if you say the prayer, raise your hand, walk the walk, make a decision, that you trust in that. Where, we've already seen that those outward professions may be deceiving and you are not really possessing the necessary steps for salvation." [00:1343:03]

"Well, we'll look in the next session at how we can find authentic ways to salvation and how these counterfeit ways can be overcome." [00:1394:01]

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

Transcript

What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?

Were there any personal stories shared?