LESSON TWO – ASSURANCE of SALVATION

  

                My father always told me while I was growing up that as a Christian I should not “believe my doubts and doubt my belief”.  This simple statement made a profound impact in my life when I started confronting doubts regarding my salvation and my faith in God.

                 Doubts are common in the life of a believer.  They are not of God.  They come from the great Liar, Satan.  It is also the result of our weaknesses in the flesh which  comes when we begin to slack in our Bible reading, praying, and Church attendance.  It creeps in when our faith weakens  due to lack of the Word of God.  Romans 10:17 states, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” 

                 Doubts can attack us when we give more focus on our feelings than to the facts of God’s Word.  Feelings change depending on our mood.  We cannot depend on them.  Assurance comes from God.  It is based on His immutable promises – the Scriptures.  Because He is God, He cannot lie.

                 Assurance comes from the Word of God.  We are saved because the Bible declares so.  This is how we know we are saved forevermore.  To avoid doubts we need to:

1.                Be totally persuaded that God is the only truth.  John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth…”  Because He is the truth, He cannot                 lie.  It is impossible for Him to lie.  (Romans 3:4)

2.                Realize that God is All Power.  He maintains our salvation by all His power. (John 10:28-29)

3.                Constantly be in the Word of God. (Psalm 119:11) To listen to doubts is a sin against God because it is void of faith. (Hebrews 11:6 )Always be under the teaching of God’s Word.

4.                Get busy with and for the Lord.  Our minds need to be                              saturated and pre-occupied with the things of God.  Remember, an idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.

5.                Personally claim the promises of the Word of God aggressively in our lives through our services and Christian testimony.

                The verse that you have memorized in I John 5:13 is an example of a promise that you need to claim.  It states, “These things have I written unto you ...that you  may know that ye have eternal life…”  Faith is taking God at His Word.  The Bible teaches that because you have believed, therefore you are saved.  Being saved, you therefore know that you have eternal life.  We know it  because the Bible says so.  Just like what somebody said, “The Bible said it, I believed it.  That did it.”  Praise God we can know for sure.                                                                

“It sure does make a difference what you believe.”