Some Christians never struggle with assurance, and they are blessed to have such unwavering confidence in Christ’s power to save.
But for many of us, we will struggle with a lack of assurance at least a couple of times in our lives.
If this is you, if you are disheartened by your lack of confidence in your salvation and if you are questioning whether you are truly Christ’s, here are five ways to strengthen your assurance of salvation.
1. Remind yourself of the gospel.
When you are struggling with assurance, the best thing for you to do is to focus on the gospel.
If your struggle with assurance is the increasing conviction of your unregenerate state and false profession of faith, then the gospel is your only hope.
Remind yourself of the gospel; that Christ died for us.
He was innocent, we are guilty.
We have broken His commandments and fallen far short of His standard of holiness.
God is just and righteous; we are sinful, incapable of being holy, and the eternity in hell that we deserve could never pay for our sins.
Without Christ, we are truly hopeless.
But He didn't leave us there, even though we deserve it.
Instead, He died to save us from our sins and His just wrath against and punishment of our sin of rebellion against Him.
He died in agony so that we might live forgiven and redeemed.
The Ruler, Creator, and Sustainer of the universe gave His life to reconcile us to Him.
When Jesus died on the cross, He said "It is finished': our debt of sin was fully paid for, and His righteousness was given to us so that now we can be holy in Him.
I know that because I have repented of my crimes against the Holy God and trusted fully in His atoning death on my behalf, I have been saved.
Although I still sin and fail so often, I live knowing that I am saved irrevocably, loved unconditionally, and forgiven fully.
The Innocent died for the guilty. God reached down to earth to redeem His enemies.
But then, Christ rose from the dead, proving that He is God and that He has defeated sin and death.
His death gave me forgiveness, and His resurrection gave me hope.
Because He rose from the dead, I have an assurance that I too have eternal life in Him.
This life is only the precursor of an eternity of worshipping my Saviour in Heaven.
The good news is that this gift of forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life is available to everyone.
There is no sin so great that Christ's blood cannot pay for it, no living person 'too-far-gone' to be saved by Him.
If you repent of your sins and believe in the Christ Who died and rose again for you, you will be saved.
Christ died and rose again so that we might have life and have it abundantly.
Christ’s saving work on the cross is open to you, and if you have never truly repented and put your faith in Him, your lack of assurance is a gift from God because He is not allowing you to continue with a false security of your salvation.
But sometimes, our struggle with assurance is not a symptom of the fact that we are unsaved, but rather it is a symptom of either our weakness of faith, our reliance on our strength, or a disheartening caused by a deeper realisation of our sin and unholiness.
Be encouraged in this, because the very fact that you struggle with assurance can be proof that you are saved.
After seeing a number of my close ‘Christian’ friends fall away from the faith, I struggled deeply with my dear that maybe I was not truly regenerated; that my faith was a show and not truly heart-felt.
I was looking for a feeling or an experience that I could point to as evidence of my salvation.
For months, I was deeply concerned: I would struggle to listen to any sermon where assurance of salvation was mentioned because I felt as if I should be convicted and have this undeniable moment of heart change and realisation.
But over time, as I dove deeper into the scriptures, thought long and hard about the state of my soul, and reminded myself of the gospel, I realised that my struggle with assurance was rooted not in my unbelief but in my deepening understanding of my sin nature.
I was disheartened that I was not as holy as I longed to be, and I feared most of all an eternity apart from Christ: that I may one day stand before Him and be told “I never knew you”.
Ironically, this fear was what helped me break free from the grasp of an unfounded lack of assurance and condemnation because it made me realise that an unregenerate soul does not long to be in deeper communion with Christ.
Yes, I still sometimes struggle with assurance, but I know deep down that I am saved because I know my salvation rests not in my perfection but in Christ’s ability.
Meditate on the knowledge that you can not lose your salvation: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)
Oftentimes, a rekindling of assurance is not so much ‘feeling’ confident but simply choosing to be confident and rest in Christ’s promise to save to the uttermost, even when the feelings take a while to align with our choice to believe.
When you feel apathetic and distant from God, remember that Christ will never forsake one of His redeemed: “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
2. Remember it is Christ who saves you.
It might seem obvious, but so much of the time we have the head knowledge that it is Christ who saves us, not our strength of faith, and yet our hearts cannot seem to be at peace with this reality.
We know we are saved by grace alone, but we still look to our efforts, our holiness, or our strength of character as the determining factor in whether we believe we are truly saved.
The only way to combat this damaging mindset is by soaking ourselves in the truths of Scripture.
The author of Hebrews reminds us that Christ is, “Able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)
In epistle of Jude, we are encouraged that it is only by Christ’s power that we are saved, sanctified, and kept until we enter heaven: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.” (Jude 1:24-25)
We know that our works will not save us, but too often we act as if they will improve our standing before God or make us ‘more deserving’ of His grace and mercy.
However, the truth is that grace that is deserved is no longer grace, and mercy can only be extended to those who deserve punishment.
Christ’s mercy is most beautifully exhibited through our weakness and failings.
The more incapable we recognise ourselves to be, the more He is able to mould and make us into the people He wants us to be, and His holiness and goodness is showcased most awe-inspiringly in His work of redemption as it touches every area of our lives.
Once we are saved, nothing can separate us from Him, not even our own failings or doubts.
As Romans says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:28-30, 38-39)
Rest in the knowledge that it is Christ who saves you and remember that your works and your striving after holiness are not to earn salvation or acceptance but simply as an outworking of the gratitude that you feel for your Saviour.
3. Repent of any sin that is hindering your communion with Christ.
Scripture is clear about the fact that “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” (Proverbs 28:13-14)
If you are struggling with assurance, the reason may be that you are fighting against the Holy Spirit’s conviction of your sin.
When we hold onto sin, when we refuse to repent of it and surrender to God's sovereign rule in our lives, that unrepentant sin will hinder our relationship with Him and with our fellow believers in Christ.
Concealing our sins can never be the solution: rather than assuaging our fears and doubts, hiding our transgressions means they will only fester and grow until they wreak havoc in our souls and our relationships.
However, it is also not enough to simply confess: we must also forsake our sins.
It is easy enough to confess to Christ that we have been putting our will above His, disregarding His commands because they contradict our desires, but it is so much harder to be willing to forsake those sinful habits and actions.
God is a forgiving God, but that forgiveness comes at the price of His own blood.
When we ‘apologise’ for our sin, and then dive right back in and commit the same acts of defiance, we are repeatedly acting as if His blood that was shed for us is a trivial matter, as if the sacrifice of His own life on our behalf is not enough to warrant our obedience.
1 John says “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:5-9)
If our lack of assurance is a result of a lack of submission to Christ, there is hope for us because Christ is quick to forgive, and He draws near to a repentant heart.
Repent of any sin that you have been holding onto, and allow Him to cleanse and sanctify you, your thoughts, your heart, and your desires: He is willing and able to renew your love for Him and restore your passion for holiness.
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