Intro from Part One:
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…
4. Re-commit to doing important spiritual disciplines.
Re-commit to faithfully reading the Word, praying even when it feels forced, and meditating on Scripture.
We know that “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)
This knowledge of the sufficiency of Scripture should fuel our desire to read, but this doesn’t mean it will always be effortless.
Spiritual disciplines require exactly that: discipline.
As Hebrews says, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1)
If we want to grow in our assurance of salvation, we must diligently grow in our understanding of Christ as revealed in Scripture.
This diligent pursuit of Christ will sometimes feel forced, we won’t always feel like reading the Bible, and we will have to struggle through seasons of apathy.
However, the more we choose to pursue Christ, the more we will understand the gospel and His promise of salvation, and this will increase our assurance in His power to redeem and save us.
Prayer is our greatest weapon against an unfounded lack of assurance because in our prayer we draw near to Christ our Saviour.
When we doubt His love for us or His forgiveness of our sins, often the only thing we need to do is come to Him in prayer and He rekindles our trust in His power and willingness to save us.
He is overjoyed to save and sanctify us, and prayer draws us closer to Him and reminds us of His character.
More than anyone else, Christ understands the weakness and fickleness of our human hearts and emotions: this is why He can be our sympathetic advocate with the Father.
In Hebrews, we are encouraged that, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
He truly understands all the temptations, doubts, and fears we face, and yet He is still willing to guide and strengthen us through them, day by day and moment by moment if only we draw near to Him and allow Him to reach in and sanctify the deepest and darkest places of our souls.
Meditating on Scripture is a crucial but oftentimes neglected aspect of strengthening our faith in the Lord.
Imitate David when he wrote, “I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You…I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” (Psalm 119:11, 15-16)
The more Scripture we have stored up in our hearts, the more likely it is to come to mind when we are struggling.
Diligently pursue a familiarity with Scripture as a whole, and meditate, that is think deeply, on the truths you learn.
Memorise verses and keep God’s word close to your heart and mind.
With Paul, we can be confident in our knowledge that, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
You can be certain that as you draw closer to God in His word, as you see more of His character and goodness, as you understand more of His promises and His sovereign power in salvation, the more you will be confident in His ability to save you.
5. Reconsider His faithfulness in the past.
Reconsider His faithfulness in the past, and the way He has worked in your life and helped you have victory over your sin.
Sanctification is only possible by the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit.
If you have seen spiritual growth in your life, rejoice in the fact that Christ is working in you.
You are not perfect, and you never will be, but Christ doesn’t call you to perfection but rather to obedience and faith: trust that your righteousness is in Him and remember that your standing before God is determined by the holiness of Christ.
The more you grow in holiness, the more you will see your unholiness.
The closer you draw to Christ, the deeper you will realise your need for a Saviour and your desperate inability to save and sanctify yourself.
If you are feeling defeated and discouraged by a deeper recognition of your sin, know that this is a precious opportunity to dwell on the truth of the gospel.
Your salvation rests on Christ’s work on the cross, and your sanctification is worked out not by your strength of will and determination but by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit working in you.
As John reminds us in his epistle, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:18-24)
Our hearts often condemn us, but if we truly believe the gospel and trust in Christ for salvation, the answer is not to give way to Satan’s attacks and surrender to the tyranny of doubt, but rather to wholeheartedly throw ourselves on Christ’s promise to save us.
He is faithful, He will save those who call upon Him, He can redeem our broken lives, and He promises to use us in a marvellous way to reach a lost and dying world.
If we are trusting in Christ alone for salvation, there is no reason for us to suffer from a lack of assurance.
The answer is not to magic up more faith, but rather to just remind ourselves of the goodness of God, take our thoughts and our emotions captive, and rely on the grace He gives us to get through each day, moment by moment.
Remember who your God is.
When we struggle with a lack of assurance, the easiest thing to do is become self-absorbed and this only increases our lack of assurance because our focus is placed entirely on ourselves rather than where it should be focused: on Christ.
Almost every Christian will wonder if they are truly saved, but our frailty of faith doesn’t mean God is incapable of saving.
Our God is the giver of life, the God who flung stars into space, and the one who created entire planets and galaxies that will never be discovered and only exist for His glory and pleasure.
He fashioned every fibre of your body, determined each of your days, and lovingly planned the path of your life so that you can be a part of His work of redemption.
He not only counts the stars and the grains of sand, He created each one of them.
And this God, this almighty, all-powerful God reached down to earth to save you.
Is God not big enough to fully trust in your salvation?
If He has promised to save you if you believe in Him, will He break His promise?
Rest in His power to save, draw closer to Him, cultivate a lifestyle of dependence on Him, and put your trust in Him rather than in the state of your feelings.