Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
— 1 Peter 1:3-9
If a person doesn’t possess said “living hope,” presenting the above passage may cause them to stumble. Nonetheless, if encouraging true believers in Christ the way Peter did comes with the risk of offending those who profess a faith vapid of God’s grace, I accept that risk. In fact, I embrace it, wholeheartedly, knowing that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is described in the Bible as a “stumbling block” (1 Corinthians 1:23; cp. Galatians 5:11). I believe that the Word of Truth is supposed to make an unregenerate person stumble. In the case of a believer whose faith is weak, I believe that such an exercise permanently and predictably results in an affirmation of existing faith, courtesy of God the Holy Spirit.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
— 1 John 4:12-13
The recurring pattern of any form of salvation in the Bible, whether referring to justification by faith at salvation or deliverance for a believer thereafter, is always the same - by grace through faith. Can I get a hallelujah?!!! ”For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This pattern reveals itself throughout the Old and New Testaments, regardless of era or dispensation. It transcends all audience limitations, preconceptions, and predilections. It doesn’t matter what I want to be true about God’s grace, even if I desire to reject a little of it to insert my own self-righteousness; the truth is immutable. Without grace, there is no salvation to speak of, of any kind.
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
— Romans 5:17
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
— 2 Corinthians 9:8
I can’t imagine a loving God like mine ever saying to His own children, “I’ve saved you, but I will give you no sense of assurance of your salvation - you’re just going to have to wait until the great reckoning to find out if you ‘make it to Heaven’.” My God, “is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33). My Lord has encouraged me with a solemn oath of peace. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). If I know the Lord God at all, I know He wants me to understand that I’m one of His own, that I follow Him because it’s His voice I hear, and that He, the very Word of God and Light of my life (John 1), is my salvation. Jesus, while on earth, made a point of encouraging His own (Matthew 28:20) and discouraging the self-proclaimed salvation of those who weren’t (Matthew 7:21-23). The Lord God loves His own, especially so. Out of the deepest sense of gratitude, I say thank you for giving me this “living hope” and for assuring me of my salvation.
God wants everyone to enjoy this peace, this divine assurance, by grace through faith. He even had His Spirit author the words of the writers of the Bible, from Moses, to Paul, to John and James (all of them, in fact) for our encouragement. The end goal is saving faith in Jesus Christ. However, before said assurance may be had and subsequently expanded upon through a believer’s life, a person must first ensure they have reason for it. As the apostle Paul plainly wrote, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5)?; or as the apostle Peter wrote, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10); or as the apostle John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
The writers of Holy Scripture clearly desired that believers be assured of their salvation. There is no evil in examining oneself for evidence of genuine spiritual life. Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). By grace through faith we know this truth, where, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23) - my friends, be encouraged, Jesus wants you to know you are saved!!!
The evidences of this are wonderfully supplied to those of us who understand them and are encouraged by them. Any discouragement incurred in the soul of the unregenerate is to be handled by God the Holy Spirit - let us not dissuade our own confidence in proclaiming these truths. “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Corinthians 2:14). If you are reading this and are confused, I say in the spirit of Paul and the other apostles, “examine yourself!”
For the sake of space and time, allow me to give you some Holy Scripture on the title of this blog, Assurance of Salvation Is By Grace Through Faith. As true believers:
• We enjoy fellowship with God the Father and the Son through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3; cp Galatians 2:20; 1 John 5:1).
• We are personally comforted/assured by the God of all grace (Psalm 34:8; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 5:10).
• We enjoy being made new, freed from a fearful spirit of slavery, in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:15; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, 5:17).
• We are given new abilities to learn from the Word of God, for sanctification’s sake (1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 1 John 2:27).
• We enjoy the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
• We have an abiding love and eagerness for Christ that unbelievers do not have (1 Corinthians 16:22; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:1-3).
• We are given spiritual discernment (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Timothy 2:11-13; 6:3-6; 2 Peter 3:14-16; 1 John 2:12-19, 4:1-6).
• We are acutely aware of God’s holiness and the presence/power of sin and we are grateful for the God-given ability to confess/repent from it (Romans 7:14-25; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 1).
• As patterns of sin decrease, patterns of obedience increase (John 8:31; 1 John 2:1-7).
• “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). We love God and others with a love previously unknown to us (John 13:35; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 John 2:9-11; 3:16-19; 4:19).
The above list is hardly exhaustive. I encourage you to do as the Bereans did, “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11b), as well as Jesus suggested, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, I’m often asked, “How do I know if I’m saved?” In all fairness to the oft-present immaturity of the person asking me this question (no offense intended - we’ve all begun this way), I typically avoid lengthy responses like the one outlined above. If I can, God willing, I try to discern through prayer and listening to the Spirit (ala John 14:26) what key elements I ought to present, knowing that more than just one will typically be identifiable in a person to affirm their salvation (for themselves, of course, as I don’t have that ability). I don’t want to say too much here for fear that some will make it a cookie-cutter approach or, even worse, a doctrine on how to speak with those who ask such questions. What I’m willing to say is this: the fact that a person is asking is a very good sign. The fact that there exists some affection for God’s opinion of them is another very good sign. Love and gratitude for the Lord is undoubtedly present in a believer’s heart (what an undeniable gift this is). But, beyond all this, the Bible gives us a sort of “litmus test” - a starting point for self-examination, namely “obedience of faith” (ala Romans 1:5; 16:26). For some awful reason, people have mangled revelation from God the Holy Spirit on the topic of obedience - obedience being evidence of saving faith, that is. I’ll quote John Newton in closing:
Obedience is the best test of sincerity; feelings are various, transient, and often deceitful; but a broken, humble spirit, and an upright walk, evidence the finger of God; other things may be and are often counterfeited.
In comparing Paul and James on works (Romans 3:20–28; James 2:14–24), Newton writes:
The sum is; The one declares that nothing renders us acceptable to God but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: the other, that such a faith, when true and genuine, is not solitary, but accompanied with every good work. The one speaks of the justification of our persons—this is by faith only; the other of the justification of our profession—this is by faith not alone, but working by love, and producing obedience.
The simplest, most practical example of evidenced obedience I can think of in this moment is that you are obeying God’s will right now by seeking the Truth, by reading this blog. You see, my friends, this isn’t complicated at all. In fact, it’s so simple, so “easy” (ala Matthew 11:30), it’s incomprehensible to those without saving faith.
A believer’s assurance regarding their salvation is provided by grace through faith. If God loves us enough to save us (John 3:16), then He loves us enough to grant us a living/abiding hope in His promise of salvation. He is the one who has chosen to adopt us, after all, making us children of His personal family. What kind of father doesn’t want to wrap His arms around His sons and daughters the way the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son did (Luke 15:11-32)? Our Father in Heaven is glorified by our God-given ability to “cry out, Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15b) and so, by His grace, we shall. By means of divine perspective granted to us through the God-given faculties accompanying the giving of the new creature in Christ Jesus, being born-again, let us rejoice!
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
