You Can Have Assurance!

Darkness to Light Part 12

Q. What is true faith?

A. True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel that, our of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 7 : Q&A 21

No Assurance of Salvation

When I was first asked if I wanted to become a member of my current church, I was very hesitant. Becoming a professing member meant that I technically could partake in communion. I knew my soul was not right with God, that I was not saved. I think I spent so much time listening for things in the sermons that didn’t quite jive with my upbringing in my old church that I never understood the gospel. I was too worried about the outward structure of how things were conducted so differently from my old church that I never really paid attention. I had a concern for my soul but no idea what to do about it.

The Old Paths

When I was younger, I would pray for a new heart every night because that’s what the minister told us to do. I didn’t know anything about repentance and faith in Christ, just that I was to pray for this thing, and hopefully, God would change you into one of those “serious ones.” I didn’t want that, at least not yet; I saw God’s people as old grey-haired people who always wore black and sat in dimly lit rooms talking of mystical things. I had no desire for that at all! I obviously did not want to go to hell, but I more or less was under the impression that if God wanted to save me, he would when it was time, and I would go on with my life trying to be a good person.

A Concern and a Hope

When struggling with the idea of becoming a professing member, I met with a pastor from our current church, and we had a long conversation about what the gospel truly was and that the concern for my soul was an excellent sign of the Lord working in my heart. He provided me with a book ‘Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart’ - by J.D. Greear. Through reading this book and starting actually to read my Bible, especially the book of Romans, I came to see a loving Father in God, a gentle Savior in Christ, and a friend and companion in the Holy Spirit. A stark contrast to how I used to view them as a child. I began to have a glimmer of hope, but I was still afraid to believe; in a sense, my constant prayer became “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief”¹

In the following weeks and months, I made confession of faith and partook of my first Lord’s Supper. The Lord filled me with joy and zeal for His holiness! As my knowledge and assurance grew, I still encountered times of doubt. I would still get disheartened… I thought, if I am a new creation, why am I still sinning so much?² I had to come to realize that the more you draw closer to God, the more He will reveal more and more sin in your life. That sin is already paid for by the blood of Jesus, but in our journey of sanctification, we must use what the Lord reveals to us as sin in our lives and cut it out.³

The nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart." -Charles Spurgeon

For Those Lacking Assurance

Dear reader, those of you who lack assurance of your salvation, who have a weak faith or no faith at all, please hear me! First of all, a weak faith is still faith! There is no set amount that you must have to be able to believe and be acceptable to God.⁴ Secondly, Christ is a willing Savior, and God the Father is a merciful judge.⁵ Go to Him, cry out to Him! Plead His promises from the Bible to Him⁶, He will not turn you away⁷.

Those of you “stuck” in the church or denomination I grew up in, I know some of the struggles of heart you must be feeling. I was in your place once too. I was so afraid of deceiving myself that I would have a false conversion. That salvation was only offered through my church. I had to reconcile that we are commanded to believe in Christ but also have no power to save ourselves. In a sense, it is a mystery; it makes no sense to man that a holy and righteous God would offer a way of salvation to worthless sinners such as we are without requiring something from us. Not good works, not special steps to follow, not pilgrimages and giving of money. No, salvation is a free gift.⁸

“But you say: This is a contradiction; ‘If I am deaf, how can I hear? If I am blind, how can I look?’ Leave God to settle that difficulty. Only listen and look up.

Robert Mcheyne - From the Preacher’s Heart

In a sense, only believe. Believe Christ is the son of God, died for your sins on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day, and is now sitting at the right hand of God praying and making intercession for your soul. He did all this not so that when you come to Him, He would slap away your hand and say, “No, you are not allowed to believe in Me!”⁹ You cannot steal Jesus; you cannot steal something that is freely offered. In our minds, we want to have a hand in our salvation even though we know there is nothing we can do. We believe there must be all this extra-holiness mysticism that accompanies our conversion. That we will know the exact instant that we are regenerated, we will have that special visit from the Lord in our barn or in the field (borrowing from stories I heard growing up). I'm not saying conversions like that are not possible, but they are not the norm, nor should they be sought after.

Dear readers from my childhood church, to put it bluntly, you attend a dead church. The only gospel preached is once with conditions you must meet before you can go to God. You sit under preaching every Sunday where nothing is offered but commands to be better and believe God is sovereign. Many live and die waiting for that special experience from the Lord, while the church leadership seems apathetic at best to the spiritual state of their churches. They are so afraid of preaching “too lightly” that someone might “accidentally” get saved. They stick to vague ideas and speak in the 3rd person when speaking of conversion. There is only dead orthodoxy there… please I beg you, do not stay in that church. Find a church where Christ is freely offered!

In Closing

I apologize for the length of this article; I care deeply for the souls of all my readers. I leave you with a few short thoughts:

• Remind yourself daily of the gospel (nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling)

• Read the Word as a little child

• pray without ceasing (Lord I believe, help Thou mine unbelief)

• Rest in Jesus, in His finished work.

“It is not great faith, but true faith, that saves; and the salvation lies not in the faith, but in the Christ in whom faith trusts...It is not the measure of faith, but the sincerity of faith, which is the point to be considered.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon, All of grace

1. Mark 9: 23-24

2. 2 Corinthians 5:17

3. Romans 6: 1-23

4. Luke 13:18-19, Luke 17:6

5. 2 Peter 3:9

6. Revelation 3:20, 2 Peter 1: 3-8

7. John 6:37

8. Romans 5: 14-21

9. John 14:1, Revelation 22:17