Christianity 101

"Raise your hand if your are sure." Isn’t that the way the commercial for Sure deodorant goes? "Shouldn’t you be Sure?" Last night I wanted to be sure of whether we had any Sure in the house, so I could use it in this message. But on asking each one of my children (6 of them), they said that there was no Sure in the house. So I went upstairs thinking that maybe Nana used Sure. Sure enough in the darkness of her room was a white and blue container. But without the light I wasn’t sure it was Sure. And, as you could predict, it was Suave instead of Sure. The difference may actually be slight, but I wanted a Sure container.

It is not very good taste today to be sure of anything, except to be sure of the fact that you can’t be sure of anything. So a commercial that says, "raise your hand if you are sure" is bucking the social trend. And to be sure of something in the realm of religion is exceeding bad taste. To talk today about "assurance" that one is going to heaven is a little counter-cultural. I have heard of people who say, "aren’t you a little presumptuous? Don’t you think it is a little conceited for you to say with all your faults and failings that you know absolutely that you are born again and on your way to heaven?" If there is one thing that our world demands today it is a proper humility, especially in the realm of religion, especially Christianity, especially Bible-based Christianity. The Muslims are forgiven for their dogmatism when they blow themselves up, knowing that 72 virgins will be waiting for them, but woe be to a Christian who is confident that he is on his way to heaven.

The proper way to answer the question of whether you are sure of heaven is with some sort of caution. It’s better to be unsure. Several people who answered a journalist in a USA Today article answered the proper way: When asked (12/21/86), "what are your chances of going to heaven?" Harry Nelson said, "50-50. The older I get, the more I think my chances will improve." Mike Gallagher said, "Eighty-five percent. I don’t think the entrance exam will be that tough." Sylvia Gibbs said, "My chances are kind of slim – maybe 50-50. You have to be more than a nice person. But I’m still in the running." Do you see how each of those answers places heaven as a "hope" rather than a "surety?"

I’m not asking today whether you are going to heaven. I asked that question last week. Today I am asking the question of whether you know that you are going to heaven. The issue is not Salvation, but assurance of Salvation. In my experience it is possible for people to experience Salvation without possessing an assurance that they are saved. They may have the gift of God in their lives, but they aren’t able to enjoy that treasure because they are fearful that they don’t have what they actually have. They are not sure. They have doubts.

Is it possible to be sure? Listen to our passage today: I John 5:13, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." What’s John saying? John wants his readers to know that they have eternal life. That is why he took the time and effort to write his letter to them. Do you know that you have eternal life? Are you sure?

Who cares anyway? The truth of the matter is that if you are not sure, it affects how you grow as a Christian. When you are not sure, you sort of hang around the front door of the family, sometimes feeling that you are in and sometimes feeling that you are out. You are cautious about participating fully in family life, because – you just aren’t sure.

Someone comes along and says, "hey, you are hanging around here at the front door. Are you a Christian or not?" And you say, "well sometimes I feel like it and other times I don’t." And he says, "well, come on, let’s make sure. Let’s pray and receive Christ – again." And so you pray and receive Christ again, and again. It’s possible for someone who is genuinely saved to "come to Christ" time and time again – for years. Each time he "comes to Christ" he does it in a different way, or with a new enthusiasm, or from a new angle, each time with the hope that maybe this time it will "take," and he will "really be saved." Have you ever done that? I know someone who was "saved" in 1977, and then in 1978, and then in 1980, and twice I think in 1982 and then in 1984. In the desire to be sure that he was saved, he prayed to receive Christ again, and then again. But after each "encounter" with Salvation, he seemed to come after while to the same questions. After awhile a person gets discouraged because nothing seems to "take" in a permanent way, nothing seems to really "work." This kind of experience can cause one to begin to wonder if there is anything to this Christianity thing. Have any of you ever been there, asking those kinds of questions?

What a person needs is not to get "saved" again, but to understand what Salvation is, and what Assurance is, and where Assurance comes from. And that’s what I want to do today. I want you to walk out of here with assurance. I want you to be able to raise your hand everywhere, because you are SURE!

Where does assurance come from?

I. It starts in our MINDS. Assurance comes from the Word of God.

When I married Martha, I knew that I was in a special relationship. But after awhile the feeling wore off. How do I know that I am still married? Well, I can look in Martha’s eyes, I can look at the ring on my finger, I can listen to the 7 inch reel to reel tape, I can check the marriage license, I can examine the signatures, I can ask her mother again. There are many pieces of data to assure my mind. I John 5:9 "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."

A. God has stated the facts.

Note the repetition of the word "testimony" in verses 10-11. That’s the word "witness." God has given "witness" in His word. Here is how we know that we are saved; God has given witness. John says, we trust the witness of men, we believe our neighbor when he says he will go halvesies with us on the project. And we sign a contract.

Here is the witness of our Creator and Savior. Our assurance of salvation does not depend on a feeling, but on the facts written in God’s word. Isn’t this what John states in verse 13? He wrote his Gospel to bring people to Christ (John 20:31). It was intended as an evangelistic book. Now he writes his first epistle to give believers confidence and assurance of their salvation. His Gospel was written to produce faith and its effect, while his epistle was written to confirm that faith. The Gospel was written to bring the joy and blessing of eternal life to people. The epistle was written to bring the joy and blessing of knowing that they have eternal life to believers. I John 1:3 says, "that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."

Think about how this works. Think of the tremendous foundation for faith that is established by a couple of WORDS God has spoken. Take John 3:16 for example: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Notice the word, "whoever." What does that word mean? Does that include me? The word is actually so broad that I can fill my name in there; "if Jim Schuppe believes in Him, he will not perish but have eternal life." And you can fill your name in there. The Word of God promises that anyone who believes on Jesus Christ will not perish in hell but have eternal life. "Whoever" – what a tremendous word.

Now, who gave this promise? Who made this statement? It was Jesus Christ. Is He trustworthy? Did He mean what He said here? Is He capable of doing what He has promised? He is God, Who loved you and me to such an extent that He gave up His life on a cross to die as our substitute, to pay the debt for our sin, that we could be forgiven and given new life. He said, "whoever."

Look at John 5:24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." Notice the end of the verse, "has passed from death unto life." That is past tense. That is an accomplished fact. Who said this? Does He mean this? It is Jesus Christ Himself who has made these declarations. He states that when you hear His word and believe on the One who sent Him, you have eternal life, and you shall not come into judgment, and you already have passed from death into life. What incredible statements!

I can still remember the day when I passed from death to life. I was seven years old and I have not been the same since then. Suppose someone came to me and said, "are you saved?" And I responded by saying, "I’m not sure I should say ‘yes absolutely,’ for fear of telling a lie." Think of what that attitude actually implies. God made the declaration that I have passed from death to life. What do you think it does to God’s statement when I say, "well I am not sure?" It suggests that I can’t trust what God has promised. It suggests that I would rather dis-trust Him than trust Him.

And what happens to those who dis-trust Him and never have assurance of their Salvation? In my experience they spend their lives looking for assurance rather than exploring and enjoying the Salvation that God has given them. What is the expected response to a gift? What do we do when we receive a gift? We open it. Do we worry about whether we were good enough to receive it? Whether we did enough to receive it? Whether we deserved it? No, the question is, "have you received it?" And the next question is, "have you opened it?"

The purpose of the Bible is to introduce us to what we have received in our gift package. The gift we have received is enormous and unbelievable. It will take us the rest of our lives, and the rest of eternity to explore the dimensions of this "unspeakable gift." It’s like purchasing Adobe Photoshop – the software program that costs $600 and reportedly is one of the best programs you can buy to improve and handle your photographs. You install it on your computer and you understand that it can help you with pictures that you take. But I understand that there are hundreds and thousands of things you can do with Photoshop that so many owners never come to know. They have a program that can do all these things, but they don’t use them, not because the program is lacking, but because they are ignorant of how to use it. So many Christians live the Christian life the way they use Adobe Photoshop. They have eternal life but they don’t use all that God has included in the software package. They have the package but they have never explored it. They know nothing of it’s incredible ability. They haven’t seen it’s power to transform their lives. The Word of God is our book of directions.

B. Facts are unaffected by feelings.

"But what if I don’t feel it?" "I’m having a bad day, and I don’t feel saved. And I am beginning to wonder if I really was saved in the first place. I ask questions like, ‘did I pray hard enough?’ ‘Did I cry and weep long enough?’" Have you ever asked those kinds of questions? I can remember saying to myself at certain times of bad feelings, "I need to go forward again, and this time I need to cry more when I pray to receive Christ." I know a woman who was convinced that she would not be saved until she made a scene in church and embarrassed herself — because God would not save her until she humbled herself enough. Earlier someone had said to her, "God will humble you in the area in which you are most proud." "Since you are proud of your ability to perform in front of people, God will ask you to make a fool of yourself in front of people before He saves you."

What should it feel like when you are forgiven by God? When you base your assurance on your feelings rather than the facts, your assurance can go from 100% to 0% very quickly. And where is the Bible verse that tells us how we should feel when we have been forgiven? If you have come to Christ according to His directions, the Bible says you have been forgiven. No matter how you feel, you have been forgiven! Our responsibility is to tie our emotions down to the facts. Our responsibility is to focus on the facts no matter how we feel.

You see, once you place the emphasis on "feelings" you enter the "error" zone. Feelings mislead us all. Feelings can persuade you that you lack assurance when you are saved, or that you possess assurance when you are not saved. There are people who feel forgiven when they are not! And they feel like Christians even as they remain in unbelief. And they think that God is using them when He isn’t — because they see miracles happening around them. And they know that those miracles are from God, and that the miracles give testimony of their salvation. But they don’t! Listen to their cry in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

In verse 21 these people have developed the right language, "Lord, Lord." But they haven’t obeyed and trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. They haven’t done the will of the Father. And in verse 22 these people have a resume to present at the gates of heaven. It lists some of their startling achievements in the name of Christ. They have prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and done many wonderful works in His name. Rather impressive? They are not just prophesying in the name of some cultic demon here, they are prophesying and casting out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. It all looks so authentic, and apparently, something really happens; they are not just faking these things.

But in verse 23 Jesus uncovers the foundational problem; they weren’t doing it for Him because they didn’t even know Him. They had never come to Him, never listened to Him and reached out their empty hands of despair for Him to fill. And in tears, I’m sure, Jesus Christ has to say, "depart from me." He identifies all these good things that they have accomplished as "practicing lawlessness!" They were casting out demons in the name of Jesus and they were practicing lawlessness. They were doing wonders in His name and prophesying, and it was lawlessness. Why? Because it was their efforts, not His efforts. It wasn’t His Grace because they didn’t know Him. It was their human accomplishment.

These people had bundles of assurance, they felt forgiven, in fact they felt that they had a special ministry for Christ, they were doing good, and they were doing it in His name. They had plenty of assurance. And it was all of the wrong kind.

There is a danger of basing your assurance on your feelings. You have to start with the FACTS, and let the feelings develop on the basis of the facts that God has given us. And the tremendous promise declares, God has GIVEN to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son HAS life. The assurance that I have eternal life rests in the promise of God, the Word of God. He said that He has given to me eternal life. It doesn’t matter HOW I feel. It doesn’t matter whether I feel that I have it, or that I feel that I don’t have it, or that I feel that I don’t care about it. The truth of the matter lies in the statement of God. Let my emotions connect themselves with the statement of God, rather than the state of my psyche.

Do you see how it is so easy to HAVE it and not ENJOY it? People can have a happy marriage and not be happy because they have the feeling that their marriage should be this way and it is not. The husband is dissatisfied because his wife is not, let’s say, "romantic" enough. And he has a wife who is totally faithful to him, as faithful as a mosquito. And he is not enjoying his happy marriage. Why? Because of his feeling – that this is what it should be like.

Parents who have children that are growing so well, and listening and obeying so well – not that they don’t have their problems, and not that there aren’t difficult times. But the parents have a blessed family. And they don’t enjoy it. Why? Because of their impression that children should be better, or that children ought to be like the neighbor’s children, or that children ought to always be neat, and make breakfast for the parents, and always say, "yes ma’am," and "no sir."

Parents can do this with their children, comparing one child with another one, and since one or more children are not like the "better" one, prodding and harassing the slower ones, repeatedly making them feel like they are out of favor with their parents. Why? Because of their impression that all of their children ought to be "equal." And of course they all ought to be equal with the best one, the neatest one, the brightest one, the most athletic one.

In the same way a person can be saved, and secure, and indwelt by God Himself, with the eternal Word of God in his hand, the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead available to him, and live a miserable life – full of doubts. He thinks it ought to be this way, and it is not. Assurance is not based on feelings but the facts. And the Bible has those facts.

But there are feelings when something incredible happens to us. When I got married, something happened inside my heart. And I feel married to Martha. There may be times when I don’t feel overwhelmed at being married, but where do these feelings come that I am married?

Listen to I John 5:9-10: If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

Assurance of Salvation is not based on feeling; it is based on FACTS. But like marriage, there are feelings that arise when you get the facts straight. Verse 10 says that God has placed the "witness" in us. The "witness" refers to the Holy Spirit Who comes to live in us (4:13 and Romans 8:16). When the Holy Spirit comes in, He brings with Him new things.

A. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. I have found it interesting to observe that when people first trust Christ as their Savior, their Salvation is often accompanied by a new awareness of their immense sinfulness. As a result, new believers come back to me wondering if they have really been saved. They say things like, "how could God ever save someone as bad as me?" "But you don’t know how horrible my sin is."

And I smile as I respond to them because the very fact that they understand in a new way their sinfulness is an indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their heart! Without the Holy Spirit your sin doesn’t bother you. Being bothered by sin is evidence of the work and presence of the Holy Spirit. One of the indications that you are really saved is that your sin bothers you.

Another indication is a new understanding of right and wrong. I was working with a new believer who had come out of deep sin. In fact, he claimed to have been the president of the "Pagan" motorcycle gang in this area. One time he came to me and said, "you know, I don’t think God wants me to smoke any more." I chalked one up to the work of the Holy Spirit. Another time he came and said, "it looks to me like this Bible is pushing marriage." "I’ve been living with a woman for several years (in fact they had two children), and have never married her. Do you think we should get married?" The fact that I had said nothing about that issue indicated to me the presence and work of the Holy Spirit -- a good indication that the man was genuinely saved. Sometimes you don’t want to be too fast in pointing out all the sins of a new believer. Make sure the Holy Spirit is at work first. He will open their eyes to right and wrong.

B. He changes our thirsts. I John 2:3 states: "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

Assurance, in this passage, is developed by a new love for God’s commandments and a new desire to obey them. Since the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, His presence in our lives automatically generates a new thirst for His Word. There are times I open the book to study and feel like I am reading it for the first time. It all looks so new and amazing. I greatly enjoy studying the Bible, and to have a "job" where I am assigned to study and preach and teach is icing on top of the blessing of the Lord. This doesn’t mean that that thirst which came into my life when I received Christ 54 years ago hasn’t varied. There are some days when I don’t want to open the Bible; I would rather read a Comic book. And I almost have to force myself to open and read. But that doesn’t mean that a desire is there which I didn’t place there. It’s from the Holy Spirit.

Here’s the question: can you remember a time when your sin bothered you to the point that you knew that you were under the judgment and condemnation of God? Can you remember a time when you suddenly had a new thirst for the Word of God? Those are indications that the Holy Spirit has entered your heart and life. God wants to give us confidence that He has indeed saved us.

III. It starts in our LIVES. Assurance comes from the work of God making me different. You can’t be married and stay the same. Martha and I moved into the same house. We started pooling our money. We support six beautiful children and six grandchildren; we vacation together; we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries together. We act like we are married – because we ARE married!. You can’t have God in your life and be the same. A problem arises when new believers don’t recognize how they have changed. And sometimes they think that they haven’t changed because what has happened to them is not as dramatic as what happened to someone else. Remember I John 5:11: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

A. You have LIFE! Before, you were DEAD. What is life? Eternal life is not just talking about length of life – it is talking about a quality of life, God’s kind of life. The Greek states it as "life of the ages." Life includes a new understanding of spiritual things. It includes a new ability to pray and to come into God’s presence; a new power from the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting that immediately after John gives us verse 13, he gives us verse 14-15. Listen to how these verses fit together: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Life makes you want to talk to your Father, and your Savior. Life gives you a confidence in Him that He is listening. There is a new relationship here because you are alive to God and a member of His family!

B. A New obedience. Another evidence is the desire to obey God. John says in I John 2:4: "He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." The Holy Spirit enables you to OBEY God’s Word. John says that if that desire is not there, then you should question whether you have the real thing. John does not mean that you obey perfectly, otherwise he would not have written the statements that begin 6 verses earlier. Look at what He writes beginning in 1:8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Do you see how John acknowledges that we are human and we sin? To think that we have no sin (verse 8) is deception. To say we have not sinned (vs 10) is ridiculous. But in 2:1, John writes with the goal that we not sin. But if we sin, we have an advocate. John knows that sin is still a problem for Christians. And he writes the answer to our sin in 1:9 – if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us.

So John knows that we are not perfect, but he says in 2:4-5 that there is in the heart of every believer a new desire to obey God’s commands – a desire that was not there BC.

C. Assurance disappears when we are in sin.

When you turn away from God and do what you want to do, you will have a lot of doubts about your relationship with Christ. God does not give assurance to disobedient children. I John 3:18: "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."

Do you see the interesting connections here? When we love in "deed and truth" our hearts "assure" us before Him and we know that we are of the truth. And in verse 21 we have confidence towards God. And in verse 22 we pray and God answers.

Assurance is connected with obedience, not disobedience. When you refuse to forgive someone who has wronged you, you interrupt your heart’s confidence in God. There is no way you can have a close relationship with God when you refuse to forgive someone. Do you remember Matthew 5:23-24? "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 "leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Do you see what Jesus is saying? He is saying that if you come to worship God and you bring a large offering with you and you remember that you haven’t straightened things out with your brother, don’t bother to offer your gift to God; first of all go and get things straight with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Don’t expect assurance when you are doing your own thing. David prayed in Psalm 51 that God would restore to him the "joy" of his salvation. Somehow that had left him in his sin with Bathsheba. And the joy of your salvation, and the assurance of your salvation will leave you too, when you choose to sin.

Assurance says to me that everything that God says to believers in Jesus Christ He says to ME! The promises He makes to believers He is making to ME! The encouragement He gives, the directions He gives, He means for ME, because I am HIS CHILD! In HIS FAMILY!

Are you in His family? Have you thanked Him? Are you excited about the privilege of being in the FAMILY of GOD? If what I have said is true we should live lives of Grateful THANKSGIVING!

04/13/03 BBC am

02Assurance.MEF - 07/23/03