Assurance of Salvation
“What, then, shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also give us all things with Him? Who shall bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? God is the One who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ is the One who died; more than that, who also rose again, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Rom 8:31-34)
When it comes to the assurance of salvation, we sadly find that most Christians are insecure about it. Ignorance of the Scriptures, or a mistaken application of them, in addition to the prevailing doctrinal confusion, have popularized the idea of a salvation at stake. A salvation that walks dangerously on the tightrope of human works. My goal today is not to get entangled in theological disputes over mere wordiness, nor to get tangled up in Christian slogans that divide. My aim is that the Holy Spirit may supply us a dose of confidence in Jesus Christ and His Salvation. Everyone who has been born of God must enjoy this assurance. Those who are truly born of God are those who have been begotten by divine power and will, and in whom a work of regeneration has been carried out (Titus 3:5).
In any exposition that sets out to study the eternal security of salvation, this theme of the new birth must be taken into account, which for many is not familiar, but a mere biblical symbolism. The new birth is the first work of regeneration that God carries out in man, and on it depend faith, repentance, and conversion, which are the first fruits of this extraordinary miracle in the Spirit.
When the subject of man’s conversion is dealt with, we see how great confusion predominates today, and the most mistaken points of view are held. The popular idea that currently prevails and is taught in most churches is that repentance is the first thing God does in man. But what the Word of God reveals is that if one is not born again there is no repentance. It is necessary for God to give us new life in Him, in order to repent, and to see, and to enter the Kingdom of God. That is what Jesus said to Nicodemus in answering him: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God”? (John 3:3) Could a dead man possibly see and hear? Evidently not. So also for man, it is necessary to rise again and be born again, in order to begin to live the life of God. The new birth is coming into existence, with a new nature and a new image, which only those who have the life of God possess.
The new man is God Himself being born in you. Just as you were born from your mother’s womb, in natural life, so God begot us in His womb, and the Holy Spirit came and brought us that life in the Spirit. That new being that comes into existence is in conformity and in accordance with the One who created him, that is, God. That is why the Scripture clearly says: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). It is necessary for every man to be imparted a new nature, in order to be able to “do” these good works.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) is a beautiful illustration that shows us the full and complete work of salvation in the one who has been born again. The Father and son relationship presented to us is the relationship of God with His children, the elect. This son left home and lived recklessly; he spent all his inheritance, and finally when he needed help, all doors were closed to him. But one day, the Word tells us, the young man “…came to himself” (Luke 15:17), and set out to return to his father’s house. In this simple expression the new birth is portrayed. Here “coming to himself” means rising again, passing from a state of death to a state of life. At that very moment God was giving birth to him, bringing him into spiritual existence.
From that moment the prodigal son was able to reflect and think: “How many hired servants in my father’s house have abundance of bread, and I perish here with hunger! . . ” (Luke 15:17) Only then did he have the capacity to make the decision: “I will arise and go to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:18). This attitude is equivalent here, following our comparison, to repentance. If he does not come to himself (is not born again), he could never recognize that he was wrong (repentance) and change the direction of his life, determining to return to his home (conversion). He could never analyze the magnitude of his offense, nor his deplorable decision, if he does not “come to himself.” Neither can a natural man seek God, unless he is first born again.
The gospel teaches that man has no capacity to seek God, or to believe Him, much less to follow Him, because he is dead to the life of God. Sin made a separation (death) between God and men. Christ came to raise this up again in man. He, taking the life that proceeds from the resurrection, brought it to us. The apostle Paul rightly said that the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the one that gives life and is the one that has been born anew in your life (Rom 8:11). The Scripture also says that Christ is the firstfruits of the new creation (Col 1:15) and that creation has come into our lives when we are born again.
Jesus emphasized to His disciples: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16), and in another place the Scripture reiterates that God loved us first (1 John 4:10). With this He gave to understand that no one comes to God unless it is granted by God. No man can decide to love God or be reconciled with Him, if the Lord in His mercy does not first raise him and give him the capacity to love and have faith. That capacity can only be brought by the Holy Spirit into a person’s life. Those who are born again are not the product of a religious education, but of a divine begetting.
This process of regeneration called the new birth, which God carries out in us, cannot be interrupted, and will never be left unfinished. The Bible says that God called you because He once knew you from eternity. And those whom He knew, He predestined, then called, justified, sanctified, and glorified, so that they might bear the image of His Son (Rom 8:29-30).
Ignorance of this biblical truth has led to insecurity of salvation. We find believers who one day are saved but, the next day, because of any problem, already believe they are not. But salvation does not depend on us; it has been a gift from God, and as such, it cannot be taken away. Salvation was accomplished by God Himself, who knew that we could not save ourselves, and that is why He gave us a Savior: Jesus Christ.
Holiness is not a requirement for me to be saved either. For it is because I was not holy, but a sinner, that I was lost and dead to the things of God. How is God going to demand holiness of me in order to save me, if I have a carnal and sinful nature (Rom 7:14)? I do not obey God so that He will save me; I obey God because He has already saved me. I am holy, not so that God will save me, but I am holy because God made me holy in Christ Jesus.
The reason a born-again person cannot be lost is that God Himself accomplished his salvation. If God, in His will, wanted to save you from before the foundation of the world, how is it possible that after writing your name in the book of life, He would then blot it out? This would imply a mistake on God’s part, and we would be dealing with a God who is variable and changing. But the apostle James affirms emphatically: “… God the Father of lights, does not change, and in Him there is no change, nor shadow of variation” (Jas 1:17). Man, an imperfect being, varies his concepts and decisions according to his moods, but God is perfect, He does not change, and all His works are perfect in the highest degree.
But some ask: What about those brothers and sisters who persevere in the church for a good while and then go off to the “world”? Will they be saved in the end? Will God have mercy on them? Did God make a mistake in His election? By no means. It is often assumed that everyone who comes to church is automatically a child of God, but the Word declares that only those begotten of God are the children of God (John 1:13). Appearances do not determine God’s fatherhood in a person. What we see is one thing, and what God sees is another.
Let us think, for example, of the prodigal son. He was a son, in spite of his condition. Throughout the whole parable he was always a son, regardless of his deeds or attitudes. What am I saying? That when this son was out partying with his friends, squandering the inheritance money, he continued to be the Father’s son? Of course. That wayward one was a son despite his sinful condition. He was lost as to his state, yes, but as to his relationship he was a legitimate son of God.
Thus, we see believers who have turned away from the ways of God, feeding the desires of the flesh and neglecting their spiritual life. In our sight, because of their condition, they are lost, but if that person has been begotten and bears the indestructible bond of God’s fatherhood, and his name has been written in the Book of Life, God will certainly save him; he will not be lost, nor come into any condemnation, even if it is at the last breath of his life.
This also teaches us not to judge by appearance, nor to condemn anyone for his condition, especially when we see prostitutes, drug addicts, and so on. Let us wait and plead for divine intervention in that life. Sooner or later God will seek out the son (the new creation, which is Christ in him) that He deposited in those lives. The devil destroyed God’s first Adam, but he will never destroy the second creation in Christ. Can Christ die? Undoubtedly, He who rose again lives forever, and will never die again. Christ lives in us, through the new man. And that new man cannot die, because he is eternal.
When I use the expression “assurance of salvation,” I am not basing that assurance on ourselves, but on the One who began the work, who is faithful to complete it in perfection (Phil 1:6). Many have compromised this truth. Some teachers of the Word fear that their churches will become inns where licenses to sin are handed out on account of a secure salvation in Christ. But the true child of God would never think that way. For we know, as John says, that “everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin, for the One who was begotten by God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18).
An example of this truth we see in the apostle Paul, who groaned within himself because he wanted to present himself to God as a workman approved, with nothing to be ashamed of (2 Tim 2:15), and his attitude was not one of guilt and fear, but of a debtor. God’s people want to please Him. They always have a heart willing toward His will. They are always ready for God, and they do not want to take advantage of the freedom to which they have been called (Gal 5:13). They will not say: “Since I am already saved, I can live as I please.” This is not the thinking of a true child of God. Whoever thinks that way does not understand or has not been born again.
For me, as a minister of God, the fear of preaching this to the church is removed, since my message is addressed to the children of God, genuine and upright. People who are sure of their calling, and determined to submit voluntarily to obedience to the Word of God. The men who understood grace the most were the men who felt themselves most indebted before God, to the point of offering their lives in sacrifice for the truth. Having clarified this point, of the new birth, we proceed to set forth biblically the assurance of salvation that the children of God have.
To those who love God (who, as we already clarified, are all those born of God) a chain sequence of events happens: “…those whom He foreknew, He also predestined… and these He called… and He justified… and these He also glorified …” (Rom 8:30). Why does God use the past tense to refer to an event that is yet to be carried out, in part, in the future, since none of us has yet been glorified? Evidently, God is calling the things that are not as though they were, and for Him, by faith, He sees us glorified, complete in Christ. This chain of events is indissoluble, and must be fulfilled in the life of the believer in its entirety.
Let us look at this verse: “What, then, shall we say in the face of these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31). Here the apostle’s attitude is demanding. He urges us to take a stand in the face of reality. How many there are who set themselves against us: the devil, circumstances, sin, guilt, depression, discouragement, my conscience, religion, insecurity, complexes, lack of self-esteem, etc. None of that, brother! The people of Christ must rise up and answer the adversary: “My mother Eve believed you, but I will not make the same mistake, Satan; I will believe the testimony God has given me, for it is written: ‘…that God has given us eternal life; and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life’ (1 John 5:11).”
God has enough testimony to give you, beloved brother. He has a great arsenal; use it and bring down every argument that rises up against your salvation. Take hold of it, cling to His Word, believe God, stick close to the One who “… did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all; how shall He not also give us all things with Him?” (Rom 8:32). To what things does the apostle refer? Undoubtedly, to those we need in order to have a full and sure entrance into the Kingdom: the call of God, predestination, justification, and glorification. The Lord will never cast off His elect; do not expect condemnation or defeat from Him.
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?” (Rom 8:33), asks the apostle. The answer, tacitly, is: No one. He immediately proceeds to tell us the reason why we are far from all accusation: “God is the One who justifies” (Rom 8:33). This statement is so forceful that it leaves no room for doubt and concentrates all of salvation in a single person: God. This truth becomes a two-edged sword that cuts through every scheme that seeks to destabilize the secure platform of our redemption: the perfect work that God accomplished in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ Jesus is the most powerful weapon and shield that a Christian possesses.
God Himself is the author of our justification; He did not need man’s help to carry it out, nor did He require “extra” services in so great a work. He did not ask for man’s “good works,” nor did He seek “human faith” in order to accomplish His salvation. Otherwise it would not have been accomplished. God made use of Himself.
Again, the apostle asks: “ Who is the one who condemns?” (Rom 8:34), and the answer continues to be the same: No one. And next he provides us with a series of reasons why we will not be victims of condemnation: “Christ is the One who died; more than that, who also rose again, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Rom 8:34). Note on which things the salvation of man rests: the death, the resurrection, the position, and the intercession of Jesus Christ. These four truths are established as firm and unshakable foundations, on which the salvation of a believer is built.
And the apostle keeps asking: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:35). Notice that Paul here majestically introduces into the context the word LOVE. I praise the fine perception, the so glorious gesture of the apostle, in having the delicacy of relating salvation with love, adorning our Christ with so sublime a term. And, beloved, for that precise reason, it should create in us such assurance. We are the fruit of the love of the relationship of the Father and the Son. Out of love Christ washed away our sins with His blood, and out of love He continues interceding for us before the holy throne of the Living God.
Do you know how many there are who announce perdition, eternal condemnation, and separation from God for the elect of the Father? Yet, if we read the Word of God with discernment, we would understand that the Bible says just the opposite. God promises in His Word: salvation, nearness, lifting up, triumph, and all of that, eternally. God seals this assurance by putting first His very essence, which is love, and this as the very consummation of all things. That love which He Himself describes as the one that: “… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, (…) that never ceases to be” (1 Cor 13:7-8) . Love was the divine motor, the muse that motivated our God to carry out and complete so great a salvation. God lets us glimpse that salvation was not the product of an automatic and mechanical decision, nor an orderly task to establish His perfect reign; the salvation of God was born of love.
With this enormous assurance the author boldly dares to mention the terrible adversaries of an elect one, challenging them to hammer against this truth: “Tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, (…) death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth and (using a little imagination, look sideways at the devil) any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39) And he exclaims triumphantly: “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37) Who will be able to live separated from God with this truth? How can we be prisoners of doubt, in the face of so great a reality? The people who understand will not walk in insecurity, but will advance with giant strides, sure of what God has accomplished in their lives, in Jesus Christ.
Let us now consider the guarantees of this salvation. It is not in vain that three times the apostle Paul illustrates the Holy Spirit as the earnest (arras) of our salvation (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14). This figure is so beautiful that words cannot explain it properly. The term “arras” is defined as the pledge or token, the advance that is given in some contract or business. Suppose you want to buy a new car, but you do not have the full amount to close the deal, and you do not want to lose the opportunity to acquire it. So, as a promise and guarantee that you will buy it, you leave a good part of the money, like a deposit, and a guarantor that you will return for the car, at the cost of losing this money if you do not. That is how important the Holy Spirit is as indubitable proof that God wants our salvation.
In Ephesians the apostle tells us: “… you, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed in Him, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:13-14). God has sealed the contract of salvation and has left a down payment in the “deal”; He has deposited the Holy Spirit in the heart of His children as a guarantee that He will return to complete the transaction. God did not leave as a pledge a cherub, nor an angel, not even an archangel; He delegated this mission to the third person of His Godhead: the Holy Spirit.
OH, what a glorious truth, beloved! Never before in the Old Covenant, nor in the time of the patriarchs, nor with any of His prophets, did God ever risk so much. Would God dare to fail to fulfill when He has deposited in the believer so valuable a legacy? Will He leave the exchange half done? Will He desist from His decision to save us because the little brother left the church? Let whoever does such a thing not doubt that the Lord will travel through all this earth and will rescue him wherever he may be, and he will be delivered whatever his condition, since what He has deposited in him is very valuable. Speaking figuratively, God does not lose in any business, and He will certainly recover His investment.
Brothers and sisters, may your confidence and assurance be in keeping with the grandeur of these truths. It is not right for His children to walk in haste and unrest regarding their salvation, when God has already made total provision. Three things sustain this assurance. The first, what God is: Faithful and True (Rev 19:11). The second, what God said: no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). And the third, what God has done: to know him, predestine him, call him, justify him, sanctify him, and glorify him, through the death, resurrection, and intercession of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:28-39).
Beloved, if the trumpet of redemption were to sound at this very moment, and we saw the Lord descending from heaven to gather us, how many would pass through this roof and run to meet their Beloved? Without a doubt, all those who have believed in their Savior… Those will go away with Him.
Message related to this article:
