"Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble" (2 Peter 1:10, HCSB).
It is not presumption nor conjecture to believe one is saved eternally in real-time, it's faith and a boon to one's well-being, even justification and a motive and reason to do good. We should be able to quote 2 Tim. 1:12 that saying, I know whom I have believed and am confident that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him day. Assurance is paramount and enhances our sanctification and is the helmet of salvation to fight Satan and his minions. If we lack assurance, our walk is paralyzed and we are in limbo, so to speak, meaning we are not resting in faith. Assurance is not of the essence of faith, and not an automatic fruit, but it is commanded and our duty to know (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10), not just be idly curious about! Assurance isn't the job description of the pastor-teacher but individual responsibility to examine their heart. All one can do is "reassure."
Actually, some believers are congenital doubters or have little faith, but false assurance is the bigger problem (believing one is secure without biblical warrant or sanction). Also, note that it's not some one's job description to certify your salvation--they can only give reassurance: One must examine his own heart and the fruits of his faith, and see if they align with the Word of God and the witness of the inward Spirit (per Romans 8:16; 2 Cor. 13:5).
We need not speculate about our destiny with God, for we can take God at His Word and at face value, standing on the promises of God; however, this implies we are not ignorant of the Word and have faith to begin with. In the final analysis, realize that we don't rest on conjecture, but certainty!
God is the great Promise Keeper and His Word "cannot be broken"; He has given us His Spirit as the earnest money or down payment on our salvation dividend. Our destiny is in God's hands! Believing this, we ought to rest in faith and stop trying to save ourselves by piety or religiosity. We see salvation as a done deal (a fait accompli) with nothing we can add improvements to it, and we cannot earn, deserve, nor pay it back--it's the gift of God received through faith by grace, giving all the credit and glory to God (Soli Deo Gloria! "Salvation is of the LORD," per Jonah 2:9). Salvation is not of us, nor of us and the LORD, but solely of the LORD.
In sum, taking a verse that you can cling to as a promise is the way to have assurance, and some call this a spiritual birth certificate, for example, a favorite of mine: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life [now], and shall not come into condemnation, but has [past tense or done deal] passed from death unto life" (John 5:24, KJV). Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.
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