What are the biblical grounds of assurance? Let me offer you 4 answers.
Answer #1: Looking to Christ
This is what Spurgeon emphasized, that we are to look to Christ. Scripture is clear on this. Jesus Himself said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life . . .”(John 6:37). The apostle Paul made it very clear to the Philippian jailer:
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16:30-31
Romans 10:9 assures us that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
All these verses affirm that if a person looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone with the eyes of faith, then he has eternal life and is saved.
Answer #2: Understanding that Regeneration Precedes Faith
God is the one who causes us to be born again, not our faith. That is why Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again . . .”
1 Peter 1:3
Since we are dead, He must give life first before we can believe.
The apostle John also wrote,
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God . . .
1 John5:1
Notice in this verse that the one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is because he has already been born of God (for more on this, listen to the No Compromise Radio episode, “”Myth-Busters: Faith Precedes Regeneration“).”).
Answer #3 – The Work of Each Member of the Trinity in Salvation
In his run-on sentence that begins his epistle to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul is very clear about this point:
- God the Father elects (Eph 1:3–5)
- God the Son redeems (Eph 1:6–9)
- God the Holy Spirit seals (Eph 1:13–14)
Answer #4 – Fruit/Evidence/Change in Life
The Apostle John states clearly the purpose for which he wrote his first epistle:
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
Throughout his epistle he gives clear evidences of salvation:
1) Obedience
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4–5)
2) Love for the Brethren
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10)
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:14–15)
3) Righteous Living
If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
1 John 2:29
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10
This does not mean the perfection of our life, but the direction of our life. After all, in the beginning John wrote that true believers readily confess and acknowledge their sin, while those who do not prove that they are not saved.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8–10
“The apostle is clearly not making sinless perfection a test of salvation. Nor is he making an issue about the frequency, duration, or magnitude of one’s sins. As we noted in chapter 8, all Christians sin, and true believers are capable even of prolonged and heinous sin. The issue John is raising here has to do with our attitude toward sin and righteousness, our heart’s response when we do sin, and the overall direction of our walk. The test is this: What is the object of your affections — sin or righteousness? If your chief love is sin, then you are “of the devil” (3:8, 10). If you love righteousness and practice righteousness, you are born of God (2:29). What is the direction of your affection?”
John MacArthur, The Gospel According to the Apostles, [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000], 150.
