⏱ 8 min read
What does assurance mean?
Assurance means confidence, a guarantee, or a promise that something is true and will happen.
In Acts 17:31, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;..”
God appointed a day, and we do not know when that day is, but we know there will be a day coming of these judgments, and we must be ready and know for sure that we have assurance in Jesus Christ. Paul implied that their pagan world would be judged by the God of heaven.
“…whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” This assurance that such a judgment was coming was by “that man” whom God ‘hath raised him from the dead, that is Jesus Christ. Paul declared that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an assurance of the coming judgment.
What we can learn from this assurance is that it is true according to the Word of God. Where the good works, thoughts, denomination, and/or religion cannot give you confidence or a guarantee of your salvation.
Where can we find this confidence that gives us the assurance of salvation?
1. Confidence in believing Him.
a. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Whosoever means any person or anyone who believes in Jesus Christ should not perish – die. It means those who believe will not be condemned to hell but will have everlasting life in heaven.
b. John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
These two verses show the confidence in our assurance of salvation, the confidence through Jesus Christ alone.
2. Confidence that we have justified.
Justified means shown to be right or acceptable. In the Bible, “justified” means God declared righteous. The question is, why do we need to be justified?
“…whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” This assurance that such a judgment was coming was by “that man” whom God ‘hath raised him from the dead, that is Jesus Christ. Paul declared that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an assurance of the coming judgment.
What we can learn from this assurance is that it is true according to the Word of God. Where the good works, thoughts, denomination, and/or religion cannot give you confidence or a guarantee of your salvation.
Where can we find this confidence that gives us the assurance of salvation?
1. Confidence in believing Him.
a. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Whosoever means any person or anyone who believes in Jesus Christ should not perish – die. It means those who believe will not be condemned to hell but will have everlasting life in heaven.
b. John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
These two verses show the confidence in our assurance of salvation, the confidence through Jesus Christ alone.
2. Confidence that we have justified.
Justified means shown to be right or acceptable. In the Bible, “justified” means God declared righteous. The question is, why do we need to be justified?
It is simple because we are sinners, we make wrong choices, we make mistakes, we choose most of the time the wrong path instead of the right path. Sinners is not only for people who kill a person.
For example: No other gods, No idols, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, Honor parents, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not covet.
For example: No other gods, No idols, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, Honor parents, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not covet.
In God’s eyes, we are all sinners because of this standard law. We cannot perfect all of these; we are not righteous like Jesus Christ. We must admit that we need someone to justify us to be righteous and acceptable in the eyes of God, so we can have confidence that we are justified and perfect in the eyes of God. And we can find this confidence of justification.
a. Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
a. Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Paul reiterates that we have been justified by faith, therefore we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Being justified has removed the offense of sin in God’s eyes.
b. Titus 3:7 “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Grace means kindness, forgiveness, eternal life, and righteousness in Christ. God gives us blessings that we do not deserve, that we may have hope of eternal life, where we are being justified by Jesus Christ.
c. Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not,…”
This means a person who is not trying to earn salvation by good works. It does not mean we do nothing in our Christian life; it means we do not trust in our works to be right with God.
“…but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,…”
Instead of trusting our own good works, we must believe in God, the one who justifies (declares righteous) the guilty sinners.
God does not justify people because they are good; He justifies guilty sinners who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“…his faith is counted for righteousness.” God counts us righteous by faith in His eyes because of Jesus Christ.
3. Confidence by grace.
Grace is mercy, that God does not give us the punishment we deserve; it is kindness that we do not deserve, but God gave us anyway through Jesus Christ. This confidence by grace we can find:
a. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
It is by grace that we are saved, and not ourselves, not of our good works; it is only the kindness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that is why we are saved.
b. Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”
Salvation is for all, not for a specific person or group only, but is offered to every person in this world by the grace of God, and that is another confidence of grace that salvation is for all men.
c. Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done (not our good works), but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;”
If our good works can save us, we do not need Jesus Christ; we do not need grace. Jesus Christ must not have died on the cross, shed His own blood, and rose again. But rather just to teach during His time in this world and ascended to heaven, but that is not the case; by His grace, He saved us.
If our good works can save us, we do not need Jesus Christ; we do not need grace. Jesus Christ must not have died on the cross, shed His own blood, and rose again. But rather just to teach during His time in this world and ascended to heaven, but that is not the case; by His grace, He saved us.
That is our confidence in Him by grace, because we cannot measure our good works, and we do not know if our good works are enough with God.
d. Romans 5:15 “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”
4. Confident.
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Apostle Paul gave further encouragement. That referred to is the good work of salvation through Jesus Christ. God always finishes what He starts.
“He never leaves the job half done. He saved us until the return of Jesus Christ.”
Therefore, He will perform these good works in us, not our good works, “until the day of Jesus Christ.” It will accomplish “will perform” until the day of Jesus Christ. It is a reference to the day when Jesus Christ returns first in the rapture, and then altogether in His second advent.
5. Confidence that God cannot lie.
Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
5. Confidence that God cannot lie.
Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
God gave us hope of eternal life, where we have confidence that God cannot lie. His word will not be changed. In Psalm 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke this in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
In the New Testament, Jesus spoke this in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
This assurance of salvation is true without any doubt; God secures and assures us that we have a place in heaven through Jesus Christ.
6. Confidence that we are preserved.
This gives us more confidence the another word that we have assurance of salvation, a guarantee through Jesus Christ.
6. Confidence that we are preserved.
This gives us more confidence the another word that we have assurance of salvation, a guarantee through Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”
Sanctified means to be made holy, which means to be separated from the world and have dedicated themselves to God. Jude, however, is telling us about the matter of positional sanctification, wherein each believer has been made holy in Christ in His standing before God.
In other words, the moment you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, He gives you the Holy Spirit, as written in John 14. Where you have a lively Holy Spirit within you, that has made you holy in Christ.
Jude also notes preserved in Christ, where this is our other confidence and assurance of salvation. Preserved is in the passive voice and has the meaning of guarded or kept. It is telling us that every born-again Christian is preserved kept by Jesus Christ. It is not we who keep our salvation. It is Jesus Christ.