As a pastor, my heart is often burdened when I hear there are Christians who live or go through seasons of doubt concerning their salvation. Furthermore, my heart aches when I observe the life of a church member who proclaims to be a Christian but the fruit they produce is tainted and poisonous...or there is no fruit at all---just a lot of busy religious work to satisfy a longing and emptiness in their life.
In this blog I would like to address the Christian who struggles with the assurance of salvation. Do you remember the time that you asked Jesus to become Savior and Lord of your life? Do you remember times in your life when you were so "on fire" for the Lord Jesus? Do you remember when prayer and Bible study were so prevalent in your life? Do you remember producing fruit for God’s Kingdom? But today, you just don't know where you stand with the Lord. You are spiritually miserable (not just backslidden), you are so spiritually sick that you doubt whether or not you were ever saved. Dear friend, until you nail down the certainty of salvation you will never enjoy the full measure of God's grace. Read the below letter and see if you identify:
To My Pastor,
I’ve been attending our church for a long time now. Actually, I think I’ve been attending church all my life except for a few “drop-out” moments that most people seem to experience. As a result of a growing conviction in my heart, your preaching, and my seemingly powerlessness against the temptations which arise in my heart and which I constantly succumb to, my growing doubts have led me to believe that I’m not saved.
How sad it is, Pastor, for me not be able to enter heaven because of the sin which clings to me and from which I long to be free. How bizarre for one whom as had advanced biblical training and who can easily be a teacher in our church, as a matter of fact, I have been and done so with heartfelt conviction. So many times I have determined in my heart to repent, to shake loose my desire to sin, to forsake all for Jesus, only to find myself doing the sin I don’t want to do and not doing the good I want to do.
After my fiancée and I broke up, I memorized Ephesians as part of an all-out effort against sin, only to find myself weaker and more painfully aware of my sinfulness, more prone to sin than ever before, and grabbing cheap thrills to push back the pain of lost love. This occurs mostly in the heart, Pastor, but that’s where it counts and that’s where we live. I sin because I’m a sinner. I’m like a soldier without armor running across a battlefield getting constantly shot by the enemy. I hurt!
I couldn’t leave the church if I wanted to. I love the people, and I’m enthralled by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But I’m a pile of manure on the white, pure marble floor of Christ, a mongrel dog that sneaked back in the back in the door of the King’s banquet to lick the crumbs off the floor, and being close to Christians who are rich in the blessings of Christ, I get some of the overflow and ask you to pray for me as you think is best.
Signed, “Not Too Sure If I Belong”
Wow!!! Is that you? What if you could take a test to see if your life really lines up with what the Bible says about being saved? In other words, you can know that you “really belong” not based up how you feel or what you have done, but rather by evaluating your life based on the perfect, inerrant Word of God. The test that you are about to take is presented by the Apostle John in his first epistle, entitled 1 John. The purpose of John writing this letter was to address the very subject of the assurance of salvation (I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life--1 John 5:13).
1. Have you enjoyed fellowship with Christ, and the Father?
a. Read 1 John 1:2-3
b. Read John 5:1
c. It is characteristic of any believer to love God and Christ. A relationship with God is basic to salvation.
d. Read 1 Corinthians 1:9
2. Are you sensitive to sin?
a. Read 1 John 1:5-10
b. True believers have a right sense of sin. They know if they are going to have fellowship with God, they have to be holy. When sin occurs, they have the conviction and desire to confess sin.
c. NOTE: Confession (1:9) means to agree that the sin you have committed is wrong. True Confession also carries with it true repentance. In other words, stop committing that sin. Read 1 John 3:4-9
d. True believers realize they do not have to sin. But when they do, they know whom to go. Read 1 John 2:1-2
3. Do you obey God’s Word?
a. Read 1 John 2:3. NOTE: The Greek word for “keep” means “watchful, careful, thoughtful obedience.”
b. What steps do you take to ensure that you obey God’s Word?
4. Do you still love the world and what the world offers you?
a. Read 1 John 2:15
b. Read 1 John 5:19
c. Read 2 Corinthians 4:4
5. Do you love other Christians?
a. Read 1 John 3:10
b. Do you have a desire to be in corporate worship with fellow believers?
To go through a season of doubt does not mean that you are lost. Tomorrow I will post some reasons that we will sometimes go through these seasons. If you are in need spiritual counsel, email me at schanon@northparkbaptist.com and I will pray for you and help find someone to minister to your needs. I’ve been there, and praise God for fellow Christians who taught me and guided me to “get through” a tough season. And you never know, I may be there again one day.
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