When your hope is fixed, then you purify yourself. It has a purifying Power. If I know I'm going to see God, I know I'm going to see Christ, I know I'm going to see them face to face, I'm going to give an accounting for my deeds, I'm going to spend eternity with the Lord bearing the reward for that which I have rendered to him by way of service, that's going to change the way I live my life. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.
One of the greatest benefits of becoming a Christian Well, some day you get a new body that will never get sick, and an eternal home that's better than you can imagine. You escape hell and its endless suffering, and best of all, you'll be with God and enjoy Him forever. If you know those amazing blessings are coming your way and no one can take them from you, how should that change the way you live day by day? What should be different about your words and actions around friends or family or co-workers? That's John MacArthur's focus over the next half hour in a study called Myths About Salvation here on Grace to You.
And now here's John with the lesson. Let me say that having the assurance of your salvation, Knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are forgiven. Knowing that you are indwelt by the Spirit of God and headed for eternal glory in heaven. is the supreme blessing of the Christian life. Because all of the other blessings of the Christian life can only be partially enjoyed if I do not know for certain where my eternity will be spent.
If there's any diminishing of my assurance. Then I cannot fully enjoy the other blessings of my Christian life.
So we could say that assurance then. Among all of the good things that God grants to us for joy and blessing, is the best, the most precious. of his gifts to believers.
Now we've been noting in this study that Even though assurance is the best of the Lord's gifts to his people, there are some people who don't enjoy assurance. There are the Roman Catholics, for example, who do not believe that anyone can know for sure whether he or she is going to heaven. In fact, they decry those who would affirm an assured salvation, believing that if you for once thought. that your eternity was settled once and for all. It would affect your holiness negatively.
Because once you knew everything was secure, you would run amok. And you would not be able to restrain yourself because the fear of falling into hell is what restrains you from evil. And then there are the Arminians, as that brand of theology is known. Who also believe that you cannot know for certain that your salvation is. Secure, you cannot enjoy assurance because, in fact, Salvation is a cooperative effort.
And though God may not fail, you might. And so, because it is possible for you to fall away and fail. Consequently, you can never be guaranteed of assurance.
So there are those then who do not enjoy the assurance of salvation from a theological viewpoint. But then there are those who do not enjoy the assurance of salvation for other reasons. They, unlike the Catholics and the Arminians, believe that a Christian can have assurance. They might even believe a Christian should have. assurance they might even want assurance, but they do not enjoy it.
And we have been looking at that particular issue. Because it is so very, very Important. In Hebrews 6, 11 it says, And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of. of hope To the end. The writer of Hebrews says, I want you to be diligent so that you have full assurance.
And here in our text, Peter says, be all the more diligent to make certain about his that is God's calling and choosing you.
So, while the Roman Catholics and the Arminians and others might deny the reality of assurance, the Bible says you should know your salvation is for sure. In fact, you should be diligent. to come to the experience of assurance. And while our salvation does not depend on our feelings about assurance, our joy does, our peace does, our blessedness does. Let me talk about the blessedness of assurance for a moment.
And give you a little list of things that assurance does to bless us. First of all, Assurance Elevates the heart. to live on the highest level of joy. Assurance elevates the heart to live on the highest level of joy. When the Apostle John wrote his epistle of 1 John as we know it.
In the Epistle of 1 John, he gives a series of tests by which one may know whether his salvation is real. You remember them. If you confess your sin. If you walk as Jesus walked, If you love your brother. If you do not love the world, If your life is not characterized by an unbroken pattern of sin, if you demonstrate compassion to those in need.
If you confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, etc., etc., etc., John's whole purpose in 1 John. Is to lay out test after test after test of a genuine salvation. But the sum of it Comes in 1 John 1:4, where he says, These things I write unto you that you're Joy may be full. Why? Because assurance of salvation Lifts the heart to live on the highest level of joy.
Takes away all the doubt and all the despair and all the despondency and all the depression and all the fear. If I know for certain My destiny is sealed in Christ forever.
So assurance then elevates the heart to live on the highest level of joy. Secondly, Assurance lifts the soul. to seek holy purposes. Assurance lifts the soul to seek holy purposes. In other words, if I know I'm saved and I know I belong to God.
And I know I'm a part of his kingdom forever, then I will be concerned about kingdom issues. It is expressed a number of ways in Scripture. One that comes to mind is in Matthew chapter 6, verses 8 to 10. Remember these familiar words? Our Father.
Who art in heaven? Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is the significance of that?
Just this. You are concerned about the hallowing of God's name. You are concerned about the coming of His kingdom. You are concerned about His will on earth as it is in heaven when you are assured that He is your Father. The affirmation of our Father Draws me into the conscious awareness of my relationship to the living God and makes His holy purposes the highest aim of my life.
If I'm not sure I belong to God, then I'm not so caught up in His purposes.
So assurance lifts the soul to seek holy purposes. Thirdly, Assurance fills the heart. with songs and prayers of gratitude. A praising person is a person who has assurance. If I know my salvation is forever secure and nothing can separate me from the love of Christ, then my heart is filled with joy.
The assured heart Is the grateful heart. And where you have the assurance of salvation, the heart is filled with songs and prayers of gratitude. Listen to Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Why? Why such a grateful heart? And forget none of his benefits? Why? Because he pardons all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit.
And when you know that you've been redeemed, and when you know that your sins are forgiven. It fills your heart with songs of praise and gratitude. The next point. Assurance, strengthens the soul. against temptations and trials.
Assurance strengthens the soul. against temptations and trials. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul says, put on the helmet of the hope of salvation. What is that? In essence.
It is The fact that Satan comes against us with temptation, he comes against us with testings and trials. endeavoring to make us fall into sin and doubt. When you have the hope of salvation firmly in place, his blows are but glancing blows off of that protective cover. If I know My hope is sure, and that I'm headed for heaven, then, all of Satan's efforts against me cannot. hit me they only deflect off of the helmet of the hope of salvation.
Furthermore, Assurance compels the heart. to love obedience. Assurance compels the heart. to love obedience. If I'm not sure that I'm going to heaven, I'm a little bit loose in my living.
If I'm not sure that God has really forgiven me and given me eternal life, if I'm not sure that I'm on my way to heaven, if I'm not certain that God's salvation is secure, Then it has a negative effect on me. Because it is in that insecurity that I fall more readily into sin. Psalm 119 says, I hope in thy salvation, O Lord, and I do thy commandments. Because I have hope in eternal reality, because my hope is fixed in Christ and God. Because I'm secure in that and assured of that.
I do what you say. Assurance elevates the heart to live on the highest level of joy. Assurance lifts the soul to seek holy purposes. Assurance fills the heart with songs and praise of gratitude. Assurance strengthens the soul against temptation and trials.
Assurance compels the heart to love obedience. Let me give you a couple more. Assurance calms the soul. with perfect rest and peace in the midst of life's storms. It definitely calms the soul in the midst of life's storms.
No matter what goes on around me, if I know I'm secure forever in Christ, what do I fear? Listen to Hebrews 6.19. This hope This eternal hope. we have as an anchor of the soul. A sure and steadfast anchor.
No matter what batters and beats the hulk of our ship, We are anchored. in the confidence of our eternal hope. And so the soul is calmed. With rest and peace. in the confidence of a secure salvation.
Another point. to ponder. Assurance teaches the soul to wait patiently upon God for needed mercy. If you're not sure of your salvation, guess what happens when you pray and God doesn't answer immediately? If I don't know that I'm a Christian, I'm not sure I'm really saved, and I pray to God and I don't get an immediate answer, what is my response?
In the flesh. Boy, God must not be listening. God must not care. That means I'm not his. But if I am sure of my salvation and secure in my salvation and assured of my salvation, then I have the patience to wait for God to act in his own time.
And I'm not cast as it were into great fear. That's the patient heart. That is exhibited by the one. Who is confident of his eternal death? destiny and the eternal care of God.
In Romans 8:25, it says, If we hope for what we do not see, With perseverance, we wait eagerly for it. If your hope is strong and your hope is based on fact and reality, then you can persevere in waiting for the realization of that hope. Read Psalm 130 if you want another illustration of that. Another point. Assurance purifies the heart.
Assurance purifies the heart. 1 John 3, 3. Everyone who has this hope fixed. on him. purifies himself.
just as he is pure. When your hope is fixed, not moving and shaking and coming and going, when it's fixed, Then you purify yourself. It has a purifying Power. If I know I'm going to see God, I know I'm going to see Christ, I know I'm going to see them face to face, I'm going to give an accounting for my deeds, I'm going to spend eternity with the Lord bearing the reward for that which I have rendered to him by way of service, that's going to change the way I live my life. Assurance Really equips the soul for every spiritual battle in every way.
I wish I could say all that is in me, and my words are not.
So let me borrow from The theologian Birkhoff, listen to what he said. The Christian's life is intended to be a life of service in the kingdom of God. He is a vessel of honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. And the service that is required of him is arduous and even partakes of the nature of a warfare. The believer is a soldier of Jesus Christ engaged in earnest battles with the powers of evil.
Hence, he is urged to put on the whole armor of God that he may retain his position in the kingdom of God and frustrate the works of the devil. He needs all the spiritual strength at his disposal, especially the strength that comes from a living and active faith and from the assurance of salvation. If his gait is halting and uncertain, If his arms are unsteady, if his eye is not clear and true, if he is lacking in confidence, he will not be able to do his best for the captain of his salvation. But if he stands in the assurance of faith, he will march to the battle with confidence. He will occupy a strong position.
He will aim with precision. And he will fight with the strength that comes from the confident expectation of victory. They whose hearts are always filled with doubts and are constantly engaged in seeking assurance are like the soldier that spends all his time seeking his armor or putting it in shape and meanwhile loses sight of the oncoming forces of the enemy. End quote. Excellent statement.
If you spend all the time fussing with whether or not you have your armor on. you're not going to be able to fight the battle. It is the confident Christians who have the assurance of salvation who are out there. in the fray. Beloved.
To deny the doctrine of assurance. Or not to experience the doctrine of assurance is the short circuit. your spiritual blessedness and usefulness. Yeah. In spite of all of that, Many Christians.
Don't enjoy assurance. And we've been asking why, haven't we? We said, first of all, some lack assurance because of being under strong preaching on God's holy standard. Because the standards held so high, they feel they can't ever meet the standard, and so they feel they must not be saved. Secondly, we noted that some lack assurance because they can't accept forgiveness.
They think they're too bad. What they've done is too terrible. and they just cannot believe that they could be forgiven.
Some lack assurance because they do not comprehend the gospel. They just don't understand the nature of the gospel. And what the Lord has Provided and in the place of knowledge, they become tyrannized by their emotions. Fourthly, some lack assurance because they don't know the exact. moment of their salvation.
And since they can't identify a moment, They feel maybe they're not saved. Fifthly, Some lack assurance because they still feel the flesh strongly and wonder if they have a new nature. Because the pull of sin in the flesh is so strong. They wonder whether they really are a new creation. And number six, some lack assurance because they don't see the hand of God in all their trials.
In other words, when things go wrong, they think God's abandoned them rather than that God is using that for their growth.
Now that's all review. Number seven.
Some lack assurance. because they fail to walk in the Holy Spirit. Thus his affirming Confirming ministry to their hearts is forfeited. Did you get that? This is very, very vital.
Some lack assurance because they fail to walk in the Spirit. And it is the Spirit's ministry to the believer to to affirm his salvation. Go with me to Romans chapter 8 again. It is the single greatest chapter in Scripture. On this matter of security and assurance, And I want to draw you to Romans chapter 8, verses 14 to 16.
It says in verse 14: For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. If you want to put it the other way, you could say, sons of God are all being led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is involved in leading all believers. And then, verse 15, he says, For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again. But you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father.
Look, if we belong to God. And the Spirit is in us leading us, we should never fear our condition. We have been adopted into God's family and we cry Abba. Father, which means daddy, papa, it's a term of intimacy. And then verse 60.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit That we are. children of God. And if children heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
Now listen. For every believer, The Holy Spirit dwells inside. And from that perspective, inside the believer, he leads every one of us. We should never fear. Because he is leading us.
to the conclusion. That we are the children of God. That's one of the things he does.
Now let me give you a little background of this. In Rome, it was very common to adopt. Very common. And when a child was adopted, there was a legal ceremony to go through. Roman adoptions had to be verified, get this.
By seven witnesses. Seven witnesses had to sign the affidavit. that this was a legal adoption. Why? Well, let's imagine you had a very wealthy man.
He was interested in adopting A young boy. He adopted that boy into his family. And then he died. And that boy immediately laid claim then to his inheritance. Who's going to verify that?
Let's say there was one witness and he was dead. There was nothing on computers. Probably nothing in files anywhere. Everything was confirmed by a document and word of mouth. And so they stacked up seven witnesses for the purpose of always having someone to confirm the legitimate claim of the heir to his inheritance.
On the other hand, it could well be possible that if a wealthy man died Some Fake might come along and say, look, he adopted me as his son. Who's to prove it or disprove it? Back to the seven witnesses. One, two, three, four of them may have been dead. There may have been three remaining.
And the whole idea of having seven witnesses was to affirm that indeed this adoption was legitimate. These seven witnesses had to be present at the adoption. You get that? They had to be present at the adoption. And they had to sustain the claim.
of the adopted child. to the inheritance. Here's Paul's point. If anybody questions Your claim. To your eternal inheritance.
If anybody questions that you are a child of God, There is a witness. who was there at the moment of your adoption. Who was it? The Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will step forward and bear witness that you indeed are a child of God by adoption and have a lawful claim to your eternal inheritance.
So it is the ministry then of the Holy Spirit. To bear witness to the legitimacy of my adoption into God's family and my right to claim an eternal inheritance. Isn't that a marvelous truth? You say How does the Holy Spirit do it? How does he bear witness?
A number of ways. Look with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Verse 9. It is written?
Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. All right? Scripture promises Immense blessings for those that love God. Those are taken out of Isaiah.
Now, verse 10. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit. The first way in which the Holy Spirit Affirms our salvation is through illumination. In other words, the Spirit illuminates the Scripture. He makes the word live.
As we study the Word of God about these. Promises. The Spirit illuminates them. To our hearts. That's what that text is saying.
The Holy Spirit Allows us who think and comprehend. With the mind of Christ.
So the first way the Holy Spirit witnesses to me of my sonship and inheritance is by illuminating the scripture. Let me show you a second way the Holy Spirit witnesses. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 13. This is what John writes.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us. How do we know that? How do we know that? Because he has given us of his spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
And whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. You say, what's he talking about here? What he's saying is this.
The Holy Spirit Came. Verse 13. And showed us The gospel. The second way, the Spirit Witnesses to us is through salvation. when the Spirit convicts you of sin, righteousness, and judgment?
When the Spirit reveals to you That God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world, verse 14, when the Spirit Reveals to you that if you confess Jesus as the Son of God, God will come and abide with you and you in God. In other words, The first way the Spirit bears witness to us that we're God's children is by illuminating the Scripture. The second way is through the whole matter of salvation where we believe in Christ, where we love God, where we love Christ. That's all the witness of the Spirit. That's an ongoing thing.
As we continue to study the Word of God, the Spirit will bear witness to it. by illuminating the word. As we continue to walk with Christ, the Spirit will bear witness to our childhood in the kingdom of God, as it were, by. faith and love which grows. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
The title of John's current study, Myths About Salvation. And now, friend, something worth noting from today's lesson: one of the hallmarks of John MacArthur's teaching through the years is that John used Scripture to interpret Scripture in all his messages. To help you dig into God's Word cover to cover and see for yourself how Scripture interprets Scripture, let me suggest you pick up a copy of our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible. Order yours when you contact us today. The MacArthur Study Bible has 25,000 study notes by John.
detailed introductions to each book, and more than one hundred charts and maps. It is an ideal resource, whether you're a new believer or a long time saint, to help you understand what God's Word promises you and what it demands of you. To order the MacArthur Study Bible available in the English Standard, New King James, New American Standard, and Legacy Standard versions, call us at 800-55 GRACE. That's 800-400. 55 Grace or shop online at gty.org.
Now, if you're being encouraged by John's study on myths about salvation, if you benefited from John's recent study called Walk Worthy, or if someone you know has trusted Christ After hearing our broadcasts, we'd love to hear your story. Send an email to letters at gty.org, or you can mail your letter to grace to you. P.O. Box 4000. Panorama City, California, 91412.
Now for the entire Grace to U staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Join us again tomorrow as we continue John MacArthur's series Myths About Salvation. with a look at the Holy Spirit's role in salvation and ways to be certain that you have the Spirit. It's another half hour of unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. on Grace to You.
