That they think they are walking in the light when they're walking in the darkness and walking in the darkness claim to have no sin or not to have sinned at all. It is characteristic of an unregenerate, unbelieving person to be utterly oblivious to the condition of sin within his life. Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. And I'm your host, Phil Johnson. You've no doubt taken a self-test before.
Maybe it was on a medical website, you answered a series of questions that helped you know if you should make an appointment with your doctor, or maybe you took an aptitude test for school. A self-evaluation designed to show you the sorts of careers you were suited for.
Well, today on Grace T U, John MacArthur will start working through a self-test of sorts, one that's designed to help you answer this question. How can I know if I have the salvation Christ offers and have it forever? There's no more important tests you could take. John's current series is called Myths About Salvation.
So now here is John with today's lesson. We're going to be looking at this matter of assurance. The assurance of salvation. We are sort of launching our study from 2 Peter. You might want to turn to 2 Peter chapter 1.
In 2 Peter chapter 1, Verses 10 and 11 sort of set the subject in its place. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you'll never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Verse 10 says, be diligent then to make certain about his calling and choosing you.
The subject here then is The assurance of salvation. And we have noted that there are basically two questions to ask. Question number one, is salvation forever. Is salvation forever? Is it secure?
Question number two. Can I feel? that security. One is a fact and the other is a personal confidence. They are inseparable.
We have noted in our study that if salvation was not eternal, If salvation was not secure, then there would be no discussion about assurance. Because how could you be assured of an insecure salvation? But if salvation is forever And if It is secure. Then you can experience assurance. Let's go back to question number one for a moment.
Is our salvation Forever. In other words, once you have come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, Is that eternal? The answer, of course, is yes. And there are many places in the Word of God where that is very clearly. Noted for us.
Listen to just a few, John 5, 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. If you believe... You have eternal life.
You will never come into judgment. You have passed out of death into life. And you will notice there is no fine print. In John chapter 6. And verse 27, and we're going back purposely to the very beginning of the gospel record, looking at the gospels themselves in the New Testament to see how this teaching is foundational.
John 6, 27, Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on him the Father, even God, has set his seal. In other words, we're not dealing with something that comes and goes, we're dealing with something that comes and stays forever. It does not perish. It endures to eternal life. Our salvation is forever.
In verse 35 of John 6, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst. In verse 51, I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. You live forever. There again is no fine print. Salvation is forever. Very clearly.
Backing up into that chapter, verse 37, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I lose none, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day.
Now, we know here then from the teaching of Jesus that salvation is eternal. Ephesians chapter 1 takes us to the teaching of Paul. And verse 11 says, we have obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined. according to his purpose Who works all things after the counsel of his will.
God predestined it. He works it according to his own will, and we have obtained a guaranteed inheritance. Nothing can Remove it. First Peter. Chapter 1, verse 5.
We are protected by the power of God. Through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We have an inheritance, by the way, which is imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away. It is reserved in heaven for us, and we are protected. to receive that inheritance.
God's protecting hand. Secures our salvation. Forever. In Jude 24, another verse, and I'm giving you just a few selected ones.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless, with great joy. To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time now and forever. Amen. He is the one who is able to keep you and make you stand in his presence. He guards us, he keeps us, he secures us, he has given us an eternal inheritance which we will receive.
There will be no loss. There is no condemnation, Romans 8:1, to them who are in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate us from Christ. the love of God in Christ. No one can lay any charge to God's elect.
says Romans chapter eight. And so we are Secure. In a permanent and eternal salvation. Listen to the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23.
Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You say, Well, I would certainly want that. Verse 24: Faithful is He who calls you, He also will bring it to pass. Bring what to pass? Preserving you, soul and body, complete without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, these passages just remind us that our salvation is forever.
So once you are saved, you're saved forever. The second question, and the one that we are concerned about, is: can I feel secure? And we acknowledge that it's possible to be secure and not feel it. It's possible to have eternal salvation and not. Enjoy it.
But the question is, can I be assured?
So There are a number of reasons why people lack security even though they are eternally saved. One, strong preaching of high standards of holiness can make people feel insecure, especially if they're sinning. Another reason, some people can't accept forgiveness, some don't properly comprehend the fullness of the gospel.
Some don't remember the time of their salvation, so they feel insecure.
Some feel the strong pull of the flesh and wonder if they have a new nature.
Some don't recognize God's hand in all their trials, and so they think their trials are evidence that they're not the children of God.
Some fail to walk in the Spirit and some disobey the Word of God. Those are the primary reasons why people lack security even though they are eternally saved.
Now, I want us to turn to 1 John. Because in 1 John we have a very positive presentation. These are objective tests. To see If I'm a true Christian, and if I pass these tests, I can enjoy my eternal salvation with assurance. The Apostle John, by the way, in this epistle.
Is concerned about the same issue. He's concerned about true salvation. He's concerned about assurance. And so, in his first epistle, he gives a number of tests. that you can apply to your own life and you can Know that you are genuinely saved.
Some of them, by the way, parallel what we'll learn in 2 Peter 1. But they are distinct enough and demand our attention as a substantial background for understanding the text of Peter's letter.
So let's look then at 1 John. and the tests of assurance. I'm going to turn them into a series of questions, all right? 11 of them. A series of questions that plunge us into the rich book and lead us to the joy of assurance.
Based on the reality that we are saved. It may convince us that we are not saved. In either case, it has done its God-ordained purpose. Question number one. And these are, I believe, what is in the heart of John as he writes.
Question number one to ask yourself if you want to get in touch with the reality of your spiritual condition. Have you enjoyed? fellowship with Christ and the Father. Have you enjoyed fellowship with Christ? And the father.
That is an essential element. in true salvation. Look with me at chapter 1, verse 2. John here writing about The word of life. God's revelation.
Says, and the life was manifested. And we have seen and bear witness, and proclaim to you the eternal life. And there he means Christ, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also. That you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
Now, obviously, He's going beyond just the earthly acquaintance He had with Jesus because He had no such earthly acquaintance with the Father.
So at the end of verse 3, when he says, our fellowship is, not was. Is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is saying, I am presently, currently enjoying communion with the living Christ and the living God. That is an element. In the experience of the truly saved.
Chapter 5, verse 1. Points out to us another reference that speaks to the same issue. It says in verse 1: Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ. is born of God. And whoever loves the father loves the child born of him.
Here, John is saying it is characteristic of a believer to love God and to love Christ. That again speaks of relationship. We have fellowship with Christ. We have fellowship with God. We love God.
We love Christ. Down in verse 4. For whatever is born of God, that is regenerated, born again, redeemed, saved, overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you place your faith in Him. your faith in God. You overcome the world in the sense that you enter into a new level of communion. You no longer commune as your priority point of fellowship with the world, but you commune with the living God in a relationship of love. And I really believe that John here is pointing out to us that it is characteristic typically of true believers to have an ongoing, loving fellowship with Christ and God.
That is essential. That is foundational. That is basic. to salvation. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:9, Paul writes, God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Galatians 2:20 says that Christ lives in me. In a very intimate union of common life.
Now, the thought here is that if you're a Christian, you share life with Christ. You share life with God. You commune with them. You have a relationship with them. But there's something very experiential about this.
It's not just a fact that we have divine life living in us. There is an experience to be had here. remind you of a verse. Remember John 10, 10? where Jesus said, I am come that you might have life and have it what?
more abundantly. What did he mean by that? If he had just said, I am come that you might have life, we could say, well, he's put his eternal life in us. In other words, there's a new creation, a new nature. We possess the life of God in the soul of man.
And that is a fact. But when he added, and that you might have it more abundantly, he began to talk about a super abounding kind of life, and I think he moved into the dimension of experience. A rich life. A life that Causes us to experience joy and peace and love and purpose. Every time you hear somebody in the baptismal waters testify about coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they don't stop short and say, Well, the fact is, folk, I'm saved.
And I'm just here to announce the fact. Invariably, they will describe to you the feeling. They will describe to you the experience of love and joy and peace and forgiveness and purpose and direction in life. That's the super abounding element of that eternal life. The God of all comfort.
The God of all grace. The God who supplies all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The God In whose fellowship we are caused to speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts. The God to whom we come and cry, Abba, Father. like a little child to one he adores.
The God to whom we draw near in time of trouble to seek for mercy. The Christ in whom we find our consolation and our comfort, and in whose love we bask. The Christ, whose peace we possess and enjoy, these are the experiences of abundant life. These are the elements of fellowship. And these are the things that so greatly enrich us.
Have you experienced them? Have you experienced communion with Christ? In all of its richness. Have you experienced fellowship with God? Have you sensed his presence?
Have you experienced that which he ministers through his spirit? Do you have in your heart a love for Christ and a love for God that draws you to their presence? That's the question to start with. Have you experienced their power for witnessing? Have you experienced the sweet communion of prayer?
On your knees, the exhilarating joy of talking to the living God. Have you experienced the refreshing, almost overwhelming sense of grace that comes upon you when you discover some rich new truth in the word? Have you experienced the blessedness of fasting? In the presence of God. This is fellowship.
If you have experienced those things, then you have fellowship with Christ. And you have fellowship with God. And that is the fellowship of salvation. And since true salvation is secure. You can enjoy your assurance.
Second question. Are you sensitive to sin? Are you sensitive to sin? Go back to chapter 1 for a moment. This is a very important portion of Scripture.
Verse 5, chapter 1, 1 John. This is the message we have heard from him. and announce to you That God is light. And in him, there is no Darkness. At all.
Now the point here is That the message which the Lord has sent to us, is about Himself. The message is that God is absolutely sinless. absolutely holy, absolutely perfect, has no blemish. No sin. No ignorance.
There is not literally in the Greek a single bit of darkness in him.
Now, that's the basic foundational truth to the section. Then immediately We come to verse 6. Follow as I read. If we say that we have fellowship with him, And yet walk in the darkness. We lie.
And do not practice the truth. In other words, if God is light, all light, and nothing but light, and we are walking in darkness, then that's not fellowship with him. Verse seven. But If we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
Now, you have very clear contrast here, and I want you to follow it. It is a foundational truth that God is light. And in him there's not one single bit of darkness. Yet There are some people who claim to be in fellowship with God. They claim to be in fellowship with God.
But their claim doesn't hold water. In verse 6, please note. They say, we have fellowship with him. They claim to have fellowship with God. Verse 8.
They also claim to have no sin. If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth isn't in us. There are some people who claim to have no sin. Then in verse 10, this is unbelievable, they claim never to have sinned. If we say we have not sinned.
We make God. A liar. And his word is not in us.
So here are some people who say yes. Uh we know God. We fellowship with God. We walk with God, but the truth is, they walk in sin and flatly what? Deny it.
There are lots of people. who were so utterly oblivious That they think they are walking in the light when they're walking in the darkness and walking in the darkness claim to have no sin or not to have sinned at all. It is characteristic of an unregenerate, unbelieving person to be utterly oblivious to the condition of sin within his life. That's what John's point is. The man in verse 6 is not confessing sin.
Because he doesn't think it's necessary. He doesn't even recognize it. He doesn't even acknowledge it. He just walks along in the darkness thinking he's communing with God. The man in verse 8 is not confessing sin because he thinks he's reached a state where he has no sin.
The man in verse 10 is not confessing sin because he never has confessed it. or acknowledged sin. Three words describe these three viewpoints. The first word in verse 6 is darkness, the second word in verse 8 is deceit, and the third word in verse 10 will make defamation because you make God a liar, because God says you have sinned.
So here are our people. Who claim to be Christians, but are utterly insensitive to the reality of their sinning. On the one hand, they think they can go on sinning and walk in darkness all they want and not even acknowledge it and still have fellowship with God. On the other hand, they can deny it altogether and think that they can walk and have fellowship with God. They're utterly insensitive to the reality of their condition.
And the truth is They do not know God. They do not practice the truth. They deceive themselves. The truth is not in them. They make God a liar, and His word is not in them.
There's an unbeliever. A person who isn't sensitive to his sinful condition. That is why we always say when you preach the gospel, what do you have to preach first? Sinfulness of man.
Well, let's bow in prayer. Father, we thank you again for such clear instruction. We continue. Lord, to be exposed to the word that is so very clear. that we might know Our spiritual condition.
Lord, you would never want there to be any doubt about that. And we would assume you would make it clear. Thank you. for the instruction that gives confidence to the saved. And gives Fear.
to the unsaved. that we who are truly saved who passed the test, might rejoice. And those who fail the test. might repent. and embrace the Savior.
We pray in his name. Amen. You're listening to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. John's current study is titled Myths About Salvation.
Now, before we end today, I want to draw your attention to something special we have planned for two days from now. We are about to offer the complete MacArthur New Testament commentary at a remarkable discount. The MacArthur New Testament commentary series includes 33 volumes that cover the entire New Testament, verse by verse.
Now, don't go to our website just yet. The day to place your order will be this Wednesday, September 10th. And please note that we are able to make this special offer only to the first 250 orders. Also, this offer is available only in Canada and the United States. And if it turns out that you contact us after the first 250 sets are sold, I still have some good news for you.
We will still be selling the commentaries at a substantial discount through Friday, September 12th. But for the very lowest price on the MacArthur New Testament commentary, you need to be one of the first 250 people to place your order this Wednesday, September 10th. And to learn more about the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series, or to view all of the free resources we have at our website, get in touch today. Our web address is gty.org. There are thousands of free resources available there, including the Grace to You blog, where you'll find helpful articles on practical issues relating to your life and your church.
And don't forget John's entire sermon archive. That's more than 3,600 sermons. all of them available to download in MP3 and transcript format for free. All of that and much more is free at gty.org. And again, in two days, that's Wednesday, September 10th, we'll be offering the complete MacArthur New Testament commentary series at the lowest price you will ever find.
We're about to offer this super low price on the first 250 orders. And even after those first 250 sets are sold, we're still going to have heavily discounted pricing that you won't want to miss. But for the absolutely lowest price, place one of the first 250 orders this Wednesday, September 10th. You can use our website. gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson with a question. What future event should you anticipate above all others? See what it is and how it relates to salvation assurance as we continue John MacArthur's study called Myths About Salvation. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. on tomorrow's Grace to Year.
