Turning Doubts into Blessed Assurance - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, October 6th. Good behavior doesn't earn salvation and bad behavior doesn't lose it. Learn how to rest in the work that Jesus Christ completed on the cross in part two of Turning Our Doubts into Blessed Assurance. Well, all of us tonight fall into one of several categories. Some of us fall into the category of people who have been saved and know we are. Then there are those people who think they're saved but they're not. Those people who make no profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then of course there are those people who desire to be saved.

We all fall into one of those four categories. So you ask yourself the question, which one are you in? Are you saved and absolutely know that you are? Could you be one of those persons who thinks you are but you really cannot look back and say at this point in my life I gave my life to Christ? Are you one of those persons who really do not even profess to be a believer?

Or are you one of those persons that you say, well, you know, I know I'm not but I really and truly want to be saved? Well, if somebody asks you what is salvation, how would you define that? You say, well, it's receiving Jesus Christ as my Savior, something like that. So let me give you a little definition. Salvation is God's deliverance of the believer from all the effects of sin through Christ, plus all the benefits that he bestows upon us now and forever. It is God's work in the human heart. Now there are a lot of things in life I don't have to be absolutely sure about.

A lot of things I can just sort of talk about and say, well, I hope so, maybe so. But there's one thing I need to be absolutely certain about, and that's where I'm going to spend eternity. Can you even remember the time?

I don't mean day and hour and month and year. But was there ever a specific time in your life where you can say, well, I know from that point on in my life, God changed my life. The one thing above all else I need to be absolutely certain about is that I am sure I have been saved by the grace of God, that He's done that work within my life in such a fashion that my relationship to Him is such that if I died immediately, I don't have to worry about where I'm going to spend eternity, absent from the body, present with the Lord. Do you have that kind of an assurance? Well, what I want to talk about tonight is simply this, turning our doubts into blessed assurance.

And I want you to turn, if you will, to First John chapter five. And so often people doubt their salvation and doubt what God is doing in their life. I'm not certain. I'm not certain.

I can tell you this. If you're not sure of your salvation, it will affect every single area of your life. It will affect your feelings about God, your understanding of God.

It will affect your relationship to other people. It will certainly affect any idea you have about serving God. And I think one of the reasons many people will not serve Him is because sometimes they don't want to admit the fact they're not sure their salvation will be embarrassed to do that. If you're not certain of that, you have a very difficult time really and truly putting your life to service for God. So in this particular passage, beginning, if you will, in the tenth verse of this fifth chapter of First John, listen to what he says as you read. He says, The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. That is, when you and I trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, something on the inside of us bears witness to that. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning the Son. And the witness is this.

What is that? That God has given to us eternal life, and this life is to be found in whom? In His Son. He who has the Son has the life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. And look if you'll in verse thirteen.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life. Sometimes people say, Well, there's something wrong in my life. Or what is it?

Do you know what it is? Well, I'm not sure. And after a few moments of talking, finally, they will say, I'm just not really sure that I'm saved. Or they'll come up with something else to say, Well, I think this is the problem. But finally get around to the fact, Well, you know, back you on to somewhere when I was a kid, I walked down the church aisle.

I was in vacation Bible school or my friends came down the aisle doing a revival. I made a decision, but somehow deep down inside, I'm not quite so sure. So some things you can be uncertain about.

Here's one thing you cannot afford to be uncertain about. And so this is what he says in verse thirteen. These things I've written unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God. He says, And I've written these things that you may have absolute, unquestionable, unalterable, unchanging assurance that you have eternal life. How do you turn these doubts into blessed assurance? Well, I think there are a number of things. First of all, we come to the realization that it is the will of God to save people.

And I think this is one thing that you can share with that person. We know that it's the will of God to save someone. For example, go back to First Timothy, if you will. And you recall when Paul was writing Timothy, he said in this second chapter, which is familiar because of the verses about praying for presidents and so forth and giving thanks. And he said, if you'll notice in verse three, he said, This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

And listen to what he says. It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who, listen to this, who desires all men and women to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He says it is the desire of God for all to be saved. So when a person says, Well, I'm not sure God would save me. Why are you not sure?

Well, I don't know. Well, he says God desires that all people be saved. So part of my beginning to be confident and turning my doubts into blessed assurance is the realization, number one, that God desires to save me. The second thing, back over in Second Peter, if you'll recall what he says in Second Peter, chapter three, verse nine, he says, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but that all come to repentance. He says that all come to repentance. That's the desire of God.

That's the wish of God. And then go back over to John chapter six. And in this sixth chapter of John and the fortieth verse, listen to what he says. 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.

So now, what is the basis of my assurance? Well, it begins with the fact that according to the Scriptures, God says He desires to save me. He has chosen to do that. And He says, He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Just the realization that God desires to save every single one of us is a basic foundational truth that we need to rest upon. It is the desire of God. It is the will of God that not a single one of us should perish. So that's the first part.

The second part is this. And that is, even though God has desired it, what has God done to make it a reality? Now, a person who's doubting their salvation, usually they're going to start referring to what they have done or what they've not done. What you want to do is to refer them to what God's done. Here is the provision for that salvation. That provision is wrapped up, first of all, in the simplest verse.

And people quote this all of their life and never reach the real depths of its meaning. But listen to what He says. You want to know whether I want to save you or not? You want to know whether you can be saved or not?

Listen to this. For God the Father so loved the world. We're not talking about bricks and stones and rocks and seas and skies. God so loved every single solitary individual that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus. That whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

So not only does God desire to save everyone, God has made a provision in that in the giving of His Son. Look in, if you will, in First Peter chapter one. You remember what He says in this first chapter? He says, knowing that you were not redeemed or saved with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile or empty way of life. But He says, with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless the blood of Christ. And then if you'll also recall, He says something about that a little differently in the second chapter, verse twenty-four. He says, speaking of Jesus, that He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross that we may die to sin and live to righteousness. He says, for by His wounds you and I were healed. Now listen, what about this assurance? Well first of all, I know that He has desired to save me. Secondly, He's made provision. What's that provision? It has nothing to do with my works.

It has to do with the fact that Jesus died and when He died, God the Father placed all of our sin on Him and He took it to the cross and paid the penalty. How much of the penalty did He pay? How much of it? What about past? Present?

Future? All of our sin He's atoned for. Now, so therefore if He died and paid my sin debt in full, that means I don't have to pay for it. If He desires to save me and if He sent His only begotten Son to pay the price, then can I not even begin to think that I can have absolute assurance of what He has promised and what He has provided for in the cross? Then what about those promises?

Listen to what He says. He says, if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, that is Jesus Christ as Lord, and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, He says with your mouth your confession is made under the salvation, under your salvation. He says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.

And as you go through the Scriptures, you find promise after promise after promise. Now look, the Bible says that He desires to save you. Secondly, He's made a provision to save you, not in what you're going to do but what Jesus did at the cross when He died. And thirdly, He's made these promises that if you will believe Him, if you will trust Him to be the God that He says He is, if you place your faith in Him as the Son of God, then when you trust Him, that is what you're doing is you're saying to Him, Father, I do believe in the witness of Scripture. I do believe in what You said in Your Word, that if I confess without my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead, that You would save me. If I know that He's made that provision, know that He desires to do it, and know that He has promised, what has He promised?

Here's what He promised. He who has the Son has the light. He who does not have the Son of God does not have light. He who believes in the Son has the witness in himself. All the promises in the Scripture, now all those promises have to do with what? Just placing my faith in Him, just believing the testimony of Scripture, that He did die for my sin, that He did pay the debt, and if I receive Him by faith, as many as received Him to them gave He the power, the authority, the right, the privilege, the honor of becoming the sons of God. It is offered to us as a gift.

He says the wages of sin is death, what? But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. For by grace are you saved. God's goodness and love taught us.

His kindness taught us without regard to merit or worth on our part. He says, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, not of works lest anyone should boast. Promise after promise after promise, which will turn my doubts into a blessed assurance. When I understand, here's what God says. Here's what God has provided. Here's what God has promised. And as I look in the Scriptures and look and look and look, what do I find?

Here's what I find. That salvation has to be based on only one or two things. It's either going to be on works, on my performance of being good, or it's going to have to be on something that has nothing to do with me. If it's on works, then my salvation is based on my performance. But if my salvation has nothing to do with works and it has to do with the grace of God, that is the probation that He has made, then it's a whole different story.

Now, wait a minute. What do you mean that if I'm saved by the grace of God? That means that God saved me on the basis of His loving provision of Jesus at Calvary. And if I accept His death as payment for my sin and believe that He is my Savior, then I'm saved. And so how am I going to be sure?

Well, this is one thing I have to settle. If I'm going to be certain of my salvation, I have to settle this basic issue. Either I perform or I trust in the performance of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago at Calvary.

That's my only choice. Either I perform or I trust in His performance. If I perform, I can never be certain. But if I trust all of it in His performance, I can be absolutely certain that what He did, He did fully and completely, and there's nothing incomplete about God's redemption at Calvary. So once I settle that issue, all right, He says, Not of works less than a man should boast.

That cancels out works. For by grace you're saved. God's goodness and love and mercy are provided through the cross. If that's my basis, then I can rest assured that I am saved what? By the grace of God. He desires to save me. He's made provision to save me. He's promised to save me.

And since my works have nothing to do with it in His performance, I can bet that whatever God says He's going to do, He's going to keep His Word. Now, there are two witnesses that you and I have to our salvation. First of all is the witness of the Word. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, having been crucified at Calvary, thou shalt be saved.

So what I say to the person is this, and I would say to you. If you want to turn your doubts into blessed assurance, the first thing you do is to find out what does the Word of God say. Well, let's go back to 1 John chapter 5. Listen to what he says now. The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself, and the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he's not believed in the witness that God is born concerning his Son.

And what is that? Now, watch this. You see, you can't just take a leave what God says. He says if you place your trust in Him, you're going to be saved. So I would say to you, if you say, well, no, I don't believe God a lot about anything. Well, if you ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins, if you confess, then have you placed your faith, and do you believe that His death at Calvary really and truly atone for your sin?

Oh, yes, I believe that. What is the witness of the Word? The witness of the Word is this, that you're saved. Well, how do you get that?

Here's the way I get that. The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he's not believed in the witness that God is born concerning his Son. And the witness is this, God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. What's the witness of the Word? The witness of the Word is this, that if I place my trust in Him, I'm saved. That's the witness of the Word. The second witness is the witness of the Holy Spirit. And this is what he's referring to here when he says in verse 10, the one who believes in the Son of God has the witness, listen to this, in himself. Go back to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, here's what Paul said.

He says in verse 16, the Spirit himself, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit on the inside of us that we are the children of God. So I have a two-fold witness. And you see, listen to this, now watch this. Have I said anything about works? No. Performance? Conduct?

No. What are we talking about? We're talking about the witness of the Word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit. The witness of the Word is this.

If I do what God says, placing my trust in Him, I'm saved. That's the witness of the Word. What is the other witness? It is the witness of the Holy Spirit. His work in our life is so absolutely important. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you have the witness of the Word.

Then you have, listen, listen to what you have. You have one of the persons of the Trinity living on the inside of you. And what is he doing? He is bearing witness that you are a child of God, living in the sphere of the unconditional love of God, living under the canopy of the unconditional love of God, standing on the rock of the immovable, unchanging love of Almighty God.

That's the witness of the Spirit. Now, I don't know where you are tonight in your relationship to Him. But listen, which of these categories do you fall into? You're saved and you know it. You thought you were, but maybe tonight you decided, I'm not so sure. Or you know in your heart that you've never made a confession, a profession of your faith, that you've never confessed your sins and said, God, I desperately need you and I'm asking you to save me and trusting you to do it. Now listen, if you're not certain for your sake, for God's sake, make certain tonight. It's the one thing you desperately need to be sure about, your relationship to God. Father, thank You that You made it simple, plain and clear. Thank You for all the warnings that You've given us in Your Word concerning our need to be saved. Father, I pray the Holy Spirit will gain absolute victory in all of our lives tonight turning these doubts that disturb and distract and oftentimes are destructive in our lives into a blessed assurance where we can enjoy being Your children. But we ask it in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. Thank you for listening to part two of Turning Our Doubts into Blessed Assurance. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.