Subjective Assurance

When Christ came into my life more than 35 years ago, I sat on the step of my front porch and marveled at the change in the way I felt about people. Before, I didn’t care much for anyone, but that attitude was gone. Loving others, at least with His kind of love, was a huge assurance that Jesus actually was at work in me.

As I read Romans 5:1-5 this morning, I could see the various ways God gives assurance to His people, and I marveled all over again. I am so unworthy of His grace and care and am so grateful that none of this depends on me. God does it because of His Son.

This passage says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith in this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Most of the time faith is solidly based on objective truth, on what God has said and done. If I base what I believe on my feelings, I sway like a blade of grass in the wind. One day I feel close to God, the next He seems far away. Instead, His Word says, “I am with you always” and grabbing hold of that truth keeps me from swaying.

However, these verses from Romans offer a subjective basis for faith. When I first believed, I felt love from God poured in my heart. It was so powerful and abundant that I knew I hadn’t conjured it up. It came from outside me, and it had to overflow toward others.

These verses say that Jesus gives peace with God too. At salvation, I knew my war with God was over. I cannot describe the feeling to anyone who does not know it except to say that the weight of guilt, the fear of judgment, the anxiety that my life was not the way it should be, all of that and more was lifted off me. God replaced it with a deep realization that I now stood before Him by grace, a totally unmerited privilege. In that reality I could approach Him without fear. This peace with God is an objective truth (Jesus died to secure it), but another side of it, the peace of God, is subjective, felt, enjoyed. This is an amazing peace that goes beyond my comprehension.

Throughout my Christian experience, the other things from these verses have happened. Tribulation has made me stronger, not weaker, more able to persevere. Sure, sometimes I feel like quitting, but something (Someone) inside me pushes on no matter how uphill life seems. Furthermore, this perseverance assures me. I know that if Jesus were not with me, I’d wear out and fold up.

Perseverance also produces character. This word “character” is actually “proof” and some say “proven character,” but I like the idea of proof, for proof is what it does for me. Because I can press on, God proves the reality of His presence and care for me. That proof deepens my faith and gives me hope.

The New Testament word for hope is not the same as our English word. When most people talk about hope, they are wishing, wanting, but not sure it will happen. In the Bible, hope refers to something that is certain, but not yet realized. It is like the smell of cinnamon buns when you walk into the kitchen. They are there for you, ready to eat, but you haven’t yet had one. Hope is the smell of the reality that you are going to enjoy.

I often think about this hope. In my heart, I know I will be with Jesus when I die. From that day more than 35 years ago until now, that knowing has never left me, never wavered in the slightest. It offers me amazing assurance, subjective—yes, but by its persistent nature I know it is not a mere wish in my heart, but an amazing gift from God and a subjective assurance of my salvation.