True and False Assurance

Which is worse; to be wrong and think you are right? Or to be right and fear that you are wrong?

Either place is shaky, and I’ve been in both. After several days of study concerning false teaching and reading what Jesus has to say about it, it must be better to be right and have some doubts. At least then I am willing to check things out. But if I am wrong and convinced otherwise, pride will keep me from examining what I believe.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is one of the high standards in the Bible for discerning whether or not I am saved and belong to Jesus. It warns against self-deception regarding salvation and deception about living the Christian life. Perhaps the gravest sin is pride because when I think I am right based on nothing but the desire to be right all the time my life gets totally messed up.

Today’s reading says that one of the causes of self-deception is incorrectly understanding of what the Bible teaches about assurance. While it says we can “know” that we are saved, many people are deceived by the idea that all they have to do is pray the sinner’s prayer and after that, never doubt their salvation again.

I know many people in church and out of church who think that they are saved because they did what they were told and consider that prayer their “fire insurance.” Some of them, like these who approached Jesus, even seem to be zealous for God and if not miracles, they do perform good things.

So how can anyone be sure? If I prophesy in the name of Jesus, cast out demons, and do wonders in His name, and He says that is not good evidence, how can I know that I am saved?

As my reading says, salvation is not certified apart from “the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and the future evidence of spiritual fruit accompanied by obedience to God’s Word (John 8:31). Only God can give a person real assurance of salvation, by the Spirit working through His Word (see Romans 8:14–16).”

Some of this is too subjective for most people and I know that spiritual assurance can be a deception. Like others, I sometimes wonder why there are so many false teachers and so many on the “broad way to destruction” who seem to be doing good things in His name? Yet in these verses, Jesus says that they have missed the will of God. He tells them to leave. This flies contrary to most ideas about true and false Christianity.

Again, how can I know that what I believe is true? One way is being careful when I read passages such as this that I do not to interpret it out of context. Jesus has been explaining the law to the people. From this and other passages, I know that the law of God and the Word of God are superior to any miracles. Deuteronomy 13 says that even when something amazing happens, if it does not line up with the Word of God, the false teacher responsible for it is to be executed!

The key for assurance of salvation is not doing miracles, but doing the will of God. What is His will? In John 6:40, Jesus said, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The Bible is clear that God wants us to do good things, but before we can, Jesus said in verse 29 of John 6, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Faith comes first, then out of that flow deeds done that comply with the will of God.

Salvation is all about what I do with Jesus. It is about trusting Him, not myself, my “faith” or my church affiliation. It isn’t even about trusting my ability to interpret Scripture or trusting the feelings of assurance that I have about being right with God. If I believe in, listen to, and follow Jesus, then I am doing the will of God, regardless of how I feel.

Jesus also said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Without Him, I can do nothing. I certainly cannot save myself. No matter how many doubts might run through my mind, or how many times I or other people question what I believe, trusting Jesus for eternal life is the one criterion that answers everything, not because I say so, but because He does.