How can I be certain?

 
The only people who have ever asked me how I know I am a Christian were those without faith. Even Christians who have slipped away from their walk (we call them prodigals or backsliders) have this knowledge. It is not based on anything but faith and that is a gift from God. Since we are saved by faith and not by our performance, that makes sense.

However, today’s reading suggests otherwise. It points to the test Christ gave by which the reality of His oneness with the Father was to be known — He did the works of the Father. However, the author says there is no other test for us. This puts our assurance dangerously close to being saved by works rather than faith. 

In the NT, one passage suggests the Apostles refused to point to themselves as the reason for their changed life. Just after healing a man, they said:

If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:9–12)

They did not say they were saved because they could heal this man. Only Jesus made the claim that He was who He claimed to be because of the works He did.

Another passage about assurance rather than self-examination says this:

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:10–14)

The assurance here is not about works but about faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that is verified by knowing Christ, not by my works. I know that James says faith without works is dead. Dead means separation from God so the safe conclusion is that faith produces a changed life, yet the ‘goodness’ seen in a person’s life is not proof that they are believers. The outward appearance of being a good person can have other motivations than the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There is only one passage that tells us to examine ourselves. It links self-examination to faith in the death of Christ for our sins, not to our performance. (See 1 Corinthians 11:26–32)

Again, faith and eternal life is about knowing Jesus. Faith produces a changed life, but the root issue is faith because the results will not always be perfect obedience. Even so, obeying God’s will as Jesus obeys can lead to self-righteousness and basing assurance on my works rather than what Jesus says. I cannot put the cart before the horse. My union with Christ is based on what He has done rather than on my performance.

PRAY: Jesus, You give me assurance that I belong to You, even when my life gets messy. I cannot  base it on a list of actions or perfections in myself. If they could give me assurance of salvation, I would not need You. I’m not denying the importance of obedience, but saying my union with Christ is grounded in what You have done, not on what I do or do not do.