New Life: Assurance of Salvation

Assurance of Salvation

Doubts will come. That is normal, and it does not mean you are not saved. Even strong Christians have days when they wonder. The question is where you go when the doubt comes. The answer is the Word of God, not your changing feelings.

Your assurance does not rest on how you feel today. It rests on three things God says.

First, it rests on God's promise. God says that everyone who trusts Christ is saved, and God does not lie. Your salvation is as secure as His character.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned. (John 3:18)

Second, it rests on God's keeping. You are not holding on to God by your own strength. He is holding on to you. This is the doctrine Reformed Christians call the perseverance of the saints: the ones God truly saves, He keeps to the end. You cannot fall out of His hand.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28)

Third, it rests on the Spirit's witness. God puts His own Spirit inside every believer, and the Spirit assures you that you belong to God.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:16)

So when doubt comes, do not run from God. Run to Him. Open the Bible. Pray honestly. Talk to a mature believer. Assurance grows the same way trust grows: by returning again and again to what God has said and done, not to what you feel.

You are secure. Not because you are strong, but because He is.