> Having the assurance of salvation is a deeply comforting and stabilizing truth for the believer. It is the confidence that one is saved and will be kept by the power of God until the end. However, this assurance is not a passive or presumptive confidence but is closely tied to the believer’s affections, humility, obedience, and perseverance. Each of these aspects plays a crucial role in affirming the genuineness of our faith, our security in Christ and ensuring that our assurance is grounded in the truth of Scripture.
✨ Discover FAQs of Faith Mobile App! ✨Looking for a convenient way to access all your favorite faith-based content? Introducing the FAQs of Faith mobile app, your go-to resource that combines insightful and inspiring content from Faith Answers Press LLC into one easy-to-use platform. Whether you’re seeking answers to faith questions, daily inspiration, or spiritual growth resources, our app has it all. 📲 Download now and start your journey! Click on FAQs of Faith
Affections: The Heart’s Orientation Toward God
Our affections, or the deep desires and loves of our heart, reveal much about the state of our salvation. Jonathan Edwards, a leading figure in the Great Awakening, argued that true religion “consists in a great measure in holy affections.” In other words, our love for God, His Word, and His people are primary indicators of genuine faith. Jesus pointed to this reality when He declared, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, ESV).
Our love for God, His Word, and His people are primary indicators of genuine faith.
The Apostle Paul also ties our assurance to the affections of our heart. In Romans, he speaks of the “love of God” being “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5, ESV). This supernatural love for God and His ways is a sign of our union with Christ and serves as an anchor for our assurance. If our affections are rightly oriented—if we love what God loves and hate what He hates—we have a strong foundation for our assurance of salvation.
Humility: The Posture of the Truly Saved
Humility is another key component of assurance. It is the recognition of our utter dependence on God’s grace and our unworthiness apart from Christ. The Bible is clear that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, ESV). Assurance grows in the soil of humility, where we acknowledge our sinfulness and the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work on our behalf.
Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” once said, “Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self.” This right estimate leads us to cling to Christ alone for salvation, knowing that we bring nothing to the table but our need. The humble heart is the assured heart because it rests not in personal merit but in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith.
The humble heart is the assured heart because it rests not in personal merit but in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith.
Humility also opens us to the Spirit’s work in revealing sin, leading to repentance, and thus deepening our assurance. As 2 Corinthians 13:5 exhorts, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” The humility to examine our hearts ensures that our assurance is grounded in reality, not presumption.
Obedience: The Evidence of True Faith
Obedience is the outward expression of an inward transformation. It is the fruit that grows from a heart rooted in Christ. Jesus made a direct connection between obedience and assurance when He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV). Obedience is not the basis of our salvation, but it is evidence that our faith is genuine.
The Apostle John reinforces this truth in his first epistle: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3, ESV). This obedience is not about perfection but about the direction of our lives. It is about a genuine desire and effort to live according to God’s will, motivated by love for Him.
John Owen, a Puritan theologian, wrote, “Our obedience to Christ is but the sign, the outward manifestation of our union with Him by faith.” If we are truly in Christ, our lives will increasingly reflect His character. This growing conformity to Christ, evidenced by obedience, strengthens our assurance that we belong to Him.
“Our obedience to Christ is but the sign, the outward manifestation of our union with Him by faith.”
John Owen
Perseverance: The Final Proof of Genuine Faith
Finally, perseverance is the ultimate test of the reality of our salvation. The Bible teaches that those who are truly saved will persevere in faith and holiness until the end. Jesus declared, “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13, ESV). Perseverance is not about maintaining our salvation by our own strength, but about God’s sustaining grace keeping us through every trial.
Perseverance is not about maintaining our salvation by our own strength, but about God’s sustaining grace keeping us through every trial.
The Apostle Paul expressed this confidence when he wrote, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV). Perseverance is the fruit of God’s work in us, ensuring that we remain in the faith. It is also the final confirmation of our assurance. As we see God’s grace sustaining us through hardships, doubts, and temptations, our confidence in His saving work grows.
John Calvin spoke to the necessity of perseverance, noting, “The stability of the elect is founded on the election of God, and it must not be inferred that they acquire salvation by their own merit, but because it is the counsel of God to preserve them from perishing.” Our perseverance does not earn our salvation, but it does reveal the reality of God’s saving work in us.
Conclusion
Assurance of salvation is a multifaceted blessing that involves the whole of the Christian life. It is nurtured through rightly ordered affections, grounded in humility, evidenced by obedience, and confirmed through perseverance. Each of these aspects helps to safeguard our assurance from becoming either a false security or an anxiety-ridden uncertainty.
As we grow in our love for God, humble ourselves before Him, live in obedience to His Word, and persevere in faith, our assurance of salvation will be deepened. In the words of the Apostle Peter, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10, ESV). This diligent pursuit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, leads to a robust and enduring assurance that we are indeed saved and secure in Christ.
Visit our companion site
Discover the Truth About Jesus Christ
Are you new to the Christian faith or seeking answers about Jesus? Visit JesusIsLordBlog.com for insightful articles, compelling reasons to believe, and a deeper understanding of what it means to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. Start your journey today!
