Doctrine
"...that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
1 John 5:13
Many sincere people, if you asked them whether they are saved and going to heaven, would answer, "I hope so," or "I'm trying," or "I'll find out when I die." They live their whole lives in a fog of uncertainty, never quite sure where they stand with God. But this is not how God wants His children to live. He did not leave salvation a guessing game. He wrote His Word so that you might not merely hope, but know — with settled, restful certainty — that you have eternal life.
The apostle John states the purpose of his epistle in the plainest words, and it is a purpose that ought to fill every believer with hope.
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." (1 John 5:13)
Not "that ye may hope," nor "that ye may wonder," but "that ye may know." Assurance — the settled knowledge that one is saved — is the birthright of every true believer. God takes no pleasure in His children living in doubt and fear, any more than a loving father wishes his child to wonder whether he is truly his.
Indeed, the Word invites us to draw near to God not with trembling uncertainty, but in full assurance.
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
Here is where most people go wrong: they look for assurance in their feelings. On a good day they feel saved; on a bad day they feel lost. But feelings rise and fall like the tide, and a salvation resting on feelings would be as unstable as the feelings themselves. True assurance rests not on how you feel, but on what God has said — and His Word does not change with your moods.
"He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)
Read that promise and weigh it. The one who believes hath — present tense, already — everlasting life, and has already passed from death unto life. That is not a feeling; it is a fact declared by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And He has promised never to turn away the one who comes to Him.
"...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)
The great foundation of assurance is the bare promise of God. He has said that whosoever calls upon Him shall be saved; and God cannot lie.
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." (Titus 1:2)
So the reasoning is simple, and it is sure. God promises that all who come to the Lord Jesus Christ are saved. Have you come to Him, trusting Him alone? Then God's own Word says you are saved — and to doubt it is not humility, it is to call God a liar. Rest your soul not on your fluctuating heart, but on His unfailing Word.
"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:11-12)
Do you have the Son? Then you have life — for God has said it.
To this outward promise God adds an inward witness. The Holy Ghost Himself testifies within the believer that he is a child of God, giving him a deep, quiet confidence and a new cry in his heart toward God as Father.
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:16)
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4:6)
That inward turning of the heart to God as a beloved Father, that new sense of belonging to Him, is the Spirit's own witness — a witness the unsaved man knows nothing of.
God gives yet a third confirmation: the evidence of a changed life. Where there is true salvation, there is new fruit — a new obedience, a new love for God's people, a new hatred of sin. The little epistle of First John is full of these plain tests by which a believer may examine himself.
"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." (1 John 2:3)
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." (1 John 3:14)
These are not perfection — no believer is sinless in this life — but they are the direction of a changed heart. If you find in yourself a new love for God, a hunger for His Word, and a longing to please Him, however weak, these are the fingerprints of God's grace upon your soul.
See how these three witnesses agree: the promise of God without, the witness of the Spirit within, and the fruit of a changed life. By the mouth of such witnesses the matter is established.
"...In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." (2 Corinthians 13:1)
Yet beneath all three lies a rock deeper still — the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your assurance does not finally rest on the strength of your feelings, nor even on the measure of your fruit, but on what He accomplished once for all at the cross. By that one offering He has perfected forever all who are His.
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14)
Perfected for ever — not for a day, not until the next failure, but for ever. When doubts arise, look away from yourself altogether and fix your eyes on the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ. There is the unshakable ground of assurance.
It helps greatly to see the difference between two things that are often confused. Security is the fact that a true believer is kept safe by God forever, whether he feels it or not. Assurance is the believer's knowledge and enjoyment of that safety. A child asleep in a ship is just as safe whether he is peacefully resting or waking in fright at every wave — for his safety depends on the ship, not on his feelings. So the believer's security depends on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, not on the strength of his assurance. You may therefore rest in your security even while you are still growing in your assurance. And the way to grow in assurance is always the same: look away from yourself and your feelings, and look afresh to Christ and His sure Word.
If assurance is our birthright, why do so many believers lack it? Usually for one of three reasons. First, unconfessed sin clouds the soul — not by taking away our salvation, but by breaking our fellowship and our joy. The remedy is plain and gracious:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
Second, we lose assurance by trusting our feelings instead of God's Word. The cure is to return to the promises and believe God rather than our moods. Third, the great accuser, Satan, delights to whisper doubts and accusations at the child of God.
"...the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:10)
When he accuses, do not argue on the ground of your own worthiness — you have none. Point him to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which has answered every charge. The accused sinner who hides behind the cross is untouchable.
Yet we must sound a solemn warning, in love. Not everyone who feels sure is truly saved. Some rest on a false peace — on a prayer once repeated without faith, on church membership, on baptism, on a moral life — while their hearts have never truly come to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of many who will be confident in that day, and yet be lost.
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:22-23)
True assurance is not mere presumption; it belongs to those who have really trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and in whom His grace is at work. So the Bible bids us make sure.
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." (2 Corinthians 13:5)
This is not meant to torment the trusting soul, but to awaken the presuming one. If your confidence rests on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, rejoice and be assured. If it rests on anything else, let it be shaken now, that you may come to Christ in truth.
So, dear reader, you need not live another day in the fog of "I hope so." If you have truly come to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe His Word above your feelings, and know that you are saved. And if you have never truly come, do not try to work up a false assurance — come to Him now, trust Him alone, and settle the matter forever upon the sure promise of God. Then you will be able to say, with the apostle Paul, not "I hope," but "I know."
"...for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."2 Timothy 1:12