Download Part 3 - Think About Eternity

A Presentation of the Gospel
With Assurances of Salvation
From the Holy Scriptures
Part Three
by
Timothy Oliver
Assurance
Now as I said, mouthing a prayer doesn’t save anyone. Jesus saves. But the prayer I just prayed expresses
confidence or trust in Jesus to save. And if you found that it also expressed your own heart, then I believe God
has caused you to be born again.
But I also know that if this is the first time you’ve ever had or expressed such trust in Jesus to save you (and
maybe even if you’ve trusted Him that way and been saved for a long time), Satan will be trying to do
everything he can to destroy that trust and make you doubt your salvation. When he does, I don’t want you ever
to assure yourself of your salvation by looking back to this moment and saying, “There; that prayer expressed
my heart, and I said that prayer, so I know I am saved.”
No, instead, I want you to run to God’s Word, and focus on what He says there. I want you always to reassure
yourself of your salvation by hearing God’s Word and trusting His promises. You can do that by reviewing the
scriptures we’ve already looked at. But I also want to give you a few more, specifically for the purpose of
maintaining the joy and assurance of your salvation. Jesus said:
John 6:38-40
38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39This is the
will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40For
this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life,
and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
Jesus says He came to do His Father’s will, which was, that He not lose one of those the Father had given Him.
Did you hear what He said? “That He lose nothing?” When did Jesus ever fail to do the Father’s will? Never!
My friend, He hasn’t let go of you, and He never will. When you were sealed in Christ, that was permanent.
God’s seal really does stick.
One way Satan tries to make us doubt our salvation is through the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is not merely
deceitful in what it promises. It is also deceitful in that it pretends to be bigger than God’s power to forgive.
You find yourself thinking, “That was just too big, too serious a sin,” or, “That was just one time too many. He
can’t possibly forgive me now.” But through Paul the Holy Spirit says,
Romans 5:20
… where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
You should not be content with sin in your life. But neither let it deceive you. God’s grace is bigger than your
sin. Trust, and rest, in that truth.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
The Christian life is a warfare, but instead of fighting with God, you’re fighting sin. With God you have peace.
You may look at the circumstances of your life and think God must be mad at you and punishing you. Because
He loves you He may discipline you, which is seldom pleasant. But He is not punishing you. He is correcting
you, turning you, training you. The war between you and God is over. He won. He made the peace. He will not
abandon the peace, nor forsake you.
After reminding the Ephesians of how God had saved them and sealed them in Christ by the Holy Spirit, he
described one of God’s purposes in giving the Spirit:
Ephesians 1:14
who is given as a pledge [guarantee] of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own
possession, to the praise of His glory.
It’s a bit like being on a lay-away plan, only not quite. God’s payment for us was not partial. He has already
bought us completely, and fully paid the price. But He hasn’t yet come to pick us up and take us home with Him
to glory. But He absolutely will; and He’s given us the Holy Spirit as the pledge, or guarantee, of that. He will
come and claim His own.
Notice, too, that this is intended, “to the praise of His glory.” God’s honor is staked on His keeping His promise
to save you in glory with Himself. He will not fail to carry through on His promise. That would be dishonorable
to Him. Rest assured, God always acts for His own glory. He will come and claim His own, to the praise of His
glory.
Another ploy of Satan is to tell us, since the Christian life is a warfare, that if we haven’t yet rid ourselves of all
sin, the job is incomplete and we cannot be finally redeemed unless and until it is. Well listen:
Colossians 2:10a
and in Him you have been made complete.
There is a whole lot than could be unpacked from that verse, but at least one thing is certain: you already have
everything you need for full acceptance with God. When you are in Christ and God looks at you, He sees
Christ. Christ is fully accepted and so are you, because you are in Christ.
Well, you might think, I can believe He forgave all my sins up to that moment where I received Jesus as my
Savior, but what about all the sins I’ve committed since then?
Colossians 2:13-14
13
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive
together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14having canceled out the certificate of debt
consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it
to the cross.
Did you notice the verb tense, having forgiven? That’s what’s called the past perfect tense. What that means is,
it’s an action begun and completed in the past. It’s finished! The phrase “He made you alive” is just the simple
past tense. What all this means is, He forgave you even when you were spiritually dead, before He made you
alive. When did He make you alive? Well, in history it was at the moment you were born again. But from God’s
perspective, to whom time is irrelevant, He made you alive together with Christ!
And how many sins did it say He’s forgiven us of? All of them! Big and little, past, present, and future. Some
people think God forgives us all our sins up to the point of our being born again, but then future forgiveness for
future sins must still be obtained. Not so. All of your sins, not just those you committed before being born
again, were in view to God when Jesus was hanging on the cross, and what Jesus died to pay for. There’s no
difference between your past and future sins. All of your sins, not just those you’ve committed since being born
again, were historically future to Christ’s death and resurrection. But you were forgiven all your sins and made
alive together with Christ. The whole thing is already settled in eternity!
There’s something else important here. You notice it says He has forgiven us all our transgressions. There is a
popular notion that somehow a “transgression” is not so serious as a “sin.” Those who think this way might
even say it, “a transgression is not so serious as an actual sin.” This is absolutely untrue. The principle word
translated sin has the basic meaning of falling short of God’s standard, a lack of perfection; that could be a
matter of inherent weakness, but is usually a matter of the will. The principle word translated transgression has
the basic meaning of illegally crossing a boundary, i.e., breaking a law. That could happen out of ignorance,
but is more often a matter of willful rebellion. The fact is, neither weakness nor ignorance is an excuse for sin in
the eyes of God (1 Cor. 10:13; Lev. 5:17). While these words are not exact equivalents in meaning, their meanings
are equally serious, as shown by the fact that our being spiritually dead in our natural state is attributed to both
(cf. Eph. 2:1).
So what is the point of all that, in a section intended to convey joy and assurance of salvation? Only this, that
“all our transgressions” is not intended to mean sins of a particular, not especially serious, kind. Your most
serious sins are all covered by the blood of Jesus.
Colossians 1:12-14
12
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. 13For He
rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Note here that our being qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light does not depend upon us or
any qualities we may possess. We did not, and do not, qualify ourselves; the Father has qualified us. He did so
by imputing, that is, reckoning, or crediting the perfect righteousness of Christ to our account. Our being qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light depends upon Jesus and the qualities He possesses.
Remember, in Him you have been made complete.
Note also, He has already delivered us from the domain—from the sphere of rulership—of darkness, and
already transferred us into His kingdom. We are said to have—that is in the present tense; we have it right
now—the forgiveness of sins. And it’s not going away; you are not going to lose it. God does not cancel
forgiveness of sins once it has been bestowed, notwithstanding the teaching of some pseudo-Christian groups.
The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).
Romans 8:1-2
1
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Did you get that? No condemnation! Yes, God may discipline you, because He loves you. But He will never
cast you out.
Romans 8:31-35, 38-39
31
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own
Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will
bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who condemns? Christ
Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for
us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? … 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You see, God the Father and Jesus are both for us. With them for us, who can be against us? Well, Satan is
against us, but he can’t win. He’s already lost. Paul says nothing will be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is not God’s general love of the world, from which the wicked will
indeed be separated in the judgment. When Paul says, “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” he
is speaking of God’s special, saving love applied to believers, those who are in Christ, not Adam. Saved
forever, they cannot be separated from that love.
And did you notice tucked in with all those things Paul says can never separate us from that love, he included
“things to come”? That, my friend, includes your future sins. As noted earlier, all your sins were yet future
historically when Jesus died for them. But He knew about all of them and died to cover every one.
And besides, God knows the end from the beginning already. What would be the point of it all, if God were to
forgive you now, knowing that later He would cancel that forgiveness, or, even if He did not cancel previous
forgiveness, He still knew that there were yet future sins that He would not forgive? Both ideas are just silly!
God knows all of your sins, past, present, and future, right now, already. He’s just as able to forgive all of them
as any of them. When God forgives you of your sins, it’s all your sins.
1 John 5:9-13
9
If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that
He has testified concerning His Son. 10The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself;
the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that
God has given concerning His Son. 11And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the
life. 13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know
that you have eternal life.
The point of v.9, there, is that if we believe things men tell us (and we do, all the time) then we really ought to
believe something when God tells us, and that God has told us something about His Son. John hasn’t yet told us
what it is that God has said about His Son, but, v.10, whatever it is, the one who believes in the Son of God has
that testimony in himself. That is, he knows it’s something given in his own case, applied to himself. Those who
disbelieve God’s testimony, who reject it for themselves, are as much as calling God a liar.
Now finally, v.11, John tells us what the testimony is that God has borne concerning His Son. It is that, “God
has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son!” Applying v.11 to v.10, then, we can say that the one who
truly believes in the Son of God has God’s testimony in himself that God has given him eternal life. We know
that this is not a reference merely to physical resurrection. How? Because John goes on in v.12 to say of this life
that, “he who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
Resurrection comes to all (Jn. 5:28-29). But this life of which John speaks here, some have, others do not have.
This life which God gives to all who truly believe or trust in His Son is just what John calls it, eternal life,
which Jesus defined as a life in intimate relationship with God (Jn. 17:3) It is begun in this life, John says we
have it—present tense again—and those who have it are destined to enjoy it in glory in the presence of God for
all eternity future (1 Pet. 1:3-5). And John says he wrote all this for the very purpose that those who believe in the
name of the Son of God, that is, those who are trusting fully and solely in Jesus to save them, He wrote that they
may know—present tense again— that they have—present tense again—eternal life. Hallelujah! Is that good
news or what?! Here’s some more!
John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does
not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
Here Jesus is saying essentially the same thing as John did where we just read. If we hear his word—when
Jesus spoke of hearing Him He was speaking about not merely hearing physically, but comprehending and
believing—Let him who has ears to hear, hear! And Jesus said His words were given to Him by the Father (Jn.
12:49; 14:10). So believing in Jesus, and believing in His words, is believing Him who sent Him, that is,
believing the testimony that God has borne about His Son. God the Father is speaking through Jesus promising
eternal life. When we believe Him we are promised not to come into judgment, that is, condemnation. And
notice again the verb tense, has passed, that is the past perfect tense. That is an action begun and completed in
the past. We already have passed out of death into life. Again, this is obviously a reference to more than just
physical resurrection, which in fact has not yet happened to us. But we have passed into eternal life.
John 10:26-30
26
But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and
they follow Me; 28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out
of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.
Don’t worry about the nay-sayers who reject God’s offer of free salvation to eternal life, and who attempt to
dissuade you and others from believing. They don’t believe because they’re not His sheep. You were, and that’s
why when you heard His voice you believed and followed Him. And He has given you eternal life, just as we
saw John said, earlier in this study. It does not say He gave you the opportunity to obtain eternal life—you
know, if you can change your life enough, just hang on, just prove yourself worthy. No, just as it says in so
many other places, it says here: He has given us eternal life—that is, the very thing itself.
And it’s eternal! Not just five year life, ten or twenty year life, not anything temporary at all, but eternal life.
Now if you fear you’ve lost it, my friend, I want to ask you, which part of eternal did you not understand? Jesus
says His sheep will never perish? Which part of never did you not understand? Some say, “Well, perhaps no
one can snatch you out of the Father’s hand, but you can walk out yourself.” Which part of no one did you not
understand? No one includes you. Once in, the Father and the Son keep you, forever.
Refreshment
The texts below are for when you sin and it seems like you’re just not getting better. God is going to win in your
life. The perfecting work is ongoing throughout this life. We strive for righteousness now, but our only hope of
obtaining it is just that, a hope. Biblically, a hope is not merely a wish, but a confident expectation. Still, it is not
something we have fully in the here and now that we can see right now—else why would we still hope. We
confidently expect to be made righteous at the day of Christ Jesus, that is, when we meet Him face to face,
either at death or at the Second Coming.
Philippians 1:6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of
Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:5
For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
[our Lord Jesus Christ,] 8who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 9God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5
21
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22who also sealed us and gave us the
Spirit in our hearts as a pledge… 5Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the
Spirit as a pledge.
1 Thessalonians 3:13
so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of
our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be
preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is He who calls you,
and He also will bring it to pass.