Category: Bible promises

Assurance of Salvation for Desperate People

 ”For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:14-15

Abba! Father!

That’s a title of intimacy. You belong in His family. You’re His son, His daughter. But as broken believers we can struggle a lot. Many in the Church don’t understand us, and we hardly understand ourselves. But we know we’re His own. We’re the shaky ones it seems.

We’re often aware that there’s a mixture of good and bad things regarding our faith. Because of this, we often see what others can’t.

  • The Good: we don’t have to be convinced of our sin.  We live in a broken world, and we’re pretty sure that we have formidable issues. We’re needy. We’ve tried lots of things, and we just might be a little wary (but that can be good too).
  • The Bad: our consistency fluctuates from day-to-day. We never know what our state of mind will be. Some of us have problems socially that hinders us. Attendance at our local church can be hard. We struggle in our relationships with others. We seem to make excuses for everything.

From day to day many of us struggle terribly.

The existence of this ‘flightiness’ is painfully evident. And as strugglers it’s hard to maintain anything, much less a spiritual life. But experience has taught me that the Holy Spirit not only makes an allowance, but even pours out extra grace on the troubled believer. The Lord loves His misfits.

But no matter what, we can’t put any confidence in our flesh. We do bounce around, but salvation is not of our own doing. What stabilizes us is a serious dedication to the promises we have in the Word of God. He gives us His Words to strengthen.

faith-train

Obviously, the engine must pull the other cars. We must look to the promises of God to stay on track. And both faith and feelings must follow the engine. Some struggle a great deal because they are led by their feelings. Confusion will follow if we get the proper order mixed up.

  1. First facts, (the Bible, God’s word to you)
  2. then comes faith,
  3. and finally feelings, (these cannot come first!)

The Word of God is our only safety.

Our faith is to be connected to the promises of God. For those of us with a disability, we realize that we deal with issues that others seem to skate through. (But hey, aren’t used to that now?) And yet the Father makes some things easier for us too. 

Please, read the Word. The Psalms or the Gospels are always good for us.

Focus on God’s promises to you. If you collect up His words, in your mind and heart, the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind these verses when you really need them. (I draw much strength from the Psalms. These keep me on track.)

We’ve been adopted by the Holy Spirit as sons and daughters.

We are deeply loved by God Himself. He has gone and made us ‘heirs’ without any of our own effort (Romans 8:14-17). We are a people in need of stability. What God gives us is His own constancy. Read the Word, fresh just for you. The promises applied lavishly will enable you to be like Jesus.

 “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

2 Peter 1:4, NLT

“In the darkest of nights cling to the assurance that God loves you, that He always has advice for you, a path that you can tread and a solution to your problem–and you will experience that which you believe.”

“God never disappoints anyone who places his trust in Him.”

— Basilea Schlink

Bryan Lowe

Our Salvation Is Quite Sure

My favorite of all the apostles is John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” I love his Gospel, the three epistles that he wrote, and of course,  Revelation.

There are a couple of things I love about John’s writings:

  1. He reminds his readers that he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
  2. He clearly sets out the evidence for Jesus’ divinity.
  3. He focuses, particularly in the epistles, on the love of God.
  4. He reveals the power and purpose of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
  5. He provides believers with an assurance of salvation.

It is this last point that I want to write about today.

Early in the history of the Christian faith, deceivers had come into the church who taught that one had to achieve sinless perfection to be saved. John wrote his first epistle to combat this heresy. The same type of heresy has crept into many legalistic denominations even today. By outwardly following the rules, such people claim to be without sin. But as John writes:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:8-10 (NIV).

John here provides assurance that the fact that the believer sometimes sins does not negate their salvation, because Jesus is faithful and forgives our sin. One of the definitions of assurance on Dictionary.com is “full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty.” Throughout this epistle, John provides further assurance that those who trust in Jesus can be assured of their salvation even though they are not sinless and perfect.

The word “know” appears 42 times in this short epistle.

John wants to make sure believers know that God loves them and that they can rely on His promise of salvation. In each of the chapters of the epistle, John includes his assurance:

I am writing to you, dear children,
   because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
   because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
   because you have overcome the evil one.

1 John 2:12-13 (NIV).

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

1 John 3:21-24 (NIV).

“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

1 John 4:15-16 (NIV).

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

1 John 5:13-14 (NIV).

None of us is perfect and completely sinless. If we were, we would not need a Savior. But we do need Him, and we thrive best knowing that He is faithful in His promise of salvation for those who believe.

John does not advocate living a life in which we sin ‘willy-nilly’ simply because we know we can be forgiven.

Now don’t get me wrong. Those who truly believe in Jesus, and trust in Him for salvation, will desire to keep God’s commands. His Spirit living in our hearts will help us to overcome the temptations of the world and to love as He has commanded.

You may be struggling today with worries that you are not good enough, or that God will give up on you and you will lose your salvation. But remember – God is faithful in His promises and He has promised eternal life to all who believe in Jesus and allow His love to live in them. He has not hidden the truth from us but has made Himself known through His Son and the witness of the apostles so that we can be assured of our place in His Kingdom. Your salvation is sure.

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Always Be Children, [Always]

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 

“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:1-3, ESV

I have always believed that maturity brings wisdom and growth, a beautiful journey to embark on. When it comes to spiritual matters, it is an opportunity to delve deeper into the richness of faith. I eagerly embraced the challenge of expanding my understanding and exploring the profound teachings. Jesus’ devoted disciples, too, were presented with invaluable guidance and encouraging direction:

15 “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 

17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Luke 18:15-17

Jesus makes a special effort to get his followers to see their need. He voices the dictate that they must become children again; that they must learn that the basics are the core. We won’t grow out of them.

Real faith remains childlike even as it gets old.  

As we see the children that are in our midst, we should see in them the pattern for us as we connect with the Lord, and with each other. It’s a paradox, but we mature as children, and this doesn’t ever change. Jesus told us that the Kingdom belongs to those whose faith is childlike.

Childlike faith seems to have three focuses:

  1. Areas of intimacy, coming together in the presence of the Lord as His sons and daughters.
  2. Areas of relationships, between each other as brothers and sisters in love with each other.
  3. Issues of spiritual warfare, facing the daily battle with sin and darkness with a steady awareness of the ones alongside us.

Holding a child’s faith has an extraordinary power to shape our lives in profound ways. It’s a delicate balance of innocence, trust, and vulnerability that leaves an indelible mark on our hearts and souls. The childlike belief in something greater than ourselves and it opens up a world of possibilities and invites us to embrace the wonders of the unknown with open arms.

Our Father is with us.

But what does it truly mean to hold onto a child’s faith? It goes beyond the simple act of believing in something beyond our understanding. It requires a humility that allows us to acknowledge our own limitations and embrace the beauty of our imperfections. In a world that often values strength and self-assuredness, the child’s faith reminds us of the importance of embracing vulnerability and being open to being led in fresh ways.

Picture for a moment the scenario of being suddenly clothed in nothing but our humility. It is a humbling thought, isn’t it? In that state, stripped of all pretenses and facades, we are forced to confront our true selves. We are reminded of our humanity, and our weakness with the swirling world around us. It’s in those vulnerable moments that we truly come to appreciate the depth and power of a child’s faith.

In a society that often prioritizes material success, power, and self-exaltation, we may find ourselves striving to shed our humility in favor of more desirable qualities. However, it’s precisely in cherishing our humility that we can find true wisdom and grow into more compassionate and merciful people. It’s through humility that we can connect with others on a deeper level, understanding their joys and sorrows with a genuine empathy.

Let’s embrace the innocence of a child’s faith.

Let’s allow it to ‘infect’ our lives with a sense of real wonder, curiosity, and a supernatural love. Let’s never forget the lessons it teaches us about the importance of embracing humility in our journey through life.

Let’s hold onto a child’s faith tightly, for within its grasp lies the power to transform our lives and the world around us. May it be a constant reminder of the child-like beauty that exists within each and every one of us.

Humility is the stuff Jesus uses to make a place for His Kingdom.

Becoming a person of childlike faith will take a lifetime, that is why we should stay small and keep growing in our dependence on Him.

“God created the world out of nothing, and so long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.”  

Martin Luther

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An Always Loving Father

“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.”

Luke 12:32, NLT

“Whom should we love, if not Him who loved us, and gave himself for us?”

–Augustus Toplady

Our heavenly Father chooses to passionately love us with an unconditional and unwavering affection that knows no bounds. It is a love that transcends time and surpasses all understanding. It is a love that sees us in our entirety, recognizing our flaws and imperfections, yet embracing us with open arms.

God’s love is not a fleeting emotion (like ours).

It’s not “here today, gone tomorrow.”

It is a profound and intentional love that is rooted in a deep understanding of who we are at our core. Our heavenly Father knows us intimately, having knit us together in our mother’s womb. He understands our dreams, our fears, and our longings.

His love is not based on our performance or achievements, but simply on the fact that we are His beloved children.

In His love, we find security and solace. We are enveloped by His presence, knowing that He is always with us, guiding our steps and holding us in His tender care. His love is a refuge in times of trouble, a source of strength in moments of weakness, and a fountain of joy in times of celebration.

It is in this love that we find our true identity and worth.

Our Father sees us as His precious creation, fearfully and wonderfully made. He affirms our value and purpose, reminding us that we are chosen, forgiven, and redeemed. In His love, we find the freedom to be ourselves, to embrace our uniqueness, and to live out our calling with passion and purpose.

So let us bask in the fullness of this outrageous love.

Allow it to heal our deepest wounds, transform our hearts, and empower us to love others with the same selfless love that our heavenly Father has lavished upon us. Let us rest in the knowledge that we are deeply loved, cherished, and treasured by the One who created us and knows us by name.

 “What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God!”

1 John 3:1

I believe in His love for you. I hope you can see it too. Do you remember getting brand new sneakers when you were a kid? When I put mine on I just knew I could run faster, and leap higher! That’s what God’s love for us is like.

You are meant to show it off. He has called you to display His transforming loving grace. It alone has the power to change your heart and the lives of those you meet. His love will never leave us alone.

Today, I just had to share this with you.

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