Assurance and Security of The Believer — House of David Ministries
Navigating the Assurance of Salvation: Understanding, Securing, and Sustaining Our Faith
The assurance and security of the believer are essential to understand, and there are widely varying theological positions on the issue. But the assurance of our salvation provides the foundation and stability to our lives, removing doubt and uncertainty and deepening our faith and trust in the Lord.[i] It enables us to enjoy an uplifting and rewarding prayer life, again trusting Him no matter what the current circumstances look like because we have an eternal promise of salvation.[ii] It gives us power over the fallen nature, temptations of the flesh, and the spirits of darkness that work against us, knowing that our lives are hidden with God in Christ.[iii] And it provides us with the strength to share our testimony of salvation and influence others with the Gospel, even in the face of adversity and persecution.[iv]
Jesus is the way, truth, and life of all men—an undeniable fact. No person will enter the Kingdom unless they repent and are born again of the Spirit, and no one will come to the Father except through the Son. This journey is more than an intellectual awareness of Christ; we must be in Him, and He must be a part of us. Being born again, as in “saved,” means that we were baptized and made alive in Christ, and now, the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in us, making us one body in Jesus.[v]
Whether a person is saved is the topic of many conversations. And rightfully so. We want absolute assurance that we and our loved ones have eternal life. Unfortunately, many Christians are uncertain, and it has not helped that certain theologies and denominations, including that of the Roman Catholic Church, do not give their congregates the scriptural assurance of their salvation. As a result, their Christian life is fearful or apologetic and lacks the tangible reality of true fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.
Some feel they are forever undeserving of God’s unconditional forgiveness, and others feel a debt of obligation, constantly trying to please God or pay Him back through religious service or charitable good works, incorrectly thinking that God continues to keep a scorecard of our good and bad deeds.[vi] Some lack faith in God's word, and others do not believe that absolute assurance of salvation is possible.[vii] And some are unrepentant and have never been born again.[viii]
One of the Lord’s primary objectives in our salvation is restoring the intimate fellowship God had with mankind before the fall. But no relationship or friendship can ever be built on uncertainty. It must have the foundational assurance of its permanence, even when the relationship encounters difficult seasons. There is a reason Jesus is called “My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence” (2 Samuel 22:3, NASB).[ix] Rocks are solid, unchanging, and unmovable. Our sins were nailed to the cross. Judgment day has passed, and we have become a new creation in Christ.[x]
So, it is imperative that we know we are saved, and everything in our Christian lives depends on this assurance. And, if assurance is not possible, then our receiving eternal life is nothing less than a gamble or random chance of circumstances.
When we are born again, something changes in our hearts that witnesses God’s regenerative transformation has occurred.[xi] But our regeneration is a mysterious work of the Spirit. We read, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). So, what exactly does the witness of the Spirit look like, and how can we know with certainty that we are saved?
There are many indicators assuring us of salvation. The most important and prominent one is our confession that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.[xii] This outward expression of faith can only come from a repentant and surrendered heart.[xiii] Our repentance is manifest as a genuine turning around and departure from sin. Even if we stumble again, God’s grace is unwavering. We read, “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).
When the guilt, condemnation, and judgment for sin are gone, the bondage and habits that come with our old sinful nature will also be removed. The soul has been freed, the old things have passed, and God has given us a new spirit that desires to live moral and Godly lives in obedience to His word.[xiv] And while some are instantly delivered from many sinful behaviors, more commonly, the Lord begins a gradual redemptive change that transforms our hearts and minds into things that are important to God—the possession of love toward the church and even those who revile and persecute us.[xv] And we have compassion for those who are perishing and an intense desire to bring them into God’s Kingdom.
Paul said, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:15). Hence, God’s Spirit bears witness in our souls that we are more than saved; we are in God’s family—we are His sons and daughters. All fear of death is removed, and a new eternal relationship has been established, us with Him, and more, Him with us, of which the Spirit bears witness.[xvi] God has become real and tangibly alive to us. The God of all creation is our Heavenly Father, and Jesus, the only begotten of the Father, is our brother and friend.
Another assurance we have is God's joy and immeasurable peace that surpasses all human and earthly understanding—the fruit of the Spirit.[xvii] We read, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The operation of the gifts of the Spirit is another indication but are not an assurance. Every function of the spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues, is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and is evidence of it.[xviii] However, God’s gifts and callings are irrevocable, even to those who have fallen away from faith. Jesus warned, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23).
We also have an assurance of God’s infinite love for us. Paul said, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16). God is the source and essence of love, for He is love. As since He now dwells within, the manifestation of God’s love is a primary indicator and assurance of our salvation. We read, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).
But we must continue to abide in His presence. As we read, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). No person can obey God and keep His commandments unless spiritually transformed and born again.[xix] And this is His commandment: “That we should believe [have faith and trust] on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23); “Love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35); “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
The unregenerate man, on the other hand, is blind and spiritually dead. He might love himself and, to a degree, his family, and friends. But he cannot love others as God loves us because he does not have the Spirit of God, nor can he discern anything of the Spirit. We read, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). And it is not that unregenerate man is uninformed and requires instruction to live in harmony with God. No, he is depraved and at war with Him, and his rebellious spirit can do nothing but fight against the things of the Spirit.
He must be born again; otherwise, he would falsely believe he has become a partaker of the divine nature by his own doing. He would become his own god. But the converse is also true; the manifestation of love towards God is our obedience. And when a Christian delights in doing the will of God, there is evidence that he loves the Lord.[xx] There is proof that he is a new creation in Christ, and the old things are passed away.[xxi] We read, “Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:5).
Now that we understand God’s assurance of salvation, is it also secure, raising the question: Can we lose it?
We will answer this question by exploring our salvation and subsequent regeneration from two incorrect perspectives. The first is that if we could somehow save and transform ourselves (which is impossible), these accomplishments judicially belong to us, and God cannot take them away. That would make god a thief. The second is if God gifted us His salvation while we were sinners (which is true) but then took it away because we sinned again. Then God is a liar because Christ’s atonement is conditional, predicated on our immediate and complete perfection at the moment of salvation. Yet, we understand that the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification is progressive until we are perfected in the resurrection.
Therefore, we need to trust that our salvation is secure in Christ and His blood is sufficient to cleanse every sin, past, present, and future, and keep us in God’s grace and favor until His work is finished. As Paul says, “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Fear and confusion caused by incorrect theologies have caused much uncertainty about salvation.
God will never revoke any promise He has made. However, we have free will and can reject or walk away from His covenants. There is a divine warning about “falling away.” Paul said, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Since we are saved by God’s grace through faith He has given us, we surmise that any falling away from God is a falling away from our faith in God’s grace. In other words, if we once had faith and believed in Jesus for our salvation but later decided to reject or walk away from our faith and belief in Jesus and His saving grace, God has not taken away our salvation. We have left it.
The Calvinist asserts that salvation is an eternal work of God and, once wrought in a person’s heart, can never be undone. The Amernienst argues the opposite. These differences have persisted and been debated for centuries, so the answers are not simple. Both theologies, when construed in an extreme position, fail. Therefore, both beliefs are correct but also contain errors of thought.[xxii] The Bible can only be interpreted by scripture and the Holy Spirit. Any theology that does not give us the assurance and security of our salvation harms the believer, bringing doubt and fear that, if not bridled, can cause a person to stop believing and walk away from Christ.
The writer of Hebrews says, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6). A basic rule of hermeneutics is that the apparent sense of a passage is closest to its true meaning. Therefore, the warning here is not “if we sin,” but if we “fall away.” And once a person has fallen away from their faith, it is impossible for them to regain it. As it says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
But Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Therefore, we are left with the hope that while it might be impossible for “man” to return to God once he has walked away, God can still bring them to repentance. Concerning Israel’s hardened heart, the Lord declared, “I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).
The danger of sin is not that we immediately lose our salvation when we do something wrong. For we have an advocate: “The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). The danger is that willful and habitual sin clouds and darkens our minds and souls, drawing us away from God until we fall entirely away from Him. James said, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). James is not just referring to physical death, but spiritual death also.
And the writer of Hebrews warns: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29).
We must guard our hearts and minds against the whiles of our flesh and the evil one and be reminded that every day is a new battle in our minds that we must win by holding firm to our faith in Jesus Christ.[xxiii] We are reminded to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). This verse does not imply that we are “born again” daily. It means there is much this world will throw at us that God will use to test our faith but that the enemy will also try to use against us. Because if he can cause us to fall away, he has won the war for our souls. Therefore, Paul reminds us that we have the Holy Spirit to run the race, finish it, and obtain the imperishable crown of eternal life.[xxiv]
And we should never lose hope, even for those who have wandered from the Lord. We read, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).[xxv] This verse speaks of a Christian who has sinned. And another who has “converted” him, meaning “turned him back from his sin,” he shall save the sinner’s soul from death. God’s heart is always inclined towards mercy, not judgment, as it says, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
Indeed, God will not allow even one of His children to perish, and we are constantly reminded of His assurance and security, as it says:
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (John 10:28-30).
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
God can keep us from falling, but He does not save or keep any person against their will. The scriptural basis for salvation is faith, to believe, as it says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).[xxvi] The word “believe” in this passage and others is written in the present tense, meaning “to believe and to continue to believe.” It is the continuous and progressive present tense and implies not only the initial act of faith but the continuance of our faith in Christ, trusting daily for His saving grace, love, provision, and every good thing He wills for us. Therefore, assurance and security of salvation are for believers in Christ, not those who have walked away from Him. We may all wander for the moment, having doubts and questioning God. But the elect, we read, “Are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).
Dale Moody says: “My sheep keep on hearing my voice, and I keep on knowing them, and they keep on following me: I keep on giving them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.”[xxvii] These verbs are present linear, meaning continuous action by the sheep and the shepherd. Jesus exhorted us: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). The writers of the New Testament encouraged us to give diligence, hold faith and good conscience, and stand fast in the Lord.[xxviii] And they warned us not to be moved away from the hope of the Gospel, err from the faith and the truth, be overcome by the world, or be taken captive by Satan.[xxix]
We must submit ourselves to the mighty power of the Spirit that dwells within us, believing He will sustain and preserve us for the day of our resurrection. As we read, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).[xxx] We must continually immerse ourselves in God’s love and grace, be in His word and pray, yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and maintain unbroken fellowship with God and other believers. These things are not any assurance, but they will help keep us abiding in Christ.
We walk a narrow and difficult path with deep chasms on both sides and can find no certainty in the things of this world or the works of our flesh.[xxxi] Even the desires of our soul will fail us. When storms, temptations, doubt, and fear come against us, let us not forget the loving faithfulness of our Heavenly Father and His only begotten Son, whom He sent into this dark world to rescue us from certain death and destruction. Our faith alone and trust in Jesus and His atoning works and promise of eternal life will give us the assurance and security of our salvation, nothing else.[xxxii]
Jesus has already gone before us, tempted in every way known to man, but has overcome the world and prepared a path for us that only He can carry us through.[xxxiii] It is our journey. But in truth, it is the Lord’s.[xxxiv] Therefore, abide continually in Christ, and “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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22-23).
[i] Hebrews 6:17-20.
[ii] Luke 11:2.
[iii] Colossians 3:3.
[iv] 2 Timothy 1:12.
[v] Romans 6:3-4, 8:11, 12:5.
[vi] Isaiah 64:6. Romans 3:23. Ephesians 2:8-9.
[vii] John 5:24.
[viii] John 1:29, 3:7.
[ix] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[x] 2 Corinthians 5:17.
[xi] 1 John 5:10. Romans 8:16. 1 John 3:24. Galatians 4:6.
[xii] Romans 10:9-10.
[xiii] John 5:24. 1 John 3:23, 5:13.
[xiv] 1 John 2:3-5.
[xv] 1 John 3:11-14. John 3:19-21.
[xvi] 2 Corinthians 5:1-4.
[xvii] Philippians 4:7, 9. Romans 5:1, 11, 21, 6:11, 23. Isaiah 57:20-21.
[xviii] Luke 11:11-13. Acts 2:4, 10:45-46, 19:6.
[xix] Romans 8:7.
[xx] John 14:21, 23. 1 John 2:5, 3:24, 5:3. Psalm 40:8.
[xxi] 2 Corinthians 5:17.
[xxii] Duffield, Guy P. and Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Foursquare Media. 1910.
[xxiii] Philippians 4:7. Romans 7:23. 1 Peter 1:13. James 4:7.
[xxiv] 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
[xxv] 1 Corinthians 5:5. 1 John 5:16.
[xxvi] John 3:16, 18, 5:24, 6:40, 47.
[xxvii] Moody, Dale. The Word of Truth. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Be Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981. 356.
[xxviii] 2 Peter 1:10. 1 Timothy 1:19. Titus 3:8. Philippians 4:1.
[xxix] Luke 14:34-35. John 15:6. Colossians 1:23. 1 Timothy 6:10. 2 Timothy 2:24-26. Hebrews 2:3, 3:12-13, 10:26-31. James 5:19-20. 2 Peter 2:20-22. Revelation 2:4-5.
[xxx] 2 Timothy 2:12.
[xxxi] Matthew 7:14.
[xxxii] Hebrews 4:15, 7:25.
[xxxiii] Hebrews 2:10, 17.
[xxxiv] Philippians 1:6.
