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!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. | Romans 8:15–17
This Sunday we talked about the issue of assurance: how can we be sure of our own salvation? Not just our own, we also want to know if our child or parent is going to be in heaven. We want to make sure that we know who is in and who is out. I believe the church has spent far too long trying to create systems to sort the wheat from the tares.
The desire to have a concrete answer to this question has led many in Christianity to over-assure. In order to remove this feeling of doubt and fear, compassionate pastors have created means of assurance that go beyond the Bible. Most of these point to something that YOU do to secure your place in the Kingdom of God. Whether that is a specific prayer, baptism, or specific sins to avoid, attaching our assurance to ourselves is always going to be problematic. To place the assurance of faith on something that you have done controls the grace of God. It makes His sovereign choice conditional on your action. Salvation is not dependent on you. At no point do you get to hold the cards. You can’t put God in your debt. You can, turn to Him in your doubt.
As Paul alluded to in Philippians 3, the Christian life is a marathon. You don’t get the prize until you complete to race. Your hope is not in looking back or securing something mid-race. Your assurance comes in the act of straining: continuing to work toward knowing God and loving Him more. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul puts it this way:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. | 24–27
Paul isn’t telling the Corinthians to be good enough for God, but simply to recognize the gift of salvation (prize) as something worth giving up everything for. In the gospel, Jesus invites us into a life that places God back at the center and organizes our lives around His glory. What is it we should strain and discipline ourselves to do in order to gain the assurance only God can give?
- Read His Word.
- Speak to Him in prayer.
- Go to church and participate in the sacraments.
- Serve others.
Through this, your love for Jesus will grow and your concern will be less and less for YOUR salvation and will be more and more for Him. In this, you will find assurance in Him.