By Jason Smith

One of the most common questions Christians have is: “How can I be sure that I’m really saved? How can I know?”

And often this question is not even verbalized, but it’s a doubt that can weigh on a believer’s heart for a long time, sometimes for years. Or it can come and go.

One of the devil’s chief goals is to steal the Christian’s assurance. He wants us to be living in constant doubt. He wants us to be constantly plagued by the thought, Maybe I’m not really saved. But God wants genuine believers to have assurance of salvation.

A good father would never want his children to always be plagued by doubt on whether they really belong to him. And that is God’s heart, too.

What Does Assurance Look Like?

A merchant ship once came across a fierce storm while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. One sailor clutched his seat with white knuckles while massive waves rocked the massive vessel. He cried out to his shipmate, “We’re going to sink!” The other man shook his head. “I’ve been aboard this ship through many storms.” With calm confidence, he added, “She’ll take us safely to harbor.”

What was the difference between the two men? Both were facing a massive storm at sea, but only one had assurance they would make it home safely. The difference was not in their self-confidence, but in how much confidence they had in the ship.

This illustration helps us see that our assurance of salvation will depend on what we know about the object of our faith. We will be assured of a great salvation only if we know we have a great Savior.

Run to the Blood

In the book of Revelation, John records an apocalyptic scene where the dragon – who is the devil – is thrown down to earth in the midst of a cosmic war.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Revelation 12:10, ESV)

Satan is an accuser. He is constantly trying to shake our faith. He’s constantly trying to steal our assurance of salvation. So what does he do? He accuses us over and over, day and night. Satan says, “Look, how you’ve failed God. Do you really think you could belong to a holy God?” Satan keeps a constant ledger to accuse us and steal our confidence.

So what do the Christians do when these accusations come? It says:

“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:11, ESV)

When in the midst of life’s trials, your faith is shaken and you begin to doubt your own salvation, the most important thing is not to first look at your own life. It is to run to the blood of the Lamb. It is to claim the promises of the gospel.

Martin Luther discussed times when the devil seemed to fixate on a single sin from his past in order to torment his conscience and steal his assurance. Luther urged his readers not to disagree with the devil that they had broken the Law, but to instead point the devil to the crucified Savior who already bore the Law’s condemnation in their place.[1]

So many Christians have come to believe that they can lose their salvation if they go one step too far. If they fail God one time too many, then all is lost. Or many people have been taught that if they die with unconfessed sins, they’ll be lost forever.

One church with this confusing theology had a weekly ritual where the town drunk got saved every Sunday morning and then was drunk every Sunday evening. One day the pastor said to him, “Next Sunday we ought to shoot you right after you get saved!” He was joking, of course, but you can see where this whole theology leads. Salvation is seen as something you’re constantly dipping into and out of, like a kid that can’t decide if he wants to be in the swimming pool. On this view, everything depends on your daily moral performance. But, friend, salvation is not like that.

Let me just tell you clearly: Salvation is about being born again. Do you think you can undo the new birth?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

The Bible says, that when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts at salvation, from that point forward we are “sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). Picture an envelope sent from earth that is guaranteed to arrive in heaven. When God seals something, it cannot be undone!

If your good works didn’t have anything to do with getting you saved, then they don’t have anything to do with keeping you saved.

What about spiritual fruit?

Someone might think, Now, wait a minute. Shouldn’t we look for spiritual fruit for confirmation that we’re saved? That’s true, and we don’t want people who have not given their lives to Jesus to have a false assurance that they are saved while living like the rest of the world.

Here is something that I think will be helpful: There is a massive difference between a driving source of assurance and a confirming source of assurance.

Consider what Jesus said:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24, NIV)

Notice that eternal life is a present possession for the believer. They “will not be judged,” because they have crossed over from spiritual death to life in Christ.

When you’re looking for assurance of salvation, the first and foremost thing you must turn to is the gospel itself, which is the driving source of assurance.

Driving source of assurance (the Gospel): The promise of forgiveness and eternal life for all who trust in Jesus Christ.

Confirming source of assurance (spiritual fruit): Evidence of Christ’s moral transformation in your life.[2]

You don’t turn to evidence of moral change as the primary source of assurance. It’s an important fruit of spiritual life, but not the root of assurance.

Think of it this way. The gospel is like the accelerator in your car. When you press on that pedal, that’s what drives the car forward. Good works are like the speedometer. They are indicators that you’re saved, but they are not to be the driving source of assurance.

Kept by Jesus, for Jesus

Consider what Jude says to those who might be struggling with doubts about salvation:

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25, ESV)

Who keeps you from ultimately stumbling? God. Who presents you blameless before the presence of His glory? God. Your salvation is in His hands, not yours. It always was and always will be.

Instead of me trying to convince you that no one who is genuinely saved can lose their salvation, let’s look at promises from Scripture.

You are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:7b-8, ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

And this next one is the words of Jesus, recorded in John 6. Listen to how all-encompassing this promise is.

“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:37-40, NIV)

Not only does Jesus say He will never drive away any who come to Him, but He says He won’t lose a single one of those the Father gave Him. So, the logic works like this. All the Father gives to Jesus come to Jesus. All who come to Jesus will be kept by Jesus. All who are kept by Jesus have eternal life.

The Golden Chain of Redemption

If all those promises from our Lord were not enough, we could still turn to Romans 8:29-30, a passage often called “the Golden Chain of Redemption.”

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30, ESV)

Some Christians balk at the whole idea of predestination. But frankly, this and many other passages would have to be ignored to dismiss the idea of predestination. It is a word meant to give Christians a humble assurance of their final salvation.

Notice, especially in verse 30 that there doesn’t seem to be room for any to fall away from salvation. It’s not as though you can be predestined, called, and justified, but somehow miss out on being glorified. Each link in the chain is connected to the next, creating an indestructible chain of security that stretches all the way back to eternity.

It is fascinating that Paul uses the past tense when he says “those whom he justified he also glorified,” as though our future glory has already taken place (v. 30). We would expect him to use the future tense (“will be glorified”), because this will happen at Christ’s return. So how can Paul say this? Because in God’s eyes it is as certain as something that already happened.

Super Bowl XLVIII was expected to be a tough battle between the Seahawks and the Broncos. Going into the game, no one imagined Russell Wilson would lead his team to a blowout victory over the superstar Peyton Manning and his Broncos. When the Seahawks led 43-8 with two minutes remaining in the game, Seahawks fans confidently declared, “We won! We won!” Although the game was not yet over, victory was certain. In the same way, because our victory in Christ is so certain, Paul can speak of it in the past tense.

These promises are meant to give the believer confidence. Assurance of salvation is the birthright of those who are born again.

But even if you were to say to me after all these promises, “Jason, I still don’t know. It seems like people can lose their salvation. I know people who have left the faith.” Here’s what I would say: The Bible does talk about those who fall away, but it never says those who have saving faith in Jesus ever fall away.

Are there any examples of someone who lived among the community of the faithful and later fell away? Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples Jesus chose to travel with Him. But Jesus called Judas “one doomed to destruction” and said it would be better for Judas “if he had not been born” (John 17:12; Matthew 26:24). So, yes, there are examples of those who appear to love and follow Jesus and then fall away. But that’s not the same as those who are truly saved by trusting in Jesus. This is a sober reminder that you can trust in a pastor, priest, church, or even set of doctrines, but not actually be trusting in Jesus.

Over and over, the Scriptures proclaim this promise: If you are saved by Jesus, you are kept by Jesus and for Jesus.

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. (Jude 1, ESV)

Notice, it doesn’t say we keep ourselves saved. It’s a passive term. We are kept for Jesus.

Mustard Seed Faith

Our tendency is to look primarily at ourselves and consider whether we have done enough for God, to see whether we really belong to Jesus. But while self-examination has its place, the Bible doesn’t encourage us to look inwardly for assurance. We are called to trust in Christ alone for salvation, resting everything on His work through the cross and resurrection.

Even passages that don’t mention faith, like Romans 8:29-30, don’t negate the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. The Bible is crystal clear that salvation comes through faith in the risen Lord.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9, ESV)

One thing people often do is they think: Yes, I have faith in Jesus, but is my faith strong enough to save? But this kind of thinking can end up turning faith into a work. You can think, I just need to muster up enough faith for God to accept me. But if you’re doing that, you’re missing the whole point of faith.

Remember the two sailors? Salvation from the storm did not rest on the strength of either individual. The sailor assured of survival was resting in the strength of the ship itself, not the strength of his faith.

Faith is about looking outside of yourself to someone else. The size of the faith isn’t what ultimately counts. Jesus said a mustard-seed size will do (Matthew 17:20). What matters is that we persevere in faith, knowing that our keeping the faith ultimately depends on God keeping us (Hebrews 3:14; 2 Peter 1:10).

Take some time to meditate on God’s promises of eternal life and ask God for the faith and assurance that He will keep you in His hands forever.

Feel free to comment or share your thoughts below!

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[1] Luther’s Works, 54:34, 275-76.

[2] Thanks to Greg Gilbert for helping me clarify this distinction. See Gilbert, Assurance.

Painting “Ship in a Storm” by Sarah Dowson