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I. Saved by faith.
II. Being able to know one is saved now.
III. Knowing that we are saved:
А. The inward proof.
B. The outward proof.
C. The proof of love.
IV. Knowing we are saved causing us to love the Lord and to escape from sin.
The assurance of salvation means that we can be assured of our salvation. Assurance is not merely a matter of knowing but also a matter of being certain.
Many think that faith is a matter for the present and that salvation is a matter for the future; they think that even though a person believes now, he will be saved only in the future. But the Bible very clearly, accurately, and assuredly tells us that once a person believes, he is saved. When a person believes, it is not that he is about to be saved; rather, he is saved. When a person believes, he is saved in the present; he does not have to wait for the future. There is no separating distance between faith and salvation.
1. “Your sins have been forgiven you because of His name”; “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1 John 2:12; Col. 1:14).
In these two Bible verses we must emphasize the word have. Our sins have been forgiven because of His name. These verses do not say that our sins will be forgiven but that they have been forgiven because of His name, not because of our works or anything of ourselves. If forgiveness was dependent on our works or anything of ourselves, we would need to wait until we worked it out before the matter could be decided. But this is not the case. Instead, forgiveness is because of His name. Once we believe in and confess the Lord’s name, we participate in His name and become related to His name; therefore, because of His name our sins have been forgiven. When we confess the Lord’s name and possess His name, our sins are forgiven at that time because of His name. Thus, God has forgiven all our sins. We do not need to wait for them to be forgiven in the future. At the time we believed, He forgave us. Moreover, He has forgiven all our sins and all our evil, not just a certain portion of our sins. Thus, once we believe, all our sins are forgiven, and we are saved.
2. “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified” (1 Cor. 6:11).
We must emphasize but and were in this Bible verse. Being washed, sanctified, and justified are some things that have been accomplished. The moment we believed in the Lord, accepted Him as our Savior, and participated in His accomplished redemption for us on the cross, God washed us, sanctified us, and justified us. We were washed, we were sanctified, and we were justified.
3. “Having been reconciled” (Rom. 5:10).
Once we believed in the Son of God and received what His death accomplished for us, we were reconciled to God. Once we believe and partake of the death of God’s Son, we are reconciled to God. We do not have to wait to be reconciled in the future.
4. “Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1).
Once we believe in Christ and are joined to Him by faith, He sets us free, releasing us from the curse and bondage of the law. He has set us free. This is an accomplished fact; we do not need to wait for the future.
5. “God...has regenerated us”; “Having been regenerated” (1 Pet. 1:3, 23).
We must emphasize the words has and having when we read these two verses. God has regenerated us; we do not need to wait until the future for regeneration. When we believe and receive the Lord who died and resurrected, God regenerates us by putting His life into our spirit by His Spirit. Therefore, we were regenerated when we believed. Because we are regenerated, we do not need to wait to be regenerated in the future.
6. “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” (John 5:24).
In this verse the words has, does not, and has passed are so precious. We really should pay attention to them. As soon as we believe, we have eternal life; we do not come into judgment or condemnation, and we pass out of death into life. When we hear the Lord’s word, the gospel, and believe it, we have eternal life and do not have to wait until the future to obtain it. The word will does not come between believing and obtaining eternal life; instead, there is the word has. With will there is a gap; but has means immediately. He who believes has. There is no need to wait for the future. At the time of believing, one has eternal life, does not come into judgment, and passes out of death into life. We were in Adam, and we were condemned and under judgment because of sin. Now that we have believed into Christ, we cannot come into judgment because of righteousness. We are justified by God and become the righteousness of God in Christ because He bore our sins on the cross, became sin for us, and received the judgment that we should have received in Adam. Thus, we escape the condemnation and judgment in Adam and do not come into judgment or condemnation. Furthermore, in Adam we not only had the problems of sin and condemnation, but we also were in death. On the cross Christ not only bore our sins and received the condemnation for us but He also tasted death to the fullest and nullified death for us (Heb. 2:9; 2 Tim. 1:10), releasing His life and dispensing it into us. Therefore, by believing into Him, we not only escaped from condemnation but we also escaped from death. We are not under condemnation, and we have passed out of death into life. Since the Lord tasted death to the fullest and destroyed death for us, we have passed out of death into life by believing into Him and being joined to Him. Therefore, once we believe, having eternal life, not coming into judgment, and passing out of death into life are not matters in the future. Instead, once we believe, we have eternal life, we do not come into judgment, and we pass out of death into life. These are not things we will have in the future; they are things we obtain in the present.
7. “In Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).
When we believed in the Lord, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Those who are sealed with the Holy Spirit surely have received grace and are saved. Therefore, once we believe in the Lord, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we receive grace, and we are saved.
8. “Who has saved us”; “He saved us” (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).
The past tense in these passages is very important and very precious. Thank God that there are many words in the past tense in His holy Word. Forgave, washed, released, received, and saved are all in the past tense. I am afraid that when people read the Bible, they fail to notice that these words are in the past tense. The phrases He saves us and He saved us are as different as the heavens and the earth. Thank God the Bible does not say, “He saves us” or “He will save us”; instead, it says, “He saved us.” When we believed, He saved us. When we believed, God saved us! Therefore, the moment we believed, we were saved. Hallelujah!
Many think that salvation is something in the future, so they think that there is no way for them to know whether they are saved now. But in His Word, the Bible, God clearly tells us that salvation is a matter for the present; moreover, He assuredly tells us that we can know that we are saved. Once we believe, we are saved, and at the same time, we can know that we are saved.
1. “You may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
Although many received the Lord as their Savior, they do not know that they have eternal life. Many also think that although they believed in the Lord, whether or not they have eternal life is a matter that will be decided by the Lord in the future when He returns. They do not think that we can know for ourselves now. Some even go so far as to suggest that it is impossible for us to know whether we have eternal life in the present. They say that we can and should have faith in the present, but to know whether we have eternal life is something that is impossible. They think that there is no way to know whether we have eternal life in this age. But God clearly and assuredly wants us to know that we have eternal life. Thus, according to God’s Word and ordination, we can and should know that we have eternal life.
2. “We know that we have passed out of death into life” (1 John 3:14).
God, through the apostle John, not only tells us that we have passed out of death into life the moment we believe (John 5:24), but He also assuredly tells us that we can know that we have passed out of death into life. After we believe, we can know that we have eternal life and have passed out of death into life. Since we know we have eternal life, we also spontaneously know that we have passed out of death into life.
3. “We know that we are of God” (1 John 5:19).
Those who are saved are regenerated by God and are of God. This is something those who are born of God and who have His life can know and should know. How can anyone teach that a person cannot know the parents who gave birth to him? How can anyone teach that one should not know the father to whom he belongs? Since we were born of God by faith and obtained God’s life, we can know that we are the children of God with His eternal life, and we should know that we belong to God and are saved by grace.
4. “We know that...we have a building from God...eternal, in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1).
This verse speaks of knowing that we will obtain an eternal building in the heavens built by God. This eternal building in the heavens refers to the redeemed body, which will be eternal. Our present body is merely an earthly tabernacle; it is temporary. Although we are saved and have the Lord’s life, we are still sighing and laboring in this tabernacle. When the Lord returns, our body will be redeemed, and we will be clothed with a glorious body, which will be our eternal building in the heavens. This will cause our mortal body to be swallowed up in life. For this purpose, God did a work of life in our spirit and is using His life to cultivate us so that He can use this life in us to swallow up our outward body and completely redeem us by His life from our inward spirit to our outward body in the future. Thus, we will enter into the freedom of His glory. For this, God is not only doing an inward work of cultivating us in His life, but He also gave us His Spirit as an inward pledge and guarantee, to be the collateral and the warranty that He will accomplish this matter for us. We will obtain a glorious, redeemed body, an eternal building in the heavens (vv. 2-3). Since we are saved and have God’s life, we can know this fact now, by His life working in us and by the Holy Spirit whom He gave us. We can know that we will be clothed in a glorious body and will enjoy the heavenly, glorious freedom (Rom. 8:21-23).
5. “We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him” (1 John 3:2).
Despite the fact that our inward spirit has the Lord’s life, our outward body is still not like the Lord. When He is manifested, He will transfigure the body of our humiliation into a glorious body like His own (Phil. 3:20-21). We can know this by the life He gave us and by the word He spoke to us. Since He regenerated us in our spirit, causing us to have His life and nature so that we are like Him in life and nature, how could He allow our body to remain eternally in the humiliation of the old creation and not transfigure it so that we will be like Him outwardly? According to the spontaneous spiritual principles of life, we can know that we will be like Him, especially since He used clear and definite words to tell us that He will accomplish this matter. This is something we can know now.
6. “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16).
We are children of God. We have the life of God, and we can know this fact now because we have proof. Our proof is the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. This is also an inward proof that cannot be erased, so we should not doubt it.
7. “We should be called children of God; and we are...Now we are children of God” (1 John 3:1-2).
Because we know that we have obtained God’s life and have been born of God, we also know that we are children of God. We can say with assurance that we really are children of God. The tone of the apostle John’s word here is so bold; it leaves no room for doubt. The spirit within every child of God who has the divine life says Amen to this point.
8. “Our commonwealth exists in the heavens” (Phil. 3:20).
A citizen of the heavens is one who is saved. We are heavenly citizens; we are saved. This is a fact we can know now. If this were not the case, how could Paul be so certain in his wording? Some might say that Paul might have known that he was part of a heavenly commonwealth but that we cannot know. However, Paul does not say, “My commonwealth exists in the heavens.” He says, “Our commonwealth exists in the heavens.” Our includes all believers who have received grace. All who have believed and who have received grace are saved; they have a commonwealth in the heavens. Therefore, everyone should and can know that they are saved. They can confidently confess their citizenship in the heavens.
How can we know that we are saved? We cannot know without a foundation. We need proof. The Bible speaks of at least three proofs to let us know that we are saved.
1. “This is the testimony, that God gave to us eternal life” (1 John 5:11).
The first proof that lets us know that we are saved is within us; it can be called the inward proof. This is the Holy Spirit within us as the testimony; it is God through the Holy Spirit testifying of the Son. This testimony is of the eternal life, which God has given to us in His Son. Everyone who believes in God’s Son has this testimony within him. Everyone who believes God has a feeling in his deepest part that he is born of God and that he belongs to God. Although some are not clear in their minds or have doubts in their hearts, there is definitely an inexplicable feeling in the deepest part of their being that makes them feel that they have entered into a relationship with God and that they have been begotten by Him. This is what the Holy Spirit testifies within; it is a testimony of life within them, and it proves that they also have life because they have the Son of God. Thus, by the testimony of the Holy Spirit within and by the feeling we have from the Holy Spirit’s testimony, we can know that we have the life of God and are saved.
2. “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16, see also v. 15).
The witnessing Spirit within us is in our spirit, witnessing with our spirit, causing our spirit to feel what the Spirit witnesses and to witness with the Spirit that we are children of God. Each believer is very happy to call, “Abba, Father.” It is very natural for us to call, “Abba, Father.” Whenever we address God in this way, we inwardly feel very sweet and comfortable. This is because we are children born of God with His life and because the Spirit of His Son has entered into us. It is very natural and sweet for us to address our human fathers as “father.” In the same way, we can call God, “Abba, Father” and feel so sweet and comfortable. This proves that we have the life of God and are children begotten by Him. By the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit, we can know that we are saved and are children of God.
1. “I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
This verse speaks of these things being written so that we may know that we have eternal life. These things refer to all the things written prior to this verse, which were written by God through the Holy Spirit. The things written by God through the Holy Spirit cause us to know that we have eternal life. Therefore, they are the second proof that lets us know that we are saved. The second proof is the Word written by God through the Holy Spirit, that is, the Bible. The Bible is outside of us, so it can be called the outward proof. The inward proof of our salvation is the Holy Spirit, and the outward proof is the Bible. God not only uses the Holy Spirit within us to prove that we are His children, but He also uses the Bible without to confirm that we have His life. Just as God uses the Bible to testify concerning the redemption He accomplished for us through His Son, He also uses the Bible to confirm that He accomplished our salvation and worked this salvation into us in His Son and through the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:43 says, “Everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins.” Verse 39 of chapter 13 says, “In this One everyone who believes is justified.” John 3:18 says, “He who believes into Him is not condemned.” Other verses speak of believing into Him and having eternal life (vv. 16, 36; 6:40). John 5:24 speaks of those who believe into Him having eternal life and passing out of death into life. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life.” Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.” Romans 10:10 says, “With the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation.” Verse 13 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” These passages in the Bible are not only revelations or promises that God has given to us; rather, they are a written covenant. They are proofs that He has written for us. Based upon the words of His written covenant, these written proofs, we can know with assurance that as soon as we believe in the Lord, our sins are forgiven, we are justified, we are no longer condemned, we have eternal life, we are children of God, and we are saved.
A person receives an inheritance through a will and testament. The Lord made these words of His written covenant a testament for us so that we could inherit the blessings of His salvation (Heb. 9:15-17). The person bequeathing an inheritance puts all of his inheritance into a will and testament and passes it on to his heirs. The Lord put His salvation into His written testament, the Bible, and gave it to us. One inherits property according to clearly written provisions of a will and testament, not according to feelings or imaginations. In the same way, we inherit the Lord’s grace according to the Bible, the written testament given to us by the Lord; we inherit according to the clearly written provisions of the Bible, not according to our feelings or imaginations. With the inward proof of the Holy Spirit, there are feelings. But with the outward proof of the Bible, there is no need for feelings. With respect to the Holy Spirit as the inward proof, we have feelings, and we will have feelings. But with respect to the Bible as the outward proof, we do not need feelings, and we should not worry about whether we have any feelings. We should simply stand on the clearly written provisions of the Bible to determine whether we are saved. By this we can know we are saved.
1. “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers” (1 John 3:14).
God is love, and since we have received His life, we surely have His heart of love. Moreover, because we were begotten of Him, we love all those born of Him (5:1). When a saved one sees a brother in the Lord, he feels an indescribable joy and an inexplicable love. Therefore, love for our brothers in the Lord is also a proof that we are saved. This can be called the proof of love. Faith in the Lord gives us life and causes us to pass out of death into life, but our love for the brothers lets us know that we have life and that we have passed out of death into life.
By the feeling in our spirit, by the clear word of the Bible, and by the fact of our loving heart, we can know that we are saved. Even if we do not remember the exact day of our salvation, the fact of our salvation can be known by these three proofs. There may be some who have believed in the Lord but do not know that they are saved. By these proofs, however, they can know. By the living feeling in our spirit, by the Lord’s clear word in the Scriptures, and by the fact of our love in our living, we can know assuredly with definite proof that we are saved.
Many have believed in the Lord but do not love Him. Many pursue Him but do not seek to live an overcoming life. There are many reasons for this, but for some the main reason is that they do not know that they are saved. If they knew assuredly that they had received the Lord’s salvation, obtained His life, and belonged to the Lord, they would zealously love the Lord, pursue Him, and earnestly desire to live a holy life.
1. “Therefore also we are determined...to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9).
The apostle said that we are determined to be well pleasing to the Lord because we know that we will obtain a building from God, eternal, in the heavens, that is, because we know that we are saved and will see the Lord in the heavens and enjoy His presence. Since we know this, we spontaneously make a determination to please Him.
2. “The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
Knowing that we have received the Lord’s salvation makes us thankful for the Lord’s love, and this love constrains us to love the Lord and to live to Him.
3. “Our commonwealth exists in the heavens, from which also we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).
If we know that we are saved, heavenly citizens, we will wait for the Lord’s coming and for our being received into the heavens. Our living of awaiting the Lord comes from knowing that we are saved ones whose commonwealth is in the heavens.
4. “We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
Since we know that we are saved, we know that we will be like Him when He returns because we will see Him as He is. This causes us to purify ourselves as we set our hope on Him and wait for Him. Therefore, knowing that we will see the Lord and be like Him causes us to live a life that is purified from sin, a holy life that is like the Lord’s.
