Where Do You Look for Assurance of Salvation?
If the need to be saved from our sins is our biggest problem in life (and it is!), then it is good that you want to be 100% certain that this problem is 100% solved. The problem of sin and separation from God demands your serious consideration. Scripture calls you to test and carefully inspect yourself, to make certain that you are “in the faith” and that Christ is “in you” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
We get in trouble, however, when we want something different than what God has given us for this confidence. God’s Word is your only reliable examination tool. Doubters need two things: God’s Word and God’s grace. God promises that if you approach His Word with a humble, teachable heart, He will give you grace (James 4:6).
There are many places we could turn in our Bibles to see what God teaches about assurance of salvation. But I want to introduce you to the section of Scripture God used to transform my heart and mind. Through the apostle Paul, God addresses the important topic of assurance and the certainty of our salvation in the book of Romans—especially in chapters 5 and 8. They have become some of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture because God used them to rescue me from my long battle with doubt. I hope they will become your new “Bible friends” as well.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
God created Adam in His image, to fellowship with and worship Him. Along with bountiful gifts, God gave Adam one command to obey. Adam chose to break that command. The Bible calls this sin. Adam’s disobedience resulted in separation from God—both physically and spiritually.
Because he was the first man, Adam serves as the representative for all the people who would be born after him. That includes you and me. Every person begins life “in Adam.” Just as a father represents his family or the President represents the citizens of the United States, Adam represents the human race. United to Adam, we share in the consequences of his choices:
Romans 5:12 . . . sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Romans 5:17 . . .because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man…
Romans 5:19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners . . . (emphasis mine).
Does it seem unfair that just because you were born in Adam you inherit all the consequences of his disobedience? Not when we remember that each one of us is also guilty of disobeying God ourselves (Romans 3:10; 23). If we are honest, we must admit that we would have made the same choice if we had been in Adam’s place. Not only are we born rebels, we also choose to rebel against God.
Our union with Adam carries a built-in death sentence (Romans 3:23; 5:12; 6:23). And unless we are rescued, we will die eternally—forever separated from God (Romans 5:12, 18-19). This is very bad news.
But there is also very good news. God sent Jesus to serve as our new and better representative. In humility, Jesus came to earth, taking on a physical body. He became like us in order to rescue us. For this reason, Jesus is called the “second Adam.”
Adam had only one command to obey and he failed. Jesus lived under the Law of Moses (over 600 laws!) and He completely obeyed every one of them. Not only did He never do wrong, but He also always did what was right (John 8:29). He succeeded in doing what the first Adam didn’t do.
Just as being “in Adam” leads to certain inevitable consequences, so does being “in Christ.”
Romans 5:15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Romans 5:19 . . .by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (emphasis mine)
Christ’s obedience leads to a whole different set of consequences for those whom He represents: forgiveness, obedience, life.
How Do We Move out of Adam and into Christ?
From Romans 5, we can see that our eternal destiny depends on who represents us: Adam or Christ. So we must ask the all-important question: How do we move out of Adam and into Christ? Or more accurately—How does God move us out of Adam and into Christ?
- By Repentant Faith
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand (emphasis mine).
Paul says we are justified by faith. Justified simply means “declared righteous.” No human effort could ever remove our guilty status and make us righteous before God (Romans 3:20). Instead, God counts us as righteous when we trust in the works of another: Jesus Christ.
Trust in Christ’s finished work begins with an attitude of humility. Jesus said we can only enter His kingdom if we come like a child—humbly, empty-handed, offering nothing, and simply receiving His gift (Luke 18:17). Faith responds by humbly turning from our sin and self-reliance to Christ as God’s only solution for our sin problem. The Bible calls this repentance.
As Romans 5:2 promises, faith in Christ provides deliverance from our standing of condemnation (in Adam) and entrance into a standing of grace before God (in Christ).
- By Believing into Jesus
If you spend time observing the life of Christ in the Gospel accounts, you will often hear Jesus inviting people to believe in Him. But He gives this invitation in a unique way. When Jesus calls someone to believe in Him, you could say He is calling this person to believe into Him. In the original Greek language in which John wrote, he often uses this wording in his Gospel account. Here are two examples:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes [into] him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes [into] me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes [into] me shall never die.
Jesus is saying that faith in Him actually takes a person and moves that person into Himself, so that the believer becomes united to Jesus—the object of faith.
Who can enter into Christ? Anyone who is willing to abandon their self-effort and trust entirely in Jesus Christ.
- By God’s Grace
Notice, God only justifies the ungodly (Romans 5:6-10). Why would God pronounce a verdict of “not guilty” for any of us? Only because He is a gracious God who delights in saving sinners.
Through the gracious work of God, we can move out of Adam and into Christ.
Salvation Means Being United to Christ
I hope that the next time you think about the gospel, you think about it in terms of God taking you out of Adam and placing you into Christ. Understanding union with Christ makes all the difference for understanding the assurance of salvation. If God has made you one with Christ, then you can be 100% certain that your problem is 100% solved. You cannot be more secure than when Christ Himself is your harness.
*Today’s article is written by Kelly Collier, and is an excerpt from her new mini-book Help! I Am Doubting which is part of a new series entitled Lifeline Mini-Books for Teens. Though it’s part of a series for youth, I highly recommend this to adults as well.
