Replies

Nobody knows the fate of their soul upon their death. Anyone who tells you they know the fate of their own soul, much less the fate of anyone elses soul does so for their own earthly motive.

Do you believe these words of Jesus?

Luke 11:9-13 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (11) If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? (12) Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? (13) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Notice the consequence of asking is receiving. God is not duplicitous. And if God gives us His Holy Spirit, what does that mean?

Ephesians 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

And what do you think about God honoring His guarantees, which Paul says the Holy Spirit is to us who believe? Will God keep His word? Of course He will:

John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand

So why do we make it harder than that? I've thought long and hard about this, because I had issues with it myself for many years. One thing that will kill our sense of assurance is unresolved sin. God did not save us so we could live under bondage to sin:

John 8:31-35 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (33) They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? (34) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (35) And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

If we are servants of sin, i.e., we have ongoing, unresolved, sin, without repentance, we have no reason to believe we are sons and daughters of God:

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

And yet the promise is so simple:

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

And we know if we come to Him we will not be rejected:

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

How do we resolve this apparent dilemma? Some try to get their assurance by finding some way to "pay their dues." This is a dangerous trap. It is a covert way to express doubt. Jesus has already paid our dues for us. Like Abraham, we have to believe the promises of God. If we go to the courthouse and try to pay for our own sins out of our own resources, our payment will not be accepted.

Romans 4:20-25 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (21) And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. (23) Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; (24) But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; (25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

So we see then that our uncertainty, if we have it, is no fault of God the Father, who draws us to Himself, and will not reject us if we come to Him, nor the fault of God the Son, who loved us enough to die for all the sin that might condemn us, nor the Holy Spirit, who is given to us as an unbreakable promise of God, that we will come into the inheritance He has prepared for us:

John 14:2-3 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

The fault then that makes us uncertain, and drives us to carnal means of establishing certainty, is our own lack of faith in the promises of God. And that is a real problem, because without faith, we have no basis of assurance:

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

So do you see the catch-22 here? Jesus says that believing in Him has a definite and reliable result, eternal life. We further know that we obtain this eternal life, not through our own shabby pretense at righteousness, but through the atonement for our sin provided by the death of Jesus. But if we doubt any part of that, we lack faith in God and His promises, just as much as Eve did in the garden, and there are consequences to that doubt:

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So assurance then is the natural companion of saving faith. Even the doubter Thomas was not allowed to remain that way, but was graciously given abundant opportunity to be certain of the promises of God in Christ:

2 Corinthians 1:19-22 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. (20) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (21) Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; (22) Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

And it is no accident that Paul here relates the affirmation of faith in God's promises to the assurance of being established in Christ, sealed unto God, and given the promise of entire fulfillment of those promises by the gift of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is the same faith by which we trust in Christ that we also have faith to trust His promises to those who believe, that He will not fail us, but will do all His word:

Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Peace,

SR