Assurance of Salvation
Things that Prove One's Salvation - INTRODUCTION
PROOF of
SALVATION.
On this page, we look at a few issues related to assurance - why we can have it, and why people (even saved people) often don't.
Review
Review and "What did we Accomplish?"
If you've discovered that the things you relied on for "assurance of salvation" are not proof, then what? Or if you discovered that Scripture says you are unsaved, then what? The purpose for "tearing down" your false assurance is for the purpose of "building up" a basis for genuine assurance.
The reason we can have assurance of salvation.
The Changes that Occur in a Saved Person
What it means to have "Life in Christ." When God saves a person, genuine changes occur. If those changes don't occur, it's because the person isn't saved. (The next two presentations focus on why this is true.)
God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility (Part 1)
The world claims that sovereignty and responsibility contradict each other; God says that they work together. One of these claimants is a liar... and it isn't God. Contrtary to the lie the world has taught us, it is because of God's sovereignty, that human responsibility has meaning.
God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility (Part 2)
It is because of God's sovereignty, that we are responsible (and accountable) for our choices. We have a responsibility to change (repent, trust, obey, etc.); and sovereignty guarantees that these changes will occur when a person is saved. This is the reason that, when such changes have occurred in us, we can know (be assured) that we are saved.
The lack of assurance of salvation.
Lack of Assurance, Part 1 - Because of what's happening now in your life
Many people lack assurance, but desperately want it. If it's because you have chosen to live in sin, that's one thing. But what if you are trying to follow Jesus, yet just seem to be weak and discouraged ... all the time?
Lack of Assurance, Part 2 - Because of past sins in your life
What if you are trying to follow Jesus, but fear that you have committed the "unpardonable sin"? And what about all those other warnings in Scripture? (If this issue bothers you, you know about those warnings... and they just don't seem to go away.)
Lack of Assurance, Part 3 - Because of other circumstances... or you just don't know why
Horrible things may have happened to you - outside of your control - that make you think that God could never want to save you. Or maybe you just have a nagging fear that won't go away.
Lack of Assurance, Part 4 - Why saved people can have lack of assurance
This is referring to people who are genuine followers of Jesus (not fakes). There are real reasons for it... and real solutions for it.
About Relying on the Bible for Assurance
A short, humorous presentation comparing a Bible-based assurance (like a "safety net") to other types of "assurance" (like "clinging to a spider's web").