20. Assurance
ASSURANCE
You made a statement recently that has perplexed me somewhat. As nearly as I can recall, you said, “It is a wonderful thing to be saved and not know it, but it is much more wonderful to be saved and know it” Do I understand you to mean that there will be some who are actually saved and will be caught up at the Rapture who are not aware that they are saved? Can a man believe and not know that he does?
It is true that I made the statement in almost, if not quite, the the words you quote: “It is a wonderful thing to be saved and not know it, but it is much more wonderful to be saved and know it.” I did not mean by those words, however, just what you thought I meant. What I had in mind was the fact that there are many dear children of God who have salvation but do not have assurance of that salvation. They believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They have received Him as their Savior. They are born again. They have salvation, and are perfectly safe; but on account of a lack of teaching they have not rested in the fact that the work is done. They need what the New Testament calls “the full assurance of faith,” “the full assurance of understanding,” and “the full assurance of hope.”
Must every saved person know the time and the place, and when and where he was saved? Not necessarily. It is an error to insist that unless we know precisely when and where we were saved we are not saved at all. When an outbreaking hardened sinner is born again, of course he knows the time and place; but, happily, there are many saved in childhood and youth. In many cases the outward change is too slight to be seen by human eyes. This lack of outward change does not mean that there is no great change in such cases. The change indeed is miraculous, and God sees it and knows all about it. None of us remembers his first birth, but the fact that we are here proves that we have been born. The great thing to know is that we are now in Christ, and if we are in Him we need not worry about when and where we get there. Do you think people know just before they the where they are going? I have heard of them telling where they were going. What do you think?
I should not like to wait until just before I die to know where I am going. I have known for a long time exactly where I am going, and it is the privilege of all of God’s people to know this thing. The First Epistle of John was written to those who believe on the name of the Son of God that they may know that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13); and of course since we know that we have eternal life we know where we are going. We know that the moment we are “absent from the body” we shall be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, R.V.). As to vision given to those about to die, I can well believe that it is often true that God’s children are permitted to see into the world beyond. It is said that Mr. Moody during his dying moments had such a vision, and of course the same thing is said of many others.
I listened to a prayer meeting address recently given by a pastor starting with the words, “We can never be sure of Heaven until we are there.” This address was directed against the doctrine of the believer’s security. The text used wasRomans 2:7, and the speaker stated that only those Christians “who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality” will eventually inherit eternal life. He insisted that Christians must be persistent and must “hold on” if they would finally reach Heaven. I should greatly appreciate your exposition of this verse. The verse must be interpreted in the light of its context. There are four principles of judgment enumerated in Romans 2:1-16 : namely, (1) “according to truth” (2); (2) “according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance,” etc., (6 and 7); (3) “there is no respect of persons with God” (11); and (4) “according to my gospel” (16). Under the first three of these principles there would be no hope for any sinner, but under the fourth principle there is assured hope for anyone who may take his place under the shelter of the shed blood of the Son of God. In other words, the pastor’s text had nothing to do with the pastor’s sermon or with his theme. The believer’s eternal security rests upon ample grounds in the Word of God and cannot be questioned by anyone who understands the principle of salvation by grace.