Can a Christian have assurance of salvation?

Yes. John says he wrote his first letter for this purpose: "I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). The New Testament word is plerophoria, full assurance,¹ and Hebrews invites believers to "draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). Assurance is not a boast about oneself. It is confidence in Christ.

What assurance is

Lewis Sperry Chafer defined it briefly: "Assurance is only the personal confidence in a present salvation."² It is the settled knowledge that one is forgiven and accepted by God now. J. Glyn Owen called it "a blessed assurance, a glorious assurance, which God has made possible for sinners such as we are to have, not because of any merit in ourselves".³ Paul could say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).

God wants his children to know

Jesus speaks of eternal life as a present possession: "whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24). John states the ground plainly: "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life" (1 John 5:11-12). The first question is therefore not whether a person is good enough, but whether he has the Son.

The first ground: the word of God

John R. Rice told of a woman who was asked whether it was presumption to say she knew she was saved. The answer she was given was, "If she is relying on the Word of God, she has a right to know that she is saved."⁴ Rice described his own years of doubt ending when he saw what Scripture said: "When I believed in Jesus, when I trusted Jesus, I got everlasting life!"⁴ William MacDonald said of the promises, "I tell you friends, it's great to have an authority you can plant your feet on and know that it's absolutely true."⁵ Feelings rise and fall. The promise does not: "the one who comes to Me I will never drive away" (John 6:37).

The second ground: the finished work of Christ

If salvation were partly earned, no one could ever be sure he had done enough. MacDonald put the alternatives sharply: "It's got to either be by works, by human merit, that's character, or just receive it as a gift."⁵ Scripture answers, "it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), and "by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). The question is not whether I have done enough, but whether Christ has.

The witness of the Spirit

To the promise God adds an inward testimony. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). Keith Daniel said, "When you're born again, God's Spirit bears witness."⁶ This is not the same as an emotional experience, and it never contradicts Scripture. It is the Spirit bringing home to the heart what God has said.

The evidence of a changed life

John's letter gives tests. "By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments" (1 John 2:3). "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers" (1 John 3:14). These do not earn salvation; they show that faith is alive. Paul Washer observed, "Many people have heard of the doctrine of security, but few people today talk about the doctrine of assurance."⁷ Bob Jennings warned against a low view of the new birth: "It's an insult to his power to think that you can be invaded by the living God and be no different than you were".⁸

Assurance is not presumption

Presumption rests on a past decision while the life goes on unchanged. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Paul told the Corinthians, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves" (2 Corinthians 13:5). A person living in sin he will not give up should not comfort himself with a memory. He should come to Christ now.

Why believers lack assurance

Some look to their feelings instead of God's promise. Some have never grasped that salvation is a gift. Some are holding on to a known sin. Jennings said, "God is not going to give assurance and the witness of the Spirit on top of some reserve in our heart."⁸ He added a plainer cause: "If you're not taking time in the word of God, you're going to find some withholding assurance."⁸ The remedy for sin is confession: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). And when a believer does sin, "we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" (1 John 2:1).

Faith may come before assurance

The Puritans were careful not to crush weak believers. Thomas Watson wrote, "Assurance is rather the fruit of faith--than faith itself."⁹ The Westminster Confession says, "This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it".¹⁰ A person may be truly saved and still troubled by doubt. Thomas Brooks urged such believers to seek it: "Assurance is a jewel of that worth, a pearl of that price, that he who will have it must work, and sweat, and weep, and wait to obtain it."¹¹ Peter says the same: "strive to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10).

Assurance and holiness

Some fear that assurance makes people careless. Scripture says grace does the opposite: "It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age" (Titus 2:12). The person who knows he is forgiven serves from gratitude, not from dread.

Assurance and eternal security

The two are related but not the same. Chafer distinguished them: "Eternal security is a doctrine of Scripture, a divine revelation of an abiding fact which exists, whether it is believed or not."² Assurance is the believer's own confidence. Christians do not agree on security, and Chafer acknowledged it: "The two schools of belief regarding eternal security have existed for several centuries and certain church creeds have taken positive sides on the question."² Those who hold it point to Christ's words, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:28). Those who do not hold it point to the warnings against falling away. Both agree that assurance belongs to those who are trusting and following Christ today.

The confidence of the believer

Assurance finally rests on God's faithfulness. Paul was "confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). He was convinced that nothing "in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).