Shawn Lazar, Ken Yates, and I received the following question via email:
I read the affirmations of faith on the website (https://faithalone.org/beliefs) and saw a line that seems out of sort with what I have heard from GES teaching:
“That is, as long as a person believes in Jesus for everlasting life, he knows he has everlasting life (John 5:24; 6:35, 47; 11:27; 1 John 5:9-13).”
This seems to imply that a person who has believed but does not any longer, cannot have assurance of salvation. It is a short leap from this to saying that one must continue to believe to be saved, which I know you do not believe since I have heard many messages and read articles against this view.
Shawn responded:
Yes, that’s right. Assurance for the rest of your life is not guaranteed. Eternal salvation is guaranteed, but not psychological certainty. If you stop believing Jesus’ promise, then you’ll obviously no longer be assured of that promise. If you want continual assurance, you must continue to believe Jesus’ promise.
However, to be born again only takes a moment of faith. From that moment on, you are eternally secure, whether you continue in the faith and in assurance or not.
Ken responded:
Yes. And I would add. The majority of Christians have moments of doubts from time to time, even if only for a very brief moment of time. But when they reflect on the promise of Christ, they regain that assurance. Many Christians who “backslide” often do so at the expense of assurance as well. But in every case, eternal life is not lost even when assurance is.
This led to a follow-up question:
Is the basis of assurance the fact that I am now believing or the fact that at a certain date and time I believed? An apostate could be told that he is saved because he believed at a certain time regardless of whether he believes now, I would think.
Here is my response:
I’ve found that many people, even many Free Grace people, base their assurance on the fact that they had some experience at “a certain date and time” in the past. They may not realize it, but the basis for their assurance is not the promise of everlasting life that Jesus makes. Instead, it is some change that occurred in their life.
The problem is that the Lord Jesus taught that assurance is based on believing His promise of life, not on some experience which we had.
Let’s say that a Mormon had a very powerful experience with the Lord Jesus that has convinced him he is born again. If you had a chance to talk to him, you’d say that assurance of everlasting life is not found in some experience we’ve had, but in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.
Yet shouldn’t we also base our own assurance on believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, and not on some changes that occurred in our life starting years ago?
One Free Grace pastor told me he knew he was born again on a certain date because of two things which occurred: his bad language immediately changed, and he gained a love for the Bible that he has never lost. It wasn’t until five years after that time that he came to believe that all who believe in Jesus are secure forever.
But whether you base your assurance on your current lifestyle, the overall pattern of your life, or some experience you had years ago, you are not basing your assurance of everlasting life on faith in Christ.
John 3:16 bases assurance on faith in Christ, not experience or feelings.
John 4:10-26 also bases assurance on believing in Jesus, not on some encounter or feeling.
The same is true all through John’s Gospel, Acts, and the epistles. See, for example, John 11:25-27; 20:30-31; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 4:4-5; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 1:16; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23; Rev 22:17.
Assurance of everlasting life is only valid if it is based on a current belief in the promise of everlasting life.
Finally, what about the question concerning people who once professed to believe in Christ for everlasting life, but who have since fallen away and become atheists or agnostics? Do we give these apostates assurance?
No. We cannot give them assurance, because an apostate does not believe. Let’s say you tell your adult son, “You know that you once believed in Christ as your Savior who saved you once and for all. So, you are still born again, even though you no longer believe in Him.” Your son would rightly say, “Well, if the Bible and the message about Jesus were true, then I would be saved. But the Bible and the gospel are not true. Therefore, I am not saved. And neither are you, Dad. There is no salvation and no life after death. All that business about the cross and the resurrection is a fairy tale people concocted to give their lives some eternal significance.”
I have a friend whose son, whom we will call George, is like that. George tells his Dad and his Christian friends that if they are right, then he will be with them forever in the kingdom because the Bible clearly teaches once saved, always saved. But since he is now convinced that the Bible is not true, he does not believe he or they will be in any kingdom.
George is very intelligent. A few years ago, he was talking with a friend from the Orthodox faith. This friend was trying to evangelize George. As part of the conversation he had said that once George believed in Christ and was baptized, he’d have to follow Christ to stay saved. George’s father told me that George reported he responded in this way, “You don’t even believe the Bible, and you are lecturing me? The Bible clearly says that all who believe in Jesus have everlasting life and will never perish. That’s what John 3:16 says, along with many other verses. The Bible teaches eternal security. Now I don’t believe that, because I no longer believe the Bible. But if the Bible is true, then I know I have everlasting life that can never be lost. I can’t say the same about you, because you do not believe what the Bible says about salvation by faith alone.”
If George starts believing the promise of life again, then George will regain assurance and, of course, he will no longer be an agnostic.
Jo Ann
I think the phrase from the GES statement of faith could be reworded to make it a little clearer. The phrase “as long as” could be understood in two ways:
1. referring to a length of time
2. referring to a condition
Am I right?
Kelley Easley
Agree, Jo Ann. “as long as” could mean “so long as,” or “provided that,” or it could mean “for as long as.” Clarification would be helpful.
KEN TAMASHIRO
Hi Pastor Bob,
May I share an old saying about the Assurance of Salvation. Is our Assurance based on Facts or Feelings? On the other hand though those who fall into Apostacy will have no covering for their sins and will either live in a world of unbelief or live in a world of uncertainty of Gods love towards them. The Book of Hebrews was written towards that effect.
I strongly believe that understanding Gods Grace one has a better chance of surviving the doubts of uncertainty. Gods Love towards the unbelievers without any conditions can strengthen ones belief in the Gospel of Gods Grace.
Grace and Peace to You,
Ken Tamashiro
Tim Amoroso
What does overcoming mean?
Victory means not being mislead by false teachers.
How do we do this?
Aim at follow the teaching of scripture. To start, Assurance of Salvation is found in John 3:16. This is the pure milk of the Word. But even a mature Christian needs pure milk.
Then, as we know the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, we overcome and become transformed.
We do not become mislead by the spirit of the antichrisy. So we do not suffer from our fellowship w/ God becoming destroyed.
Melissa
George’s father told me that George reported he responded in this way, “You don’t even believe the Bible, and you are lecturing me? The Bible clearly says that all who believe in Jesus have everlasting life and will never perish. That’s what John 3:16 says, along with many other verses. The Bible teaches eternal security. Now I don’t believe that, because I no longer believe the Bible. But if the Bible is true, then I know I have everlasting life that can never be lost. I can’t say the same about you, because you do not believe what the Bible says about salvation by faith alone.
I like George. I’m confident he will someday believe the Bible again. If not now, he will believe it when he gets to Heaven.
Tim Amoroso
George needs pure milk.
EternallySaved
Thank you so much for this article and also thank you to all of the fellow brothers and sisters who gave great responses. I came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when I was a teenager and I at times do look back to when I believed in Him from my heart for eternal life. But please help me on this: Sometimes I read these articles with tears streaming from my eyes because I come under spiritual attacks, thoughts thrown into me saying “Are you sure you are really saved? What if when you stand before Jesus Christ, He tells you you did not really believe, and you end up burning in the lake of fire forever?” Those are horrible tormenting thoughts. Help me, brothers and sisters, please.
With God and all of you as my witnesses, I declare from my heart and with every fiber of my soul and being, I believe only in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him and His shed blood atonement alone for eternal everlasting life and salvation from Hellfire. Thank you!
Michael
EternallySave,
Are you persuaded that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who gives everlasting life to the one who believes in Him? See John 3:16, 6:47; 11:25-27; 20:30-31. If so, then you have everlasting life that cannot be lost. By God’s grace and through your faith in Christ, you are secure forever (see Eph. 2:8-9), not because of the earnestness or quality of your faith, but because of the Object of your faith, Jesus Christ. His promise of life is truth because He is truth. I hope this encourages you.
Timothy Grady
Amen Michael and Tim Amoroso .
John 5:24 reads : “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life”.
Heather
Eternallysaved, Thanks for your honesty. Your assurance should be in trusting God to do what He said He’d do, that He would give eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus and accepts His sacrifice on their behalf. You did your part; you can rest assured that God will do His. Because He is a God who can be trusted. (When those thoughts come, have you ever tried saying out loud “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you (demons) to leave right now”? It’s probably a spiritual attack. Fight it with spiritual weapons, Bible verses, prayer, commanding demons to leave etc. And don’t forget you are not alone, Satan attacks all of us in various ways. I will say a prayer for you.)
Michael
Heather, just to clarify, the only condition for receiving everlasting life is to believe in Jesus (i.e. to be persuaded that He is the Christ, the Son of God, who gives everlasting life to the believer). See, e.g., John 3:16; 6:47; 11:25-27; 20:30-31. Such belief results in assurance (i.e., at the moment of belief, the believer knows he has everlasting life). I do not read anywhere in Scripture, particularly in John’s Gospel, that one must also accept Jesus’s sacrifice to receive everlasting life and to have assurance of everlasting life.
heather
I understand what you’re saying. To me, the “accept Jesus’s sacrifice” is part of the “believe in Jesus” thing, not something to add to it. When you believe in Him – that He is the Christ, the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world – your sins are forgiven. His payment on the cross covers your sins. It’s a (super)natural effect of believing in Him. Sorry if I implied that you had to do something extra. It’s not extra, but it is a part of salvation. His death paid the penalty for our sins. By believing in Him, you are also accepting His death on your behalf. If you don’t believe, then you basically choose to pay for the consequences of sin yourself, with eternal separation from Him. Thank you for pointing out this clarification.
David Ostroot
I struggle with the view given because it seems to imply that current belief is required to have assurance. John 3:16 says “believes” but this is not a progressive present: “continue to believe” but is a gnomic present, which is indifferent to exact time. Matt. 5:28 does not mean a man has to continually look at a woman with lust to commit adultery but even one time, cf. https://faithlife.com/communitystudybible/topics/2421?groupId=3245344&offset=12#latest. It refers to some point in the past when one believed, cf. John 4:10,14. If the apostate has drunk the water once, he is saved no matter what happens afterward. It is true that he doesn’t accept this assurance but it should not prevent someone from saying it to him. We should not say that he has to believe again to be saved or know he is saved since this is similar to the Calvinist’s that say one must do something else (other than previous belief) to have assurance.