God
Is A Friend (2)
Assurance
of God’s Friendship
1 John
5:13-15
Jim
Davis
Nothing is more destructive to a friendship
than distrust. When there is a lack of trust in a relationship,
we usually make up our minds that we are going to look out for number one.
Satan destroyed Adam’s relationship with God through distrust. However,
God remained Adam’s steadfast friend. God immediately sought to cover Adam’s
shame as he made him clothes from an animal’s skin. God wanted Adam to
understand that he was a true friend. He wanted Adam to stand before him
in confidence regardless of Adam’s failure.
Even in failure God wanted Adam to come
before him assured of their relationship with him. The first animal
sacrificed to provide clothing for Adam and Eve pointed the ultimate sacrifice
that Christ would make to cover our sins so that we might stand in God’s
presence with confidence.
Christians must have confidence in God’s friendship
before they truly discover the joyous freedom in serving God. The Bible
is written that we might have a confident faith in God.
1 John 5:13-15
13 I write these things
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that
you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching
God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And
if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we
asked of him. NIV
John penned his epistles "so that you
may know that you have eternal life." Without this assurance our
salvation enters upon shaky ground. Without it we will not be assured that
God recognizes us and hears us as we approach him in times of need. John
writes, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that
if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that
he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him."
Without such confidence there is no way we can be assured that God is with
us.
It is possible to have a false confidence
concerning our salvation. John’s reasons for the Christian’s assurance
are much different than those given by the world.
False
Assurances of God’s Friendship
We must not rely upon false assurances
of salvation for ourselves or others. We may say, "Well, it doesn’t
matter what we believe as long as we believe in God." This kind of response
reduces one’s assurance to intellectual knowledge.
We must not build our faith upon false
intellectual hopes. Theology has reduced faith to a doctrine to
believe that has virtually no impact upon on our lives. James says, "You
believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder"
(James 2:19 NIV). Demons have no doubt about God’s existence. They are
fully confident of his judgment, for this is their reason for shuddering.
It is great that people at least believe in God, but there is more. Mental
assent is far from recognizing the guilt and sin of our lives.
The assurance of our salvation does
not come from our own goodness. The rich young ruler came to Jesus
wanting to know what "good thing" he must do to inherit eternal life. He
felt that he had kept all the commandments Jesus mentioned.
Matthew 19:16-21
16 Now a man came up to Jesus
and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about
what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want
to enter life, obey the commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder,
do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor
your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20 "All these I have kept,"
the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want
to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." NIV
This young man was seeking assurance through
his own goodness. He had convinced himself that he was good, but in reality
he had broken every commandment, because he failed to love his neighbor
as himself. This was evidenced when he refused to sell his possessions
and give them to the poor.
James 2:10-11
10 For whoever keeps the whole
law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder."
If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
NIV
Some base their confidence solely upon
the fact that they have been baptized. An over emphasizes on baptism
gives a false confidence of salvation. We must go beyond baptism into a
trusting relationship with God. You may place a wedding ring upon someone’s
finger that has not taken the marriage vows, but it does not make them
married.
Some are seeking to merely join a church
that will save them, but a church cannot save anyone. Only Christ
saves. This does not mean that Christ’s church is unimportant, but it cannot
save.
Some may say, "Well I go to church and
pray often." Yet they man not be saved.
You may have repeated the sinner’s prayer,
yet you may not been saved.
False assurances of a relationship with God
will rob us of the joy of serving Christ from a pure heart as we are forced
to trust what we have done rather than what God has done for us. Ultimately,
it robs us confidence in God, because these false assurances force us to
rely upon ourselves for any assurance of salvation.
Assurance
of Salvation Comes from God
John wrote his letter in order that Christians
could know that they have a relationship with God. He sought to give us
confidence as we approach God.
1 John 5:13-15
13 I write these things
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that
you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching
God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And
if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we
asked of him. NIV
Salvation is based upon God’s faithfulness
to forgive our sins; it is not based on our ability to live without sin.
John teaches us that we can know that we have eternal life but he assures
us that we cannot live without sinning.
1 John 1:8-10
8 If we claim to be without
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him
out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. NIV
Our confidence is derived from knowing that
Jesus Christ comes to our defense before God. Confidence comes from Christ’s
faithfulness to us.
1 John 2:1-2
2:1 My dear children, I write
this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have
one who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world. NIV
The fact that forgiveness is provided
when we sin means that God is going to remain our friend as we experience
personal failure. John writes, ". . . he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God is not a sunshine friend; he is there through thick and thin.
Paul writes of his own personal struggles,
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a
slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do . . . What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue
me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
(Romans 7:14-16; 7:24-25 NIV).
Paul understood that Christ was interceding
for him.The most difficult thing in salvation is to turn from trusting
in our own goodness to trust in God’s provisions for salvation.
What is the importance of Christ interceding
for you when you sin?
My salvation is based upon the adequacy of his
intercession for me. My salvation is based upon the adequacy of Christ’s
sacrifice rather than the adequacy of my own life.
My salvation is based upon God’s faithfulness
to his Son Jesus Christ; otherwise he allows his Son’s death to be in vain.
It would be vain for God not to accept the sacrifice that he has made for
my sin.
How to
Have Personal Assurance
You may say, "Well I know that God is
faithful, the sacrifice of his Son is an adequate atonement, but I am not
sure I am saved." Some are over confident in their salvation thinking
that there is nothing can do to be lost, and there are others who fail
to rest assured of their salvation. I think that there are some guidelines
to help us ascertain our assurance of salvation.
Are you placing total responsibility
upon God for your salvation? I think this is the case with those
who are over confident. I spoke to a lady who had an after death experience
when her heart stopped beating. When she was resuscitated she revealed
the glorious presence she felt when her heart stopped beating. She said
she experienced the loving presence of God. She was no longer afraid to
meet God for she now believed that coming into God’s presence would be
a wonderful experience for everyone.
I am not able to confirm or deny her experience,
but my question is: Did she experience all there was to experience in death,
or was there something to be experienced beyond God’s glorious presence?
Was their judgment beyond her experience? It is not difficult for me to
believe that initially at death all will experience God’s glorious presence,
but the Bible firmly teaches us that there will be judgment. It would hard
for me to believe that God will be snarling at us when we meet at death.
It will be God’s initial presence that will haunt the lost throughout eternity.
They will see a loving God that is forced to destroy evil once and for
all. It will be the only time in our existence that we will experience
a perfect blend of love and justice, but their will be justice.
Personal experience cannot give us eternal
assurance. The lady with the after death experience minimized the sin in
her life because of her personal experience.
Do you hate the sin in your life?
When Paul looked at his struggles with sin he said, "the things I hate
[sin], I do. . ." Paul’s inability to overcome sin made him feel like a
miserable wretch. Paul didn’t see himself as spiritual giant. He saw himself
unspiritual because he was sold as a slave to sin. Many are looking for
ways to feel spiritual . . . but a truer test of our spirituality would
be to feel unspiritual.
I believe this unspiritual feeling resides
in those who are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. David’s misery
for his sin saturates ever line of Psalms 51.
Psalms 51:1-12
51:1 For the director of music.
A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed
adultery with Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing
love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before
me.
4 Against you, you only, have
I sinned
and done what is evil in your
sight,
so that you are proved right
when you speak
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother
conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in
the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the
inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and
I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter
than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed
rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart,
O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
11 Do not cast me from your
presence
or take your Holy Spirit from
me.
12 Restore to me the joy of
your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit,
to sustain me. NIV
What was the source of David’s assurance
of salvation?
God’s unfailing love and mercy.
David’s willingness to confess his sin. I might
point out that David’s willingness came after a long period of reluctance
which drove him to hide his sin from God.
David recognized that his sin was against God.
Others suffer because of our sins; we suffer the consequences of our own
sin, but the motivating factor for confessing our sins is not to find relief
from the consequences of our sin, it is not to make ourselves right with
the world, it is not to make it right with the church, but to make it right
with God.
David’s confidence came from knowing that God
would purify his heart.
David’s confidence came from knowing that God
would renew a steadfast spirit within him. He was depending upon God to
grant him a willing spirit of obedience.
Do you long for God to create a new spirit
within you? David asks God to create a new spirit in him that would
be willing to do what was right. Do you desire that God bring you to maturity
in Christ?
Understanding God’s ability to give us a spirit
of obedience is crucial to our assurance of salvation.
