Assurance Of Salvation
Assurance Of Salvation
by Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980)
(Chapter 1 from Dr. Rice's excellent book, Steps For New Converts)
"They that gladly received his word . . . " —Acts 2:41
Here are some lessons in the Christian life. Every Christian starts out as a baby Christian. One has to learn after one is saved. One has to grow in grace after being saved. A good example is in the book of Acts, after Pentecost, when they had three thousand people saved. The Lord tells us how they did after they were saved - these new converts. My, how happy and fruitful they were!
When I was a boy back
at Gainesville, Texas, I remember that Dr. Talley was the pastor. At prayer
meeting a woman said, "Dr. Talley, a neighbor of mine says she knows she is
saved. Now isn't it presumptuous for anybody to say she knows she is going to
Heaven?"
Dr Talley very wisely answered, "No. If she is relying on the Word of God, she
has a right to know that she is saved."
Can you know you are forgiven, and know that you are going to Heaven? Yes, you
can. In II Timothy 1:12 Paul says, "I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day." "I know whom I have believed." It is already done. I have already
believed. Not "I am believing," but by an act of faith I committed myself to
Christ, I relied on Christ. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded (or
convinced) that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him." Now
Paul committed himself and the saving of his soul to the Lord. He said. "And I
know He will keep what I have already committed to Him." Paul knew he was
saved.
Paul could say in Romans, chapter 8, in the triumphant closing of that great
passage, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." That settles that Jesus is taking up for me. I have been
saved.
I read on in Romans, chapter 8, beginning with verse 35:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature (No, Paul says not any other created thing), shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
One Can Know by Plain Statements of Scripture
Oh, Paul said, "I
know whom I have believed. I know He is keeping that which I have committed to
Him." Can one know he is saved? Oh, yes. I read in I John 5:11-13: "And this
is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life." That is interesting.
God gave it. It is not bought. You are not earning it. You are not working it
in. But "God hath given to us eternal life." What kind of life? Eternal life.
He not only gave me life but He gave me eternal, everlasting life. Oh, how
often He said, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you (in the Bible) that
believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal
life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." John says. I
have written these things so you can know you have eternal life.
Now, how am I going to know? By the record in the Bible. God loves me. Jesus
died for me. My sins are all paid for. He said they would be blotted out and
not held against me any more if I would come to Jesus and rely on Him. The
Bible says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36).
The Bible says in John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." The
believer already has it! He is not going to have it some day, but he has it
now." ... HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is
passed from death unto life." So He said, "I have written these things that
you may know that you have eternal life when you believe on Jesus." Thank God,
one can know!
Why don't people
know? For three sad years after I was converted I did not know for sure I was
saved. When I was a boy about nine years old, in the First Baptist Church of
Gainesville, Texas, the pastor, dear Brother Ingram, preached on the prodigal
son. He told how when he was a boy he ran away from home and got a job in a
print shop, and how he made a botch of it when he spilled a whole font of
type, making pie out of it when every letter, every period and comma had to be
set by hand. He spilled that and the fellow fired him and didn't pay him. He
was hungry and went home and his father loved him and forgave him and took him
back home when he had run away.
This preacher said, "As that prodigal son came home to his father and the
father ran to meet him and fell on his neck and kissed him, so you can come to
Christ now, and He will take you."
When the invitation was given, I walked down the aisle and told the preacher,
"All right, I have come to trust Jesus." But nobody then took the Bible and
showed me how Christ had promised to us everlasting life. Nobody showed me any
Scripture. They just said, "Now, John, you ought to join the church."
Well, I went home that day and said, "Dad, what about me joining the church?
(I didn't know how to tell him what had happened.) He said: "Well, Son, when
you are really old enough to repent of your sins and be regenerated, then will
be time enough to join the church." Well, I didn't know what those big words
meant, but if my dad didn't think I was saved, I guessed I wasn't, since he
was the smartest man in the world. So sadly I put it aside. I supposed I was
too young. Dad seemed to think so, and I supposed I was not saved.
The next morning as I went to school, I stopped down at the creek bottom and
knelt on the sand bar under a willow tree and prayed, "Now, Lord, I guess I am
too young to be saved," - and I mentioned this one and that one and others I
knew. I said, "Lord, they are not too young, they can be saved, Lord, save
them."
Isn't it a strange thing that I had a burden for people to be saved when I
didn't know for sure I was saved myself? Well, I went on a time wondering. A
boy that day had come who was twelve and he was crying. I wondered if I would
have been saved had I cried more. I didn't know what it took to be saved.
I went on doubting for three sad years. Then I decided to leave this thing
with Jesus. I remember I asked a preacher to pray for me and I didn't say,
"Tell me how to be sure." He didn't know how to tell me, I suppose. All he
said was, "All right, John, I'll pray for you and you pray for yourself."
So I went home and knelt down by my bed that night and prayed, but I didn't
feel any better. I went to bed and I didn't feel good and I said, "I had
better get this settled." So I got up and knelt down and prayed again. Well, I
decided I would join the church and try to live for Christ the best I could.
But after I had been saved for three years I started reading the bible. I read
the Scripture which says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life"
(John 3:36). I read where "he that believeth on him is not condemned" (John
3:18). I read John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." I read John 1:12, "But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name." I said, "Here it is. When I believed in Jesus, when I trusted Jesus, I
got everlasting life! That is what the Bible says." And, God is my witness, as
far as I know, I have never had a second of doubt about my salvation since
then.
Now why do people
doubt their salvation? Well, it is a natural thing to do. In the first place,
we don't like to admit we are wicked old sinners who can do nothing to earn
salvation. We like to feel respectable.
Lynn Tompkins who worked for us and who is now at Dr. Tom Malone's school, one
night at 10:00 had not won anybody that particular day. He said, "I must get
somebody saved before I sleep." (He usually won somebody every day.) So he
went downtown and found a store which had not yet closed. A line of people
were waiting at the check-out counter. A boy with long hair was in the line.
He walked up to this fellow and said, "If you died right now, would you go to
Heaven?"
The young fellow said, "I think I would."
Lynn Tompkins said, "What makes you think so?"
"Well, I'm a pretty good boy."
Lynn said to him (this is a little brash), "No, sir, you would split Hell wide
open. You would go straight to Hell!"
Well, the fellow became a little indignant at that and said, "Who said so?"
Lynn said, "Jesus did. Look here in John 3. He said you must be born again and
if you don't get born again, you will never see the kingdom."
It wasn't long until he had the fellow on his knees there in the check out
line while everybody waited patiently as the young fellow prayed and trusted
the Lord and was saved!
What I am saying is, aren't you glad you know you are saved? I know I am and I
thank God I know it.
Everybody likes to feel he is a pretty good fellow. You don't like to admit
you are an old sinner who deserves to go to Hell. I don't deserve God's mercy.
Neither do you. But we don't like to admit our sinful condition. Everybody
likes to think he can earn part of it. An old song says:
Jesus paid it
all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Well, the old carnal nature would like to change it to:
Jesus paid a part,
And I a part, you know;
Sin had Left a little stain,
And we washed it white as snow.
Some Depend on Feeling for Assurance of Salvation
Here is another reason people doubt.
We do something wrong and our conscience condemns us and we feel
so bad about it and we say, "I guess I am not saved. I did feel
good hut I have lost it now; so I guess I am not saved."
Sometimes the discouragement is a matter of health. I remember a
woman was in the change of life and she was upset and nervous
and not normal in her feelings. With her it was mainly a matter
of health and nerves. But she got so upset and decided she was
not saved. Her husband, a pastor, brought her from down in
Alabama, up to Clarksburg, West Virginia, where I was in a
citywide campaign - to talk to me. She thought either she had
never been saved or that she had committed the unpardonable sin.
What is your trouble? Maybe it is because of ill health and some
natural depression that comes from ill health. But more likely
it is because your conscience tells you you haven't done all you
ought to do, and you feel guilty and are afraid that you are
lost. But put this down, when you come to Jesus, you can know He
saves you.
Now how can you know for sure? Take what God has written in the
Bible, such as Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." Isn't that a good, solid
Scripture you can rest your soul upon? "Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You mean if you just
come and ask God for forgiveness? Absolutely. If your heart
turns to Jesus for mercy, you get it right then. He wants you to
trust Him about it.
How long does it take you to make a deposit in your bank? Well,
it doesn't take that long to turn your soul over to Jesus and
rely on Him to keep it for you.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
He will not, He will not desert to his foes.
That soul, though all Hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake.
Throw Away Your Doubts: Rely on Jesus Christ
Then, how are you going to be sure? You say, “I'm going to believe what God said. I'm not going to make God out to be a liar. I'm not going to doubt what He said.”
I
believe it was J. Wilbur Chapman who said that when he was a
young fellow, he was in Moody's meeting. He was already
converted but he didn't have the assurance he wanted. He said,
"I don't believe I have faith enough."
D. L. Moody said, "Who is it you don't have faith in? Are you
doubting Jesus Christ?"
"Oh, no! Oh, no! I'm doubting myself."
"Well, you are not the one who does the saving. If you don't
doubt Jesus, then leave it with Him."
That is the only way. Let Jesus do the saving. He does it free.
You can love Him and te1l Him so and try to live for Him. But
assurance of salvation will only come as you say, "I rely on
Jesus and He said He will take me. I know He will. He said He
would never forsake me. He said He would give me everlasting
life." You can rely on the Word of God.
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
Ah, you can know it, too. Like I knew it when I saw that God
said, "He that believeth on the Son (or trusts in the Son) hath
everlasting life." Not just believe something about it, but did
you rely on Him? All right, you have everlasting life if you
have.
And if you don't have it, you can have it now. Oh, unsaved soul,
remember that today Jesus loves you and He promises you
everlasting life. You can rely on Him and have it settled now
forever. Will you do that? Won't you write today and say, "I am
casting away my doubts. I am going to believe in Jesus Christ
and leave it with Him." I hope you will.
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