Can We Really Have Assurance of Salvation?

Can Christians truly know that they have eternal life? Scripture teaches that we can have confidence and assurance in Christ, yet many believers struggle with doubts, fears, and uncertainty about their salvation.

In this episode, John Warren examines the biblical basis for assurance of salvation, beginning with Jesus' promise in John 5:24 and the apostle John's declaration in 1 John 5:13.

We consider six foundations of assurance: the person of Christ, His finished work on Calvary, the Word of God, personal trust in Christ, the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the evidence of a growing Christian life.

We also examine the hindrances to assurance, including habitual sin, excessive introspection, doubts and fears, and failure to understand God's promises.

Salvation is entirely by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ—not by human performance. Our confidence rests in Christ and His finished work, while spiritual growth and obedience strengthen our personal assurance.

Key Scriptures: John 5:24; 1 John 5:13; 2 Peter 1:3–11; Hebrews 6:11–12; Hebrews 10:19–23; Romans 8:15–16.

The central message: We can have confidence before God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Relentless Truth Ministries

https://www.relentlesstruthministries.com

Relentless Truth with John Warren | Episode 258

Scripture establishes that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Paul reminds us in Romans 3 that there is none righteous, no, not one. So how can a spiritually dead sinner come to faith in Jesus Christ?

In this episode, we examine a sometimes neglected truth concerning salvation: the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.

In John 16:8, Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the ministry of the Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, spiritually dead sinners are brought under conviction and confronted with the gospel.

We also examine the meaning of world in John's Gospel, God's desire that all people be saved, and the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's volition. Even John Calvin acknowledged that the Spirit's convicting ministry extends beyond those who ultimately receive salvation. Conviction and regeneration are not the same thing.

The offer of salvation is broad. It includes you and me and everyone. Scripture makes clear that we must respond to the gospel in repentance and faith. The new birth itself is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture References:

• John 16:4–11 — The convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit
• John 14 — Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit
• John 3:16 — God's love for the world
• Romans 3 — Man's sinfulness and justification by faith
• Romans 5:8 — Christ died for us while we were sinners
• Romans 6:23 — The wages of sin and the gift of eternal life
• Romans 1–2 — Man's accountability before God
• 1 Timothy 2:1–6 — God's desire that all people be saved
• 2 Peter 3:9 — God's patience and the call to repentance

The central question: What will you do with this Savior? What will you do with your sin and your guilt?

Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose on the third day, and now sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. His finished work conquered sin and death and satisfied God's justice.

You are loved by God. You are not excluded, no matter the life you've lived, the frustration you've had, or the guilt you've felt. This offer of salvation is for you

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Next Episode: Justification, our right standing before God, and the instantaneous new birth.

Relentless Truth Ministries

Website: https://relentlesstruthministries.com

Email: john@relentlesstruthministries.com

Getting the Gospel Right: What Must I Do to Be Saved?

What must I do to be saved? Scripture answers that question clearly, yet Christians can sometimes become burdened by questions such as: Am I good enough? Did I pray the right prayer? Did I use the right words? Do I know enough?

In this episode, John shares his own long struggle with assurance of salvation and explains what he eventually came to understand from Scripture: God saves us; we do not save ourselves. Salvation is by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and Scripture calls the sinner to repentance and faith.

The episode examines the Philippian jailer's question, “What must I do to be saved?” and Paul's simple answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” It also considers Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, where the self-righteous Pharisee trusts in his works while the tax collector cries, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Jesus says the tax collector went home justified.

The central point is simple: do not trust your goodness, a prayer you prayed, your knowledge, or the intensity of an experience. Trust Christ. Repentance and faith are the response Scripture calls for from the sinner, while salvation rests on God's grace and the finished work of Jesus Christ.

· Acts 16:25–34 — The Philippian jailer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

· Titus 3:4–7 — God saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His mercy.

· Ephesians 2:8–9 — Saved by grace through faith, not as a result of works.

· Romans 3:21–28 — Justification by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

· Romans 10:9–13 — Believing, confessing, and calling on the name of the Lord.

· Acts 20:17–21 — Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

· Mark 1:15 — “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

· Acts 11:18 — God grants repentance that leads to life.

· Luke 18:9–14 — The Pharisee and the tax collector; the repentant sinner goes home justified.

Relentless Truth Ministries

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The beauty of the gospel can be obscured when we don’t understand the language Scripture uses to describe the gospel and salvation. Words such as redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, ransom, sacrifice, and substitution are not simply synonyms. Each helps us understand an important aspect of the finished work of Christ.

In this episode, we look at these important words and the biblical passages that explain them. Propitiation addresses God’s wrath, reconciliation our alienation, redemption our bondage, ransom the price of our release, sacrifice the offering for our sin, and substitution Christ taking our place.

Because of the finished work of Christ, we do not have to live defeated lives of frustration, discouragement, or guilt. Our ransom has been paid. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We can rest in the finished work of Christ.

Scriptures discussed: Romans 3:21–26; Romans 4:23–25; Romans 5:10; Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:9; Hebrews 10:12; 1 Peter 2:21–24; 1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 53; Isaiah 61:10; Mark 10:45; John 1:29.

Relentless Truth Ministries

Biblical Truth for a Changing World

This week, we continue our series, Getting the Gospel Right, by turning from the plight of man and our captivity to sin to the redemption that is ours in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and His atoning death.

The idea of redemption in Scripture is not really all that complex. Redemption is a release effected by the payment of a ransom—a buying back, a purchasing, a deliverance from captivity. We are slaves to sin and desperately in need of emancipation, of redemption, of being freed, of having our ransom paid. Jesus Christ paid that ransom with the shedding of His blood.

Romans 3 describes both our desperate plight and the beauty of our redemption. None is righteous; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yet those who believe are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This is redemption: liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.

Romans 8 carries this beautiful truth forward: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Because of Jesus Christ—His shed blood on the cross, His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension—there is no condemnation for those who are in Him. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and the Son of Man came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Christ liberates those who were enslaved to sin through the price of His own life.

We are unworthy, but Jesus Christ, our Lord, is our sufficiency. It is His finished work alone that transforms us from the captivity of sin to the freedom that we enjoy in Him. We should rightly see the seriousness of our sin, but we don't stop there. We rest in the freedom from captivity provided for us in Christ through His redemptive work on the cross.

Today we look at the image of God in man and our desperate plight as people. Being made in God’s image makes us different from animals and other created things. The image of God was tarnished in the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, but it survived the fall and continues today.

We are called on by God to subdue the earth. We uniquely reflect God’s nature and represent Him on this earth. We have responsibilities in how we handle God’s creation. We have a certain human dignity and should, therefore, acknowledge mankind’s inherent worth. We should value human life as a result of our being God’s image-bearers. Every human has inherent worth because of God’s image in us.

The plight of man is temporary. This sinful world we live in is not permanent. Jesus Christ has atoned for our sin, and through Him we have victory over sin and death. As horrible as the fall of man is in Genesis 3, the good news of Jesus Christ and His grace abounds more.

God gives mankind volition without giving up any of His sovereignty. God is not surprised by anything that occurs. Humans have responsibility before God. And yet, we can’t earn God’s favor through our own effort. This juxtaposition frustrates some earnest seekers of truth. The answer lies in clearly understanding God’s essence and how He relates to man. Romans 5 gives us comfort that Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death. Paul applies his substitutionary death and its implications to us in this section of Scripture. The abundance of grace is our sufficiency.

Thank you for listening to Relentless Truth. Please share this episode with your friends and family. Please share our work on social media. Your endorsements have been incredible in expanding our reach worldwide. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me at john@johnwarrenmedia.com, and please visit our website for more information about our work at relentlesstruthministries.com #theology #christian worldview

Today on Relentless Truth, John discusses the image of God and what that means for us.

You might not have considered this, but several theologians have said something like this: what you think about when you think about God is the most important thing about you. I often think about how important it is for us to think about God according to what He has revealed to us in Scripture. This […]

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