Assurance

We like to assure a new convert that they have eternal life. We point them to verses like John 6:47 and 1 John 5:13

Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. (John 6:47)

 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)

These seem conclusive, right? If a person believes that Jesus died for their sins, then they have eternal life. Eternal life is forever, so how could someone possible lose it.

The problem is that quoting those two verses ignores most of the other things that John wrote in his Gospel and first epistle. For example, do you tell a new convert that if they don’t keep Jesus’ commandments, they don’t know God? (1 Jn. 2:3-4). Do you tell them that if they hate any other Christian, they will be a murderer, and no murderer has eternal life? (1 John 3:15). These are  two of the things among “these things” that John wrote to us in 1 John to let those who profess faith in Jesus Christ know whether they are really Christians.

Note: Let’s pause here to define “we.” For me, “we” means a lot of people I know and have fellowship with, including some pastors. There are, of course, a lot of pastors and Christians who do not pull John 6:47 and 1 John 5:13 out of context, just as there are a lot of pastors and Christians who do. “We,” then means, “If the shoe fits, wear it, quit taking Paul and John out of context, and look at what the Bible really says about assurance.”

Okay, with “we” out of the way, let’s talk about assurance. John 6:47 and 1 John 5:13 and not “assurance” verses unless you are loving the family of God, keeping Jesus’ commandments, and NOT loving the world (1 Jn. 2:15-17). There is an assurance passage in 1 John, though:

My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us. (1 Jn. 3:18-24)

There is another assurance verse in 2 Peter 1:10:

Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.

In 2 Peter 1:10, “these things” refers to virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love from verses 5-7. He had already told his readers that if  those things are in them and increasing, they would be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus (2 Pet. 1:8). In verse 10, he is telling them to be diligent to “make … sure” of their being called and chosen by “doing these things.” In fact, in verse 11, he tells them that this is the way to have an abundant entrance into Jesus’ kingdom.

Just as a note, we like to talk about “going to heaven,” a term the New Testament never uses. Instead, it uses terms like “inheriting the kingdom” (Gal. 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:5). If the writer is not John but, say, Paul or Matthew, then they might also say “be repaid with eternal life” (Rom. 2:7) or “reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8) or “enter into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).

If you really want to know about “going to heaven,” and you don’t have those important passages memorized, you should look of the context of these verses and find out what you have to do to inherit the kingdom and be rewarded with eternal life.

Of course, you can also do what a lot of Christians do and go find verses that something different than the ones I quoted, probably out of context like John 6:48 and 1 John 5:13, and stand on those verses against the ones I used. Of course, this announces to everyone around us that the Bible contradicts itself and, in the end, you won’t get eternal life because you ignored the warnings of the New Testament.

Saved But Not Yet Saved

If you think that, for the most part, American pastors are teaching “the whole counsel of God,” then you will be shocked at what I am about to write. On the other hand, since the Bible teaches it directly and clearly, you should be able to overcome your surprise.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. (Rom. 5:9-10)

As you can see in this passage, no matter what your pastor thinks and no matter who else you’ve listened to, there is a salvation that is in the future for a Christian. Yes, we “are now” justified and “were” reconciled to God, but we “will be” saved from wrath. The “were” part was accomplished by his death, and the “will be” part will be accomplished by his life … if we walk in it.

Paul wrote:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. (Gal. 2:20)

When Paul said in Romans 5:10 that we will be saved by “his life,” this is surely what he is talking about, Jesus’ life at work in us. He adds in Colossians:

Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. (Col. 3:2-4)

So Paul is telling us that by letting Jesus live through us we can be saved from wrath in the future. This may not be what you have been taught, but I trust that it makes sense to you. John quotes Jesus in John 15:

I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (Jn. 15:5-6)

Here Jesus says just what Paul said. If we have been grafted into the tree that is Christ (Rom. 11:17). As long as you remain in him, you have life and bear much fruit. Separate from him, and you wither. Eventually, you will be thrown into a fire to be burned up as useless.

The assurances you have been given that people with eternal life possess it eternally is a false promise. It is the life itself that is eternal. Your possession of it is contingent upon you remaining in Christ. John tells us:

The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life. (1 Jn. 5:11-12)

As long as we remain in him, we have eternal life. If we don’t, then we no longer have the life because we are no longer attached to the vine.

It is important that we switch to different wording here. The Bible uses many different phrases for remaining in him.

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up. (Gal. 6:7-9)

Here the apostle Paul talks about sowing to the Spirit. This is the same thing as remaining in him because it is by the Holy Spirit that we will bear fruit in the same way that if we remain in him we will bear fruit. Paul discusses the fruit of the Spirit just a little earlier, in Galatians 5:22-23.

He also gives some different terminology about remaining in Jesus. In between those two passages, he tells us, “If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). This is the rough equivalent of saying, if you were attached to the vine that is Christ, remain in the vine. He says it even one more way in his letter to the Colossians:

You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard. (Col. 1:21-23)

In other words, we were separated from God (“alienated”), but through Jesus’ death we were reconciled to God, just as we read in Romans 5:9-10. Now, just as we were reconciled to God by faith in his blood, so we continue steadfastly in that faith, and the life of Christ will bring us spotless before the judgment seat of Christ on the last day.

What does walking in the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit, remaining in Christ, and continuing steadfastly in the faith look like? Paul has given us a practical clue in Galatians 6:7-9, though I did not stop to emphasize it when I quoted it:

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.

Continuing steadfastly in the faith looks like not growing weary in doing good.

The Judgment According to Works

We are talking about continuing in the faith so that we can appear before Jesus blameless on the last day. Paul ties this idea to not growing weary in doing good in Galatians 6:8-9. He says this even more clearly in Romans 2:7:

[God] will pay back to everyone according to their works: to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life. (Rom. 2:6-7)

In Galatians 6:8-9, Paul tied sowing to the Spirit and not growing weary in doing good to reaping eternal life. Here he tells us that God rewards eternal life to those who persevere in doing good.

Just in case this is so far outside your theology that you’re having a hard time comprehending how I could even suggest these things, I do want to point out that the World English Bible translation puts “will pay back to everyone according to their works” in quotes and cites Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12 as the sources Paul is quoting.

It will also help you to look at what the Bible means by good works, just how thoroughly God has equipped us for good works, how many times the apostles warn us of a judgment by works, and finish with the most helpful question you can ask about the final judgment.

What Does the Bible Mean by Good Works?

It is easy to miss the Bible’s emphasis on those in need. James, the Lord’s brother, wrote:

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27)

I suppose it would be possible to use just this one verse to describe what the Bible means by good works. Jesus told us about the final judgment, talking about the day he would come back in his glory, his holy messengers with him. (The Greek word for “angel” actually means messenger. Many times, but not always, the word is used of heavenly messengers, but it does not mean heavenly messenger; it just means messenger.) He is going to divide the sheep and the goats before him, reward the sheep with eternal life and an inheritance in the kingdom, and he is going to send the goats into eternal punishment (Matt. 25:31-46).

Jesus had only one criterion for separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep helped those in need (by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering strangers, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned); the goats did not. It was as simple and final as that.

That jibes with James’ statement that true religion is visiting the widows and orphans in their distress, though Jesus covered other needs in Matthew 25. God spoke in a similar way through Isaiah:

Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean.
Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil.
Learn to do well.
Seek justice.
Relieve the oppressed.
Defend the fatherless.
Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)

This is such a big deal that the Holy Spirit says in Proverbs, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD; he will reward him.”

I think you get the point, but James did not just talk about visiting widows and orphans. He also said to remain unspotted by the world.

If I were to fully delve into this, I could fill pages with warnings. Some of that will be covered in the warnings about the judgment, but I want to address the main point James is making. There is a kingdom of darkness, and there is a kingdom belonging to God’s beloved Son, Jesus (Col. 1:13). The two are very different:

Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from among them,and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1)

God Has “Thoroughly” Equipped Us for Good Works

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

God is focused on transforming us into doers of good. We talked earlier about remaining in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit, and living by the life of Jesus. All those things equip us for doing good so that we are the ones who “persevere in doing good” and are rewarded with eternal life.

We just saw that the purpose, or at least one purpose, of the Scriptures is to thoroughly equip us for every good work. He gave us a lot more to equip us for good works, though. I like to think that the following list is what Peter was talking about when he said, “[God’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

• Grace breaks sin’s dominion over us (Rom. 6:14), and teaches to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Tit. 2:11-12)
• By grace, which we receive and stand in by faith (Rom. 5:1-2), we have been saved, meaning we were created in Christ Jesus for good works even though we used to be dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1-10).
• Jesus’ death purified us from all unrighteousness and bought himself his own people, zealous for good works (Tit. 2:13-14).
• We assemble as a church in order to stir one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25). Not only this, but we “exhort”* one another daily so that our heart are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

*“Exhort” in the New Testament is parakaleo in Greek, a really big word that can mean everything from “plead with” to “console” to “rebuke.” This makes it difficult to translate in a context like Hebrews 10:24-25. I tell people that 1 Thessalonians 5:14 explains what the Bible means when it tells us to exhort one another: “We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all.”

I think I would be remiss not to add:

• “God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.” (Peter, Acts 3:26)
• For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (Rom. 14:9)
• He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15)
• [Jesus] gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. (Tit. 2:14)

The above lists make it clear why God is just to judge us by our works. He has thoroughly equipped us to do them and to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3-4).

A List of Warnings About the Judgment by Works

I am going to give you two things in this section: the list the title promises and a paragraph on the “pre-judgment” of the seven churches of Revelation, chapters 2-3.

• Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of Man’s] voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
• But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who will pay back to everyone according to their works: to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
• For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. (2 Cor. 5:10-11a)
• If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ. (1 Pet. 1:17-19)
• I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

In the context of this article, it might seem strange or ironic that I would suggest the most thorough exposition of the judgment, by God himself through Ezekiel, as a comfort.

“If the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. None of his transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

^“”But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.”

This reminds me of 2 Peter 3:9, that God does not want anyone to perish, but rather to come to repentance.

Perhaps the best examples of the final judgment, the one we will all face on the last day, are Jesus’ letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3. You can see in those letters both the “severity and goodness” (Rom. 11:19-22) of Jesus, whose judgment and mercy are just like his Father God.

And finally, I gift you with John Chrysostom’s explanation of Romans 6:22-23. I am confident it will stir your heart, as it did mine, and you will thank me for this final section.

The Most Helpful Question You Can Ask About the Final Judgment

The most helpful question you can ask about the final judgment is: If we have to do good works to receive eternal life, then how is it a gift? (Rom. 6:23)

Romans 6:22-23 is an intriguing, maybe even confusing passage. It reads:

But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verse 22 says that eternal life is the result of holiness (sanctification), which is the fruit of becoming a servant of God, which is made possible by being freed from sin. Verse 23 says that eternal life is a gift. (Adding “free” in front of “gift,” is a controversial translation that I am not qualified to comment on. My discussion is not affected by whether charismata is translated “gift” or “free gift.”)

In the past, I was puzzled by the seeming contradiction between 6:22 and 6:23. When I found out that John Chrysostom, a fourth-century preacher nicknamed “Golden Tongue” for his brilliant teaching, I went straight to these verses to find out his take. I am not going to quote him, but you can read the 1890s translation of his sermon at ccel.org.

What I was missing was that it was a gift that God freed us from sin! As Ephesians 2 teaches, we were transformed from being dead in our trespassed to being created in Christ Jesus to do good works by grace, through faith, not of ourselves, not of works, but as a gift from God.

Chrysostom beautifully explains what a relief it is to be freed from sin, what a joy it is to be in God’s service, and what pleasure the fruit of holiness brings to us in the presence of the Lord. The wages of sin may be death, but eternal life cannot be called a wage. Yes it is a reward for overcoming the world without defiling ourselves, but we accomplished this by great and precious promises that allowed us to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and, an even greater gift, allowed us to be partakers of God’s divine nature!! (2 Pet. 1:3-4).

No, eternal life is not a wage, but a gift rewarded to us for receiving a previous gift: freedom, the Holy Spirit, Jesus as our elder brother, God as our Father and the one who favors us. We have bold access to the Throne of Favor (“grace” means “favor”), where we get mercy and favor to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Okay, I’m off to meditate on and bask in the marvelous provision of Jesus Christ and the blessed presence of both God and Son that we enjoy by the Holy Spirit. (Those are shouting words!)