Sermon Cloud

The Assurance of Salvation

We’ve all heard the phrase.  Oh, that’s just too good to be true.  The candidate can’t be as good as he claims to be.  This guy can’t love her as much as he says he does.  That athlete can’t keep performing at that high level.  That’s just too good to be true.

It’s our human nature that is saying that to us.  It says it because so often it is an accurate statement.  In this world, there are many things – one might even so most things – that ARE too good to be true.

In this world, that is the case.  But in heaven, there is nothing too good to be true.  It is all good.  And it is all true.  So it is with our salvation.  Our justification.  Our forgiveness.  Our glorification.

We’ve been exploring all of these.  Wonderful, sublime truths.  Each glorious in itself.  Taken all together, they overwhelm us.  And the fleshly nature within us whispers, “It can’t be that way.  That would be too good to be true.”

And it is to that phrase, that challenge, that the Apostle Paul fashions the rest of Chapter five as his reply.  The gospel of our salvation IS good.  Overwhelmingly so.  And it IS true.

It’s also hard to believe, especially for the newer Christian.  We all know stories of new Christians who keep accepting Christ.  Keep going forward at evangelistic meetings.  Keep going to pastors and friends, seeking to pray again the prayer of salvation.

It can’t be this easy to become a Christian, they think.  Salvation can’t be this overwhelming wonderful and so wonderfully free.

I know people who thought this way.  I’m married to one of them.  Might as well pray that prayer one more time.  Never can be too sure.

I’m sure you know someone like that.  Perhaps you ARE someone like that.  If so, Paul’s words in Romans 5:12-21 are especially appropriate for you.

Romans 5:12-21.  Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In a way, much of what we’ve already studied was written to assure us – and reassure us – of our salvation.  Its scope.  Its magnificence.  Its certainty.

First of all, its payment is beyond measure.  That’s why our passage starts with the word “Therefore.”  It’s a good Bible Study rule that whenever you come to the word “therefore” in Scripture, you should ask yourself, “What is it there for?”

Usually, it’s meaning is condition.  Because what occurred previously is true, therefore the next series of concepts of logical, practical and true.

What does Paul say here?  Our salvation was purchased on the cross with the incalculable price of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Who died for us while we were yet sinners, enemies of God.  THEREFORE, Verses 17-19.  For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life….

… through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Paul has already listed at least five reasons to assure us of our salvation. I covered all six last week.  Here is the list.

1. We can be assured to salvation because God has made peace with us through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.  We were at war with God.  God made peace.
2. We can be assured of salvation because, through that same work of Christ, we have been brought into a new relationship with God.  This is the grace in which we now stand.  We’re not enemies any longer.  We’re friends.  Actually, adopted children who are members of God’s family.
3. We can be assured of salvation because of the sure and certain hope we have that we shall see God.  We will see evidences of Him in this world.  We will see his face in the next.
4. We can be assured of salvation because of the way we are able to react to suffering in this world.  We see God’s purposes in them.  We see God working them out for good, even if others meant them as evil.  Unbelievers can’t do that.
5. We can be assured to salvation because God sent Jesus to die for us, not when were saved people, but when we sinners by nature.  God’s sworn enemies.
6. We can be assured to salvation because if we were saved from sin by Christ’s death, how much more will we be saved from wrath by His life?

Especially with this point number six, Paul is using a traditional Jewish debating technique.  For easy reference, let’s call it heavy and light.  It goes like this.

If a lesser truth is – let’s call that light – is accurate.  Then a greater truth based on the same principle – let’s call that heavy – must also be true.

Jesus used this technique often.  It was traditional for rabbis to do so.  For instance, Matthew 7:11.  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The overall principle  is plain.  The comparison is accurate.  Thus the conclusion is correct.  Evil people know how to give good things to the people they love.  This is light.  Obviously then, God, Who is the ultimate good, knows how to give good things to His children.  That’s the heavy.

The principle is true.  So is the conclusion.

The same technique works in the reverse.  If the heavy principle – the large statement is true, then the lesser statement – based on the same principle – the light one – must also be true.

That’s what Paul is saying in verses 9 and 10.  Since we have been justified by His blood, (That’s incredibly heavy), how much more will we be saved from wrath by His life?  (That’s still heavy – but much less of a task than being willing and able to forgive all the sins committed by everyone in the world).

Not only is our salvation assured – but it is assured for all time – past, present and future.

In the past, all Christians can accurately say that we have been saved.  There was a particular moment in time when it all made sense to us.  There was a particular moment when we believed.  The circumstances differ for everyone. The words are never the same.  But the eternal transaction is done.  Salvation is secured.

Yet in a very real sense, we are being saved even at this present moment.   Paul used the present tense in 1 Corinthians 1:18.  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Day by day, God is molding us into the image of His Son.  He is the Potter.  We are the Clay.  Each and every day, we are being saved.

Of course, there will be a time in the future when we will all be ultimately saved.  The work that Jesus did on the cross, the work of the Holy Spirit within us now – all this will be perfected and we will be glorified when Jesus returns.

And my friends, it won’t be long.  Your ultimate salvation – the personal return of Jesus Christ – is not far off.  I personally believe that it is closer than probably any of you imagine.  And I have strong prophetic reasons for my belief. 

Your ultimate salvation – your glorification --  IS in the future.  I believe it is in the near future.

OK. All that is true.  Therefore.

And the concept introduced by “therefore” is one of the most mysterious and wonderful concepts of Christianity.  It is our union with Jesus Christ.  This is what Paul means when he says we are saved through Jesus’ life.

There are three great unions in Scripture. 

First, there is the union between the three members of the Trinity.  The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.  We believe that our God is One – yet He is revealed in Scripture as Three Persons.  We can’t explain that.  Three persons in One God.  But the Bible teaches it.  So we believe it.

There is a second great union.  The union within the life of Jesus Christ.  He was, at once, all God and all Man.  One person.  Not multiple personalities.  This is mysterious.  Just to show you how mysterious, here is now the Council of Chalcedon described it.

“Jesus is acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisible, inseparably;  the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature, being preserved, and concurring, in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into persons, but on e and the same Son.”

If you understand that, you’re a better theologian than me.  I don’t understand it.  But I believe it because the Bible seems to teach it.

It’s like that with the union of believers with Jesus.  We may not be able to fully understand it, but we are forced to accept it because the Bible teaches it.

For instance, Jesus taught that I am the vine and you are the branches.  John Chapter 15.  Christ nourishes us.  That takes a connection, a union.  In my opinion, that’s where the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives comes from.

On the Lord’s Supper which we just celebrated. Jesus said I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry.    He told the Samaritan woman, I am the Living Water.  Whoever drinks of this water I will give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to everlasting life (John 4:13-14).

That’s union.

The church is the body of Christ and He is the head.  That’s union.  The church is the bride of Christ, and He is the bridegroom.  That’s union.  We are one with Christ.  Perhaps I’m going to have to come back to this in other sermons to fully explain it.  It is a cherished, vital and often neglected Christian doctrine.  Our union with Christ.

But Paul presents something else.  And it something of which we see evidence every day.  Our union with Adam.

Verse 12.  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—

And verse 18.  Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

So.  There were two great acts in history.  And only two.  The act of Adam – an act of disobedience that brought condemnation and death to us all.  And the act of Jesus Christ – an act of obedience that brought justification and life to us all.

The awful results were brought to us by our union with Adam.  The wonderful results were brought to us by our union with Jesus Christ.

And because we ALL were in union with Adam, sin is universal and so is death.  Why does everyone sin.  Why does everyone die?   Just on the basis of the law of averages, wouldn’t you think that every once in a while, there would be some sinless people?  Don’t we hear philosophers say that if we gave a million monkeys typewriters, sooner or later one would bang our Shakespeare?  Well, why not one in a million people being sinless?  One in a billion?

Every once in a while, wouldn’t simple rules of probability indicate that – sooner or later – someone would come along who would never die?  Why doesn’t that happen?  Why are the rules of sin and death so inexorable?  Because mankind if one with Adam.  We are in union with him.

And if you can accept that – and all evidence indicates that to be the case – then don’t you see that our union with Christ is just as universal, just as certain, just as lasting?

If you can accept the certainty of your salvation – your sure and certain hope – then you will quickly see – as Paul did – that death is not natural.  In fact, it is the most unnatural of acts.  It is the punishment of God for sin.

And, therefore, God sent salvation through Jesus Christ.  And through the obedience of Jesus Christ, salvation becomes the most natural of acts because it produces life.  Real, lasting, meaningful life.

The natural question about all this is HOW?  WHY?  What happened with Adam that affected us all in such a terrible way?  And how did what was accomplished by Jesus Christ transform us in such a wonderful way? Why?  How?

The only explanation that I can come up with is that somehow, Adam was appointed by God to be a representative of the entire human race.  If he stood, we all stood.  If he fell, we all fell.  When he fell, he died.  When he fell, death came to us all.

Is that fair?  Not really.  Is that cruel?  Not really.

Look at it this way, if Adam hadn’t been the universal cause of sin and death – all delivered through one man.  Then how could Jesus have been the source of all salvation and life – again, all through one man?

OK, let me give it to you from a completely different point of view.  Here’s an interesting question.  If you had to be judged by God, would you rather be judged in union with Adam…or based on just your own actions?

Now before you answer too quickly, consider your life?  What bad things have you done?  What good things have you left undone?  Think about it all.

Now, think about Adam.  Would you rather be judged in union with him?  That is, would you rather be identified with his situation?  Well, let’s think about it.  He faced only one temptation.  You face a million of them.  His temptation was really just a little thing, don’t each from one tree.  You face a host of temptations, many of them severe.  He did not have a sinful nature, at least not before The Fall.  He was tremendously intelligent…and had a terrific genetic makeup.  You’d have to be pretty well wired to live for 930 years.  He had a perfect environment.  He had a perfect companion.  Wow.  And God was willing to just us in Adam rather than ourselves?  In a manner of speaking, we got off pretty well.

But the absolute best part is that because decided that we would all be judged in Adam, then that meant that we could all be called to God through Jesus Christ and joined with Him.  You might say that that we didn’t deserve to be judged in Adam.  And you’d be right.  But you could absolutely say that we don’t deserved to be joined with Christ and justified through Him.  And you’d be even more right.

Now, what does this mean?  This assurance of salvation.  What does it mean, in practical terms, that we have a sure and certain destiny in Christ?  What does that mean now?  What does it mean in the future?

Well, it all comes down the manner in which we will be judged.  Will we be judged legally, found guilty and punished.  Or will we be judged positively, found deserving and be rewarded.?

The answer is simple.  Those found outside of Christ will be found guilty and punished.  Those in Christ will be found worthy and rewarded.  That’s the way it is.  And that’s the way it will be.

Legal judging is like a court room.  Evidence is presented.  The verdict is given.  Punishment is imposed.  If you are outside of Christ, all the evidence of everything you have ever done wrong will be presented.  You WILL be convicted. And you will be punished, eternally.

If you are in Christ, you will be judged in a completely different manner.  You will be judged on the basis of achievement, much like a beauty pageant, or athletic event or American Idol.  They don’t run Miss America to find out who is not the ugliest.  They try to find the woman who is the most beautiful and talented.

We play football to find out which team is best.  We run races to see who is the fastest.  We hold elections to see which candidate has the most support.  Each is a type of positive judgment.  And those in Christ will be judged in the very same way.

Assurance of salvation guarantees that you will be rewarded for every good thing you have ever done.  Every good deed.  Every kind word.  Every wise word of counsel.  Every act of consideration or courtesy.  Every single one.  And not a single negative or hurtful thing you’ve done will ever be considered.  They will all be wiped out because now you are in union with your perfect Savior.

That’s what assurance of salvation means to you in the future. Now, what does it mean in the present?

Well, that’s simple.  If you are going to be eternally rewarded for every single good thing you ever do, don’t you think you should get busy right away and do as many good things as possible, every single day?

Unbelievers don’t have that option.  Every day they fashion their eternal chains.

You as a believer, on the other hand, DO have that option.  Every day, you fashion your crown.