John MacArthur - Saved without a doubt: being sure of your salvation

SAVED WITHOUT A DOUBT

Published by David C Cook

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com; PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English , revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.)

The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2011926835

ISBN 978-1-4347-0295-1

eISBN 978-1-4347-6677-9

1992, 2011 John MacArthur Jr.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

First edition published by Victor in 1992
John MacArthur Jr., ISBN 1-56476-017-0.

The Team: Alex Field, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, Karen Athen

Cover Design: Amy Kiechlin Konyndyk

Cover Photo: iStockphoto 9389644

Third Edition 2011

CONTENTS

: Is It a Done Deal?

What the Bible Teaches about the Lasting Nature of Salvation

A Collective Work

Those Troubling Verses

The Ties That Bind

The Inevitable Glory

: Is It Real?

How You Can Tell Whether You Are Truly a Christian

Eleven Tests from an Apostolic Expert

: Is It Something I Can Feel?

How You Can Experience the Assurance of a Secure Salvation

Dealing with Doubt

Adding Virtue upon Virtue

Gaining Victory

Persevering through It All

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the staff of Grace to You who lent their editorial expertise to this project. Particular thanks goes to Allacin Morimizu, who arranged and edited this book from sermon transcripts.

INTRODUCTION

Its a heartache to me as a pastor to realize that so many Christians lack assurance of their salvation. They lack the confidence that their sins are truly forgiven and their place in heaven is eternally secure. The pain I feel over this issue was heightened as I read this letter:

Ive been attending Grace Church for several years. As a result of a growing conviction in my heart, your preaching, and my seeming powerlessness against the temptations which arise in my heart and which I constantly succumb to, my growing doubts have led me to believe that Im not saved.

How sad it is, John, for me not to be able to enter in because of the sin which clings to me and from which I long to be free. How bizarre for one who has had advanced biblical training and who teaches in Sunday school with heartfelt conviction! So many times I have determined in my heart to repent, to shake loose my desire to sin, to forsake all for Jesus, only to find myself doing the sin I dont want to do and not doing the good I want to do.

After my fiance and I broke up, I memorized Ephesians as part of an all-out effort against sin, only to find myself weaker and more painfully aware of my sinfulness, more prone to sin than ever before, and grabbing cheap thrills to push back the pain of lost love. This occurs mostly in the heart, John, but thats where it counts and thats where we live. I sin because Im a sinner. Im like a soldier without armor running across a battlefield getting shot up by fiery darts from the enemy.

I couldnt leave the church if I wanted to. I love the people, and Im enthralled by the gospel of the beautiful Messiah. But Im a pile of manure on the white marble floor of Christ, a mongrel dog that sneaked in the back door of the Kings banquet to lick the crumbs off the floor, and by being close to Christians who are rich in the blessings of Christ, I get some of the overflow and ask you to pray for me as you think best.

I was struck by how eloquently the author of that poignant letter expressed his feelingsfeelings Ive discovered to be common among many sincere Christians. Yes, many.

Two years ago, as I began preaching through 2 Peter, I embarked on an eight-part study of the assurance of salvation. Invariably after each service, people would come to me and say, Until tonight I have never experienced assurance. They repeatedly thanked me for speaking on the topicand thanked God for the clarity of His Word on assurance.

That experience made me acutely aware of the need for biblical clarity on assuranceespecially on how it relates to our emotions as believers. I found myself wondering how a person could take the monumental, life-changing step of becoming a Christian, yet not be assured of the results. My assurance is essential to the way I respond to life as a Christian. I cannot imagine living without it. Every true Christian should enjoy the reality of his or her salvation. Not to have that assurance is to live in doubt, fear, and a unique form of misery and spiritual depression.

Undeserved Assurance

Now, some people have assurance who have no right to it. An old spiritual put it simply and directly: Everybody talkin about heaven aint going there. Some feel all is well between them and God when it isnt. They dont understand the truth about salvation and their own spiritual condition.

Many people ask me why I speak and write so frequently on salvation and spiritual self-examination. Often they fear that what Ive said will undermine the assurance of true Christians. Of course I have no desire to do that, but to maintain a balanced perspective on the issue, I recall that Jesus said:

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. (Matt. 7:2123)

That passage haunts me. Like no other, it brings me face-to-face with the reality that many people are deceived about their salvation. Im sure the apostle Paul felt that way when he said to the church at large, Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! (2 Cor. 13:5).

How do people acquire a false sense of assurance? By receiving false information about salvation. Much of our modern-day evangelism contributes to that through what I call syllogistic assurance.

A syllogism has a major premise and a minor premise that lead to a conclusion. Lets consider John 1:12: As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. The major premise: Anyone who receives Jesus becomes Gods child. The minor premise: The person you just witnessed to received Christ. Conclusion: The person must now be a child of God. That seems logical, but the problem is, you dont know whether the minor premise is truewhether the person truly received Christ. Beware of trying to assure people of their salvation based on an untested profession. True assurance is the reward of tested and proven faith (James 1:24; 1 Peter 1:69). And its the Holy Spirit who gives real assurance (Rom. 8:16).