Blessed Assurance and Joy of Salvation

By Eugene Chang

Good morning brothers, sisters, and friends. How great and awesome it is to be able to be all together this Sunday morning, worshipping and praising our Lord. I thank God for your prayers and your support of me and the ministry that God has called me to. I also thank the church, especially Pastor Lee for giving me the opportunity to share with you this morning.

I pray that God will use me as His vessel and speak through His servant today and that we will all open our hearts to the Word of God this morning. Please join me in prayer, before we go into today’s message. (short prayer)

If you recently have had the experience of receiving Christ, you may have had times when you doubted the reality of that experience; Or you may be a Christian who has wondered or doubted about your salvation. That is, you may have questioned whether you were really saved. Without the real assurance of salvation as a solid foundation, it is difficult for any Christian to grow and experience the deeper things of the Christian life. Nevertheless, the Bible says it is possible to know without any doubt that you are a saved person.

Let us read 1 John 5:13. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." It is not that "you may think", not "that you may feel", or not that "you may hope" but that you may know. We do not need to wait until we die to find if we are really saved. This blessed assurance in Christ is for us to enjoy today.

How can we have the blessed assurance of Salvation ? First of all, we have assurance of salvation through God’s word. While man’s word may be untrustworthy, God’s word remains sure and steadfast. Let us look quickly at Hebrews 6:18 and Numbers 23:19. From these verses, we can see that it is impossible for God to lie. Whatever God says stands firm forever. Psalm 119:89 state, "Your Word O Lord is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens."

What God has said is not a matter of conjecture. His Word is neither vague or intangible. It comes today to us in written form, through the Bible.

The Bible is God’s very Word, inspired by him. It is alive and sharper than a two edged sword. We can take the word, believe the Word and trust the Word.

What then does God say about salvation ? He says that the way of Salvation is only through Jesus Christ. Jesus says in john 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, except through me." Whoever believes that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and saved. From Romans 10:9-13, we learn that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We have been forgiven and made clean through the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross of Calvary.

Have you done this ? Have you believed in Christ and openly confessed that He is your Lord ? Have you called on His name ? If so, you are really saved. I praise God that many of us today have already made decisions, but if you have yet to due so, friend I urge you to continue to look to the Lord and open up your heart and life to Him.

Not only do we have God’s Word outside us telling us we are saved, we also have a witness inside us, telling us the same thing. What the Bible speaks to us from without, the Spirit confirms within. 1 John 5:10 shows us that "Anyone who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in His heart."

Sometimes in our Christian walk, there may be times when we might not feel saved. Nevertheless, if we check within our deepest part of our being, with our Spirit, we will find a kind of inner witness, that we are children of God. "The Spirit Himself witnesses with our Spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16)." If you doubt that you have this inner witness of the Spirit, try this experiment. Try declaring boldly, "I am not a child of God!" You will find it very difficult to even whisper such a falsehood. Why? Because the Holy Spirit within you bears witness that you are a Child of God.

The third means of assurance is our genuine love for other brothers and sisters in Christ. 1 John 3:14 says, "we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death."

A saved person undoubtedly senses a kind of love for others who are also saved. You sense a desire to fellowship, to enjoy Christ with others. This is the spontaneous result of being saved, one of the clearest signs of a saved person. This love transcends the cheap, selfish "love" of today’s age. It is a love that is impartial- it loves those who are alike and those who are different. This is the real oneness and harmony the world longs for. Psalm 133:1 states, "How good and how pleasant it is when brothers live in unity." This is a true and living testimony of a saved person. If we are Christians, we will care about the Great commission and other people.

By these three witnesses, God’s Word, the Spirit’s inner witness, and our love for other brothers and sisters, we can know and be sure that we are really saved.

After receiving the blessed assurance of salvation, one might begin to ponder about the security of that salvation. I’m saved today, but will I be saved tomorrow ? Is it possible for me to lose my salvation ? This no longer is a question of assurance, but rather one of being secure.

A man with millions in the bank has the assurance that the riches are his. But if the bank insists on leaving their vaults unlocked, our rich friend will have a real problem with security of his riches. He knows he is rich today, but he does not know about tomorrow.

Is our salvation like that ? Is it something which we have today, but may lose at any moment ? The answer I believe is no. As a Christian, I truly hold fast to Ecclesiastes 3:14 which states, "I know that every thing God does will endure forever."

One wonderful act regarding our salvation in Christ is that it is irreversible. Once we have been saved, we do not need to be saved again. Jesus Christ paid the price for us and through His, death, burial, and resurrection, we are able to be in a relationship with God. We are saved and have become a new creation in Him, with the Holy Spirit guiding our lives. Our salvation is forever because our salvation has as its very basis, the very nature and person of God.

We can see that salvation was initiated by God the Father. Jesus, told the disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go bear fruit-fruit that will last." In other words, salvation was God’s idea, not ours. We were chosen and even predestined by God. Furthermore, from Romans 8:29-30, we see that it was God who called us. Since it was God’s plan to save us in the first place, it is also His plan to keep us in that salvation. Could God choose us, mark us out, call us into salvation, and then just abandon us. No, God’s salvation is eternal.

Furthermore, God’s love and grace toward us are not conditional or temporary. It was not love from our side, or something that we did that saved us. Rather, it was love from God, that he loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He loved us with an eternal love. 2 Tim. 1:9 states show us that God’s grace toward us was given in Christ Jesus before the beginning of Time. When Christ loves us, He loves us to the fullest. Romans 8:38-39 shows that no failure, or weakness on our part or any other thing in this world present or future can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But our salvation is not only based on God’s love and His grace, but even more upon God’s righteousness. Our God is a righteous God. Psalm 89:14 states that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. If God was unrighteous, then His throne would lose its foundation. Therefore, if our salvation involves God’s righteousness, it is very strong indeed.

Suppose you are caught speeding on Anderson Road and are given a traffic ticket. That fine is a righteous penalty, and the law of the city of Davis demands that you pay it. If a civil judge simply overlooks your offense and releases you without paying, he is an unrighteous judge. It is not a matter of whether or not the judge loves you; he is bound by the law to collect the fine.

In the same way, our problem before God before we were saved can be interpreted as a legal one. We had broken God’s law by sin and had thus incurred the law’s righteous judgement. According to the law of God, where transgression of the law is, death must take place. It is not a matter of God loving us, overlooking our sins, and forgetting about the law’s judgment. If God were to do this, His very throne would topple. God is bound by His own law to judge sin.

But since God loves us, desired to save us, and since we could not pay the debt of sin ourselves, God in His very mercy decided to do it himself. Jesus Christ, came to die on the cross to pay the debt of our sin. Having no sin Himself, He alone was qualified to die this death for the sins of humanity. Thus, through the blood of the innocent lamb, Jesus Christ, our debt of sin is righteously paid and we are able to have salvation and be in a relationship with God.

Now, can God take back this salvation which Christ has purchased ? No, because since Christ paid the debt, it would be unrighteous for God to demand it again. The same righteousness which formerly called for our condemnation now calls for our justification. What powerful security this gives to our salvation. Thus from the Bible it is declared that when God saves, a righteousness from Him is revealed to us (Rom 1:17).

When we were saved, we not only received something; we also became something. We became children of God, born of eternal life. A human father may be able to take back a gift he has given to his child, but he can never take back the human life that he imparted. Although the child may misbehave, the child is still the father’s. In the same way, we are God’s children. Even though we have many weaknesses, and may require His discipline, our faults cannot change the fact that we are His Children. God disciplines those that He loves. He also is a God who is faithful and just to forgive us when we do confess our faults and sins to Him. The life that we received from our second birth is the eternal life, a life that through God lasts forever. Once we are born again, we can never be "Un-born."

God’s strength is another reason for our security. We have a God who is strong and is our strength and comfort in our time of weakness. God is unwilling to allow anything or anyone to snatch us from him. Jesus said in John 10:28-29, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My father is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my hand. The hands of God the Father and the hands of our Lord Jesus, are two strong hands holding us fast. Even if we try to run away from our father, it is impossible. From Jonah, we can see that God is still there with us and never leaves us.

If it were really possible for us to lose our salvation, then I probably might have been the first person to lose it. As human beings, we go through many changes. One day we might really be on fire, then another day not be interested in reading the word or evangelizing. But our salvation is not based upon our feelings. It is rooted and grounded in a God who is unchanging in His love and faithfulness toward us. James 1:17 shows that God does not change like shifting shadows. God’s love and compassion do not fail; they are new every morning. Great is the faithfulness of God. If He loved us enough to save us, He surely loves us enough to keep us in that loving relationship with Him. Great and awesome is the faithfulness of our God.

Finally, Christ Himself has promised to keep us, uphold us, and never leave us. Although men are often unrighteous in keeping their promises, Christ will never fail to accomplish what He pledges. In John 6:37, Christ says that whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. We also have the promise of Hebrews 13:5 that God will never leave us or forsake us.

What powerful security our salvation has! We have God’s selection, His predestination, His calling, His love, His grace, His righteousness, His life, His strength, His unchanging faithfulness, and His promises as the foundation and security of our salvation. As Christians, we can truthfully declare with Paul’s words of 2 Tim. 1:12 that We know whom we have believed, and that we are convinced that he is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him to that day."

Brothers and sisters and friends, we have examined the assurance of our salvation, and also the security of the salvation. But I believe if we stopped there, we would be forgetting about another part related to salvation. Unfortunately, many people only focus on going this far. That is, having salvation, but having little enjoyment or joy of that salvation. But there is more than just being saved from the flames. God also desires that we have joy in the Lord.

Our friend with millions in the bank may have the assurance that he is rich, and he may have the security of knowing that his deposit is safe. But if he never spends his money, or takes time to rest or take a vacation, we can hardly say he has enjoyed his riches. Objectively speaking he may be rich, but in his practical experience he has nothing.

This illustration is similar to the condition of some Christians today. They are saved, but in their daily life they have little or no experience of the unsearchable gifts of Christ. However, God’s intention is that we not only have Christ, but that we enjoy Him to the fullest. Philippians 4:4 states, "rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. The normal condition of a Christian is to "be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." The greatest enjoyment I believe for a Christian is to be together with others who love and enjoy Christ. No human words can utter the sweetness that we experience when we praise Him and share His love with others. There is something very special about being together as a church to worship and praise Him.

But nearly all of us will admit that there are times, even many times when we do not have this overflowing joy. Does this mean that we have lost our salvation ? Absolutely not ! Our salvation is based upon God, not upon us, But it is possible to lose the joy of that salvation.

I’ve been a Christian for almost 11 years and involved in ministry for close to 10 years, but I was wondering if my joy was still the same when I had first became a Christian. Do I still have the same love and passion for God, the church and others that I had when I was 12 years old ?

Just like many of you, I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. There is nothing better that I can imagine doing than following the Great commission and using my life to serve Him. I thank God for allowing me to be His Servant, a preacher of the Gospel, to help start and also revitalize several churches, to share His word at conferences, teach & train up church leaders, and to help serve/ minister in other ways, but I also admit that there have been a few times in my life that the joy was not at where it should have been.

For example, I remember the joy I had when the Lord allowed me to help baptize over 50 believers in a waste canal in 1993. Or when a taxi driver pulled over where he saw water and asked me if he could be baptized. Or when I had the chance to share the Gospel to thousands of young people. But recently, when I was helping baptized some 12 believers at a sister church in Arizona, many of us started getting restless when the testimonies began to drag and things were behind schedule. Instead of having the excitement and joy of Christ, it became a burden to some. Instead of allowing the Spirit to be in charge, we sometimes desire to do ministry and work on our own, and very rarely does it end in joy. Rather this often ends in burn out and frustration.

What are some things that cause us sometimes to lose our joy ? The first item is sin. Joy depends on having unbroken fellowship with God, but sin separates us from Him and Isaiah 59:1-2 state that sin causes God to hide His face.

The second is grieving the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30-32 tells us to not grieve the Holy Spirit and to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. We are to be kind and compassionate to one another.

When we are saved, we become God’s temple and have His Spirit in us. 2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us that the Spirit within us is that of Christ Jesus. Like every living person, He also has feelings and attitudes. Thus, when we speak or do things contrary to Him, He is grieved with us. When the Holy Spirit is grieved, our spirit which according to 1 Cor. 6:17 is joined to Him, is also grieved. And the consequence is that we thus lose our joy.

Our salvation is like a rock because it is based in Jesus Christ. But the joy in our salvation is like a delicate flower, easily upset by a little breeze. Therefore, it is something we must cultivate and nourish. Now, then what are ways of keeping and maintaining our joy ? How can we take the knowledge of what we’ve discussed and apply it to our lives ?

First, we can confess our sins. As I was preparing this sermon, the Spirit was convicting me and truly humbling and showing me of his love and His grace. When we confess our offenses and transgressions to the Lord, His blood cleanses us and our fellowship with Him is restored.

To maintain our joy, we also need to be in the Word. We can be in the word through going to church, fellowship, Sunday school, and also through personal reading and study.

We need to take God’s word as our food. Jeremiah 15:16 states that when your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God almighty." Often we discover that after reading and praying over God’s Word, our heart is filled with peace and joy. I do not know of any starving man who is happy. Likewise, we should not remained famished Christians. We should continually feed and feast on God’s Word, because we do not live on bread alone, rather we live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

We can also pray. Often after opening our heart and speaking out to the Lord, we sense a deep joy and refreshment. Isaiah 56:7 says, He will cause us to rejoice in His house of prayer. Real prayer is not the recitation of word or familiar phrases; rather it is a pouring out of our heart and spirit to the Lord. In John 16:24, Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete" There is nothing better than praying and spending time talking with God.

To maintain our joy, we also need to fellowship with believers. The greatest enjoyment for a Christian is to be together with others who love the Lord. No human words can utter the sweetness we experience when we praise Him and speak about Him together. First John 1:3-4 says, that we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard that you may also have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. Real fellowship is not a duty, but an enjoyment. Genuine friendship with believers is something very special and dear that I truly cherish and thank God for.

Because we have joy, we can also use our lives to serve and help others. Out of God’s grace and the overflow of the love and joy that He’s given us, let us use our lives to also touch others and make a difference in our church, community, and families.

God has given us all an opportunity to show our love and joy through serving and helping with Vacation Bible School. I really pray that God will move people today to fill out applications and get involved in this ministry that has the potential of reaching over 100 kids and their families. If you have questions about VBS, feel free to ask about how you can be involved.

Now my friends, VBS, is just one of many important areas of ministry and service in which we can serve in the church. There are many needs and areas in our church and our community, that I believe each one of us can be a part of. We need to obey God’s call and ask Him to show us what role he wants us to play in helping to fulfill the great commission.

We are not serving or doing something to gain our salvation, because we know that it is only through faith, and not by works that we have salvation. Rather, when we serve, we are putting our faith in action, and going beyond the talk, and living the walk, because we love God and have found joy in the Christian life that He has called us to.

Pastor Tony has been speaking on the theme of worship. Taking what we have learned today or might have already known before, we can be sure that we have the blessed assurance and security of our salvation. We can also have complete and true joy in the Lord.

May we also draw closer to Him and be in His Word. May our joy and the passion fire in our heart once again be that of what it was when we first came to know Christ. Let us continue to praise God with all our heart, mind, and soul and worship Him in the truth for giving us the salvation that He’s given us through His son. Please bow with me in prayer.

Title: Blessed Assurance and Joy of Salvation
By: Eugene Chang
Series: Miscellaneous Topics
Date: 5/30/99