THE ASSURANCE OF EVERY BELIEVER

TEXT: 1 PETER 1:23
AIM: To be acquainted with the fact that God wanted us to be assured of our salvation.


INTRO:
God wants believers to be assured of their salvation. He wants them to know without doubt that, having repented and trusted in Jesus, they have eternal life and will never perish (John 3:16; 6:47; 10:28;Heb 6:11,17-20; 7:25; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:12-13).

MESSAGE:

I. WHAT GOD PROMISES TO EVERY BELIEVER
A. God promises believers eternal security, and his promises are certain. God is faithful, and his promises can be trusted (John 6:37; Rom 10:13; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Tim 2:19; Heb 10:22-23; 1 Peter 1:5).
B. The believer’s salvation depends not on anything they have done, but on what God has done for them in Christ. Through Christ’s death, God has forgiven their sins and brought them into a new relationship with himself. God now accepts them as being ‘in Christ’ (Rom 3:24-25; 5:1; 8:1,33-34; Eph 1:7; Heb 10:14,17-18,22; Jude 24).
C. Further assurance comes from the fact of God’s election. In his sovereign will and grace, God has elected, or chosen, believers to be his children, to have eternal life, to escape the wrath of God, and to share with Christ in the full blessings of the age to come (John 1:12-13; 6:37-39; Rom 8:29-30; Eph 1:4; 1 Thess 1:4; 5:9; 2 Tim 1:9).
D. Nothing can separate them from the love of God (Rom 8:35- 39; Eph 2:4-5)
E. Wereceive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of their eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit is God’s mark of ownership upon them (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30; 1 John 4:13).

II. THE BELIEVER’S RESPONSE
A. Believers are aware within themselves that they are children of God (Rom 8:16).
B. An added assurance within believers comes from a variety of experiences relating to their new life, such include:
1. Our desire to obey God (1 John 2:3-6),
2. Our sensitivity to sin (2 Tim 2:19; 1 John 3:4-10,19-21)
3. Our awareness of God’s discipline in our lives (Heb 12:5-8)
4. Our love for others (1 John 3:14-15)
5. Our desire to know more of God and his Word (1 Peter 2:2-3)
6. Our constant perseverance in the faith (Mark 4:18-20; 1 Peter 1:6-9; Heb 6:11-12).

CONCLUSION:
Without these evidences of a changed life, those who claim to have assurance of salvation are deceiving themselves (Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:4,9-11; 3:10; cf. Matt 7:22-23, 25:41-46).

CHALLENGE:
As believers, let us be aware that we are children of God and therefore should act like one.