[Pim Pendergast]

The Bible encourages us to "draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb 10:22; cf Heb 6:11). Yet we all struggle with doubt from time to time. The first thing to remember is that doubt is just a feeling. It has nothing to do with the objective fact of whether Jesus died for your sins or whether your name is in the Book of Life or whether you will be raised from the dead. If you feel hungry, does that make you a hamburger? The second thing to remember is that it is Satan, not God (Rom 8:1), who is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10; cf Zec 3:1). If you are saved yet you doubt your fitness for His kingdom, this comes from Satan. The Bible says so.

The problem with assurance is that the Bible makes it very clear it is possible to be deceived about your status. Many (see passage below) people think they are saved when in fact they are not.

Mt 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Yet clearly there must be some way you can know whether you are being deceived; otherwise you could never have full assurance of salvation. That's why I compiled the following list.

1. You have previously been certain you were saved
   
   Once saved, always saved. It is impossible to lose your salvation. No one ever has.
   
   Jn 10:28-29
   28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
   29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
   
   If God has begun a good work in you, He won't stop now.
   
   Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ . . .
   
   God's still working in the Philippian Christians today, 2000 years after these words were written.
   
   Just look around you. No true Christian has ever lost their faith. The apostates at places like ex-christian.net are all liars. They were never saved to begin with.
   
   
2. ALL your prayers are ALWAYS answered
   
   A good place to go if you want assurance of salvation is the First Epistle of John. If you're struggling with doubt, John wrote that letter specifically for people like you.
   
   1 Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
   
   And John goes on to tell us one way we can know we have eternal life: our prayers are always answered.
   
   1 Jn 5:14-15
   14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
   15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
   
   Are your prayers always answered?
   
   
3. You love ALL your fellow Christians
   
   John also tells we can know are saved if we love all our brothers and sisters in Christ -- yes, even if they sin against us (Mt 18:21-22).
   
   1 Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
   
   Note that John does not say he who hates his brother abides in death, but he does not love his brother abides in death.
   
   
4. You NEVER sin
   
   After exhorting us to "draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Heb 10:22), the author of Hebrews continues:
   
   Heb 10:26-27
   26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
   27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
   
   We could also turn to the Epistle of James.
   
   Jas 2:17-18
   17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
   18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
   
   
5. You feel like you're saved
   
   Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God . . .
   
   1 Jn 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
   
   
6. You are persecuted for your faith
   
   Mt 10:17-18, 21-22
   17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
   18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
   [. . .]
   21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
   22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
   
   Jn 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
   
   2 Tim 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
   
   

What to do if you struggle with doubt

The first thing to do is examine yourself.

2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Are you really saved? Have you been fooling yourself? You do not want to be assured of your salvation if you're like one of those poor fools Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:21-23. Be warned: your delusion may be irresistibly convincing if you're not saved.

Mt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

2 Thes 2:11-12
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Reasons you could be struggling with doubt

There are two main reasons you might be struggling with doubt:

1. You are being disciplined because of unconfessed sin or even confessed sin
   
   
   
   Ps 32:2-4
   2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
   3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
   4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
   
   It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict you of sin (Jn 16:8), and God will discipline you if you are guilty.
   
   Heb 12:5-8
   5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
   6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
   7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
   8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
   
   In fact, if God never disciplines you for sin, that would be proof you're not one of His children. I did mention in the subheading that God may even punish you even after you confess your sin. Remember the story of David and Bathsheba, how after David repented of committing adultery and murdering Uriah (2 Sam 12:13-14), God killed his baby anyway (2 Sam 12:15-23).
   
   
2. God is testing you
   
   One way you can have assurance of faith is if you endure suffering. However, the process of undergoing trials may cause you to fall into doubt. God sends suffering to test the steadfastness of our faith, so that the weak will fall away.
   
   Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
   
   Mt 13:20-21
   20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
   21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
   
   1 Pet 1:6-7
   6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
   7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ . . .
   
   

Conclusion

God wants you to have full assurance of faith, and He has shown through His Word how you may have it. If you are a visitor to these forums, I sincerely pray that whatever crisis of faith drew you here has now been resolved.

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