STUDY 4: GAINING ASSURANCE OF SALVATION (PART B)

AIM: This study is designed to explain the basis upon which we gain assurance in our new relationship.

MEMORY VERSE 6: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn.5:11-13)

The Vast Nature of the Promises of Your Salvation:

1. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO TELL LIES: 16 And the Lord met the prophet Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to King Balak, and thus shall you speak … 19 God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? (Num.23:16 & 19).

QUESTION:

How does the truthfulness of God compare with your own? Can a sinner’s failure cancel out God’s promises?

2. GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW JESUS IS THE SAVIOUR AND THE SON OF GOD: 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name (Jn.20:30-31).

QUESTION:

What do you conclude about Jesus from John’s Gospel?

3. GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE SAVED: 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life (1 Jn.5:10-13).

QUESTION:

Can you really know that you have eternal life? Can you be sure? What makes a person a true Christian?

4. YOU ARE GIVEN SALVATION BY GOD’S GRACE: 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph.2:4-9).

QUESTION:

What have you contributed to your new life in Christ? What does your salvation tell you about God?

5. GOD’S GOAL FOR YOU AS HIS CHILD: 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the most honoured firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified (Rom.8:28-30).

QUESTION:

What is God’s plan for you? How can you be sure God intends to complete what He has begun?

6. YOUR DESTINY AS A CHILD OF GOD: 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself (Phil.3:20-21).

QUESTION:

What can Christian believers look forward to in future? How is such a change possible?

7. GOD’S MARK OF OWNERSHIP IDENTIFIES YOU AS HEAVEN-BOUND: 13 In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory (Eph.1:13-14).

QUESTION:

What is the guarantee of your inheritance? How does God know that you belong to Him?

MORE:
How do you know that you belong to God? – 2 Cor.1:20-21 …