being sure about salvation part 4

Being Sure About Salvation

Is there a way to tell who is

a true Christian and who is not?

www.confidentchristians.org

“There is no question whatsoever, that is of greater importance to mankind, and what is more concerns every individual person to be well resolved in, than this: What

are the distinguishing qualifications of those that are in favor with God, and entitled

to his eternal rewards?”-Jonathan Edwards

A Treatise Concerning Religious AffectionsPage 1



The Evidences of Being Lost

Human Birth Experience / Old Nature

Fleshly Affections

Positive / Negative

Love things of world / sin

Reject God / things of God

Fruit

Works

Personal life

Darkened Mind

Reject Spiritual Truth

Mind centered on self/flesh

Maturing/Growth Process

Away From Toward

God & Holy Things

Self & Sinful Things

Sinful Motion


The Evidences of Salvation

New Birth / New Nature

Holy Affections

Positive / Negative

Love God/Things of

God

Hate sin / world / enemies of

God

Fruit

Works

Personal life

Renewed Mind

Accept Spiritual Truth

Mind of the Sprit in Holy

living

Maturing/Growth Process

Away From Toward


God & Holy Things

Holy Motion


“O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

“Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with

the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.” (Psalm 139:21–22)

“That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and

lifeless wishes, raising us but a little above a state of

indifference: God, in his word, greatly insists upon it, that we be

good in earnest, ‘fervent in spirit’, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion. . . . If we be not in good earnest in religion,

and our wills and inclinations be not strongly exercised, we are

nothing.” - Jonathan Edwards



The Struggle for Domination

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in

opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. [the new affections]” (Galatians 5:16–17)

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ” (Romans 7:15)

“Hence the work of the Spirit of God in regeneration is often in Scripture compared to the giving a new sense, giving eyes to see, and ears to hear,

unstopping the ears of the deaf, and opening the eyes of them that were born blind, and turning from darkness unto light. And because this spiritual sense is

immensely the most noble and excellent, and that without which all other principles of perception, and all our faculties are useless and vain; therefore

the giving this new sense, with the blessed fruits and effects of it in the soul, is compared to a raising the dead and to a new creation.”

-Jonathan EdwardsA Treatise Concerning Religious Affections



The Move toward Holiness

Away From Toward

God & Holy Things


Sinful Motion

Away From Toward


God & Holy Things

Holy Motion

Old Nature

New NatureD

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“As from true divine love flow all Christian affections, so from a counterfeit love in like manner naturally flow other false

affections. In both cases, love is the fountain, and the other affections are the streams.”



Five Teachings of Christ Provide the Details

1. The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount2. The end of the Sermon on the Mount3. The parable of the ten virgins4. The parable of the sower5. The parable of the wheat and the tares


Evidence from the Sermon on the Mount


The Saved The Unsaved

Know they need spiritual salvation Are ‘rich’ in themselves and see no need

Hunger for God’s righteousness Have no appetite for God’s righteousness

Mourn over their sin Laugh in their sin

Are rejected/persecuted by the world Are welcomed/accepted by the world


“Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And

uprightness cannot enter. Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.”

(Isaiah 59:14–15)

“The contrary affection of hatred also, as having sin for its object, is spoken of in Scripture as no inconsiderable part of true religion. It is

spoken of as that by which true religion may be known and distinguished; Prov. 8:13, ‘The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.’ So holy desire, exercised in longings, hungerings, and thirstings after God and holiness, is often mentioned in Scripture as an important part of true

religion.”-Jonathan Edwards

A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections



“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits.

Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad

fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and

thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15–20)



“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and

yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds

blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”(Matthew 7:24–27)


Evidence from the Parable of the Ten Virgins

• They were all the same outwardly• All had the same outward ‘mechanism’ for

producing light• The ‘oil’ in the parable is representative of the Holy

Spirit who is the One who produces life: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. . . . The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

• Without the life, the ‘torch’ won’t put forth light and remains in darkness

• What might the light represent? “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

• “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)


“All who are truly religious are not of this world, they are strangers here, and belong to heaven; they are born from above, heaven is their native country, and the nature which they received by this heavenly birth, is a

heavenly nature, they receive an anointing from above; that principle of true religion which is in them, is a communication of the religion of heaven; their grace is the dawn of glory; and God fits them for that

world by conforming them to it.”-Jonathan Edwards



Evidence from the Parable of the Sower

• The core types of unbelief include those who are:

• Unresponsive• Superficial• Worldly

• Only one soil produced a crop; a true evidence of saving faith

• “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2)


“They often hear these things [the truth of the gospel] and yet remain as they were before, with no sensible alternation in them, either in

heart or practice, because they are not affected with what they hear; and ever will be so till they are affected. I am bold to assert, that there

never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any person, by anything of a religious nature, that ever

he read, heard or saw, that had not his affections moved.”-Jonathan Edwards



A Comparison of the Findings


Passage Evidences of salvation Commentary

Sermon on the Mount (start) • Poor in spirit• Hunger for righteousness• Sad over sin• Persecuted by the world

Exact opposite is seen in those who are lost.

Sermon on the Mount (end) • Fruit of the person• Hear & practice Christ’s words

Good and bad treesbear their own fruit

Ten Virgins • Holy Spirit given• Lights shine in the world

Externally they all looked the same

The Sower • Hears & understands• Produces crop of differing sizes

No other ‘ground’ brought forth a crop. ¾ of the seed died

Wheat and Tares • Different from the very beginning• Takes time to see difference

Cannot judge instantly the state of a person


“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. . . . but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of

God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same

manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:3, 5–6)

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

(1 John 3:14)

“Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure

our heart before Him ” (1 John 3:18–19)

Subtle Marks of False Believers


• Seeks feelings, blessings, experiences, etc. More interested in the by-products of faith than the faith

• More committed to denomination than the Church and the Word of God. Describes themselves by their denomination

• Overindulgent in the name of grace. Lack of penitence and a true, contrite heart

• Says “I believe in God”, but nothing follows in their lives

“False affections, if they are equally strong, are much more forward to declare themselves, than true: because it is the

nature of false religion, to affect show and observation; as it was with the Pharisees.”



Overt Marks of False or Unbelievers


• No sensitivity to sin• No real desire to ready, study, or

learn about God’s Word• Does not grasp the truths of the

Bible if they read it• Desires the “food” of the world,

whether it’s the world’s music, entertainment, lifestyle, or comedy

• Sides with the world on ethical issues that conflict with Scripture (e.g. homosexuality)

• No or little meaningful prayer life• No desire to witness to others

about God

What Causes False Assurance?

1. Signed a card, walked the aisle, got baptized

2. Failure to self-examine their life where sin is concerned

3. Fixation on works4. Comparison game with

others


What if I’m doubting my

salvation?


A Quick Self-Exam

1. Do I have a longing for holy things?

2. Do I seek those things that honor God?

3. Am I sensitive to sin?4. Am I enjoying fellowship with

God?5. Do I delight in God’s Word and

ways?


“The devil does not assault the hope of the hypocrite, as he does the hope of a true saint.”



“It is not God’s design that men should obtain assurance in any other way, than by mortifying corruption, and increasing in grace, and

obtaining the lively exercises of it. And although self-examination be a duty of great use and importance, and by no means to be neglected; yet

it is not the principal means, by which the saints do get satisfaction of their good estate. Assurance is not to be obtained so much by self-

examination, as by action.”-Jonathan Edwards



Being Sure About Salvation

being sure about salvation part 4

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