At some point in our Christian journey, most of us have questioned the authenticity of our faith/salvation. This questioning can be good and is even Scriptural. The Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthians, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Corinthians 13:5a).*
What is not good, however, and what can lead to a form of Christian depression, is a constant fear or anxiety of asking, Am I even saved? God does not want His children constantly living in fear of if their salvation is secure. One purpose of the Book of Hebrews is to reaffirm the supremacy of Christ and how, as our High Priest, His sacrifice is all-sufficient to cleanse us from sin.
Growing up in church, I can recall hearing ministers asking if there were enough erasers in Heaven for all the times their names had been written in and out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. While this was said jokingly, it gets to the root of a critical question: How secure is our salvation? Are our names frequently written in and out of the Book of Life for committing a sin? How can we know we are indeed saved?
Some within the church have attempted to soothe these concerns with Calvinism. Calvinism is a theological belief system that stems from the teachings of John Calvin, who was a French theologian during the Protestant Reformation. As a Wesleyan-Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God has similarities in our beliefs with John Calvin, but we also have some major disagreements. The main difference is we do not teach as a denomination the Calvinist idea that God predestines some to Heaven while predestining others to eternal suffering in hell.
Just because God is all-knowing does not mean He will override the free will He gave humans.
There is a difference between an eternal God who sits outside of our limited human understanding of time knowing the decisions we will ultimately make, and a God predetermining what decisions we will make. The first allows the liberty seen in the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey. The second makes us slaves to the will of God even if it means doing evil and going to hell. Which sounds like a loving God?
The Church of God has never believed in limited atonement but rather that Christ died for all, and all can come into an everlasting relationship with Him. We also believe God has predestined His children “to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). In other words, God has predetermined that those who are born again and justified by faith are to continue to sanctification: being made into the image of God.
Those who have embraced Calvinism have embraced the idea of unconditional eternal security. The problem with embracing this theological stance is it is not Scriptural. The Bible teaches repeatedly that we can choose to depart from the faith. The main purpose of the Book of Hebrews was to encourage believers to continue in their salvation and not to fall away from the living God. As previously alluded to, Calvinists embrace the idea of being elect. The problem is that even by John Calvin’s admission, one can never really know if they are elected for Heaven or hell until after death. This idea, therefore, apart from not being Scriptural, offers no one any real assurance of their salvation. The good news is there is an alternative.
Within our Wesleyan theological heritage, there is the doctrine of assurance. It is linked to the doctrine of justification, which is the understanding/confidence that when we express saving faith in Christ Jesus, our sins are pardoned, and we are at peace with God (Romans 5:1). The doctrine of assurance is built on the all-sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice, which makes it a redemptive benefit available to all who believe. Again, we are encouraged to examine our faith, but at the end of the examination, as Christians, we should not walk away wondering if we belong to God. So, how can we know if we are children of God?
When we express saving faith in Christ Jesus, our sins are pardoned, and we are at peace with God.
The doctrine of assurance says we can have confidence in our salvation through the inward witness of the Spirit. This inward witness is twofold. There is a direct witness and an indirect witness. The direct witness is the Holy Spirit, who witnesses to the Christian’s spirit. Paul explained, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). The preceding verse says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” Again, fear or uncertainty of being a child of God is not something God desires for us. John Wesley elaborated on the Spirit’s witness by saying:
The testimony of the Spirit is an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God directly “witnesses to my spirit that I am a child of God”; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given himself for me; that all my sins are blotted out and I, even I, am reconciled to God.
There is also the indirect witness in the doctrine of assurance. The indirect witness comes from the Christian walking in the fruit of the Spirit. Only a child of God can walk in the Spirit, producing fruit bearing that reality. Jesus said, “So every good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:17a). The Spirit produces the inward fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). This inward fruit is expressed outwardly by walking in obedience to all the commandments of God and, therefore, doing good to all people.
Anyone claiming to be a child of God but not walking according to God’s way is making a false claim. Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16a). The indirect witness is, therefore, very important as it gives evidence that cannot be dismissed as simply feelings and emotion. Although assurance is linked to the forgiveness of sins at justification, it continues through sanctification as the Christian walks in holy love: love of God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). Considering we as Christians have seasons where we may feel like we bear more fruit than others, we must always remember our salvation is not built upon us but is built on the redemptive work of Christ.
Back to an earlier question: Does a sin blot me out of the Lamb’s Book of Life? First, sin can be a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. If we as Christians knowingly sin against God, then we must and should desire to repent of that sin. Regarding sins of omission, John wrote, “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The word cleanse here expresses the reality that as we walk by faith, the blood of Christ continually purifies us as believers!
In conclusion, we do not need to live a life stained by unease about where we stand with God. As Christians, we can live confidently and have assurance that we are the children of God. Through the direct witness of the Holy Spirit, “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Ephesians 1:14), God bears witness to our spirit that we are His beloved children (Romans 8:15-16). Second, through the indirect witness, which consists of walking in the Spirit and bearing spiritual fruit, we can test to see if we belong to Him.
While we do not need to experience assurance to be saved, it is the privilege of all Christians. May we rest in this assurance today!
*All Scripture quotations are from the 2020 New American Standard Bible.
Michelle Smith, Ph.D. in theology, is an evangelist.