ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

GOD IS FAITHFUL

In 2Corinthians 5 Paul wrote with confident assurance of his present and future acceptance with God. He says:

‘Now we know …’ that when our physical body dies ‘we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven …Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling …’ – verses 1, 2.

‘Now it is God who made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come’ – verse 5.

‘Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’ – verse 6.

‘We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord’ – verse 8.

He was fully assured that when he died he would immediately be with the Lord in heaven, and he longed for that time. Consider what he said to the Philippians:

‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body’ – Philippians 1:21 – 24.

This confidence is not based on his own actions and merit, but on the faithfulness of God:

‘He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful’ – 1Corinthians 1:8, 9.

‘…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’ – Philippians 1:6.

‘May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it’ – 1Thessalonians 5:23, 24.

‘…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day’ – 2Timothy 1:12.

The writer to the Hebrews also expressed this strong confidence grounded on the faithfulness of God. Consider:

‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess … Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence …’ Hebrews 4:14, 16.

‘Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus …let us draw near to God …in full assurance of faith … Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful’ – Hebrews 10:19 – 23.

Peter also wrote of this confidence, a confidence grounded in the truth that our salvation, present and future, is in God’s hands, not ours:

‘In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time’ – 1Peter 1:3 – 5.

The assurance expressed by the apostles was three-dimensional:

They were confident of the believer’s present acceptance with God.

They were confident that physical death takes believers immediately into the presence of God.

They were confident that the salvation believers have in Christ is permanent, effective and sufficient right up to and including the day of final judgement. In fact, that day is not something to fear, but will reveal and implement the full blessedness of salvation.

Not because believers are perfect in themselves, but because God is faithful.

© Rosemary Bardsley 2026