Assurance | The Old Adam Lives!

How can I be sure???

Posted on April 19, 2010 by theoldadam

From-our-friend-David-at-Five-Pint-Lutheran

When were you saved?

On what day and in which hour did your life change?

Well you know that if you cannot recall a day that you became a believer you cannot know that you are saved, don’t you?

These questions can plague a believer to the point of distraction and doubt about salvation. They are based upon some concern for others by those who believe he or she had some part in salvation by making a choice. Some, who will deny free will, maintain there must be a point of time to which one can point for proof of salvation.

“We are not to look back to our conversion for assurance, but we must go to the Savior again and again, every day, as though we had never been converted.”

Read-the-rest-of-the-post-here

_______________________________________________________

Can God grab a hold of someone at a Billy Graham Crusade (or any crusade)?

I say, YES!

Can that person have any assurance in that decision that they made to accept Jesus into their heart as their personal Lord and Savior?

I say, NO! No assurance there.

What do you say?

________________________________________________________

Thanks, David, at http://fivepintlutheran.blogspot.com/ !

Filed under: Assurance, Free will | 25 Comments »

Nominal Christians and False Declarations of Faith

Posted on March 15, 2010 by theoldadam

I heard a very famous pastor from a large local church on the radio the other day. He was speaking about a friend of his (who is now a pastor), recalling how in the early days of this man’s walk with God that he was a “nominal Christian”.

I also know a couple of pastors who were discussing people’s “false declarations of faith”.

What I would like to know is just how we can know when either one of these scenarios is the truth about someone?

Is there any chance that some (or all) of those in the first photo, may not be Christians?

How about the guy in the second photo who is shooting up in the alley?

I am open to any thoughts that you might have on the subject.

Thanks.

Filed under: Assurance, Choosing God, Judging others, Obedience, Sanctification | 31 Comments »

Time to get busy

Posted on October 31, 2009 by theoldadam

Are you really sure that you belong to God?

Your baptism was ok (it’s just a symbol of your commitment to God)…but don’t you know that you must do some things to be a Christian?

You need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

You need to really work at not sinning. Where there is sin in your life, you must cut it out. Extinguish it.

You need to forget about worldly things and get serious about studying the Bible and get serious about sacrificing yourself for others.

Are you giving enough to the church?

Are you giving enough to the homeless and the elderly in the area where you live?

Are you focusing enough on the inward person, on your spirituality?

Are you praying enough?

If you think that there is room for improvement in any of these areas, don’t you think that might be a sign that your decision for God was really a lie? Maybe you were just trying to save your own skin and you really aren’t that concerned about pleasing Christ, or helping your neighbor.

If that’s the case, then you really ought to reconsider if you really are one of God’s children.

We’ll lay it all out for you. We’ll supply you with the proper list of what you should be doing, and what books you should be reading, and what Biblical principles you should be practicing. We’ll tell you exactly how emotional you need to get, and just exactly the best way to get those ‘feelings’ that will prove to yourself (and others) that you really belong to Jesus.

Remember, He really knows you and really knows all your most secret thoughts and fantasies. You can fool others, and even yourself…but you can’t fool God.

He knows all about you.

Are you sure you’re living the Christian life? Are you sure you are even a Christian?

_______________________________________________________

This is why the Reformation was necessary.

This is why it is still necessary.

What say you?

Filed under: Assurance, Doing, Reforming the Church | 15 Comments »

Assurance of Election

Posted on October 14, 2009 by theoldadam

The following is from our friend David at Five Pint Lutheran http://fivepintlutheran.blogspot.com/2009/10/assurance-of-election.html

Thank you, David!

Enjoy!

I have been asking a question to those who believe in Limited Atonement. “How, if Jesus did not die for every person, do you know you are died for?” The answers are numerous but all involve some type of inward peering. A fellow Lutheran reminded me of an article contained in the Canons of Dordt which shows this inward peering to be quite consistent.

Article 12: The Assurance of Election
Assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election to salvation is given to the chosen in due time, though by various stages and in differing measure. Such assurance comes not by inquisitive searching into the hidden and deep things of God, but by noticing within themselves, with spiritual joy and holy delight, the unmistakable fruits of election pointed out in God’s Word– such as a true faith in Christ, a childlike fear of God, a godly sorrow for their sins, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on.

The problem with all this turning into oneself for assurance is that oneself is where the problem sits. Either one will notice the absence of the above mentioned fruits of election and be cast into despair worse than before. On the other hand a person may notice these things or set about to work them up and be filled with pride and arrogance toward others who have not worked up these items. What a dreadful place to look since we are such dismal failures that we need saving by another. Why should we look to ourselves for any assurance?

Mark 7:20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” ESV

We see in the above statements of Jesus inward peering is the last thing we should be doing. Deceit and pride come out of the heart of a sinner. This is why we must always be looking outside ourselves for salvation and assurance of the same.

This is where Jesus points us for assurance:

John 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread [3] the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus [4] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. ESV

We see here a tangible way in which Jesus comes to us for the forgiveness of sin. Receiving the true body and blood of our Lord gives us the assurance we are forgiven and have eternal life and will be raised on the last day. In these promises we have Jesus located to bring the fruits of his life, death, burial and resurrection. Coming totally from outside us. No maudlin or prideful peering inwards to do spiritual measuring which are never accurate due to our sinfulness.

Lord may your body and your blood be for my soul the highest good!

Amen. †

________________________________________________________

Well, how about it?

I’d especially like to hear from you if you have another take on the ‘assurance’ of our salvation .

Thank you.

Filed under: Assurance | 26 Comments »

1. Are you ready?

Posted on July 13, 2009 by theoldadam

2. “Ready for what?”

3. “Ready for the Lord’s return!”

4. “Yes I am.”

5. “You don’t look like you are ready…your life is a mess! You’d better clean up your act before the Lord returns or you just might not make it!”

6. “____________________ “

( how would you fill in the response for line #6?)

Filed under: Assurance | 32 Comments »

Worried about your performance?

Posted on November 2, 2008 by theoldadam

When thoughts like that entered the head of Martin Luther, he would return to his baptism. He would return to the promises of God. He would leave the place of uncertainty and doubt and go the place of assurance, the place where God had acted…for Martin Luther.

Thoughts of uncertainty (are we really doing what we ought to be doing, are we really serious about living a Jesus shaped life, are we really believers?) do come to us from time to time, if you are really a sinner.

If you are really a sinner, it would be quite normal to doubt, because you are at heart a ‘non truster’. A ‘non truster’ in God.

That is why God didn’t leave this thing up to you. That is why God took hold of the reins and tells us, “I’ll handle everything…just trust in Me.” That is why God baptised (yes God did the real baptising) you.

But since the law is written upon our hearts, and since ‘doing’ (to justify ourselves) is our default position, we do not trust God… by nature.

So if you seem to be not quite cutting it in the being faithful department, don’t worry about it. Worrying is the ultimate lack of trust in God, anyway (that’s why Jesus tells us not to do it).

If you are not quite cutting it, or if you are an absolute failure at cutting it…and you know it, you are actually right where you ought to be. If you think you are doing alright at being faithful, maybe not pefectly, but a lot better than your neighbor Joe who says he’s a Christian but gets drunk on Friday night and doesn’t go to church and watches football all day on Sunday…well, if you think like that…you’ve got a problem. A self-righteousness problem. A performance problem. A performance hang-up. And the performance that you are hung-up on, usually isn’t your own.

Jesus is after folks that know their need of Himself. Those that believe they are doing pretty well are like the Pharisee in the Temple that Jesus compares to the tax collector (scum). The scummy tax collector knew what he was and knew that he needed the mercy of God. The Pharisee was being faithful, doing all the prescibed works of the law, but his heart was far from God. He didn’t need God. This is the danger of preaching biblical principles for living. It waters down the law and creates modern day Pharisees. It creates self-righteous people. It creates phoney people. It drives people away from the one place that they might hear the gospel…some of them never again to return.

If you are worried about your performance you are worrying for nothing. Your performance stinks. You might be doing some good works and then again you might not. That is not the point. The point is that you have a Savior. You have someone who’s performance for you was perfect and it is finished. He has graciously decided to give to you new life through faith, and He has made that faith real for you in His Word…in preaching…in the Bible… in His sacraments… in the encouragement of one another.

When doubts come into my head via the world, my own sinful flesh, or the devil…I return once again to the font. To the place where my Lord and Savior Christ Jesus has acted for me…has adopted me…has made me His own.

Don’t worry…be happy!

Filed under: Assurance, Baptism | 10 Comments »

So what will you do for God today?

Posted on September 2, 2008 by theoldadam

If you plan on doing something for God today, it had better be pretty darn spectacular. It had better be something far better than you’ve ever done before and better yet than you’ve ever even dreamed of doing.

I put it like that because God is not easily impressed. God doesn’t get giddy when He sees one of His creation doing something for Him which, quite frankly, doesn’t cut the mustard.

God does not need you to do cartwheels for Him and then looking up and saying,”pretty good, huh!”

God is not interested in your keeping His commandments for His sake. “The sabbath was made for man, man wasn’t made for the sabbath.”

There was really only one that has ever done the necessary work to impress God. There was only one that was of pure heart, of pure motives, who acted out of pure love and faithfulness to the Father. There was only one that heaped upon Himself the firery coals of our sinfulness. God was impressed by this one. One who would take the punishment onto Himself and willfully give up his life for those who murdered Him. This One impressed God so much that He answered the prayer to forgive the murderers, the liars, the thieves, the self obsessed idolators. This is what impresses God. Not our half-hearted efforts at obedience.

Jesus Christ has impressed God by His faithfulness and has asked the Father to forgive us…for His sake.

And now we are at peace with God because of Christ. No more struggling to do what is right that we might be acceptable in His sight. No more wondering if we have done enough to merit forgiveness and entry into Heaven. We have not, and will not. But He has, and He does, and He always will, that we might live with Him eternally.

So do not worry about what you can or should do for God. It has already been done…for you!

Now, in that great freedom, purchased for you with the blood of Jesus, go out and live the way that God always intended for you to live…in love for others. Realize that He is already pleased with you because of Christ. Realize that when you fall back upon yourself in sin that you ARE forgiven. Realize that now, in your baptism and in hIs supper, He has put to death the old sinner in you and is conforming and transforming you into the person that He wills you to be.

A much better question, then, is ‘what will you do for others today?’

Filed under: Assurance, Doing | 15 Comments »

How can you be sure?

Posted on August 31, 2008 by theoldadam

Baptism…that’s how.

Check out the great post concerning baptism and the assurance that God wants you to have in yours, over at http://fivepintlutheran.blogspot.com/

Who does the baptising?

If we do it, then how can we trust in it?

If God does it, then can’t it be fully trusted?

Does anything really happen in baptism, anyway?

Do you feel like you are a Christian and strong in the faith one day…and then the next day or week, you have almost forgotten about Jesus and wonder just how much of a Christian you really are?

Baptism is a topic that often flies under the radar, so we like to bring it out in the open every once in awhile.

Thanks to David over at ‘Five Pint Lutheran’ for bringing it to the fore yet once again.

Filed under: Assurance, Baptism | 10 Comments »

Looking Good…on Wood.

Posted on August 18, 2008 by theoldadam

Do you look good on wood?

If you’re going to have anything to do with Jesus the Christ, you will find out.

Every single person in this world is going to go to the cross…either in this life, or the next.

For followers of Jesus it is the same story. Jesus told us that we also will have to take up our cross. He told us that we will have trouble in the world. He told us that we will be hated on account of Him.

The life in Christ is a paradox. When Paul wrote of his beatings and jailings and mockings for the sake of Christ, he called them blessings.

Some Christians have things much worse (or better?) than others. Some Christian’s lives are literally at stake each and every day in countries where Christians are viewed as a disease to be wiped out.

The day is evil. Our own flesh is evil. The devil is evil…and is after us.

There is a spiritual battle raging. The world, the flesh, and the devil are at odds with our Lord Jesus and wish to steal us from Him.

But Jesus is the conqueror. He has won the war for us. “It is finished.”

But until the New Creation is brought into being by our Lord, we will “have to suffer for a little while.”

As followers of Christ, we will go to the cross in this life…but not in the next.

We live in our baptisms. We experience many deaths, and many resurrections as we are carried along in this life by our baptisms. Dying…and rising. Repentance and forgiveness. Over and over, and over again…until we are laid down for the last time and put into the ground.

But that is not the last word. Our Lord has the last word and indeed is the last Word! He is the First and the Last. The Alpha and Omega. All things are subject to Him, and He has defeated the last enemy, death, on the cross and in His resurrection.

So while we suffer in this life, to varrying degrees, we have the assurance that when we are raised with Him on that last Day…there will be no more suffering, no more tears. We will spend an eternity in peace and joy and unimaginable bliss in our Father’s House.

He is our sure Hope.

Filed under: Assurance, Baptism, Theology of the Cross | 2 Comments »

‘Are We Sitting Comfortably?’ by Howard Nowlan

Posted on June 16, 2008 by theoldadam

“The Kingdom of God is like”….

What is it that makes a good movie or novel?
No doubt we could all identify several key aspects or ingredients that we look for, but there are a couple of things that are probably essential.
The first, I would say, is where the story takes us. When we get to that final scene or chapter, we want to reach a point of genuine satisfaction with the resolution. It no doubt is part of the reason why we will recall the story, perhaps read it again or recommend it to others – we feel it got somewhere. The other, which is equally important, is our journey with one or more of the characters in the tale. We often connect with their thoughts, insights and desires. We recognize and even identify with their growth and perhaps triumph through hardship and we revel in their moments of joy. It’s all (to re-work a phrase from a popular movie) ‘ a pleasant fiction’, but the really good stories, of course, are much more – they often reflect and can even teach or confirm to us the realities of life.

This week I’ve been thinking that the ‘story’ of Creation may well be just like that.
Becoming thirsty allows us to truly appreciate the value of a cool refreshing drink. The bleakness of winter brings into sharp relief the majesty and joy of the arrival of Spring. Could it be that all the present travail of our present world is actually the pain of purpose – the ‘birth pangs’ that are necessary for a creation not merely complete in the glory of its physical splendour, but crowned with a life which resonates with the knowledge of the healing goodness and mercy of God?

The Scriptures make it clear that the events which have unfolded since we exiled ourselves from Eden are not a mystery to our Creator. The pain and misery we have brought upon ourselves have been allowed to run their course, but not without purpose. Amidst the very ugliness of such trauma, God has woven a use to death, an engagement with our agony, a point where all that is broken and violated by sin meets with the rich depths of His unmerited mercy and become changed by such. The place is in the broken body, the shed blood, the resplendent forgiveness given in the death of Jesus Christ.

This one moment is where all the pain and anguish of our existence in a ‘far country’ is drawn and salved, that we might taste of a far greater life, made possible by His bruising for our transgressions.

At the end of the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, Red and Andy meet for the first time in many years on the edge of a faraway ocean. They have been deeply changed by their lives, by their experiences and by their knowing of one another, and all of this has brought them to the point where they can now begin a new life – building a boat to explore a new vista.

All of history is moving to a point when the trails will end and such a new day can begin, but it will be a day where all that has been done of value, all that has been learned that holds meaning, will underpin that venture that is to come.

– Howard Nowlan

Rebel by Nature, Righteous by Force

Filed under: Assurance, Realization | 3 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »

The Old Adam Lives!

Pages

Categories

Archives