Dr. Jack L. Arnold Equipping Pastors International Hebrews
Lesson 28
Full Assurance of Faith
Hebrews 10:19-25
Do you realize that it is possible for a person to be genuinely saved and not experience an assurance of that salvation? Assurance of salvation comes for some almost immediately upon conversion, and others may struggle for months or years before full assurance comes. There are some who will die in Christ, and up to the moment of death they will not be able to say, ÒI am saved and going to heaven.Ó
Some time ago it was my privilege to be at the bedside of a
dying Christian woman. She was a
Methodist and very freewill in her theology. I had witnessed to her and she told me that she had trusted
in Christ for salvation and she hoped to get to heaven. She was sure that she would persevere
to the end. I could never get her
to say she was saved and on her way to heaven, for she could not know until she
died. At her side, when she was
dying, she went into a coma, but she kept repeating over and over again, ÒLord,
be merciful! Lord, be merciful!Ó
This woman never had assurance but she was saved.
There are a number of reasons a person might struggle with
the doctrine of assurance. First,
he may have been taught a wrong theology and if he has been taught he can lose
his salvation, then it is difficult to teach him the doctrine of eternal
security. Second, a person
may be a babe in Christ and lack in experiential understanding of the doctrine
of once saved, always saved even though his head understands the doctrine. Third, there are some
personalities who are perfectionists by nature and they are also quite
introspective. They look inward at
themselves and they realize their great potential for sin and they begin to
doubt whether they are really saved.
Fourth, there are some Christians who never grasp the Christian
conflict with sin, and when temptations, evil thoughts and base desires cross
their minds, they feel something is wrong with them, not realizing that this is
normal Christian living. Fifth,
assurance of salvation is lost when the true Christian is in sin or indifferent
to Christ in his life.
The author of the Book of Hebrews was concerned about this
group of professing Hebrew-Christians to whom he was writing. Some in that assembly had already left
Christianity and gone back into Judaism, and others were seriously
contemplating abandoning Christ and going back into Judaism with its temple
worship and animal sacrifices. The
author is convinced in his own mind that the majority of those to whom he was writing
were genuinely saved, but he also knew they were doubting and questioning the
reality of their salvation in Christ.
Even though most of them had been saved for years, they were babes and
tossed around by every wind of doctrine.
Many of these professing Hebrew-Christians had become indifferent and
cold towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and this in turn caused them to lose
assurance of their salvation, for nothing was happening in their lives to
assure them that Christ was at work in them.
UNDERSTANDING OUR PRIVILEGES IN CHRIST - Hebrews
10:19-21
ÒSince therefore, brethren ...Ó -- The great majority of these
Hebrew-Christians were truly born again of GodÕs Spirit. ÒTherefore, holy brethren,
partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus
...Ó (Heb. 3:1). They knew Christ; they were brethren,
but they lacked understanding of who Christ is and what Christ came to do. The ÒthereforeÓ takes us back to the
immediate context of Chapter 10 and back
further to the first ten chapters of this book. Hebrews 10:18 begins
the practical section of Hebrews, but before you can have right practice, you
must have right doctrine. Jesus
Christ has been declared to be the God-Man, the Great High Priest, the Only Savior, who is superior to angels, Abraham, Moses,
Joshua and Aaron. In His death,
Christ died once and for all and forever for sin and sinners, and His death
saved men, cleansed heaven, brought an end to the Mosaic Law and established
the New Covenant.
In light of these doctrinal truths concerning the person and
work of Christ, it is important that we as Christians live lives that would be
pleasing to Christ, and the first place to begin is with the assurance of our
salvation.
Ò...we have confidence to enter the holy
place by the blood of Jesus ...Ó -- The Òholy placeÓ is a reference to the heavenly tabernacle
of Christ but the heavenly tabernacle has the earthly tabernacle of the Jews as
its type. In the Old Testament,
only the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year and could only go
in with the blood of sacrificed animals.
The high priest would enter with fear and trembling because He knew that
God was pure holiness and wrath, and one mistake on his part could mean his
death. However, the author of
Hebrews does not tell his readers to fear, but invites them to go boldly and
with confidence into the heavenly Holy of Holies, and tells them they can do so
because of the blood of Christ. To
go into the direct presence of God was terrifying to the Jewish mind.
Christians, we have access to God through Christ. We can go directly to God through Christ. We can approach God with boldness,
confidence and without reservation.
What a tremendous privilege!
We can come to God, pray to God, speak to God, worship God and all
because Christ died for our sins.
Charles Spurgeon used to pray in such a way that people
accused him of being too familiar with God. But he said, ÒIÕm just like a little child who runs into its
fatherÕs presence, and climbs upon the fatherÕs knee, and strokes his face; I
feel with God just like that.Ó
Spurgeon availed himself of his access to God.
Ò... by a new and
living way ...Ó -- Our entrance involves a new way, but
this does not mean that there is a new way of salvation in the New Testament
and a different way in the Old Testament.
Salvation in both the Old Testament and the New Testament has always
been by grace through faith in Christ.
The word ÒnewÓ means Òfreshly-slain,Ó or Òfreshly-sacrificed.Ó The thought is that a new access to the
heavenly sanctuary has been opened up through the death of Christ. Animal sacrifices are no longer
necessary for they are Òold,Ó but ChristÕs death is Ònew,Ó or a
freshly-sacrificed way. Our
entrance is also a Òliving way.Ó
Christ is the eternal One; He is not
dead, and He ever lives now at the right
hand of the Father. There is perpetual
entrance into the heavenly sanctuary where Christ reigns, is our advocate and
is constantly making intercession for us.
Ò... which He
inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh ...Ó -- The
ÒveilÓ has reference to the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the
Holy Place in the tabernacle. The
veil shut God in and shut man out for no man could enter into the direct
presence of God in the Old Testament economy. The ÒveilÓ is symbolic of ChristÕs flesh or sinless human
body. ChristÕs sacrificial death
opened up a free access into the very presence of God. Christ, in His person, in His
sacrifice, in His walk, and in His covenant, is so pleasing to God that He
opened up direct access to God for all who come and avail themselves of the
shed blood of Christ.
When Christ died, God literally ripped open the veil in the
existing temple. ÒAnd
behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the
earth shook, and the rocks were splitÓ (Matt. 27:5l). Direct access to God for all true
believer priests was now available, and they were to come with confidence and
boldness.
Ò... and since we have a great priest over
the house of God ...Ó --
Christ is a great High Priest over the entire family of God. The word ÒgreatÓ is a word that implies
sovereignty. Jesus Christ is Lord
and in sovereign control over His family, the Church. He loves us; He died for us; He cares for us; He disciplines
us; He prays for us and He pleads His blood for us. Christ has His people (the house of God) under control. We have the privilege of being GodÕs
people with Christ as our sovereign Lord.
The Òhouse of GodÓ is not a church building. We should never refer to a church
building as Òthe house of GodÓ or the Òsanctuary,Ó for the only sanctuary in
the New Testament is the body of a true believer in Christ, and the only Òhouse
of GodÓ is the corporate body of true believers in Christ. Many Christians unconsciously are still living in the types and the shadows of the Old
Testament. If we call a building
the house of God, we miss the true message of the New Testament which is that
the house of God is actually the bodies of men and women, boys and girls. That is where God really dwells today.
UNDERSTANDING OUR RESPONSIBILITIES IN CHRIST - Hebrews
10:22-25
Ò... let us draw
near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith ...Ó -- The
words Òlet usÓ occur three times in verses
22-25, and they are exhortations to these Hebrew-Christians to bring
them out of lethargy, coldness and lukewarmness in their
Christian lives.
Access to God is ours but it is only a reality as we avail
ourselves of this access.
Christians are Òto keep on drawing near to God.Ó They are to approach God in confidence
and boldness. Christians are to
come over and over again to God through Christ, not for salvation, but for
sanctification. There is to be a
personal, living, close relationship between the Christian and Christ. This solid relationship with Christ can
only be realized when we approach with a Òsincere heart.Ó We are to have a true, genuine heart,
not filled with hypocrisy or deceit. We, as Christians, must open our lives to
God and stop playing games and wearing masks. We must draw near to Christ and
let Him rule in our daily experience.
When we draw near, we are to do it with Òfull assurance of
faith;Ó that is, we are to have complete confidence in God. We are not to doubt Him and we must
take Him at His word in simple, child-like faith. ÒAnd without faith it is impossible to please Him, for
he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek HimÓ (Heb. 11:6).
Deepening faith brings one near to Christ, and the nearer to Christ, the
more assurance of faith one receives.
Assurance comes as we move God-ward in our experience in a
responsible manner.
To draw near to God means to continually walk in the
presence of God. You do not draw
near to God when you come to church.
You are no nearer to God at church than you are at work, at play, or
wherever you are. You draw near to
God when you live in recognition of His presence in your life all the time.
Ò... having (had) our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our
body washed with pure water.Ó -- This, again, is symbolic language that looks back to the
Old Testament priest when he was inducted into his office of priest. At that time he was sprinkled with
blood and washed with water.
The reason we can approach God as Christians is because we
have had our evil conscience of guilt cleansed by ChristÕs blood and our
polluted bodies cleansed by Christ at
salvation. We can draw near to God
because we have been cleansed. God
has cleansed us in Christ if we have come to Christ.
Òlet us hold fast the confession of
our hope without wavering ...Ó -- These professing Hebrew-Christians
were exhorted to hold fast to their original confession of faith in
Christ. This looks back to when
they first believed in Christ and confessed Him before men.
ÒThat if you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvationÓ (Rom.
10:9-10).
At that time they had confessed Christ as Lord and Savior;
they acknowledged Him to be the only way to God; they believed Him to be their
only hope of salvation, but now they were wavering in that original
commitment. They were yielding to
pressure and compromising truth because of persecution from the unsaved
Jews. They had a responsibility self-ward
for they were to hold fast their original confession of Christ before men. They were to hold fast to right
doctrine about Christ and to speak out for Christ. Just as they originally shared Christ before men, they were
to continue to do so.
Assurance comes as we hold tight to our original confession
of Christ before men and then continue to confess Him before men. When we do this in faithfulness, we
will see some come to a saving relationship with Christ, and this will also
bring us assurance of salvation.
Ò... for He who
promised is faithful ...Ó -- God will not fail His children. His promises are true and they are
backed up by His perfect character.
We can hold fast because we know that God is faithful.
We must learn in our daily experience to rest back upon the
faithfulness of God. He has
everything under control, even the persecution that comes our way as we
represent Christ before men.
Ò... and let us consider how to stimulate
one another to love and good deedsÓ -- These Hebrew-Christians also had a man-ward
responsibility.
This teaches that the Christian is to give deep
contemplation on how to stimulate other Christians to practice love and good
works, lest their profession of faith be sham and not reality. The end of doctrine is not to have a
head full of knowledge but to make us more Christ-like in love and good
works. Christians are to
stimulate, arouse, stir up one another to do good
works and exercise love. Notice
carefully, it is not the preacher who is to do this job of stimulating, but the
average Christian.
Love and good works are the two things that mark true
Christianity. Christians are never
judged by the confessions they make (although confessions are necessary), or by
the creed they recite (although creeds are important), but always by love and
deeds.
ÒA new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. By this all men will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one anotherÓ (John 13:34-35).
ÒSo then, you will know them by their
fruitsÓ (Matt. 7:20).
There is no place for selfish individualism in Christianity,
but we must be constantly seeking to build one another up in love and good
works.
How much practical love have you manifested recently? How far have you responded to the cry
for help from someone near you, someone who is destitute or disappointed, who
needs an encouraging word or a helping hand or a generous check?
Do people bug you when they prod you on to get into the
Bible, to pray, to live a holy life, to show concern for others and to do good
works? This should not bug us, for
this is necessary if we are going to push on in the Faith, for without love and
good deeds there will never be any full assurance of salvation.
Ò... not forsaking (abandoning) our own
assembling together, as is the habit of some ...Ó -- One good work that some of these
professing Hebrew-Christians were guilty of was that they were not going to
church. They were failing to
assemble with other Christians.
They grew cold and indifferent to Christ because they had no genuine
Christian fellowship. Isolation
from other Christians is a very dangerous thing and it is a sign of spiritual
coldness.
All Christians need one another, for each Christian
manifests his love for Christ by loving the brethren. We cannot see love except as it is expressed for the people
of God. The more we love Christ,
the more we love each other. If we
are cold to other Christians, the real problem is that we are cold and
indifferent to Christ.
Christians who do not come to church, except for sickness or
feebleness, are going to grow spiritually cold and indifferent to Christ. Gathering together should not be a
burden but a privilege. We do what
we want to do, and if we want to go to church, we will.
It is even quite obvious at many local churches. People come for the morning
service. In the evening we have
less than half of the morning crowd.
At prayer service we have even less. On nights when there is a sharing time or a missionary we
quite often have even fewer people.
Why? Well, people obviously
feel as though one hour of church is enough, and there is no real need to learn
the Bible and to encourage one another in the Faith.
Ò... but encouraging one another ...Ó -- Church meetings are to be times when Christians encourage
one another. A real gathering of
the local church is not to be just a time of Bible teaching, but a time to
encourage one another to persevere in the Faith. Church services ought to provide time for people to share
what God is doing, which encourages the saints.
Church is often boring for many because it leaves out
sharing and encouraging. If church
services were more like this, it would not be nearly as hard to get people to come
out.
A local church is not to be a glorified Bible school but a
place where Christians learn the Bible and grow in grace and knowledge of
Christ. When there is real
community and fellowship among the believers, God will bless that local church.
Too often church services are the kind pictured in the story
of the father who was showing his son through a church building. They came to a plaque on the wall and
the little boy asked, ÒDaddy, whatÕs that for?Ó His father said, ÒOh, thatÕs a memorial to those who died in
the service.Ó The little boy said,
ÒWhich service, Daddy, the morning or the evening service?Ó
Ò... and all the
more, as you see the day drawing near.Ó -- These Christians are exhorted to assemble, encourage one
another, love the brethren and to good works because Christ is coming
again. When Christ comes, all true
believers will give an account to Christ for their faithfulness.
The ÒdayÓ is the return of Christ, but there were events
happening at that time that made them think that Christ would return soon. Jerusalem was then being surrounded by
Roman soldiers and the city would be destroyed in 70 A.D. by the legions of Titus. Every generation of Christians has seen signs that make them
think that ChristÕs return would be soon.
CONCLUSION
Not just the Christian will give an account to God, but all
men will give an account to Him, and those without Christ shall perish in their
sins. ÒFor it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God;
and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who do not
obey the gospel of God?Ó (1 Pet. 4:17)
Men without Christ shall face the eternal wrath and judgment of God.
If you are not a Christian, if you do not have the
forgiveness of sins, if you do not know you will go to heaven when you die,
turn to Christ who alone forgives sins and grants eternal life. Christ is the answer to life and death.
If you turn to Christ, you can know you are saved and you can have full assurance of faith. How is that possible? Because God is faithful, and He promises to save forever those who come to Christ through faith.