“YOUR ASSURANCE OF SALVATION”
(Transcript of Tape #102)
New Convert’s Class Week 1
How To Be Saved!
Acts 2:37 says, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:38 says, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
“Repent,” mean to think differently! We must start fresh and learn to think according to the Lord!
“Baptism” is an outward symbol of an inward change. From the original text it means total immersion. When one submits in obedience to the conditions of the gospel they by the grace of God are forgiven. Evidence of that forgiveness is not based on some miraculous sign or an emotional feeling, but upon the promise of God.
Acts 2:39 says, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
Acts 2:40 says, “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”
Acts 2:41 says, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
“Save yourselves” only you can make this life-giving, life-changing decision.
Acts 2:42 says, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
“They continued steadfastly” in what they had first heard preached to them. This is the key to growing in the Lord. When we come to the Lord by faith we must join other believers in the Word, in fellowship, studying, and in prayer!
What the Word says about your salvation.
Praise the Lord, you have put your faith in Him! As the old Chinese proverbs states “a journey of thousand miles begins with the first step”! As you and I have put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we have begin a long journey, which will take us to eternal life. Praise the Lord for helping us take that first step. Don’t around but rather look to Jesus Christ so your faith will increase. I want you to know that some don’t keep their eyes upon Him. I’m telling you the following for admonishment and not to be negative. From a recent survey 85% of “new converts” are out of church in 3 months. So this study is to strengthen you and to help you understand what you will face.
Now that you are saved, God wants you to have the “assurance” that your sins have all been forgiven. Satan wants to cause you to doubt God! Faith is the avenue that moves us closer to God Almighty while doubt moves us away! Doubt is really faith in reverse! The wages we had earned were death but Jesus Christ paid the price for us and now we have eternal life!
John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 6:47 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
This word believeth is as a condition of continuance and not just at the moment of salvation and repentance. Jesus died for all your sins, even the ones you have not yet committed. Understand that Satan will speak to you in many ways to create doubt. In part Romans 14:23 says “whatever is not of faith is sin”. God’s Word is knowledge and knowledge is power!
John 10:27-29 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
To hear His voice we “tune” into His frequency with faith and tune out doubt! Know that as soon as you received Christ into your hearts you were given eternal life. Jesus Christ will never leave us nor forsake us but we can turn our backs on Him!
I John 5:13 says, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Eternal life is not based on feelings but on facts, on truth, on God’s Word!
God’s Word is Truth and Forever!
We can know we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ because God said it and He cannot lie:
Titus l: 2 says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
Hebrews 6:18 says, “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”
Our eternal life that God has promised us is ours because He keeps His promises! God can’t lie and He is the source of truth, have assurance of Him.
Do not base your salvation on how you feel! Feelings change from day to day, but God’s Word never changes:
Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
A good feeling may be good, but it is not necessary to be saved. You are saved because you have done what the Bible says and God has declared you as one of His children not by a “good feeling”. If I based my salvation on how I feel sometimes I’d be lost! Sometimes I “don’t” feel very Christian that’s when I exercise my faith and push forward. Satan wants to get us to live by feelings and not “by faith”! Satan wants to break down our faith, which will tear down our wall of protection:
Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”
If Satan can get us to think, speak, act, and react according to our feelings he’ll win. Jesus Christ has done His part we must do ours by faith!
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Let’s give a simple illustration of anticipation of faith. Remember when you were a child how excited you were on Christmas Eve. You knew the next day would be a celebration with many nice things. You knew part of what would take place but not everything. You had assurance and anticipation of good things; it’s the same way with our faith. We know from past experiences with our Lord that He is so good to us and we build on that for what He has for us in the future.
Hebrews 11:2 says, “For by it the elders obtained a good report.”
Hebrews 11:3 says, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Feelings tend to go by what is seen at the moment! Faith goes by what God Almighty has done and will continue to do in our lives! Faith stands upon Romans 8:28! Our Father in Heaven has so many good things for us if we’ll allow Him to work in our lives. God Almighty can create exactly what we need in our life just when we need it! We must be tuned into the Lord’s Voice and respond in obedience just as the materials of this world did in creation. There are some things, which might cause you to doubt and not have the assurance of what God wants for you. There may be times when you “feel” that God is close to you, and other times when you “feel” that He’s not. But remember that He has promised to always be with you and never leave you, regardless of feelings (Hebrews 13:5). Remember the story of the “Footprints in the Sand”? The person being carried by the Lord didn’t know they were being carried, they couldn’t even feel God! But praise be to the Lord HE was not only there but was doing the work to carry us through the bad times!
As Christians we:
2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
Think of what God Almighty has done and not the past:
Always thinking about your past life can cause doubt. Satan will bring up your past to cause you to fear and doubt! God Almighty has forgiven all your sins and has forgotten them. He also wants you to forget them. Forget the past! It is all under the atoning blood of Christ!
Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
Psalm 103:11-12 says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
East and west can never ever meet! This is God’s way of saying that when He forgives us from our sins that He also separates us from our sin! Take comfort and stand faithfully on God’s Word!
Wondering if God really received you causes doubts. Know and understand that Satan will come to you and say your not saved. When you come to the Lord with a desire to be saved and asked Him to save you, you can be sure He did, because God, who cannot lie, has promised to. Man doesn’t save you, church doesn’t save you, and good works doesn’t save you. All of these things are good but we’re saved by faith in Jesus Christ! Just take Him at His word:
John 6:37 says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Basing your salvation upon feelings or emotion causes doubts.
Remember as I stated earlier feelings change but the Bible never does! We must understand that faith is more than a feeling. Our faith in God and our salvation through His Son Jesus is not based on a sign that can be seen, or a feeling that can be felt, but upon faith in His everlasting word and acting upon it. When the Scripture speaks of “walking” by faith it indicates that faith must act. When it comes to “walking” in this life we have two choices: 1. We can walk by sight meaning according to human wisdom, human guidance, trusting in what “I” think, see, or feel. 2. Or we can walk by faith meaning act as God leads. And how does God lead?
Psalms 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”
Jesus stated that God draws us as we hear and are taught and learn:
John 6:45 says, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”
We must walk by faith and “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). An individual who cannot prove his salvation by the word of God has no real evidence of forgiveness. We’re saved by faith and the confession of that faith:
Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
This is one way of fulfilling the verse in 1 Peter about testifying of the Lord:
1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
Read the following we have much to tell others about:
Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Romans 5:l says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Faith Assures Us – Not our feelings! True faith is active and operational. Faith without works is dead, dead faith.
Trust God: Live as He commands – you will have assurance.
I John 2:1-3 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”
Do we really want to obey? The flesh has a mind of it’s own and we must learn how to control it. Let’s look at Paul and see what he had to say through the unction of the Holy Spirit about sin and its lust. We’re going to cover this so we will be prepared when we fall short or have the urge to fall short. We‘re not perfect, just forgiven! Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you won’t make mistakes, but it means that you are forgiven of sin and that your goal is to live like Christ and not live in the old sinful way anymore. Don’t ever let the Devil condemn you if you stumble or make a mistake! God loves you and wants you to ask Him to forgive you (1 John 1:9), then He wants you to get back on your feet and keep walking for Him! Don’t ever let other people or the Devil bring condemnation upon you! God loves you and will correct you, but He will not condemn you.
Romans 7:15 says, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
Another way to translate this verse would be: For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.
You and I were “born again” in a moment of faith. Just as with Paul becoming a Christian is a life-long process of growth. It took us x number of years to grow to the point in the flesh that we are now. It will take some time and nutrients to grow in the Lord as His disciple. We must not try to fight the flesh using our own strength. The Lord has sent us His Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us for our strength. Once again mark down in your mind that we’re “not perfect” just forgiven! As I stated earlier don’t let that old devil come to you and condemn you if you make a mistake just look back to the Cross.
Romans 7:16 says, “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.”
Romans 7:17 says, “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
This is why Jesus Christ taught us:
Luke 14:26 says, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:27 says, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:33 says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
We must “love” God Almighty more than anything or anyone else in our lives. To be able to do this we must mediate upon what the Lord has done for us and then crucify our flesh. In the time of this teaching the condemned person was required to carry their cross to their execution. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ we must die out to the flesh in a daily process.
Romans 7:18 says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
We like Paul can’t do any good thing in this flesh. We cannot live good enough to make Heaven. We can’t live the Law perfectly we must have grace! Praise the Lord for His perfect sacrifice.
Romans 7:19 says, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”
Even Paul had some trouble with the flesh and it’s evil desires. He tried to “live” by the Law and even he couldn’t do it. Praise the Lord God for Jesus Christ Whom we have to serve in His grace rather than Law! Don’t be discouraged just keep moving forward growing the Lord and His Word daily. It’s a lot better for us to take “baby” steps consistently than to take giant steps lose our balance and then fall back.
Romans 7:20 says, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
Romans 7:21 says, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”
Romans 7:22 says, “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”
Romans 7:23 says, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
Faith is Won or Lost in our Minds!
This battle is “won or lost” in our minds. The more we dwell on the things of God the more the spiritual will come alive and the flesh will die. When our members try to take control we must cast down those thoughts. One disobedient thought leads to another one, which leads to speech and finally action. Paul through the Holy Spirit is going to teach us how to live in victory:
2 Corinthians 10:3 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:”
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
2 Corinthians 10:6 says, “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Our heart (mind) is a seedbed and will produce just exactly what is sown. We must be realistic and understand we don’t plant pinto beans in our gardens expecting sweet corn! If we want good things of the Lord then we must cast down evil things of our flesh and sow accordingly. God our Father has many powerful weapons if we’ll use them. The # 1 weapon is prayer, prayer being to our soul what air is to our flesh! Each and every time I have sinned and fell short it was because I hadn’t prayed and strengthened my soul. Hold your place in Romans and look what Christ told His disciples in the garden:
Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Praise the Lord our spirit is always ready but we must crucify our flesh and keep it under subjection. Paul said he beat his body to keep it under subjection, turn to 1 Corinthians please:
1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
1 Corinthians 9:26 says, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:”
1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Winning a race or a boxing match requires discipline. Winning take training for the long run. Our success comes from looking at the big picture meaning the long run and not the minute.
This word “keep” from the original text means to hit under the eye, to buffet. Like Paul we need to give the “knockout” blow in this fight. “Subjection” means to be a slave driver. A slave has no rights whatsoever and must do whatever they are told. In this race we must cast off everything that will hinder us from victory:
Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”
This race can be ran and won. In chapter 11 we have those whom ran this race with faith and won. We can win to by being obedient to this Word and laying aside the temporal things. The key to winning this race is:
Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
To be victorious we must keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ! He walked in this flesh sinless and set the example for us. He picked up His cross and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:3 says, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Hebrews 12:4 says, “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”
Next time we are having a bad day we need to think of what Jesus Christ went through for us. He shed His life’s blood for us because He loved us that much. Sure things can be tough but we haven’t shed any blood for our faith. Let’s go back to the great book of Romans to finish our study.
Romans 7:24 says, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Only by us walking in the Holy Spirit depending upon the Lord can we win this battle. The more Satan uses your flesh against you, know this, he doesn’t have you! When I just go along living my life as I please Satan doesn’t bother me because I haven’t been a threat. Don’t be discouraged when he attacks give God praise that you’re a willing vessel being used for God’s glory worthy of persecution.
Romans 7:25 says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”
Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
I wanted to end this study where we will take up with next week. Next week we will look at the fact you’re apart of God’s family. Getting back to the previous verses once again even Paul couldn’t live by the Law! The Law was god but the flesh was “weak”. The Law couldn’t control our flesh because of sin. Sin already had control of the flesh before the Law came other than in the garden.
As I stated earlier the battle is in our minds. Satan wants to convince you and I we’ll never make it. Don’t ever argue with him follow the arch angel Michael’s example:
Jude 1:9 says, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”
Tell Satan there is no truth in Him, quote to him:
John 8:44 says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
If you have believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth you can be sure of your salvation. Let this study build your faith. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us. The Lord God Almighty is our Father and He loves us enough to correct us since now we’re a part of His family. Speaking of “God’s Family” that’s what we’ll be covering in the next Bible study lesson and tape, “adoption”.
GAP Ministries
“REMEMBER GOD’S WORD WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!”