Texts: Romans 7:14-25 and John 10:26-30
Oftentimes, believers feel insignificant, have confused identities, or lack assurance of faith. This assurance is essential to many Christians who lose hope and struggle with faith. Struggling with assurance of faith is a good sign of our Christian life. If we do not struggle, it means that we are still dead to sin. A dead person cannot feel anything, therefore a person who struggles entails he or she is alive. As Christians, we are made alive by the Spirit. Main verse: Read Romans 7:14-25
Illustration: Jigsaw puzzle. The way to strengthen our assurance is like completing a jigsaw puzzle. It requires a lot of struggle, but it is impossible to have unless you have the finished pattern or image on the top of the box. That complete guide on finding assurance is the Word of God. We are anxious about our salvation and identity in Christ because we are not depending on the authoritative Word of God that defines our very identity. (1 John 2:3, “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
- God-centered, not self-centered. “Assurance is God-centered; it evidences godliness, while not relying on personal righteousness or service for justification.” It is based on God’s knowing us first and embracing us as his family. It is not based on what we can do but on what Christ had done. God knows us. That is a powerful statement.
- “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” Psalm 139:1-2
- “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” John 10:14
- “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:30
2. Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-3) is the evidence of our assured faith. Internal (prayer, meditation of the Word, and ordinances) and External (worship and obedience)
3. Salvation is not based on a full assurance of faith. It relies on Christ’s finished work on the cross, not on how we are sure about it. Assurance of salvation is a result of our initial faith. As long as we have faith in Christ, assurance is an added gift to our Christian life. Illustration: Richard Sibbe’s Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax.
- With God, when it comes to faith, nothing is small or large. Faith is faith. Even a grain of a mustard seed faith can move mountains. In the idea of smoking flax, or smoldering wick, it may be a small flame or spark, but in essence, there is still a fire. The fire symbolizes faith, and it is God that causes that fire. Even it is small like smoking flax, God will never quench it as it is His promise. This smoke of faith still goes upward, and God delights smelling the sweet aroma of that faith no matter how small it is. But this spark does not stay small. It progresses as a person matures in the faith. As one matures, the flame enlarges, and the warmth of faith fills the room of the heart. It is through God’s grace that the believer bears this flame and makes the light in its path. As it clears the path, the Spirit illuminates the messiness of the heart and in here the believer seeks more of the savior, redeemer, Christ, by the Spirit—the one that causes faith.
Conclusion: Assurance to the Church – As we end today, the same words of Moses to Joshua, that I am going to leave you with. In Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Moses said to the Israelites and to Joshua, “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Transition to the Ordinance of the Lord’s Supper strengthens our assurance of faith because it declares the victorious work of Christ on the cross.
Sermon delivered at Union Community Bible Church – Pathway on February 25, 2024.
John&Paul's Reflections 