The Assurance Of Salvation

For years, Robert A. Peterson taught about the assurance of salvation in seminary and Sunday school classrooms. He was concerned, however, to find that some people who, for a variety of reasons, were unable to grasp the certainty of their salvation. The Assurance of Salvation identifies these "troublers" of assurance and provides the remedy to diffuse insecurity. Peterson asserts that difficult backgrounds and experiences, intellectual doubts, tender consciences, habitual sins, and overconfidence that people face are the enemies of assurance. Through a competent handling of the Bible, he explains that by embracing three gifts from God--His Word, His Spirit, and His work in our lives--those who struggle with insecurity are able to personally experience the freedom of God's assurance.

Just hours before his betrayal and arrest, Jesus offered his famous High Priestly Prayer—one of the most intimate moments between Christ and his Father recorded in Scripture. John 17 has thus greatly encouraged Christians for millennia as it boldly affirms our connection to Christ. In this masterful, verse-by-verse exposition of Jesus’s words, renowned Bible teacher and preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones lays before us the richness, the depth, the wonder—and the assurance—of God’s plan of salvation.

Despite our professions of belief, our baptisms, and our membership in the church, many of us secretly wonder, Am I truly saved? We worry that our love for Jesus isn't fervent enough (or isn't as fervent as someone else's). We worry that our faith isn't strong enough. We struggle through the continuing presence of sin in our lives. All this steals the joy of our salvation and can lead us into a life characterized by legalism, perfectionism, and works righteousness--the very life Jesus freed us from at the cross! But Greg Gilbert has a message for the anxious believer--be assured. Assured that your salvation experience was real. Assured that your sins--past, present, and future--are forgiven. Assured that everyone stumbles. Assured that Jesus is not your judge but your advocate. With deep compassion, Gilbert comforts readers, encouraging them to release their guilt, shame, and anxiety to rejoice in and follow hard after the One who set them free.

The fifth book of the New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology series, That You May Know closely examines the theme of eternal salvation in 1 John. No other New Testament book speaks as frequently and explicitly to the believer's confidence in everlasting life. The epistle writer grounds his reader's assurance of salvation on the person and work of Jesus Christ and demonstrates that the believer's lifestyle serves as a vital corroborating support for that assurance. This gives the commentary's author Christopher Bass an opening to further discuss John's emphasis on living righteously and what it truly means to be born of God. Users will find this an excellent extension of the long-respected New American Commentary series.

"This book is a study of the doctrine of assurance in light of the New Testament's teaching on hope"--Provided by publisher.

Teaching Outline + Study Guide for The Assurance of Salvation

Maintaining hope in Christ for the weary soul. In the face of trials and tribulations, persevering in the faith can be a difficult task. For Puritan pastor--theologian William Gouge, this question was of critical importance for those he shepherded. His theology of assurance during the difficult seasons in life provided direction and help to weary souls. In Christ Is Yours, Eric Rivera explores Gouge's theology, revealing a man who cared deeply about the truths of Scripture and the spiritual lives of his community. His theology was focused on the promises of God found in Scripture while staying grounded in the realities of life. This message of perseverance and hope is just as necessary for Christ-followers today as it was then. Written for academics and pastors alike, Rivera brings this important theology to a modern audience.

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.