Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - John MacArthur - How do I know if I'm really saved?

Episode Date: August 6, 2021

Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis: Big Questions, Biblical Answers, is a series that seeks to provide biblical answers to some of the most prominent and fundamental questions regarding God, the Gospel, and the BibleIn this episode Pastor John MacArthur from Grace Community Church answers the question: “How do I know if I'm really saved?”Subscribe to stay up to date with each episode! Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. In this episode, I sit down with Pastor John MacArthur and ask him one of the most prevalent questions facing many within the church today. How can I know if I'm really saved? Let's dial in. Pastor John, my question for you is how can someone, how can I have assurance of my salvation? I think it's so important because so much of our growth in Christ biblically is rooted in a confidence that we have been saved. And for many people, they don't know if they've actually been saved. They think they have, but they don't remember a specific date or then there was a season of sin. And so it's hard for them to move forward with confidence that they have been saved

and therefore they are dead to sin. So help us out. How can we have assurance that we are saved? Well, you can eliminate one thing for certain that can take your assurance, and that is the idea that you could lose your salvation. That's a lie. Salvation is forever. Salvation is eternal. There's nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ. Jesus said in John 6, all that the Father gives

to me will come to me, and I will lose none of them but raise them at the last day. Salvation is forever. So if you are saved, it's forever. That faith cannot fail because that faith is not your faith. That's a gift of God who's given it to you, Ephesians 2. So you eliminate that if you get your theology right, that salvation is forever. So all you want to know is, is my salvation forever? And here's how you know. I think there are three tests and then a fourth comment. Test number one is, what do you love? What do you love? If any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things pass away, new things come. What are these new things? I like to think of them as new affections.

So the first mark of a believer, it's not perfect love, but it's evident love. What do you love? You love the Lord. You love his word. You know, you don't love Him like you should, needs to be increased, you don't love the Word like you should, but you love those things. You love the people of God, you want to be with His people, you want to be in the church, you want to be a part of a worshiping group. So love is the first evidence of a transformed heart. The second one is humility. There's a sense in which you are aware of your sinfulness and you never really get over this incredible grace that's been given to you to save you.

The third one is obedience. It's not perfect obedience, but it's a longing in your heart to obey the Lord. You do acknowledge him as Lord you want to obey. So love, humility, and obedience. And then the fourth thing is this. The single most validating reality in life for your faith is not some idea in your head. It's trials.

It's what can your faith survive. You know, people who say, well, I believe in the Lord and something goes wrong in their life and they walk out. Well, that's not a saving faith. That's not a faith that's a gift from God because that lasts. So you take Job as an illustration. Devastation. I mean, just devastation every way you could cut it.

And he says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. So when you go through a trial, maybe your mom gets cancer or maybe your dad dies or maybe some horrible thing happens or maybe you're invested in a relationship and, you know, the person you're interested in walks away from you or whatever the issue is, maybe you get an illness. Does your faith stay intact through that trial? That's what Peter's talking about when he says it's those kinds of trials that validate your faith. And so I have to say this in all honesty, if you're 15 years old, you might question your faith more than you would if you were my age, because I've been through that. I've been through a wife that broke her neck and broke C3 and C2 and should have died. I've been through, you know, my son having a brain tumor. I've been through illnesses

where I almost died, blood clots in my lungs. And my faith comes through and just gets stronger all the time. So I say, this isn't my faith. This is a faith that stands the test. This is, I mean, the devil said, Job just trusts you, God, because you bless him. So God says, okay, take it all away. Take it all away. And we'll test his faith. And it was all taken away, all of it. And he said, even if you slay me, I'll trust you. That is a gift of God. That's a faith that comes from above. So as you grow as a Christian, as you have more experiences that challenge your faith, if you come out the other side, trusting the Lord, still loving him, still humble,

still desiring to be obedient, those are the acid tests. You said a love for Jesus Christ, or who do you love and what do you love? Because we're new creations, a humility that comes from what Christ has done for us in the gospel. And then you mentioned obedience and trials. I have one final question for you regarding obedience. Because I think the thought in many people's mind might be,

well, I want to obey Jesus Christ. But as I look at my past and even as I consider the previous year, I see so much disobedience and I struggle with sin. How do I know if I'm obedient enough to evidence a love for Jesus Christ? What would you say? Well, you're not trying to earn your salvation. You already have it. So it's not your obedience so you earn salvation. Paul the apostle says, oh wretched man that I am. He says, I do what I don't want to do. I don't do what I want to do. And this is a mature believer in Romans 7.

And he's saying, I am the chief of sinners. So you're never going to be at a point where you're not going to have sin. And that's part of what humbles you, right? That's part of what humbles you. So if you're looking for perfection in your life, you're never going to find it. So I like to think of it as direction, not perfection. What's the trajectory of your life? Is it toward Christ? Is it toward an honest evaluation of your own sinfulness that causes

you to be humble? Is it in the direction of desiring to be obedient? I don't obey the Lord perfectly. That's why I need to be saved with an eternal salvation. Because another way to say it would be this, Johnny. if I could lose my salvation, I would, right? If I could, I would because I don't have the power to hold it. That's why the Bible tells us we don't have to hold on to our salvation. God holds on to us and he holds on to us by giving us a faith that will not fail. So good. So as new creatures, we need to evaluate what and who do we love. There's a humility that accompanies those who are truly saved. They're broken over their sin and they're

grateful for what Jesus has done. There's a desire to be obedient. And then there's the test of trials. Do we come out of the difficulties in our life with stronger faith or do we, as you say, walk away from Jesus? That's why you count it all joy when you fall into various trials because the testing of your faith is what validates it. Yeah, well, I love it. No, thank you so much, Pastor John. You're welcome.