Ron Dunn Podcast - The Truth About Assurance

Episode Date: May 17, 2023

Ron Dunn continues his "To Tell The Truth" series

And I'm going to begin reading with verse 10 and read through the 13th verse. And this 13th verse that we're going to end up on is going to be the text, the theme of the message tonight, but actually we're going to be using a number of verses in 1 John. We're going to be preaching all the way through 1 John tonight. So you keep your Bibles open to 1 John, because we're going to be using much of the book as the fabric of the message. 1 John chapter 5, I'll begin reading with the 10th verse and read through the 13th verse. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar,

because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life. And this life is in his Son. 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 in order that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. One of the birthrights that God gives to each one of his children

is the assurance of their salvation. And there are as few things important in the Christian life as knowing without a shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life. Someone has said, if the devil can't get you to drink, he'll get you to doubt. And one of the most effective weapons Satan has ever forged against a Christian is this matter of doubt. For a doubting Christian is a defeated Christian. If you are not certain, rock-bed certain of your own salvation,

this defeats your own prayer life. It defeats your witnessing life. You certainly can't witness to others of a salvation that you yourself are not even certain you possess. It destroys your ability to worship because when you come to focus your attentions on Jesus, you discover that all of your attentions are turned inward and you become very introspective and you walk around with your fingers on your pulse to see whether or not you're saved.

Doubt destroys basically every practice of the Christian life and renders the born-again believer absolutely ineffective and powerless in his Christian life. And so one of the most important things that a Christian can know is that he is saved, that he does have eternal life. Now I was talking to someone not too long ago, and they had the idea that if a Christian ever doubted his salvation, this was conclusive evidence he had not been saved. Simply because you may doubt your salvation does not mean that you're not saved. As a matter of

fact, I believe most Christians, sooner or later, do have periods of doubt concerning their salvation experience. As a matter of fact, I think the very fact that John wrote this verse in the 13th verse, these things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life. I think the very fact that he wrote that verse implies that Christians would doubt their salvation. Because you see, if there were no possibility of your doubting your salvation, then what would be the use of writing a book to give us assurance of our salvation? And the very fact that this book of 1 John exists gives to us ample proof

that Christians do doubt their salvation. And there are many reasons why a Christian might doubt his salvation or a professing Christian may doubt his salvation. Number one, he may doubt it because he's not saved. It very well may be that you are not saved if you doubt your salvation. A very persistent sin or habit in a Christian's life may cause him to doubt his salvation. If there's some habit that you've not been able to get victory over, if there's some sin that continues to rear its ugly head in your life,

if there is some pet sin that you have that continues to haunt and humiliate you, this will cause you to doubt your salvation. But I think one of the greatest causes of doubting salvation is ignorance of what the Word of God has to say about salvation. And so 1 John is written, he says, in this 13th verse, he says, I have written these things that you may know that you have eternal life. Now this Greek word translated know means to know with absolute certainty, to know with absolute certainty. It is possible for you to know without a shadow of a

doubt that you have been born again, that you may know that you have eternal life. Now what is eternal life? Well, if I were to ask you tonight to give me a you have eternal life. Now, what is eternal life? Well, if I were to ask you tonight to give me a definition of eternal life, quite possibly most of you would say eternal life simply means living forever. And that would be an incorrect answer. Because eternal life does not mean primarily living forever. Eternal life does include living forever. If you have eternal life, you are going to live forever. Eternal life does include living forever. If you have eternal life, you are going to live forever,

but that is not the primary meaning of eternal life. Eternal is an adjective, and there is only one person to whom the adjective eternal can be ascribed to, and that's God. We hear people talk about the eternal mountains, but they're not eternal because there was a time when they didn't exist. Some people talk about the eternal thoughts of men, but that's a misnomer because there was a time when those thoughts did not exist.

There is only one person to whom you can apply the word eternal, and that is God. He is the only one who is eternal. And so when the Bible says that we have eternal life, what it is referring to is that we have God's life. We have the life of God. And this is the miracle of salvation. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 4 says that we have become partakers of the divine nature. The word partaker means that we share in this divine nature. And when I come to Jesus Christ and trust him as my Lord and Savior, God shares with me his very life, his very nature. Eternal life doesn't simply mean living forever, but

eternal life means that God has given to me his very life, his very nature. You see, not everybody wants to live forever. If you go to a lost man and say, hey, I tell you how you can live forever, not everybody wants to live forever. This is why you have 600 people a day in the United States committing suicide. They don't want to live forever. And I'll be honest with you, if I had to live forever like I am right now, I'm not certain that would be a good deal. Who wants to live forever wrapped up in sin, misery, subject to sickness, subject to disappointment, subject to disillusionment, subject to disaster?

Eternal life is not simply living forever. Eternal life does not have to do with the quantity of life, but it has to do with the quality of life. It's not so much adding years to your life as it is adding life to your years. Eternal life is life lived on a new plane, on a new dimension. It is a new quality of life such as man has never before experienced. In a word, it is God's very life himself. So if a person has eternal life, this means that he has God's life dwelling within him. Now, John says, how do you know you have eternal life? All right, very simply, God-like life results in God-like living.

So if you have eternal life, if you have God's life living in you, this means that God's very nature is going to be expressed in your living. So John talks about three things in this book. Everything John discusses can be brought under one of these three categories. He says God is light in him. There is no darkness at all. He talks about the righteousness of God. God is righteous. So if you have God's life living in you, then you're going to be righteous. God is love, the Bible says in 1 John. God's very nature is one of love,

so if God is love and you have God's nature living in you, then you're going to express love in your behavior. Third, God cannot deny himself. The third thing John talks about is faith, belief. God is faithful. God cannot deny himself. So if you have God's life living in you, there is going to be exhibited in your living faith, belief in God. So these three things, behavior, brotherhood, and belief. And John says, and really this is what the book is about, the book is challenging people who profess to be saved. And as we read through some of these verses in a moment,

you're going to get the idea that John has in mind some dear brother who always stands up and testifies in the meeting. He says, he that saith such and such and doesn't live up to it is a liar. So John has in mind somebody who's always making a profession, who's always testifying, who's always saying, I know the Lord, I've been saved, praise the Lord, I'm going to heaven. John says, well, now wait just a minute. Let's just see if you really are saved. Let's put your profession under the microscope. And let's really see if you possess what you profess. You see, profession creates an obligation

to prove that profession by the life that you live. And if you'll study carefully the life of Jesus, you'll discover that Jesus was constantly challenging those who professed faith in him. Jesus was constantly sifting the ranks. At one time some people came to Jesus and said, Master, we will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus gave them three ten-outs in a row.

Jesus is always making it difficult, always making it hard. You know, as a matter of fact, Jesus lost more people than he won. By today's standards, Jesus could never get a revival in any church because he just didn't have that many decisions. He would start out with great crowds, but before it was over with, he'd run everybody off. Why, he lost one of the best prospects he ever had. Rich young ruler came to Jesus.

He had money. He wouldn't let came to Jesus. He had money. He wouldn't let go of it. He had manners. He came kneeling. He had morals because he had kept the commandments from his life. He had money, manners, and morals. Now, you can't find a better prospect in any community than that. If Jesus had been the average Baptist pastor,

we wouldn't have asked so many personal questions. We'd just taken him in and got him signed on the dotted line and we'll discuss all those unpleasant things like lordship and selling out and discipleship later on. This young man came to Jesus and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? We'd have said, just come on, any way we can get you, we want you. But Jesus said, you know the commandments,

do this, do this, do this, do this. He said, I've kept all those commandments. Jesus didn't rebuke him. He didn't call him a liar. So he must have been telling the truth. And Jesus said, well, one thing you like, go and sell all your possessions and give it away to the poor and come and follow me. Now, what was Jesus doing? Does Jesus ask everyone to sell everything they have and give it to the poor? No. When you go to a doctor,

he doesn't prescribe the same medicine to every patient. But the doctor, first of all, diagnoses the patient, determines the cause of the sickness, and then he prescribes according to the person's need. And what Jesus does is diagnose. And Jesus diagnosed that young man, and he said he knew that this young man's God was his money. And so Jesus said, if you really want to follow me, sell

everything that you have, give it away, and come and follow me. And the Bible says the young man's countenance fell, for he had great possessions, and he went away. And you know, the amazing thing about that story is Jesus didn't try to stop him. He didn't run after him and say, Now wait just a minute, maybe you didn't understand. It's really not that bad, and it's really not that tough, and maybe I was a little bit hasty. Jesus didn't run after him. He let him go.

Because Jesus wanted everyone to follow him for the right reason, for the right motive. He didn't want anyone coming after him who wasn't sold out. And so the Bible is constantly sifting us. God is constantly turning his spotlight on us. He is constantly putting our profession under the microscope and examining it to see if it's really real. And so John says, let's take your profession of faith and let's examine it by these three characteristics of God. And if you have God's

life, you will exhibit these three characteristics of God. Let's just say, if you, let's just see, if you really have what you say you have. And so I want us tonight to go to John's school and take his spiritual examination, and let's place our profession of faith tonight under these three microscopes and see if our profession is real. How can I know that I'm saved? How can I be certain that I have eternal life? All right, the first microscope that he slips our profession of faith under is the microscope of behavior, the test of behavior. Would you open your Bibles to 1 John 2 and listen as I read verses 3 through 6.

Verses 3 through 6 in the second chapter of 1 John. And hereby we do know, there's that word again, that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as Jesus walked. So here's the first test. This is the first microscope.

Hereby we do know, in verse 3, that we know him. How do we know him? If we keep his commandments. Look at that fourth verse. He that saith, here's a fellow standing up giving his testimony, I know him, John says, if you say you know him, but you do not keep his commandments, you are a liar. And the truth is not in you.

The test of behavior. He's saying that when a person is saved, it affects the way he lives. It affects his conduct. Now, there was a heresy at the time that John was writing, and this heresy said, belief is the only thing that counts. How you live, how you act, how you behave, that doesn't matter at all.

As long as you're orthodox, as long as you're conservative, as long as you're fundamental, as long as you believe the right things, this is all that counts. And don't worry about how you live. Doctrine is everything. Conduct is nothing at all. That is a heresy that is still with us. Because I know a great many Baptists who look at their lives

and their lives from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet are exactly contrary to everything the Word of God says, but yet they believe the right things. They're orthodox. They have the right doctrines. They profess the right creed. And so we say, well, as long as you believe, as long as you make your profession of faith, you're saved.

And how you live doesn't matter at all. That's a heresy that's still with us. And what John is saying is this, that if you say you know God and yet that knowledge of God is divorced from holiness of living, you're a liar. Now, you may know about God and you may know doctrines about the church,

but you do not know God because knowing Jesus Christ, knowing God is a personal experience that completely transforms the way we live. And if a person says he is saved and yet his everyday life contradicts his profession, he says he's a liar. Now, W.T. Conner in his book on 1 John said that John argues like a woman. You know how a woman argues, don't you? Well, you know how a man argues, don't you? You know, a man is a very logical animal. You know that, don't you? You know, man is a very logical animal. You know that, don't you? Man is very reasonable, very rational, very logical. And if he wants to prove something, he does it in a rational, reasonable, logical manner. He takes his time, builds up argument after argument, proof after proof that you just cannot deny, and he reaches his conclusion. Now, that's the way Paul argues. That's the way a man argues. John argues like a woman. You know how a woman

argues. Woman's the most irrational thing God ever made. He doesn't care whether it's logical or not. She moves by instinct. He says, such and such is so. Well, how do you know? I don't know, but it's just so. I just know it. And you know what bugs you? The fact they're right 99% of the time. And I'll tell you, the husband that ignores the instinct of his wife is not very smart. And I guess God has just given to a woman a built-in radar, some kind of homing device that just kind of zeroes in on the truth. But a woman says,

I can't tell you why I believe this is so, and I can't prove it. And you know, she doesn't take an hour trying to prove something. She just says, this is it. This is the way it is. And usually that's the way it is. Now, you know, John doesn't argue. He argues like a woman. He doesn't try to prove it. He doesn't debate the point. He doesn't argue the fact. He says, if you claim to be a Christian and yet you are not living in obedience, if your life is not lived in keeping His commandments and yet you profess to be saved, you're a liar. That's all. I read some years ago about an evangelist

who, when he went into a church for a Bible meeting, set up a shouting committee. And the purpose of this shouting committee was to sit over here on one side of the auditorium, and they were to take note of everybody who shouted in the revival. Of course, you know that had to be a long time ago. We don't need a shouting committee today because nobody ever shouts. But they had a shouting committee back in those days because people shouted, praise the Lord, and hallelujah, and such as this, and jump up and down, cry and weep. Well, the shouting committee would sit over here, and if somebody shouted, said amen, hallelujah real loud, they took his name down.

And the next day, they went out to examine his life. They talked with his neighbors. They talked to the people he did business with, and if his life was all right, they continued to let him shout. But if they found out that his life really wasn't very good, and the people he did business with didn't have a good word to say about him, and his neighbors didn't have anything good to say about him, they went to him and told him to shut up and quit shouting. How would you like to have a shouting committee in this church? Well, God is saying that exact same thing.

He's saying if you profess to be saved, you make your profession that you know him, and yet you're not keeping his commandments, you're a liar. Look at that sixth verse. He that saith he abideth in Jesus ought himself also so to walk even as Jesus walked. You know, one day Philip came to Jesus and he said, Jesus, show us the Father and that'll be sufficient. And Jesus said, Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father. If I want to know what God is like, if I want to know what the Father

is like, I can just look at Jesus, and that's what God is like. Jesus said, as the Father has sent me, even so send I you. You know what, Christian, you ought to be able to say tonight? You ought to be able to say, he that has seen me has seen Jesus. Just as Jesus Christ was the truth about the Father, you ought to be the truth about Jesus. And I tell you, some of us are telling lies about Jesus. Because when we name the name of Christ and profess to follow Jesus, what we're literally saying is, I'm like Jesus. If you want to know what Jesus is like, you look at me and we're telling lies about Jesus because of the way we live. If somebody were to be able to say, I wish I knew what Jesus is like, they ought to be able to say, do you see that Christian over there? You

look at him. That's what Jesus is like. He that keepeth not his commandments. We know that we know him because we keep his commandments. What does it mean to keep his commandments? Does that mean sinless perfection? Does that mean never sinning at all? No. The word keep means to keep a vigilant eye upon. It was used of a sailor, a mariner, who would watch the stars and set his course according to the stars.

And he would keep his eye on the stars and he would regulate that boat by the direction of the stars. Let me illustrate it this way. Let's suppose that you're going to be driving tonight to Dallas, Texas. And as you drive down that highway, you've never been down that highway before. You've never driven to Dallas before. You don't know the way, but you know that there are road signs on the side of the road that will tell you which direction to take, how fast to go,

when to stop, and when to take a turn to the left or the right. And so as you drive down the highway, you're not only looking down the highway, but you're keeping your eyes on the side of the road, watching for those road signs. And you're keeping a vigilant lookout for those road signs. And when you spot one, you regulate the direction of your driving by those signs. And that's what he's referring to here. He's saying the person that really knows the Lord isn't a person who never sins, who never fails, but he's a person as he travels in his life, he keeps his eyes on the will of God. He keeps his eyes on the Word of God. He keeps his eyes on the commandments of Jesus.

And he regulates his life according to the will and the Word of God. And the Christian, the professing Christian who couldn't give two cents about the Word of God. And the Christian, the professing Christian, who couldn't give two cents about the will of God, the commandments of the Lord, he's not really saved, is what John is saying. And you know, I've met some Baptists who don't mind being backslidden just as long as they go to heaven when they die.

When you visit in communities such as this, you'll knock on the door of a great many Baptists who've moved here from Georgia and Louisiana and Texas, and yet they may have been here two or three, four or five years. They don't come to church. They haven't moved their letter. And you say, well, don't you think you ought to? And they kind of smile a little bit and say,

well, I know we ought to be in church and I know we're out of the church and everything like that. And you can tell it doesn't really bother them. They don't miss the church. They don't mind being backslidden. They don't mind being out of the will of God as long as they can know that when they die, they can go to heaven.

Now, I think what John is saying is this, that if you're just as happy and satisfied outside the will of God as you are inside the will of God, you're not saved. If you can be just as happy and content living outside the will of God as inside the will of God, he says you're a liar if you profess to be saved. The one who is saved will keep his eyes on the will of God and the commandments of God.

You see, the difference between a saved man and a lost man isn't the absence of sin. It's not that the saved man no longer sins. It's not the absence of sin. It's the attitude towards sin. The attitude towards sin. A Christian still sins, but his attitude has changed. Bud Robinson was a famous Nazarene evangelist,

and he used to say, when God saved me, he didn't fix me up so I couldn't sin. He fixed me up so I couldn't enjoy it. I think that pretty well says it. Christian, if you can knowingly and willfully and deliberately live outside the will of God and feel absolutely no conviction, then you have every reason to doubt you're saved. If you can willfully and knowingly and deliberately

live outside the will of God and feel no conviction, you have every right to doubt that you're saved. The test of behavior. And if you know tonight you're outside the will of God and you couldn't care less, then you better doubt and check up on your salvation. All right, the second microscope that he wants to slide our profession of faith under

is the microscope of brotherhood, the test of love. Look in 1 John 3, verses 14 and 15. We'll just take a moment to talk about the test of brotherhood. He says, we know, there's that word again, we know that we have passed from death unto life. Because we love the brethren, he that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Look in chapter 4, verse 20. If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? If a man says he loves God and yet he hates his brother, he's a liar. We know that we have passed from death and the life line because we love the brethren. God says that when you're saved, you have a new spiritual family. You have a new spiritual atmosphere. You have a new spiritual climate, and the proof of it is your choice of companions. And I'll tell you,

I worry about these professing Christians who had just assumed being in the presence of God, of the devil's people, as God's people. I have anxious concern about professing Christians who never, it never bothers them to be out of fellowship with the church and it never bothers them to be out of fellowship with God's people and they had just as soon or even rather be in the company of the world than God's people.

Now, if you enjoy the company of the world than God's people. Now, if you enjoy the company of the devil's people, and if you enjoy the company of the world and the company of the lost more than you enjoy the company of God's people, then you have every right to doubt your salvation. Now, I tell you there's something wrong with a fellow who says he's a member of a certain family and yet he doesn't care to be with that family.

There's something wrong somewhere. We love the brethren. What does that word hate mean? Whosoever hateth his brother. The word hate there simply means to cherish ill will towards another person. Ill will towards another person. And it means to cherish that ill will to hang on to it it is the type of attitude that refuses to see anything good in a

person now is there somebody that you are just cherishing ill will against, and you refuse to see anything good in them, and every thought you have about them is bad, and you're cherishing that hostility and that enmity towards them, God says that you can't love him, and you cannot know him and have that kind of attitude towards other people. This is why the Bible has so very much to say about reconciliation, about forgiveness, about getting right with other people. You know, Sunday night I spoke on this matter of reconciliation,

and some of you, many of you heard that. Have you done anything about it? Someone still has ought against you. You still have ought against somebody else. Have you done anything about that? I want to inform you that will forever and always be a barrier between you and your fellowship with God. You cannot have communion and fellowship with God as long as that barrier is there.

All right, that's the test of brotherhood. And that's all the time we'll take for that. Let's move to the last test, which is really the acid test, and it is the test of belief. The test of belief. We go again to 1 John 5, verse 10. He that believeth into Jesus,

he that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness within himself. And he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. I made my profession of faith when I was nine years old, and then I felt God calling me to preach when I was 15, and shortly after that I began to doubt my salvation. One thing that caused me to doubt my salvation is that we were having a revival at McNeil Mission in Fort Smith, and there was a different young preacher preaching every night.

One night I preached, another night another fellow preached, another night another fellow preached. And I remember on a certain night that one of my best friends in that church that I thought was one of the finest Christians I ever knew, at least they were one of the most faithful church members I ever knew, during the invitation went down the aisle and said I've never been saved and they asked Christ to come into their life and they were saved

and I want you to know that just shook me to the very foundations of my spiritual life and I thought to myself if that person that is such a great church member and so faithful, and I thought was such a good Christian, if that person wasn't saved, then maybe I'm not.

And you know what was causing me to doubt my salvation? You see, at that time, I had the idea that if you didn't get down on your knees at the altar and pray out loud and ask God to save you, then you weren't really saved. You had to get on your knees and you had to pray and say a certain prayer or you weren't saved. Well, when I was nine years old, I walked

down the aisle on a Sunday morning. I remember walking down the aisle. The next thing I remember is sitting on the front queue, signing and filling out a card. I don't know what happened in between those two things. Maybe I got on my knees and prayed and maybe I didn't. But the pastor of that church at that time was not the kind of pastor that would get you on your knees and have you to pray. He kind of wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. And he was the kind that would just sit you on the front pew and not talk to you at all. So I had a pretty good idea that I didn't get on my knees and pray. And I said, boy, if I didn't get on my knees and pray at that altar, I'm lost.

I'm really lost. And so about midnight that night, I called up my pastor, and I really blessed him, got him out of bed. And I explained the whole thing to him. And I said, preacher, I said, I don't know if I'm saved or not, because, you see, when I was nine years old, I don't remember if I prayed or not. And that pastor said, Ron, I want you to read John 6, 47. So I opened my Bible to John 6, 47, where Jesus says,

He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. And he said, Now, Ron, do you believe on Jesus? I said, I sure do, but I don't remember if I prayed when I was nine years old. He said, Forget about what you did or didn't do when you were nine years old. He said, what you did when you were nine years old doesn't have a thing to do with whether or not you're saved right now. He said, read that verse again. I read it again. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. He said, that's in the present tense, isn't it? I said, yes, sir. He that believeth. It doesn't say he that prayed ten years ago. It doesn't say he that believed five years ago.

It says he that right now is trusting Jesus. And he explained to me what believing meant. Committing your life to Jesus. Trusting Jesus. Submitting yourself to the Lordship of Jesus. He that is trusting Jesus right now. He said, now, Ron, are you right now at this moment trusting Jesus, committing yourself to Jesus?

I said, well, yes. He said, well, then what do you have? I read it, have, present tense, everlasting life. I said, but I don't remember. He said, forget about what you did or didn't do when you were nine years old. Jesus said, if right now you are trusting him, believing into him, you have everlasting life. Now go to bed. And I did. And that solved my problems of doubt. Because I realized that maybe I wasn't saved when I was nine years old, but I knew I was saved now

because I knew right now that I was trusting Jesus as my Savior. And so just to seal the bargain, make certain everything was copacetic, I got baptized again. Now, since that time, I've realized that I was saved when I was nine years old because, you see, Jesus said, He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

And as a nine-year-old boy, whether or not I prayed, I came, my heart wanted Jesus, I wanted to be saved, and I took him for all I knew him to be at that time, and he saved me. And a nine-year-old child can be saved when God draws them, they realize they're lost, and they come and they take Jesus for all they know him to be at that time. But what I'm trying to illustrate to you is this,

that it is the presence of faith, of trust, of committal that gives us the assurance of our salvation. The Bible never, the Bible never, as far as I can find, the Bible never points back to an experience as a basis of our assurance. And what I'm trying to say is if the only basis of assurance you have of salvation is something that happened 20 years ago,

you do not have a biblical basis of assurance. Now, I'm not saying you're lost. I'm just saying you don't have a biblical basis of assurance. I was out visiting one night, knocked on the door, and a man opened the door and had a can of beer in his hand. And I told him I was the pastor of a certain Baptist church there in the town. He said, Oh, come on in. We're back here watching television. I went back in the den, and the lady of the house was in one

of these strata lounger chairs, and she had a can of beer in her hand. I said, I'm the pastor of a certain Baptist church. He said, Oh, I'm a Baptist. I was kind of hoping she'd been a Methodist or a Presbyterian or something. She said, oh, I'm a Baptist. And I said, is that right? I wanted to say you could have fooled me. Is that right? She said, yes, you know this Baptist church down the street here? I said, yes. She said, I was saved in that church when I was nine years old. And she said, you know, I have a whole stack of study course awards. And I began to talk to her and I found out that in the last 15 years, she had never darkened the door of the church. Now, I want you to get the picture. That woman believed she was safe. Maybe she was. That woman believed that when she died,

she'd go to heaven. Maybe she will. But for the past 15 years, there had not been one ounce of evidence that she knew anything about Jesus as Lord and Master in her life. She had no biblical basis of assurance of her salvation. Because, you see, saving faith is continuing faith. Saving faith is enduring faith. I want to read a verse

of Scripture that might disturb you a little bit in Colossians chapter 1, and I think it'd be good if you were disturbed a little bit. I think it's good for us to get disturbed and get shaken out of our complacency sometimes. Listen to Colossians chapter 1, verse 22. He's talking about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross. He says, well, let's read verse 21. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unrecruitable in his sight.

Now notice verse 23. What's the first word of that verse? If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard. He says one of these days Jesus Christ is going to present you holy and unblameable and unrecruitable in his sight. That's when Jesus comes back, calls us to be with himself, and presents us to the Heavenly Father.

He says, I'm going to do this if the condition, the hinge upon which that door revolves, if you continue in the faith. Saving faith is continuing in faith. You say, but I knew a fellow that walked down the aisle, got on his knees, asked God to save him, and he went like a bush of fire for a few weeks, but he didn't continue.

Did he lose his salvation? No, never had him to begin with. All he had was an emotional experience. Now listen, if when you had your experience, whenever that was, whatever kind it was, if all you had was an initial experience without additional results, then more than likely what you had was not initial experience without additional results, then more than likely what you had was not salvation experience.

Now again, I'm not saying that every person who's saved is going to live a perfect life, a sinless life. Not at all. But everywhere I read in the Bible, I find that God says there's going to be additional fruit, there's going to be God says there's going to be additional fruit. There's going to be fruit. There's going to be additional results. There's going to be additional implications.

Salvation, friends, is not a 30-second experience that takes place at the altar of some church. Salvation is an initial experience that has additional results and affects the rest of your life. If you continue in the faith, every one of these tests that we've looked at tonight are all in the present tense. He that keepeth his commandments, because we love the brethren. He that believeth on him hath everlasting life.

The presence of believing faith. And what is saving faith? We said when Tuesday night, saving faith is considering myself, renouncing myself, and considering myself the lifetime servant of Jesus. It means I renounce myself and I come and commit myself to Jesus Christ. I trust Him. And the presence of that faith in your heart is the evidence of salvation.

Let me tell you how you can cure doubt. If you have any doubt about your salvation, you know a way to cure that? You say, I'm not sure I'm saved. The best way to settle that is ask the Lord to save you. Now let's suppose that I have a medicine cabinet, and in that medicine cabinet there is a bottle of medicine A, and that is supposed to cure disease A. There is also a bottle of medicine B, and that is supposed to cure disease B. One day I get sick. I have some kind of disease. I think that it's disease A. I really believe it's disease A. So I go to the medicine cabinet, and there is medicine A.

Now, if I have disease A, medicine A will cure me. So I take out of that cabinet medicine A. I take medicine A, but I'm still sick. And what does that prove? That proves wrong diagnosis, wrong medicine. It proves I didn't have medicine A. You say, I've got doubts. I'm filled with doubts. I just don't know if I'm saved or not. All right, you ask the Lord to save you. And after you do that, if you still have doubts, then that's not your problem. Your problem is something else.

I had a lady come to my office some time ago. She said, Preacher, I've been asking the Lord to save me every day for a year, and he hasn't done it yet. I said, I'm so glad to meet you. I've always wanted to meet somebody that God lied to. I said, if you've asked God to save you, he has. She said, but I still have all these doubts. I said, then that's not your problem.

Because if my problem is I'm lost, then getting saved will solve that problem. So the best way I know to get rid of doubt is if you have a doubt as to whether or not you're safe, you just ask the Lord to save you, and if you're lost, He'll save you, and you'll know it. Because He says in verse 10, He that believeth on me hath what? The witness within himself.

You'll know. But if you still are bothered and plagued by doubt, then it means that probably as a Christian, you've got some bitterness against somebody you haven't made right. There's some unconfessed sin in your life. God's calling you to do a work and you've rebelled against it. God's just trying to get your attention and you have diagnosed it as doubting your salvation.

You've just wrongly diagnosed it. So there's a very simple way to settle all doubts. Are you saved tonight and know it? Do you have eternal life, there will be expressions of God's life in your own. There will be a desire to do the will of God. There will be a love for God's people.

But the acid test is there will be the presence of trusting, committing faith towards Jesus Christ. written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.