Ron Dunn Podcast - Three Test of Salvation

Episode Date: October 3, 2013

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. Now tonight, I want you to open your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. And I'm going to read beginning with verse 10 through verse 13.

1 John chapter 5, beginning with verse 10 and reading through verse 13. 1 John chapter 5, beginning with verse 10 and reading through verse 13. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that believes not God has made him a liar because he believes not the record or the testimony that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life, and he who has not the Son of God does not have life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know that you have eternal life.

Now God does things differently than man does, of course. When God classifies humanity, he does it vertically. When man classifies humanity, he does it horizontally. By that I mean when man classifies society, he does it horizontally like rungs on a ladder. And you have your upper class and your middle class and your lower class. And within those classes, you have others. You have the lower, lower, and the middle, and your lower class. And within those classes you have others. You have the lower lower and the middle lower and the upper lower and you've got the lower middle, middle middle, upper liberal. And then you've got all the way up to the top,

all depending on how much money you make or how much education you have or what kind of car you drive or where you live, which side of the tracks you live on. And that's the way the world classifies people. That's the way we judge people according to what class they're in. You may be economically in the high class and educationally in a lower class, or you may be educationally in the upper class and yet economically in a lower class. You can be in three or four different classes at once, all depending upon where you work, where you live, what political party you belong to.

And it's hard for us to get away from sizing people up. The minute you meet somebody, you begin to, without even thinking about it, sizing them up. When I was in school, I used to sell clothes, and they taught me that the key to telling how good a dresser a man was, was his shoes. Always look at the shoes. That's the key because that's the last thing men generally take care of. They may buy a nice suit and have a beautiful tie and have on scruffy shoes.

And so I got in the habit of when somebody walked in the store first thing, I did look at their shoes. I still do that today. And if I was introduced to you and I didn't catch your name, it's because I was watching your shoes at the time your name was spoken. And I've been checking out Michael's shoes. They look pretty good today. But you know, we just automatically, without thinking about it, we sort of put people in categories. And oh, these are so important. These are desperately important categories, and we're always trying to get in

the upper category. But when God divides or classifies humanity, He doesn't do it like that. God does it vertically like this. As far as God is concerned, there are only two classes, the haves and the have-nots, those who have life and those who do not have life, those who have the Son and those who do not have the Son, those who are life and those who do not have life, those who have the Son and those who do not have the Son, those who are saved and those who are lost. And as God views this congregation tonight, He sees all of us in one of these two categories. I really don't think it matters to God all that much

what class I'm in economically. I'm not so certain He's all that interested or impressed in what class I'm in educationally or politically. What God sees when He looks at my life is to which side of the cross I'm on, either having the Son or not having the Son, either having life or not having life. And this is what John is talking about. He said, this is the testimony that God has given. It's a picture of a courtroom, and God has taken the witness stand, and we're saying, you have something to say to us. What is your witness that you want to give to us? And the

witness of God is this, that He has given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. You see, tonight when we stand and preach the gospel, the issue is not whether you're a Baptist or a Methodist or a Catholic. The issue is not whether you're rich or poor. The issue is not whether you're a Democrat or Republican. The issue is are you alive or are you dead? The gospel of Jesus Christ is a life and death matter. When we gather like we have today, we're dealing with issue of life and death. These are not secondary, elementary issues. And you have only one of two categories tonight to be in.

Either you have life or you do not have life. That being true, then the most important thing for me to understand tonight is to understand whether or not I have life. I really need to know into which category I fall. There is not anything any more important tonight than our having the assurance that we do have life, because this is a life and death matter. So John has written, he says, these things contained in what we call the five chapters of 1 John. He says, I have written these things unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know. And he uses there a word that means to know with absolute certainty.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt that you may know that you have eternal life. Which seems to me to indicate that it is possible for a person to have eternal life and perhaps have some doubts about it. Or else why would there need to be a statement like this? John says, These things that I have written, I have written unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God that settles the issue by the way that first John was written to believers these things I've written unto you that

believe on the name of the Son of God and the reason I've written them is so that you may have absolute assurance you may know without a shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life which I said indicates that it may be possible for a believer to have some doubts about it let me ask you tonight how many of you have ever doubted your salvation it may have been only for a fleeting moment it may have been for a year or two you may have gone through a real troubling time of doubt but somewhere down the line in your since you've been as Christian how many of you have ever maybe just for a fleeting moment,

but you've ever just not all that sure, had just a moment of doubt? How many of you? Raise your hand. Boy, that's nearly all of us. That's nearly all of us. And you know, everywhere I go, I run into the same thing. I went through a terrific time of doubt when I was a teenager. Actually, there's only one person I know

personally who says they have never doubted their salvation, and that's Kay. She says she has never doubted her salvation. Now, I've doubted her salvation on a number of occasions, but she says she has never doubted her salvation. And I find that remarkable because some of the roughest times I had in my early Christian life was over this matter of am I really saved or am I not? And I think that a person who can say, I have never had a moment's doubt, I believe they're the exception rather than the rule. And again, I say this is why John addresses this very important subject. He said, these things have I written unto you that you may know. So that's what we want to talk about tonight.

How can you know with absolute certainty that you have eternal life? First thing we need to do, of course, is to define what the Bible means by eternal life. If I ask you tonight to give me a definition of eternal life, what would you say? I have an idea that many of us, if not most of us, would say somewhere in our definition, eternal life means that you live forever. It's everlasting life. He that believes on me shall never die. Eternal life means living forever.

And if that is your answer, then you are partially correct. Eternal life does involve the idea of living forever, but it is not the primary idea in the term. When the Bible speaks of eternal life or everlasting life, the emphasis in that word, in that term, is not on how long we live. You see, as a matter of fact, just living forever is not always a blessing. There are certain conditions under which I don't want to live forever. I think it is significant that in the Garden of Eden when man sinned,

God placed an angel against the tree of life so that man could not touch and eat that tree and therefore live forever in his lost estate. The next time you find the tree of life is in the therefore live forever in his lost estate. The next time you find the tree of life is in the book of Revelation in the new heavens. Now under those conditions, it'd be good to live forever. But under the conditions of lostness and being unregenerated, it's not, you don't want to live forever. Simply living forever is not itself the greatest blessing of salvation. Eternal life, life that is eternal. Well, you think about it and you have to say to yourself,

actually there's only one thing that deserves the adjective of eternal. There's only one thing that I know of that's eternal. That's God. I've read where writers have spoken of the eternal mountains, but that's not true. There was a time when those mountains did not exist. Some poets talk about the eternal thoughts of men, but that's not true. There were times when the thoughts of men did not exist,

but there has never been a time when God did not exist. Eternal life, do you know what eternal life is? Eternal life is God's life. It's God's life. When the Bible talks about eternal life, the emphasis is not upon the quantity of years, it's upon the quality of life. It's not how long you live, it's how you live.

Eternal life is life raised to a new plane. It's a new dimension of life. You're leaving one dimension and you're moving into another dimension of life. It emphasizes the quality of life, the character of life. It is God's own life. Eternal life is the life of God. The miraculous thing about salvation is simply that when you and I come to Jesus Christ and we are born again of the Spirit of God, God Himself imparts to us His very life. He imparts to us His nature. In 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter says that we have been given exceeding and great promises

whereby we have become partakers of the divine nature. John says that when a person is saved, the seed of God is within him. God plants his own seed in our heart. We have God's nature. We have God's life. Paul says, for me to live is Christ. And what he means there is literally,

as I live, Christ lives. Writing to the Colossians, Paul said, Christ is our life. To the Galatians, he said, I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You see, you and I are born in sin, dead spiritually, dead spiritually.

And when a person comes to Christ, God imparts to him his own very life. And so the life that he lives now is not the old nature patched up and renovated, but it is God's nature by the Spirit of God dwelling him, making him, and making all things new. Eternal life is God's life. Okay, you got that?

Hang on to that. Okay, so John is saying, we want to determine whether or not you have eternal life. You say you do, but let's just, how can you tell? Well, in this little epistle, John writes about three things, actually. Every word he says can be marshaled under one of three categories. Righteousness, love, and faith.

Those are the three themes of 1 John. Righteousness, love, and faith. You know what he says? He says, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all, talking about sin. God is righteous. God is holy. That's the character of God. That's the nature of God. And then he says, God is love. That's the character of God. That's the nature of God. And then he talks about faith, and of course, God cannot deny Himself. The character, the nature of God is the nature of faith and trust. So I have this definition. Eternal life is God's life. And God's

life is characterized, John says, by these three things, righteousness, love, and faith. Now, it just follows that if I have God's life in me, and if God's life is a life of righteousness, then you're going to be able to see some righteousness in me. If God's life is a life of love and I have God's life within me, then you're going to see some love expressed in my life. If God is a God of faith and cannot deny himself, well, if I have the life of God within me,

then that faith is going to be exhibited in the life that I live, you see. So you begin to see the reasoning of the Apostle John. What he's saying is we're going to take a little examination tonight, have a little test, and see who among us has eternal life. And we'll take three tests. We'll take the test of righteousness, we'll take the test of love, and we'll take the test of faith and see if really and truly we do possess eternal life. So first of all, I want you to turn to the second chapter of 1 John, and we're going to read verses 3 through 6. We'll call this first test the test of behavior or the test of righteousness.

1 John chapter 2, verses 3 through 6. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that says, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whosoever keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. And by this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself to walk even as Jesus walked.

I want you to look again at that third and fourth verse. John says, And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. If a man says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, he is a liar. John always did have a hard time saying what was on his mind, didn't he? John says, and by the way, as we go through this tonight, you'll find, and as you read through 1 John, you'll find that one of the characteristic phrases is this, He that saith, He that saith, He that saith,

whosoever says, whosoever says. John is talking about people in making their public profession and their testimony. You get the impression that John attended a revival meeting and they called for testimonies and some fellow got up and talked about how much he loved Jesus and John went home and said, boy, if that guy loves Jesus and he's not keeping his commandments, he's a liar.

Some scholars believe that John actually had some particular individuals in mind who were claiming they knew Jesus, but they weren't keeping his commandments. John blankly and stubbornly says, if you say you know Jesus Christ and you're not keeping His commandments, you are a liar. Old Dr. W.T. Conner, a theology professor at Southwestern Seminary years ago, used to say that John talked like a woman and wrote like a woman and thought like a woman. This is what Dr. Conner said, you understand, not what I'm saying, just what he said.

He said Paul talked like a man, reasoned like a man, wrote like a man, but he said John wrote like a woman. Now here's what Dr. Conner said, you understand, this is his opinion, not mine. He said that when a man wants to prove something, he uses reason and logic, and he builds argument upon argument upon argument.

He goes all the way around the world collecting all evidence, and that's how he reasons. That's how he proves his point. But Dr. Connors, it's Dr. Connors' word, you understand. He said that a woman doesn't use logic or reason when she argues. Now, this is Dr. Connors' words, you understand. He said that a woman doesn't use logic or reason when she argues. Now, this is Dr. Conner's word, you understand. He said a woman doesn't feel the need to use logic or reason or argument. She simply says it and that's it, like it or not.

She moves by instinct. He said a husband may take three hours to prove his point and he gets there, and he finds his wife's been there all along. And she doesn't see any need to prove it. And she may not even know how she knows it. She just knows it. That's what Dr. Conner says. And he says that's the way John is. He said Paul takes him 16 chapters to say what's on his mind in the book of Romans. But John comes along, and he makes a statement like this. If you say you know Jesus and you're not making his commandments, you are a liar, period.

No argument, no debate, that's just it. Oh, I tell you what, that's a little scary. A lot of people worry about verses they don't understand. I worry about verses I do understand. And it's hard to misunderstand this verse. If a person says, I know Jesus, and is not keeping His commandments, he is a liar. And the truth is not in him. Oh, that sounds like sinless perfection.

But I know it isn't. I know that's not what he's talking about because if you go back to the first chapter of 1 John, John makes it very clear. He says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar. The very first verse of this second chapter, John says, I'm writing these things to you

so that you may not sin, but if you do, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So John has already allowed for the fact that even though we are believers, we do sin. Now, I know this much. Whatever John means here in our passage, he's not talking about sinless perfection.

I think the key to understanding this is in that word keep. It indicates a habit of life And the word literally means to keep a watchful vigilant eye upon something It was originally used of sailors, mariners Who would sail according to the stars And they would keep a watchful vigilant eye on the stars And sail accordingly. John is saying that a believer keeps a watchful, vigilant eye on the will of God and seeks to live accordingly.

Kay and I are going to England in November for two weeks. It's one of our favorite places to go. We've been over there a number of times. First two or three times we went over there, I would never have dreamed of driving an automobile. You know they drive on the wrong side of the road over there. And no matter how many times I've been there, when I first get there, it takes me a couple of days, you know, to adjust to it. I mean, you come up behind a car and there's nobody driving it. But then you remember, oh no, it's over here on this steering wheel. I'll never forget driving down the M1 motorway

one of our first years. I just almost had a heart attack. We came up behind a car and there was a dog driving that car. He was over on what in America would have been the driver's side, had his paws up there on the dashboard looking out where he was going

and it kind of catches you all, you know. Well, after we'd been over there a couple of times, friends said to us, why don't you take my car? You're going to be here two weeks. You're going to have some spare time. Why don't you take my car and, you know, see a little bit of the country? I thought, well, if he doesn't mind risking his car, I don't mind risking his car. And so we did. Now, their highway signs are a lot different over there. And so we bought a book that would take the English highway signs and translate them into American highway signs. So Kay would ride over here in the navigator seat,

and I'd be over here in the driver's seat. It's all different. It's so backward. You're sitting over here on this side. You shift with your left hand. It's your right arm that gets sunburned holding it here in the driveway. And it's all different. It's so backward. You're sitting over here on this side. You shift with your left hand. It's your right arm that gets sunburned holding it out the window. Everything is different. So Kay's sitting over here on the left side.

And as we drive along, she's saying, think left, think left, think left, think left. And you have to. I do all right on a straightaway. But when you come to one of those roundabouts, traffic circles, oh, it's so confusing. And when you turn into like a service station, always turn in on the wrong side. I'm doing all right as long as I can stay on the straight and narrow. Well, we decided on Saturday to drive up to Edinburgh, Scotland, which was not the wisest thing we'd ever done

because everybody else decided to drive up there on Saturday too. And we got to that huge city and I tell you I was scared to death. I mean that place was big and there were cars everywhere. I mean there was heavy traffic and Kay would watch that book and you'd come to a sign that would say no waiting on the verge. Hmm. No waiting on the verge. You know what that means? No curbside parking.

And I guess it makes sense. I guess the verge is the curb of the highway, and parking is waiting. Anyway, no waiting on the verge. And then we'd see a sign that would say, dual carriageway ahead. Now, when I think of a carriage, I of horses don't you what that means is divided highway and then you'd find a round sign white painted white with a black rectangle in the middle and that meant go 70 miles an hour that's the speed limit over there if it was tilted this way the black rectangle was tilted this way then it meant go 40 miles an hour. So as we would drive along, Katie would keep me informed about all of this. I want to tell you something. I have never

in all my life been more vigilant and more watchful. I have never in my life been more vigilant to keep my eye on the signs and drive accordingly. I didn't do it perfectly, I have to admit. I kind of got lost a couple of times. I found myself going the wrong way on a one-way street, and I missed a few things. But I want to tell you something. It wasn't because I was negligent.

It wasn't because I was indifferent. More than anything else in the world, I wanted to stay right, and I was keeping a watchful, vigilant eye on those signs, and I was trying to drive that car accordingly. And that's what John is talking about. He's talking more about attitude than he is activity. And here's what he's saying. He's saying that if I claim to be a Christian,

and I could care less about the will of God, he said, you're a liar. Because the characteristic attitude of a believer is that he keeps a watchful, vigilant eye on the commandments, on the will of God, and he seeks to drive and live accordingly. But here is a person who claims to be saved, and yet they have no concern at all, no interest at all in the will of God

or doing the things of God. John says, you're a liar if you say you're a Christian. I think that you could say tonight that if a person is just as happy living outside the will of God as he is inside the will of God, he is not a Christian. Doesn't mean that a Christian won't live outside the will of God from time to time,

but he won't be happy doing it. You know, one of the things that I think we need to fasten down here is that all of these tests we're going to look at tonight are present tense. And I discovered something quite remarkable a few years ago. And it is this, that whenever the Bible seeks to give me assurance of my salvation, it never bases that assurance

on something that happened in the past. It always bases that assurance on the present condition of the heart and of the life now this is extremely important folks because I remember as a pastor going to visit some Baptists that would move into town I remember one fellow I went to see him Saturday afternoon and he yelled from the door come on in and I went on in and Saturday afternoon, and he yelled from the door, Come on in.

And I went on in, and the house was kind of dark. He was watching a football game, and he was stretched back in one of those Strader Lounge chairs with a can of Budweiser in his hand. And I introduced myself and told him who I was. He said, Oh, I'm a Baptist. Yes, I know it says here that you are a Baptist. And I began to talk with him, and I asked him if he was a Christian. He said, oh, yeah.

I said, well, how do you know you're a Christian? What makes you think you're a Christian? He said, when I was nine years old, he said, they had a revival. And I trusted Christ as my Savior, and so I know I'm saved because when I was nine years old, I had that experience with the Lord. As I talked with him, I realized that since that time, he hadn't cared anything about it,

that he had lived all of his life totally indifferent, unconcerned about the will of God. Now, I'm not going to say that man is not a Christian. I am going to say he doesn't have any good biblical reason for believing he is. Salvation is not a 30-second experience that starts and stops at an altar somewhere. It may start with a 30-second experience, but it has additional results, continuing applications all the way throughout the life. And all I want to say to you tonight is this. If the only thing, if the only thing you have to base your assurance on is some dim experience that happened 40 years ago, you do not have a biblical basis for assurance of salvation.

I'm not saying you're not saved. Only God can say that. All I'm saying is you don't have a biblical basis for your assurance. The fact of the matter is when God saves a person, He makes a difference in the way he lives. There is a change. All right, the second test is found in chapter 4. We'll call this the test of brotherhood or the test of love. 1 John chapter 4, beginning with verse 14, he says, we know that we have passed from death unto life. How do we know that? Because we love the brethren.

He that loveth not his brother abides in death, and whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And then in chapter 4, excuse me, that was chapter 3, verses 14 and following. Now we're in chapter 4, verse 19. We love Him because He first loved us. And this 20th verse, what a devastating statement. If a man says, I love God

and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loves God loves his brother also. And in verse 1 of chapter 5, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well. If you cannot love your brother whom you have seen, then how in the world can you love God whom you have not seen? If a person says he knows Jesus and hates his brother,

John says he's a liar. Again, the idea here is of a consistent, habitual practice of life. It's the characteristic of a person's life. He says if the continuing characteristic of life, if what identifies you, if you're characterized by hatred of somebody, he says, you're not a believer.

It doesn't mean that you and I won't have occasional falling out with people, and we won't go through those times when we are battling an unforgiving spirit. He's talking about a consistency of life, a habit of life, a habitual practice of life. And he says, if there is someone that you continue to cherish ill will against, and that's what the word hates means, it means to cherish ill will towards somebody. You want bad things to happen to them, and you're glad when bad things do happen to them. If that is the characteristic habit of your life. John says you're not saved. Why? Because when a person is saved,

he becomes a member of the family. God saves us as individuals, but He doesn't save us in isolation. Did you know you'll never find the word saint singular in the New Testament? It's always saints. You know why? Because you can't live Christian life all by yourself. We're members of a body.

And it disturbs me when I see somebody or hear somebody who claims to be a Christian, and they couldn't care less about coming to church. Now, I'm not saying that walking in the walls of this church and sitting in this pew, that that's the essence of Christianity. Church attendance is not proof of your salvation. But not caring at all about church attendance is a good reason to doubt your salvation. I'd rather be with the world than with God's people. There's something wrong.

I'd rather fellowship with the crowd of with God's people. There's something wrong. I'd rather fellowship with the crowd of the condemned than the crowd of the justified. There's something wrong. When I was in seminary, our Greek professor was taking us through 1 Thessalonians in the Greek text. He came to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 9, where Paul says,

In his touching brotherly love, you have no need that I should write unto you, for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. He said, Some years ago, I went to the mountains of Tennessee to preach a revival meeting

in a little mountain church. He said, The first night, Sunday night, I was sitting on the platform of the pasture during the song service. He said, A first night, Sunday night, I was sitting on the platform of the pastor during the song service. He said, a man about middle age came in at the back door wearing overalls, and he sat down on the back pew. The pastor leaned over to me and said,

you see that fellow just came in? Yeah. He said, I'm surprised to see him. I've never seen him in church. He is the meanest guy in this community. He hates everybody, and everybody hates him. His wife is a member of our church, a sweet Christian, but said he is. He said, I'm surprised to see him.

Well, the professor preached his sermon, gave the invitation, and here comes this old boy walking down the aisle, and the pastor somewhat puzzled meets him, and what if he wants to be saved? And so the pastor takes him over here. They sit down on a pew. He reads the Scripture, prays with it, and the old boy asks Christ to come into his heart.

Well, when the invitation is over, the pastor feels like he needs to sort of present this guy, but he has some doubt, you know. He said to the fellow later, he said, I just don't see how a guy of that mean could be saved that easily, you know. And he said, you could feel the hesitation in the church. Everybody knew that guy. But the pastor got up and, you know, said, he's come tonight.

Trust Christ is able. Well, the next morning, as the pastor picked up the evangelist, he said, I want us to go by and see Mr. So-and-so. He said, I need to talk to him. I tell you, I just, boy, I need to see if he's really saved. So they went to see him that morning. He wasn't there. His wife said, I don't know where he is.

He left early this morning, and I haven't heard from him. Well, they came back two or three times during that morning, and the same message that she'd say, I don't know, it's not like him to do this, but I don't have any idea where he is. They went by several times that afternoon, and the same response, he wasn't there. She didn't know where he was.

A few minutes before church time, they pulled up in front of the church, and there he was, sitting on the front stoop of that old white church. And they got out, and the pastor went up to him and spoke to him, and he said, man, we've been looking all over for you today. Where in the world have you been? He said, well, pastor, you know, last night I got saved.

And he said, yeah, that's what I want to talk to you about. He said, well, I got saved last night. And he said, you know, Pastor, that, well, I'm not the most popular man around. And through the years, I've made a lot of enemies. And he said, this morning, real early, I got up. And he said, what I've been doing all day is I've been going to all those people and asking them to forgive me. Now, who taught him to do that?

He hadn't been in the new members class yet. He hadn't been discipled. Who told him to do that? How did this man, this godless sinner, who hated people and people hated him, how did that fellow, brand new in the Lord, how did he know to go around to all of these enemies and make things right?

As touching brotherly love, you have no need that I should write on you because you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. I mean, that's what God teaches you. You can't help yourself. That's what God teaches you, the test of brotherhood. Now we come to the last test, the test of belief. And we'll just read one verse. We've already read it. It's in chapter 5, verse 10. He that believes has the witness in himself,

and he that believes not God has made him a liar because he believes not the record that God gave of his son. He who believes on Jesus has the witness in himself, the witness that he's a child of God. Here is the test of belief. Now, we've had two tests so far. Now, it's possible for you to make a low grade on those first two tests and still pass the course. I mean, at any given day, if you test me on my love and brotherhood, well, you might have caught me on a bad day.

And maybe I'd had a falling out with somebody. And, boy, if the only thing I had to go by as far as my salvation was concerned was my relationship to others, I'd be filled with doubt. You can make a low grade once in a while on those first two tests and still pass the course. But you have to make 100% on this third test every time or you flunk. Test of faith. Test of faith. Test of faith. This is the acid test. The final, most certain assurance of salvation is the presence of faith in the heart. I know tonight that I'm saved. I have no doubt about it.

You say, how do you know? Well, I know that when I don't live right and I get outside the will of God, I am really convicted and I'm miserable and I have a desire to live right. I know that. And I love God's people and I can't imagine my life being outside the fellowship of God's people.

And I have to make things right with people. It bothers me not to have things right with people. But the main reason I know I'm saved tonight is because right now, at this very moment, right in here, I am believing in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. And the devil may come to me and say, Boy, your righteousness hasn't been very much today. You must be lost. And he says,

Your love hasn't been expressed too much lately. You must be lost. I say, I know that my love and my righteousness hasn't been too well lately, but I know I'm saved. Why? Well, because right now, at this very moment, I'm believing in Jesus as my Savior.

And it is the presence of faith in the heart that is the full and final proof and test of my eternal life. The presence of faith in the heart. You see, these three things work together. These three things work together. If a person says, well, I have faith, you know, oh, sure, man, I believe in Jesus. But his life is always at cross purposes with the will of God, and he can't get along with anybody, then that fellow's lying. And then if there's a fellow over here who lives such a righteous life, I mean, that guy seems to

be perfect in everything he does, and he loves people, and he's just so gregarious, and he's just so gregarious. He's just a wonderful fellow. But he doesn't trust Jesus. He isn't believing in Jesus. He's lost. So these three tests go together. Now, the test of faith. The test of faith. It is the presence of faith in the heart that is the final evidence of my salvation.

I was saved when I was nine years old back in 1900 in none of your business. And it was in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And I've been to church all my life. I imagine I went to church nine months before I was ever born. My folks went to church all the time. And so I was brought up in the church. And I'll never forget when I was nine years old, we were having a revival meeting in our church. And one night, for the very first time, I paid attention. For the very first time, there was a restlessness, a troubling in my heart. And I began for the very first time to think about my relationship to God. And it bothered me.

And I remember walking with my mom and dad back to the car that night, and I said to my mom, I'm too young to be saved, aren't I? She said, no, you're not too young to be saved. And that's all she said. And nothing was said about it the rest of the week. But on that final Sunday morning, I'm standing down there during the invitation, and I can't describe it. I just knew it's my time, and I knew that God was speaking to me, and I stepped out, and I went forward, and as best I knew how, I gave my life to Jesus Christ.

Now, I don't remember much after that. I remember, I remember walking out of the pew and coming down the aisle, and then it's a blank. And then the next thing I remember is sitting on the front pew, answering the questions that this woman was asking me. And then she'd write them down on a card. I remember she said, do you come by baptism? And I said, yes, ma'am. The fellow next to me, he said, I come by letter. And I remember thinking, boy, I wish I'd have said by letter. That way I wouldn't have to be baptized. But I came by baptism. Well, that was in September, but I wasn't baptized until November. I kept putting it off.

Every week I'd get a note from the pastor, we're having baptism this Sunday night. You need to come at such a time. But I was waiting, you see. You know what I was waiting for? I was waiting until I could hold my breath to the count of a hundred. It scared me being put under the water by that fellow. And every night when I would go to bed, the last thing I would ever think about is I'd take a deep breath and hold it and count in my mind. And I had a goal that until I could count to a hundred with my breath held, I wasn't going to let that man put me under that water.

And it was November before I was able to do that. And I was finally baptized. Well, I guess I was like every other kid. I got into high school, become a teenager, you know. Listen, I've sinned more. I sinned more after I saved than I ever did every other kid. I was like every other... I got into high school, become a teenager, you know. Listen, I've sinned more... I sinned more after I saved than I ever did before I saved. I really did.

I mean, there's not a whole lot of sinning a nine-year-old can do. Surprising how much they can do, but there's a whole lot that they can do. And after I was saved, you see, I repented more after I was saved than I did when I was saved. And you know what happened?

I began experiencing this tremendous conviction of sin. Over and over again. And I'd feel so badly about it. And the preacher would preach on sin and such. And I'd go down and make what they call a rededication. Just go down and shake the preacher's hand and say, I'm rededicating my life. And I'd go back and I'd feel real good for a while. And then the same old thing again. And I knew I had never in my life been convicted like this. I mean, I had never known, I'd never known sin like I was knowing it now. I had never known conviction like I was knowing it

now. And you know what happened? I began to doubt my salvation. We joined another church about that time, and the pastor of this church was an evangelist. I mean, through and through, he was an evangelist. If Billy Graham were to walk into his building, he would have asked him if he were saved. That's the kind of fellow he was. He would eat, sleep, talk evangelism. And here's what he did. When you came, this is the First Baptist Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and it may have been on Easter Sunday morning, and you may have been one of the 400 in the social register,

and you may have come down in your new Easter dress and your Easter bonnet, but I've got news for you. You're going to get on your knees down there at that altar, and you're going to pray the sinner's prayer, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my soul for Jesus' sake. Amen. And he taught us people that when you lead somebody to Christ, you lead them in the sinner's prayer. Get them on their knees. Lead them in that prayer. God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my soul for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, now that pastor never, never said that you had to get on your

knees and pray in order to be saved. He never said that. But that's the way I took it, you see. And as a year or two began to go by, I began to get into my mind that unless a person got on their knees and actually prayed a prayer like that, they weren't saved. Well, then when I was 15, God called me to preach. I rededicated my life and God called me to preach. And that's when I really began having trouble about this doubting of my salvation and I'd begin to doubt and I think boy I know I didn't pray I or I well maybe I did I don't remember I just I try to remember but I know this much if I didn't pray then I'm lost no I couldn't be lost I mean after all God's called me to the ministry I couldn't. I mean, God wouldn't call me a ministry if I was lost. Boy, I don't remember if I prayed or not. And the more I thought about it,

the more certain I was I probably didn't pray. Because the pastor of the church at that time, when I was nine years old, smoked big black cigars and he loved to go to hot springs for the horse races. I don't know, Pastor, I just somehow had the idea that that kind of guy is not the kind of guy that gets you on your knees at the altar and pray the sinner's prayer. Well, it all came to a head one night when my best friend, same age as I, when my best friend, during the invitation, walked down, took the pastor by the hand and said, I joined the church when I was nine years old. I didn't know what I was doing. I've never been saved. I want to come tonight and trust Christ as Savior. That shattered me. That shook me. That's my best friend, best Christian I knew. His story was like mine. We both joined

church at the age of nine. He said he didn't know what I was doing. Maybe I didn't know what I was doing. I went home that night. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get it off of mind. About midnight, I called the pastor. I know I woke him up. I could tell the sound of his voice.

I woke him up, and I told him what my problem was. And he said, Son, do you have a Bible there? I said, Yes, sir, I do. He said he wanted to get it and open it to John chapter 6 and verse 47. And so I did. He said, now son, read me that verse of scripture. And I read it and it goes like this. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he who believes on me has everlasting life.

And the pastor explained to me what it meant to believe in Jesus, to trust him, to put my faith in him for my Savior and my salvation. He said, now Ronnie, are you right now at this hour, at this moment, are you right now, as best you know how, believing in Jesus as your Savior? And I said, yes sir, I am. He said, then do you have everlasting life? I said, I don't know, because I don't remember whether or not I prayed when I was nine years old. He said, read the verse again. I read it again again he that believes on me has everlasting life he said son you know what it means to believe in jesus i said yes sir i think so well are you right now as best you know how believing in jesus as your savior i said yes sir i am he said then do

you have everlasting life i said i don't know because i can't remember whether or not I prayed when I was nine years old. We did that about three or four times. And then you could tell a little impatience beginning to edge into his voice. He said, I don't want to hear any more about nine years old. He said, don't say another word. I don't want to hear about that another time. He said, read the verse again. I read it. He that believes on me.

He said, stop right there. Read it again. That part. I said, he that believes on me. He said, son, does that say he who prayed when he was nine years old? I said, no, sir. He said, does it even say he that believed on me? I said, no, sir. He said, does it even say he that believed on me? I said, no, sir.

And then he turned on the lights in my soul. He said, son, that's present tense. He that right now at this very moment is believing in Jesus has everlasting life. He said, son, are you right now as best you know how believing in trusting in Jesus as your savior? I said, yes, sir, I am. He said, then do you have everlasting life? I said, yes, sir, I do. He said, good, good night, and hung up the phone. You know, I have never doubted it since. I have never doubted it since. I've never doubted it since. Of course, I did do something.

I got to thinking, well, maybe I wasn't saved when I was nine. And maybe I was saved when I was 15. Because I had such a tremendous experience, a rededication experience. Man, it's like I'd never been saved before. And you know, maybe that's when I was saved. And if that's when I was saved, then I've never been scripturally baptized. I better be baptized again just in case. Because it may maybe that's when I was saved. And if that's when I was saved, then I've never been scripturally baptized. I better be baptized again just in case, because it may have been 15 when I was saved. And so I got baptized again. I've been baptized twice.

Once to take care of nine, once to take care of 15. But as I reflect back on it tonight, I think I saved when I was nine. I really do. Jesus said if we come to him as a child, I came to him as a child. I did what I knew to do. I did the best thing I knew. I'm pretty sure it was nine when I was saved. It could have been 15. It could have been 15. But I really believe it was nine.

But I tell you this, I wouldn't want to base my whole salvation on that experience I had when I was 9 years old, because it could have been I was 15. No, I really believe it was when I was 9. And I'll tell you why. After God in eternity has set his heart on me and has chosen me in him before the foundations of the world and then created the heavens and the earth and man upon it and went through all the sin of man and judgment and he established all the rituals of salvation and the atonement and then one day in the fullness of time sent forth his son a maid of the woman made under the law he lived a perfect life for three and a half years,

died on a cross, shed his blood for my sins, was buried and rose again the third day, ascended to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to work, created the church, sent missionaries all over the world until one day in 1945, one of them showed up at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and preached the gospel, and I responded to it.

Folks, I don't believe that after God has gone to all that trouble, he's going to send me to hell because a horse-racing Baptist doesn't get me on the altar at the knees, knees at the altar somewhere. I just have greater confidence in the sovereignty of God than that. You say, well, did you know what you were doing? Probably not. Who does? No, you can't know what you're doing. Does anybody really know what they're doing when they get married? You only think you know what you're doing. And I'm not making a joke. That's true,

isn't it? People have been married for a while. Ken, I've been married 35 years in December. And I look back now and I say, man, I just thought I knew what marriage was all about. Same thing is true of parents. Does anybody know what they do when they're having a baby? You don't have the slightest clue what you're in for. I look back now and I say, my goodness, I had no idea what it meant to be a parent. Well, I tell you what, preacher, I've heard it said that if you can't name the day and the hour when you're saved, you're not saved. Well, I've heard that too. I've never read it in the Bible, but I've heard a lot of preachers say it.

If you can't name the day and the hour, well, then you're not saved. You know, I met a fellow in Oklahoma a few years ago. He was born in Oklahoma when it was still Indian territory. He didn't have a birth certificate. That fellow didn't know how old he was. Now, it'd been ridiculous for me to say, well, if you can't name the day and the hour and the year when you were born, you've not been born.

Well, I knew he was born. How do you know? Well, he's standing there. He does what born people do. He's breathing. He's talking. He's talking. I believe I saved when I was nine.

I may not have been. Matter of fact, I may not have even been saved when I was 15. I may not have been saved when I was 20. I may not have been saved when I was 30. I may not have been saved when I was 40. I may not have even been saved when I was 50. But I know this, I'm saved right here and now. How do you know?

Not because I believed in Jesus 10 years ago. I know I'm saved tonight because right now in my heart, there is the presence of faith in Jesus Christ. Now, I believe I was saved when I was 40 and 30 and 20, you understand. But that's not what I'm basing my assurance on. The reason I know tonight that I am truly born again is because right now, right here, I'm believing in Jesus. You say, well, preacher, I'm sort of like you. I have those times when I think I am and think I get it settled and something happens and I'm all confused again. I want to tell you tonight how to settle that issue once and for all.

In a moment, we're going to have a time of invitation. Not a long time, just a brief time. The choir is going to lead us in a couple of verses of an invitation hymn. If you don't know Jesus tonight as your Savior, or you don't know whether or not you know Christ as your Savior, then what I want to ask you to do is to leave where you'll be standing, make your way down here. There'll be somebody to help you and talk with you. And you know, the best way I know to settle this thing, get down on your knees and pray the sinner's prayer,

God be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my soul for Jesus' sake. And if you're lost, friend, he'll save you. Oh, but Brother Dunn, I've done that a dozen times. I met a man not long ago who'd been baptized six times. You say, I've asked the Lord to save me a thousand times and I'm still troubled by it tonight. Oh, is that right? Hmm. Let me see if I can help you. Let's suppose tonight there are only two diseases in all the world. Disease A and disease B.

If you ever get sick, it has to be either disease A or disease B. And let's suppose there are only two medicines in all the world, medicine A, medicine B. Medicine A cures disease A, medicine B cures disease B. You wake up one morning and you're sick, and you say, I have disease A, and you go down to the pharmacist and you say, I have disease A. He said, don't worry. I'll give you medicine A. It'll cure disease A. So you take that medicine A. You go home and you begin taking the medicine A.

One day, two days, three days, a week, two weeks. And you know what happens? Nothing. You're still sick. Still sick. Still the same old symptoms. Still the same old problems. What's wrong?

Well, this medicine A doesn't work. No, that's not the problem. You know what the problem is? Wrong diagnosis. If you had disease A, medicine A would have cured you. You've got disease B. Now, here's what I'm saying. If a person comes, as best he understands to Jesus and asks Jesus to save him, Jesus will save him. But if that doesn't settle it for you, if you say, I've done that a hundred times,

then you know what? You've got disease B. You've got another problem. It's not lack of salvation that is your problem, because if you ask him to save you, he'll do it. I don't know what that other problem is. It could be there's some sin in your life you've not dealt with. Maybe a broken relationship with somebody.

It may be that God is calling you into some deeper walk with him. It could be a thousand things. But as long as you're trying to settle it by the salvation issue, God will never be able to deal with you on these other issues, you see. This is the test of life. You've listened very patiently and long tonight, and I appreciate that. But everywhere I go, I find this is one of the greatest problems among many Christians, the problem of doubt. And there ought not to be that problem. These things have I written unto you,

that you may know that you have eternal life. Would you bow your heads with me now for a moment? Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. For more Ron Dunn materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.