2 Timothy 1:12
Outline:
I. The Source of Our Salvation
A) The Act of Salvation
B) The Fact of Salvation
II. The Surety of Our Salvation
A) The Cause of Doubt
B) The Cure for Doubt
III. The Security of Our Salvation
A) The Preservation We Have in Christ
B) The Reservation We Have from Christ
A businessman was traveling through the country and stopped to ask a young boy for directions; "Son, I seem to be lost. Do you know how to get to next town?" The boy replied, "Nope." "Do you know far it is to the next town?" Again he replied, "Nope." "Do you know the name of the next town? Again he answered, "Nope." "Do you know where this road goes?" Again the answer was "Nope." Finally the man said, "You don’t seem to know much do you?" The boy replied, "I know I ain’t lost."
There are a lot of things that I do not know. But, I know that "I ain’t lost!" As my pastor used to say, "I know that I know I am saved." With Fanny Crosby I can sing:
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine;
Heir of salvation, purchased of love,
Born of His spirit, washed in His blood.
A pastor asked a dying man, "My friend, what persuasion are you?" The man replied, "I am of Paul’s persuasion." The pastor said, "I am afraid you didn’t understand me. Of what persuasion are you?" The man answered, "Oh, I understood you. I am of Paul’s persuasion." The pastor then said, "I’m afraid I don’t understand you. There is a Methodist persuasion, Baptist persuasion, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Nazarene persuasion, but what do you mean by ’Paul’s persuasion?’" The man smiled and then said, "I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
It is the spiritual privilege of every believer to be able to know that they are saved. We read in 1 John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Horatius Bonar wrote: "In the early church there was nothing of the uncertainty we find among Christians now. They knew what they were, and it was on the authenticated facts concerning Christ that they rested this certainty. No one then thought of saying, I believe, but I am not sure whether I am born of God; for they took for granted that whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. They did not analyze their faith to ascertain how far it was of the right quantity and quality. All the epistles take for granted that they KNEW that they were Christians; nor is there anything written there to encourage them to suspect themselves, or to teach them the art of doubting."
As Christians, we do not have to hope we are saved. We can know that we are saved. We do not have to live with uncertainty or doubts about our salvation. The Bible tells us that we may know that we are saved.
As a pastor, some of the most miserable people I have ever met were those who were troubled with doubts about their salvation. I can remember a time in my life when as a young Christian I was harassed with doubts. I can remember getting on my knees or driving down the road and praying, "God, if I’m not saved, save me." I can still remember those agonizing days of wrestling with doubt about my salvation.
I do believe that you can be saved and have doubts about your salvation. If the devil can’t keep you from being saved, his next move is to try and keep you from knowing that you are saved. He knows that it is hard to enjoy and experience what you have if you are uncertain you have it.
However, a Christian does not have to live with doubts, but can be of Paul’s persuasion and know with certainty that they are saved. I believe that the reason people have trouble settling their doubts is they doing everything but the one thing they need and must do to be certain they are saved.
I remember during the time when I was having doubts. As so many do, I kept going back again and again to the day I was saved. I tried so hard to relive that day. I tried to remember every little detail. I tried so hard to feel just like I felt that day and remember every thing I did and said. I had heard people say, "You have to ask Jesus to come into your heart." The devil had said to me time and time again that I had not asked Jesus to come into my heart, and the truth of the matter was; I couldn’t remember asking Jesus to come to my heart. The harder I tried to remember what I did that day, what I prayed, and the harder it was to remember.
I must confess to you that I thought I was going to loose my mind. But, there came a day, in the early morning hours, I came to the place where I could go no farther. With the words of our text before me, I dropped my anchor on the blessed truth that I want to share with you.
Let’s look at the personal testimony of Paul and let me set before you three great truths that form the basis and grounds of having a know-so salvation. The first truth that I want us to consider is:
I. THE SOURCE OF OUR SALVATION
If we are to have assurance of salvation it starts with understanding how a person is saved. Knowing that you are saved depends on what or rather "Whom" you are trusting for salvation. Saying that, I draw your attention to Paul’s words, "I have believed." First, let’s consider the word "believed." In this word we see the:
A) Act of Trusting Christ
When the Philippian Jailer cried out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul responded by saying, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:30-31). The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:1, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." The Bible says in Romans 10:10, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Jesus Himself said in John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
What does the Bible mean by believing on the Lord Jesus? First, let me say that it is more than believing about Jesus. It is possible to believe everything I say about Jesus and everything the Bible says about Him and not be saved. Salvation is more than just believing that Jesus was real and all that He said is true. James said "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19).
Salvation is not believing about Jesus, but believing on Jesus. Let me explain. The word "believeth" means "to have faith" or to "trust in." Let me put it another way. To believe on Christ is to place your spiritual well being to the Lord Jesus.
When a person believes on the Lord Jesus two things are involved. First, there is the acknowledgement of our inability. We recognize the fact that we cannot save ourselves. We understand that all our good deeds, good works, and human efforts are not enough to save ourselves.
As I witness to others, I am amazed at how many people I meet that believe that salvation comes from something they do. In FAITH we teach people to ask the question, "In your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes for a person to go to heaven?" When I ask people that question, I get answers from everything from Church membership to living good moral lives.
In Ephesians chapter two, when Paul told us how to be saved, he said, "Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:9). The word "works" speaks of our efforts, deeds, or any acts on our part to earn or merit salvation. He is declaring that we cannot be saved by what we do. It is impossible to save ourselves, no matter who we are, or what we do.
The second truth involved in believing on the Lord Jesus is not only the acknowledgement of our inability, but also the acceptance of His ability. If we cannot save ourselves, then we need a Saviour! We need to turn to Someone Who can save us and that Someone is the Lord Jesus! To believe on the Lord Jesus is to come to Him and cast our soul and eternity upon Him for our spiritual well being.
When the great missionary, John C. Paton, was translating the Scriptures for his South Sea Islanders, apparently there was no word for "believe" in their native tongue. For a long while he was well nigh baffled. One day a native came into his study, and tired out, flung himself down on a chair, rested his feet on another chair and laid back full length, saying as he did so something about how good it was to lean his whole weight on those chairs. Instantly Dr. Paton noted the word the man used for "lean his whole weight on." The missionary had his word for "believe."
The act of salvation is simply coming to Him and accepting Him and trusting Him to be our Saviour. It is to place our sins upon Him and our soul and eternity into His hands. In short, it is to believe that He is the Saviour and to take Him as our Saviour.
A sign outside a church read: "What must I do to be lost?" Answer: "Nothing." You could change it and ask, "What must I do to be saved?" Answer: "Just believe on the Lord Jesus."
Secondly, notice the words "I have." In these words we see the:
B) Fact of Trusting Christ
Paul was saying that he had believed on the Lord Jesus. Salvation was an act of believing on Christ and this was a fact in his life. He had believed on the Lord Jesus for salvation.
Now, in order to be sure of your salvation, the question must be asked, "What are you depending on for your salvation?" Or, to be more correct, "Who are you depending on for your salvation?" Are you trusting in some experience you have had? One might say, "Preacher, I went to the altar and I felt like electricity went through and through my body. I know I must be saved because of what I felt." Yet, I must ask you if the Bible tells us that we are saved because of some experience we had?
Another might say, "Preacher, I came to the altar and people prayed with me." I ask you, does the Bible say a person is saved because someone prayed with them?
Still another may answer and say, "I have lived a good life and have been a moral person. I have never really done bad things." I ask, "Does the Bible say that living a good life is the way to be saved?"
The answer is no! Salvation is the act of believing on the Lord Jesus! Can you, like Paul, say, "I have believed."
Edwin Rushworth had been a skeptic all his life. He resolved to read for an hour a day the book that he had so long derided. "Wife," he said, as he looked up from his first perusal, "if this book is right, we are all wrong!" He continued his readings for another week. "Wife," he exclaimed at the end of that time, "if this book is right, we are lost!" He went on reading with more avidity than ever. "Wife!" he said earnestly a few nights later, "if this book is right, we may be saved!" And they were!
Yes, you can be saved and all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour? He is the source of salvation.
Secondly, notice with me the:
II. THE SURETY OF OUR SALVATION
I now want you to notice the words, "I know." In those two words Paul expressed the assurance he had of his salvation. With Paul, it was not "I hope," or "I think," but "I know!" He was one-hundred percent sure that he was saved. As a believer we do not have to wonder or hope we are saved. We can say with Paul, "I know."
I once heard a preacher say that he was so saved he was not afraid to swing out over hell on a rotten grapevine singing "Victory in Jesus." Every believer has the right to say, "I know that I know that I am saved." Salvation should be something sure and settled in the heart of every Christian.
However, there are those who struggle with unnecessary doubt. They lack a surety about their salvation. Yet, I want to say, by the authority of God’s Word, that doubt is unnecessary. Doubts and uncertainty can be overcome. God wants us to be able to say, "I know." He wants us to possess an assurance we that are His child.
Since we can say "I know," how can we overcome our doubts and what is the basis for our being able to say, "I know that I know I am saved." First, let me say a word about the:
A) Cause of Doubt
Why do people doubt their salvation? Through my own experience and dealing with many through the years that were having doubts about their salvation, I have seen that there are several ways the devil causes people to doubt their salvation.
One of the reasons people doubt their salvation is a change in how they feel. When they first got saved there was a great joy in their new-found life. But after a while, they found themselves lacking the joy they first felt and the devil jumps on their back and whispers in their ear, "You must not be saved."
I must be honest and say that there are days when I don’t feel the least bit saved. There are days when I feel like shouting, but there are days when you will find me pouting. Our feelings change. But salvation had nothing to do with how we felt, and knowing that we are saved, has nothing to do with our feelings.
Baptist’s better be glad that salvation does not depend on feelings. One Sunday they are on the mountain and the next Sunday they are in the valley. If feelings saved a person, no Baptist would get saved on a Sunday when it rained!
Another reason why people doubt is they can’t remember all they did. That was the major reason for my doubts. I couldn’t remember what I prayed or even if I prayed. At the time, I felt that everything depended on what I had prayed or if I had prayed. After all, the Bible says in Romans 10:13, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." At the time, calling on the Lord, was praying a particular kind of prayer such as asking Jesus to come into my heart.
If you have not realized it yet, over time you are going to forget some things. I think of the two older men that were playing golf. One had trouble seeing and other had trouble remembering. The one with a seeing problem said to the other, "Now, watch my ball, for I can’t see where it goes." "Okay, I’ll be watching," he replied. He hit the ball and the other watched to see where it landed."
"Did you see where my ball went?"
"Yes."
"Well, where did it go?"
"I can’t remember."
Just because you can’t remember all you did does not mean that you are not saved. The same principle applies not only to what you did, but also when you were saved. I am fortunate that I know the day and date I was saved. It was on an Easter Sunday, April 2, 1972. Yet, I have known people who had doubts because they could not remember the day or date. Again, just because you can’t remember what you did or when you were saved is not a reason to doubt your salvation.
Another reason why people doubt is because of the difference of experiences. Someone will get up and say, "I was in the south-end of the corn field when I suddenly looked up and saw that God had wrote my name in the sky. I fell on my knees and cried out to God to have mercy on my soul. When I did, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. I jumped off my knees and shouted all over that corn field and stomped down nearly three acres of corn before I came to myself."
On the other hand, there is one who knelt in the altar and there were few tears, if any, and their experience lacked any kind of spiritual fireworks. As they listen to the other’s testimony, the devil says, "That didn’t happen to you. You must not be saved."
Everybody’s experience is a different. Oh, there may be some similarities, but for the most part, no two conversions are the same. I have seen people fall into altar weeping their eyes out. I seen them stumble down the aisle and fall across the altar like a wet noodle. I have also seen a little child simply bow their head and invite the Lord Jesus to be their Saviour. Just because your experience was not like so and so, does not mean that you are not saved.
Another reason people have doubts about their salvation is because of some failure in their life. Salvation brings a change in our life, but we are not without sin or failure as a Christian. There are times when we fail the Lord. I am going to be very honest with you. There is no sin that a Christian is not capable of committing.
The Bible makes a clear distinction between failure and habitual sin. We read in 1 John 5:18, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not." John was not saying that a saved person never sins. The tense of the word "sinneth" indicates a continual and habitual practice of a sin. It speaks of one who lives in sin and stays in sin. It does not speak of someone who makes a mistake or occasionally falls into a sin. If a person lives in sin and can live in sin, they do need to be saved. But, failure does not mean that one is not saved.
Saying that let me say a word about the:
B) Cure for Doubts
How do we overcome our doubts? How can we say with Paul, "I know." I am going to suggest there is one basic way that you can settle your doubts. I think once again of the time when I was having trouble with doubts. After I had tried everything I knew and was told, still not gaining assurance, there was a night that God used our text to settle my doubts.
Let me expand Paul’s words "I know" a little farther. Notice that he says, "I know Whom I have believed." Paul’s assurance was based on the fact that his faith was resting in and on the Lord Jesus. He was not saying that the reason he knew he was saved was because of the kind of experience he had on the Damascus Road or because of how he felt. No! His assurance was based on "Whom" he was trusting for salvation.
Let me take you back to that night in my life when I settled my doubts. I had gone about as far as I could go. I went into a little study I had and said to myself, "I have got to know that I am saved. I have to get it settled tonight." I prayed for a while and read my Bible for awhile. I finally came to 2 Timothy 1:12. As I read and thought about what Paul said, I heard the sweet voice of the Spirit of God in my heart ask, "What are you trusting in to get you to heaven?" I remember saying aloud with tears in my eyes, "I am not trusting in anything but the Lord Jesus." I knew that I wasn’t depending on my works, church membership, baptism, or even my call to preach to save me. The only thing I was trusting in was what Jesus had done for me on the cross.
I then heard Him to say to me, "Well, what did God ask you to do in order to be saved?" I said out loud, "The only thing He asked me to do was to believe on Him, to trust Him and Him alone for my salvation; plus nothing and minus nothing."
Then the Spirit of God asked me something that opened the door of victory for me. I heard Him in my heart ask, "Are you trusting Christ and Christ alone right now as your Saviour?" "Yes," was my answer! Then he asked one final question, "When did you first start trusting Him?" It was like a light clicked on in my mind and a truth I knew so well suddenly took root in my heart.
I remember falling to my knees and crying out to the Lord, "Lord, I can’t remember what I prayed or even if I prayed. I can’t remember all that I did, but this one thing I know, I am trusting you and you alone for salvation and it was on April 2 that I started trusting you to be my Saviour. You told me that if I would trust in you as my Saviour, I would be saved. Since Lord I am trusting in You and You alone, your Word tells me I am saved." That night, with Paul I said, "I know Whom I have believed."
Are you having doubts about your salvation? Are you unsure and unsettled? Then let me ask you the same thing the Spirit of God asked me that night. What are you trusting in for your salvation? Are you trusting in Christ and Christ alone for salvation? If you are trusting in anything but Him, then you need to be saved. But, if you are trusting in Christ only, then listen to what Jesus said in His word, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life" (John 6:37). If you have trusted in Christ as your Saviour then you are saved! It doesn’t matter how you feel or what you may have done. Jesus said, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life."
But someone may be saying, "But I don’t remember if I trusted in Christ to be my Saviour." Let me ask you this, what are you trusting in right now? I am not talking about what you did ten or twenty years ago. I mean right now! Are you trusting in Christ right now as your Saviour? If you are it indicates that there was a point in time and place when you begin trusting Him. Past or present, it really doesn’t matter when. It only matters if you are depending on Christ and Him alone for salvation.
If you can say with Paul, "I have believed," then you can say, "I know." God’s Word cannot lie so take God words, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life" and rub it in the devils nose and tell Him that God’s Word tells you that are saved!
Someone asked Billy Bray what he would do if he found out that he had been wrong and ended up in hell. He said, "I would hit the streets of hell hollering, ’Jesus, where are you Jesus? Jesus, where are you.’" He then said, "The devil will come up to me and say, ’You can’t talk about Jesus down here. You are going to have to leave.’"
Friend, salvation is just Jesus! It is trusting Jesus! It is depending on Him! It is resting in Him! It is simply, believing on Him! It is your dependence on Him that is the basis and grounds for your assurance.
Thirdly, notice from Paul’s words the:
III. SECURITY OF OUR SALVATION
In Paul’s words we are not only given the basis of our assurance, but also assured that our salvation is secure and eternal. We can not only say that we know that we are saved, but also that we are eternally secure. Paul not only expressed his personal assurance of salvation, but also that he was, "persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
The Lord is not only the one responsible for saving us; He is also the One responsible for keeping us saved. Paul was not only assured that he was saved, but also that the Lord would keep him saved.
Notice Paul’s words and notice that he describes the:
A) Preservation We Have In Christ
Paul said that he was "persuaded." The word simply means he was "convinced." Of what was he convinced? He was convinced and assured that God would "keep that which" he had "committed unto Him." The word "committed" speaks of "making a deposit." Paul had committed his sins and soul to the Lord. Like one who deposits his or her money into a bank for safekeeping, he had committed his eternity into the hands of the Lord for safekeeping.
The word "keep" means to "watch over and preserve." The keeping of our salvation is not our work, but His work! We don’t keep ourselves saved. He keeps us saved! When we deposit our money in the bank we are resting in the fact that the bank will keep our money safe. As believers, we rest in the blessed truth that He will keep us.
I did not grow up in the Church, so when I got saved, I knew every little about the Bible and its doctrines. But one thing I naturally assumed was that since I was saved I would always be saved. I never imagined that my salvation was not eternal. I didn’t know there were those who believed you could loose your salvation.
Shortly after I was saved I met a preacher who ran a gas station in my home town. He was a bi-vocational pastor. I would drop by his station just about every day and we would talk about the Lord and the Bible. He was a great help to me as a young Christian and has remained a friend through-out the years. One day as we were talking he said something about having to live right and work for God to stay saved. Stay saved? I thought I would always be saved. The thought had never even crossed my mind that my salvation was anything but eternal. I must confess to you that it shook me. I ask him what he meant and he explained to me that I was saved by faith, but had to live right in order to stay saved.
He then gave me the illustration of a man in a rowboat. He described a man rowing a boat across a lake. In one hand was the oar of faith and in the other was the oar of works. He explained that if he was only rowing with the oar of faith, he would go around in circles. Likewise, if he was only rowing with the oar of works, he would do the same. It was only when he used both oars that he was able to row across the lake and get to his destination. He then said to me, "Now, doesn’t that make sense?" I had to agree it did, but was still troubled by what he had told me. I went straight to my pastor and told him what he had told me. I’ll never forget what my pastor said to me. He said, "You go back and tell him that his illustration makes sense, but there is just one problem with it. We are not going to heaven in a rowboat."
I say to you, we are not going to heaven in a rowboat! We are "in Christ" and it is "in Christ" and "by Christ" that we are going to heaven. Jesus said in John 10:28-29, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand." He is the One who is keeping us and has given us the promise that we have eternal life!
Furthermore, we see the:
B) Reservation We Have From Christ
How long will the Lord keep that which we have committed unto Him? Paul tells us that He will keep it "unto Him against that day." The day that Paul spoke of was the day of Christ’s return. In other words, He will keep us until the day we get home! He is guaranteeing our arrival! Yes, we are eternally saved and we have been given a reservation!
If we have "believed" on the Lord Jesus, we can say, "I know that I know I am saved!" Eternally saved!
