Assurance is a state of certainty that you know for sure that something is true.
If you’re a believer in Christ the promises that God has given you is His Word, and this we can be certain of.
Life can be difficult, we live in a broken world. There is pain and suffering in your life or the lives of your loved ones. And sometimes it gets lonely. Occasionally, we mess up, ditching our responsibilities or ruining relationships.
None of this can keep us away from God’s love, and the peace, strength and comfort that His love brings. (Romans 8:38-39). This is what the Bible means when it says God wants us to come to Him “in full assurance of faith“ (Hebrews 10:22).
If you’re a new believer there are 5 basic assurances of faith. God’s promises to every believer with no strings attached. Benefits of being in the family of God. And knowing these will help to navigate the feeling of fear, guilt, and shame that keeps us from approaching God to find comfort that we need. Not knowing these kept me from approaching God for nearly 40 years.
What do these assurances mean?
- Assurance of Salvation
Salvation essentially means to be saved. Saved from the eternal suffering and condemnation that is the consequence of wrong doing. So, if you die suddenly, you can go to heaven to be with God for eternity.
“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” – 1 John 11-12
This means that as a true believer, no matter what you have don’t wrong, no matter how afraid, guilty, weak or ashamed we feel, we can repent and be forgiven and welcomed by your Heavenly Father.
As a child of God, we cannot be separated from God’s love. No matter what we’ve experienced or done God’s love is ready to accept us and welcome us home.
- Assurance of Answered Prayer
Prayer is a conversation between God and us. This is the promise that God hears us and answers us. The basis being that we come to Him with a pure heart. It boils down to our relationship with God through Jesus.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – John 14:6
Our salvation places us in the status of “Child of God.”
In the book of Matthew 7:11, Jesus puts it simply, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him.”
There is a saying that God’s answers fall into one of three categories: “Yes, No, and wait.”
While “Yes is often the answer we want, we need to learn to trust that God knows better than we do, with our simple minds. He will give us what is good for us but His definition of “good,” is not always ours.
- Assurance of Victory
There are many battles to fight in this life, of which the most important, but often is removed from our consciousness, is the fight against evil in a broken world.
- Assurance of Forgiveness
- To every true believer in Christ, God has the will to forgive sins -past, present, and future. This promise rests on only one condition: That we confess our sins.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness“ – 1 John 1:9.
In the law, a confession is an admission of guilt; before God, it is the recognition and acknowledgment of our wrongdoing.
I always make it point to confess my sin and then turn away from doing it again. God can forgive us 50 times a day, but at some point to have to get rid of the wrongdoing we are doing in our lives.
Sin always separates us from God and sin destroys us. The consequences cause a ripple effect of destruction in our lives, with our relationships and in the world around us.
“But our iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear“ – Isaiah 59:2.
But forgiveness breaks the cycle. And when we are restored from sin to a right relationship with God, He enables us to restore our relationships with others and make things right.
I nearly destroyed my marriage because I didn’t confess of my unforgiveness and bitterness in my life. And I nearly destroyed my relationship with my only living sister because of bitterness. I only began to restore my relationship with my sister 5 years ago. I held on to the bitterness I felt for her leaving me in an abusive relationship at home. I didn’t realize she fled the abusive relationship at home also.
No accusation holds any ground against those whom God had forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ.
Knowing God’s forgiveness is what saved my marriage and the relationship I had with my sister. When I came to know and understand God’s forgiveness, I put aside my unforgiveness and bitterness and began to obey God’s Word.
My forgiveness towards my mother, husband and sister led be to Christ. It wasn’t until I let go of those things that I began to have a close relationship with God.
- Assurance of Guidance
Who do you turn to when you don’t know what to do?
Wise advice and counsel are so very needed today.
One of the most assuring promises in the Bible is when God tells us we have the Holy with us when we are born again, and that He will guide us and teach us.
“For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the spirit you to the deeds of the body, you will live” -Romans 8::13.
There is no situation too complicated or too far gone that God cannot solve. And as His child, God will help us make a difference for good in whatever difficulties come our way.
God guides us in more ways than we can imagine. Sometimes it is a reminder that He prompts us in the right direction. Other times His guidance means coming up with solutions to problems that seem impossible.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6.
As children of God, these 5 assurances give us courage that strengthens us to help us defend against the attacks of accusation, condemnation and guilt that come our way.
From Pity to Praise 