Obtaining Assurance Through the Spirit's Work in Your Life

Can we know we are saved? The first paragraph of the 18th chapter of the 1689 Baptist Confession answers yes. Scripture offers numerous examples of believers who express confident assurance in their present salvation and their perseverance unto the end. Some may suppose such certainty belonged only to the apostles or to believers specially enlightened by God, but John’s first epistle addresses this directly. Writing to all the Christians in his audience, he states, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). The Apostle John not only tells us we can know our salvation; he wants us to know it. This assurance lies at the very heart of why he wrote.As for how we know we are saved, we turn to the second paragraph of the chapter:This certainty is not merely an inconclusive or likely persuasion based on a fallible hope. It is an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of…