Chapter 5

KNOWING FOR SURE

Many years ago I was speaking to a little girl. She was perhaps 6 or 7 years old. She had just asked Jesus into her life a few minutes before. Wanting to make sure she knew for sure that her sins were gone, I asked her this question. “Can God Lie?” She looked at me and her eyes got big. She answered with a resounding NO! Her answer was like, who would ever think such a thing? The reason many people do not have assurance of their salvation is because either, they do not know the promises of the Bible, or they simply do not believe what God says.

In the beginning of the Bible, Satan came to Eve in the Garden of Eden and questioned God’s Word by saying, “Has God said?” Once he got her to question the integrity of God’s Word, she became easy prey to his temptation. In the last chapter, we talked about how important it is to read the Word in order to be victorious in your life. In the following chapters, we will talk more about victorious living. The first step is to know for sure where you stand with God.

1. When you received Christ into your heart, you did so because He was knocking on your heart’s door. You could not hear this with your ears, but felt it in your heart. John describes this in Revelation 3:20. “What does the Lord say He will do when we open our heart to Him?"

2. What short word in that verse makes it a statement that is positive and that you can put your faith in?

3. For many people, they feel they have been so bad God would not want them. A person who has been put down repeatedly by people or has not been told they are loved has a hard time believing God really cares about them. In John 3:16, Jesus extended the invitation to believe in Him and receive eternal life. Who is this invitation extended to?

4. When you purchase something of great value, you are given a guarantee that it will work as it is advertised. What is the guarantee of our salvation as is found in I John 5:13?

5. According to I John 5:1, what must we do to activate the Word of God to accomplish our salvation?

6. In regard to God’s promises, what does Hebrews 10:23, say of God’s nature?

7. We do not base our faith upon our feelings. Yet, there is a feeling within that gives us peace. This peace comes from the Holy Spirit confirming what in our lives? Romans 8:16.

8. What wonderful promise in Romans 8:1 gives you peace regarding the way you feel about yourself now and your appearing before God in Heaven?

9. Because you have been forgiven, what great assurance do you find in I John 3:21?

10. According to Colossians 2:13 , how complete is your forgiveness?

11. Before you received Jesus into your heart, there was something missing that kept you from truly being happy. What does Paul say in Colossians 2:10 concerning you now?

12. One of the things people fear most is death. If your life should suddenly come to an end through death, or Jesus should come back to take all Christians to Heaven, what does Paul say in II Corinthians 5:1 that will happen to you?

13. In regards to our eternal future, what does Jesus say in John 14:1-3 that we are not to do?

14. For the child of God, death is for our body only. When we die, we are instantly given a new body that has no pain or limitations. This body will be glorious and eternal. Since it will be like changing clothes, we have no reason to fear death. As a dear friend put it who died and was brought back to life again, “I didn’t even close my eyes. I just moved from one body to another. It was wonderful!” With this in mind, what does Jesus say in John 11:26 about our future?