Being sure about Salvation - Part 1

The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was a religious revival in American religious history.
Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of Great Awakening
occurring from the early 18th century to the late 20th century, each
characterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a
sharp increase of interest in religion, a profound sense of conviction and
redemption on the part of those affected, a jump in evangelical church
membership, and the formation of new religious movements and
denominations.
www.confidentchristians.org

The First Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening began in 1725 and lasted to about 1750. Leaders of
the Awakening included Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Great
numbers of people were claiming conversions. About six years afterwards,
critics charged there was nothing real about the Awakening because many
people who claimed to have been converted showed no evidence of it.

Does this sound at all like what sometimes happens today?

Jonathan Edwards Responds

To respond to the critics of the
Awakening, Jonathan Edwards
wrote “A Treatise Concerning
Religious Affections”, which he
used to outline the evidence
of true conversion – who was
really a Christian and who was
either a pretender and/or
someone who was self-
deceived.


Is there a way
to tell who is
a true
Christian and
who is not?

“There is no question
whatsoever, that is of greater
importance to mankind, and
what is more concerns every
individual person to be well
resolved in, than this: What
are the distinguishing
qualifications of those that are
in favor with God, and entitled
to his eternal rewards?”
-Jonathan Edwards
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections
Page 1


Three Alternatives for the Salvation Experience

1. Permanent nature of
regeneration in reality;
permanent nature of
regeneration in experience
2. Temporary nature of
Temporary nature of
3. Permanent nature of
temporary nature of

God Doesn’t Want True Believers to Doubt

“These things I have
written to you who
believe in the name of the
Son of God, so that you
may know that you have
eternal life.”
(1 John 5:13)


“And by what is seen of the terrible
consequences of this counterfeit
religion, when not distinguished from
true religion, God’s people in general
have their minds unhinged and
unsettled in things of religion, and
know not where to set their foot, or
what to think or do; and many are
brought into doubts, whether there
be anything in religion, and heresy,
and infidelity, and atheism greatly
prevail.”
-Jonathan Edwards


“I was once asked by a Hindu
friend: ‘If this conversion is truly
supernatural, why is it not more
evident in the lives of so many
Christians that I know?’ That is
the one question that truly
bothers me. We talk all the time
about a God who transforms
lives, and yet constantly I must
admit that I am surrounded by
people who call themselves
Christians whose lives have not
been transformed.”
- Ravi Zacharias

God Doesn’t Want True Believers to Doubt

“The Spirit Himself
testifies with our
spirit that we are
children of God”
(Romans 8:16)


Two Operations of the Holy Spirit

1. Saving Operation: produces salvation and
assurance
2. Common Operation: general conviction and
impression of God’s goodness

The common operation of
the Spirit may “Sober,
arrest, and convict men
and brings them to what
at first appears to be
repentance and faith yet
these influences fall short
of inward saving
renewal.”
- Jonathan Edwards

Westminster Confession

“This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion
grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith
founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the
inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are
made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our
spirits that we are the children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of
our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.”

But We’re Also Told to Examine Ourselves

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine
yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless
indeed you fail the test?"
(2 Corinthians 13:5)

But We’re Also Told to Examine Ourselves

“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make
certain about His calling and choosing you”
(2 Peter 1:10)

Westminster Confession

“Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive
themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of
God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish): yet such as
truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk
in all good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that
they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of
God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.”


What Causes False Assurance?

1. Signed a card, walked the
aisle, got baptized
2. Failure to self-examine
their life where sin is
concerned
3. Fixation on works
4. Comparison game with
others


“And so it is ever likely to be in
the church, whenever religion
revives remarkably, till we have
learned well to distinguish
between true and false religion,
between saving affections and
experiences, and those manifold
fair shows, and glistering
appearances, by which they are
counterfeited; the consequences
of which, when they are
distinguished, are often
inexpressibly dreadful.”
- Jonathan Edwards

Overview of the State of the Saved & Unsaved

The Evidences of Being Lost
Maturing/Growth Process

Love things of
world / sin

Fleshly Positive / Reject God /
Affections Negative things of God
Human Birth Works
Experience / Reject Spiritual
Old Nature Truth Fruit
Darkened
Mind
Mind centered Personal life
on self/flesh

God & Sinful Motion Self &
Holy Things Sinful Things
Away From Toward


Fleshly Affections

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery,
enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
(Galatians 5:19–21)

“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be
dishonored among them. . . .For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions” (Romans 1:24, 26)

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption”
(Galatians 6:8)

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. ” (1 John 2:15)

“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me
rejects the One who sent Me.” (Luke 10:16)

“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed. ” (John 3:20)


Darkened Mind
“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to
do those things which are not proper” (Romans 1:28)

“For the mind set on the flesh is death . . . The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not
subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Romans 8:6-7)

“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the
futility of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17)

“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. ”
(1 Corinthians 2:14)

“But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil
remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. ” (2 Corinthians 3:14)

“in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ”
(2 Corinthians 4:4)

“whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their
minds on earthly things. ” (Philippians 3:19)

“It is affection that engages the covetous man, and him that is greedy
of worldly profits, in his pursuits; and it is by the affections, that the
ambitious man is put forward in pursuit of worldly glory; and it is the
affections also that actuate the voluptuous man, in his pursuit of
pleasure and sensual delights: the world continues, from age to age,
in a continual commotion and agitation, in a pursuit of these things,
but take away all affection, and the spring of all this motion would be
gone, and the motion itself would cease.”
- Jonathan Edwards

“Whatever a man
thinks about, when
he is free to think
about what he will,
that is what he is or
will soon become.”
- A. W. Tozer

The Evidences of Salvation
Maturing/Growth Process
Love
God/Things of
God

Holy Hate sin / world
Positive /
/ enemies of
Affections Negative God
New Birth / Works
New Nature Accept
Spiritual Truth Fruit
Renewed
Mind Mind of the Personal life
Sprit in Holy
living

Self & Sinful Holy Motion God &
Things Holy Things
Away From Toward


The Evidences of Being Saved
Holy Affections

“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be
manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:21)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ”
(Galatians 5:22–23)

“Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for
you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ” (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. ” (2
Timothy 1:7)

“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who
does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his
brother. ” (1 John 3:10)

The Evidences of Being Saved
Renewed Mind
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. ”
(Romans 12:2)

“And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.’ ” (Matthew 22:37)

“Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45)

“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those
who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ” (Romans 8:5)

“and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self”
(Ephesians 4:23–24)

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as
more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3)

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. ” (Colossians 3:2)

“True religion, in great part, consists in
holy affections.”
- Jonathan Edwards

The Struggle for Domination

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the
flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in
opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. [the new
affections]” (Galatians 5:16–17)

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to
do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. ” (Romans 7:15)


The Move toward Holiness

Old Nature

God & Sinful Motion Self &
Holy Things Sinful Things
Away From Toward

Disrupts maturity
New Nature

Self & Sinful Holy Motion God &
Things Holy Things
Away From Toward


“The principle
evidence of life is
motion; so the
principle evidence of
saving grace is holy
motion.”
- Jonathan Edwards


Five Teachings of Christ Provide the Details

1. The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount
2. The end of the Sermon on the Mount
3. The parable of the ten virgins
4. The parable of the sower
5. The parable of the wheat and the tares

The beginning of the Beatitudes

A Checklist of the Saved/Unsaved

“And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are
poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall
be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you
when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for
the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your
reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you
who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you
shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers
used to treat the false prophets in the same way. ” (Luke 6:20–26)

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

Genuine believers are broken in spirit; they realize their need for a savior and are
devoid of a humanistic approach to religion and life. They understand they are
spiritually bankrupt.


Blessed are the Hungry

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
(Matthew 5:6)

Genuine believers want to see God’s righteousness prevail, both on earth and in their
own lives. They eagerly desire God’s ways and reject the world’s ways.


Blessed are the Mournful

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21)

Genuine believers will weep over their own sin, but will rejoice to see their sins
removed in Christ. They will also suffer persecution (as the next verse shows) but
they will overcome and be victorious over their enemies.

Blessed are the Persecuted

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and
scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day
and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same
way their fathers used to treat the prophets.” (Luke 6:22–23)

True believers are viewed as enemies of the world and of unbelievers. They
will suffer persecution in some form and be mocked, ridiculed, and rejected,
just as the real prophets of God were.

“It is a special pleasure to
record my indebtedness to
the Discovery Institute for
loyal support over many
years. That the institute has
been vilified by all the right
people is a special sort of
satisfaction.”
- Dr. David Berlinski
The Devil’s Delusion


Marks of Unbelievers
“But woe to you who are rich, for
you are receiving your comfort in
full. “Woe to you who are well-fed
now, for you shall be hungry. Woe
to you who laugh now, for you
shall mourn and weep. “Woe to
you when all men speak well of
you, for their fathers used to treat
the false prophets in the same
way. ”
(Luke 6:24–26)
Woe: ‘Alas’; denotes pain or displeasure

A Checklist of the Saved/Unsaved

The Saved The Unsaved
Know they need spiritual salvation Are ‘rich’ in themselves and see no need
Hunger for God’s righteousness Have no appetite for God’s righteousness
Mourn over their sin Laugh in their sin
Are rejected/persecuted by the world Are welcomed/accepted by the world


Being sure about Salvation - Part 1

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Being sure about Salvation - Part 1