Question 1

Where can I find assurance in this life? Can I be sure of anything?

Accepted Answer

Jeremiah 17:7-8Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.We can always be certain of God’s love for us. Experiencing tough times doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. Rather, challenges and difficulties allow God to reveal his infinite love and care for us. Assurance from other relationships is good, but only God can be trusted completely without fear of disappointment. We have assurance that what he says is true and what he does is reliable. The world is filled with uncertainty, so why search for assurance in it? Assurance in this life comes from experiencing God’s love for us, which gives us security for today and for hope for eternity.Psalm 20:7Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.Psalm 40:4Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.Psalm 118:8-9It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.Psalm 146:3Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.Proverbs 25:19Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.1 Peter 1:21Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.While trusting others is good and necessary, God is the only one we can completely trust without fear of disappointment. We can be assured that what he says is true and what he does is reliable. People, who are not perfect, will sometimes fail us; God, who is perfect, will never fail us. The world is filled with uncertainty, but we can trust in God’s sure promises.John 6:37“Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”Ephesians 3:12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.Hebrews 10:22Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.We can approach God assured in knowing that he gladly welcomes us and will never reject us. God will never say, “Sorry, I don’t have time for you,” or “Sorry, don’t bother me.” We can be sure that God always listens, always hears, always loves, and always is with us.

Question 2

How can I be assured of God’s love in difficult times?

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 43:1-2Listen to the Lord who created you . . . the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”Romans 8:35, 38-39Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.We can be assured of God’s love during challenging and difficult times because that is what he has promised. Life’s circumstances don’t come between God and his people. They don’t get in God’s way. It is often during hard times that God reveals his infinite love and care for us.

Question 3

What does this assurance do for me as I confront everyday problems?

Accepted Answer

Ephesians 3:12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.Hebrews 4:14-16So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.The assurance of God’s love gives us courage to come to him with any problem, struggle, or concern. Our prayers are never interruptions to God. When we knock, the door is always open to us.

Question 4

How can I feel more certain of God’s assurance? What can I do to increase my confidence?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 108:1My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!Praise will increase our assurance. As we focus on the Lord instead of our problems or fears, our confidence in him will increase.Psalm 34:4I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.Frequent prayer will deepen our assurance in God. Our conversations with God will remind us that he is always with us.Psalm 40:1, 5I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. . . . O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past will increase our assurance. As we depend on God in everyday life, we see his track record of faithful care that makes us more confident as we face current challenges. What God has done assures us of what he will continue to do.

Question 5

What difference will I experience if I place my full assurance in God?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 3:5I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.Isaiah 26:3You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!Isaiah 43:1-2Now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”Romans 15:12-13In another place Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.” I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.Philippians 4:7You will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.Placing our full assurance in God gives us inner peace regardless of our circumstances. The God of peace is the only reliable source of peace.Psalm 27:3Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.Psalm 56:9On the very day I call to you for help, my enemies will retreat. This I know: God is on my side.Psalm 112:7-8They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.Daniel 3:16-17Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.Colossians 2:2I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.1 John 5:4-5Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.Because of our assurance in God and his promises, we can face the challenges of life fearlessly and with confidence.Psalm 57:7My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!Psalm 108:1My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!We can sing praises to God because we have rightly placed our confidence in him. Fully understanding that God is who he says he is and will never fail us, results in heartfelt praise and thanksgiving.

Question 6

How can I be sure of God’s love for me?

Accepted Answer

Lamentations 3:22-23The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.John 6:37“Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”John 10:28-30“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”We can be sure of God’s love for us because of his power and promises. Our confidence is rooted in God’s hold on us, not our grip on God. When we give our lives to him, he will take us and never let us go.John 3:16“This is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”Romans 5:8God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.Romans 8:35, 38-39Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.We can be fully assured of God’s love for us because love is woven into his character. God is love. Love is not merely something God does; love is who he is. And we see God’s love in action in Jesus. We can be sure of God’s love because of what he has done for us in sending his Son to save us.

Question 7

How can I be sure of God’s promises to me?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 146:6He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.Hebrews 6:18So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.We can be sure of God’s promises because God is truth. He cannot and does not lie.John 10:28-30“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”God’s power gives us assurance in his ability to keep his promises. The One who made the universe and founded it on truth will certainly keep his promises to us.2 Chronicles 6:4Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David.Psalm 105:42He [the Lord] remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham.Acts 13:32-35“And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus . . . For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’ Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’”Romans 4:20-21Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.2 Corinthians 1:20All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.We can be sure of God’s promises because of the evidence of fulfilled prophecies and historical examples. We trust people because we have seen their track record over a few years, so we certainly can trust God because he has a spotless track record from the beginning of time. Fulfilled prophecies affirm God’s promises. Because he has always kept his promises, we can trust that he will continue to do so.

Question 8

What are some ways to be certain that I know Jesus as my Savior and Lord?

Accepted Answer

Acts 2:21“‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”Romans 10:9If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.Colossians 1:23You must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.Hebrews 3:14If we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.Hebrews 10:22Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.If we believe that Jesus saves us from sin, confess our sins to him, and acknowledge that he is Lord of all, then we become his born again and adopted children; he transforms us into new people inside. Sin will no longer control us, and we are guaranteed eternal life with God. Jesus is our Savior and Lord. We know this is true because that is what God has promised, and God always keeps his promises. Although our relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives begins at a moment in time, we should have an active, daily trust in Jesus Christ that continues and grows throughout our lives.1 John 3:24Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.1 John 4:13God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.The moment we trusted Christ as Savior, God gave us his Holy Spirit to assure us of our relationship with him.John 8:51“I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”Romans 8:15-16So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.1 John 2:3-6We can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.We can be certain of our relationship with Christ because of our new motives—we are committed to living as Jesus did.1 John 3:9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.1 John 3:19, 24Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God . . . Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.1 John 5:18We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.When Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord, we begin a lifestyle of obedience. When Jesus saves someone, he changes all of that person, not just his or her story. We should think often about how our lives have changed since being saved. Seeing God’s work in us will give us assurance of salvation.Matthew 7:16-20“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act . . . A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit . . . Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”Galatians 5:22-23The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.A changed life, one that reflects Jesus’ character, should assure us that we do, in fact, know Jesus as Savior and Lord. Christlikeness is bringing our character into sync with the character of Christ.1 John 2:10Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.1 John 3:14, 17If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. . . . If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?1 John 4:7Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.Our love for others proves the reality of our relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. Just as a tree produces fruit, so our lives produce good things—not the least of which is love. When people see the fruit of love, they recognize that the Holy Spirit is controlling our character.