Not only is it possible to obtain assurance of our salvation, but God’s Word commands us to do so. Today, R.C. Sproul teaches that an assurance of God’s grace in our lives stimulates us to serve Him diligently and joyfully. Get R.C. Sproul’s book Can I Be Sure I’m Saved?, his teaching series The Assurance of Salvation on DVD, and lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3610/assurance Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
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The practical reason why we're called to make our salvation sure that we settle it in ourselves is that we can be productive, that we can be fruit-bearing Christians.
Doubting your salvation can be debilitating. Anxiety and restless nights might creep in as you doubt whether or not you have been saved by Christ. But why are we commanded to make our calling and election sure? Peter's reason? To help us be fruitful Christians. This is the Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham.
Last week, we began a new Saturday series on the topic of assurance. And R.C. Sproul reminded us of our duty to pursue assurance and the terrifying reality that there can be false assurance. Well, today, he will consider assurance again and explore the Apostle Peter's reason why we're told to make our calling and election sure.
Before we get to that message, don't forget that you can own the entire series, along with its study guide and Dr. Sproul's title, Can I Be Sure I'm Saved?, when you give a gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. Well, here's Dr. Sproul on assurance.
We're going to continue now with our study of the question of the assurance of salvation.
In our first session, we looked at the frightening warnings that come to the church from Jesus saying that on the day of judgment, at the last day, there will be many coming to Him saying, Lord, Lord, that is professing to have a personal relationship to Him, and He will reject saying, please leave, I never knew you, because they were workers of iniquity or of lawlessness.
Now, when we look at this question of how can I know whether I'm numbered among those who have made a false confession of faith and who think I'm in a state of grace with Christ, how can I make the distinction between that and somebody who really is in a state of grace as opposed to a spurious profession? And we may even broaden the question. The question we have to look at first is, is
assurance of salvation even possible? And if possible, is it desirable? Now, those questions may seem as elementary questions and basic to our New Testament faith. However, we have to understand that in church history there's been tremendous controversy about those questions.
Roman Catholic Church, for example, in the 16th century at the Council of Trent in the Sixth Session clearly denied the normal or ordinary possibility for someone to achieve assurance of their salvation. except in rare circumstances.
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