Having Assurance in Christ

John 15:1-8 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (3) Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (8) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

As Christians we so often desire to please God by bearing fruit with the life He has given us. We respond to Christ’s imperative to lead a spiritually fruitful life with a search for easily quantifiable indicatives. “One-hundred & twenty were packed into our little church this morning” or “twenty-two decisions for Christ last week” are examples of what is often heard in church circles as evidence of fruit.

I’m not saying that the calculable fruit of ministry is not important, but I will say it is not the most important fruit of & for Christ that we are called to bear.

A dear older saint recently came to me with concern that she may be “losing” her salvation due to the fact that she currently feels she is not as active in prayer & ministry as she has been in the past. I related to her that she cannot lose, of herself, what she never gained, of herself. If God working through Christ was truly the cause of her salvation in those earlier years, how could she, through herself, lose what the Almighty has gained for her?

In 1st Corinthians 3, Paul takes a rebellious church to task for their lack of good works. He warns of the day in which God will judge all the work of the elect. If there was ever a perfect place for Paul to speak on a danger of losing one’s salvation, to warn of the supposed impending doom of Hell for these rebels, this would be it. That would seem to be great knockout blow to stop their rebellion.

But that is not what he says to these self-absorbed blowhards, these empty boasters, who nevertheless belong to Christ. He, in fact, makes precisely the opposite point…

1Co 3:15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Paul confirms here what he also expounds elsewhere, that we enter into this grace in which we stand entirely by faith, & never by works, so that none will have claim to boast that we were able to finish what God started. No, one of the ways that God reveals His power is by His ability to finish what He started in us.

But, you may say, is not faith itself a work of our own due diligence? There again, Scripture declares that Christ is not only the founder, but also the perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2). It is a work, but, once again, a work of Christ, with all corresponding glory due Him alone.

So He is all of our salvation, the Alpha & Omega, the Beginning & the End, for He is both our perfection in regards to righteousness & our perfecter in regards to our faith.

Paul sums this little treatise on how God deals with our works, or lack thereof, thusly:


1Cor. 3:21-23 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

If you are Christ’s possession, through no power of your own, how do you become not Christ’s possession, by any power of yourself? Paul is saying here that die has been cast; indeed, even that the elect are as bonded to Christ as Christ is to God. And that is as much an unbreakable bond as can be found in all of creation.

Once again, perhaps no one communicates the specific indicatives of the true fruit of the Vine better than the prince of preachers himself, Charles Haddon Spurgeon…

“Among my early hearers at Waterbeach was one good old woman whom I called “Mrs. Much-afraid.” I feel quite sure she has been many years in Heaven, but she was always fearing that she should never enter the gates of glory. She was very regular in her attendance at the house of God, and was a wonderfully good listener. She used to drink in the gospel; but, nevertheless, she was always doubting, and fearing, and trembling about her own spiritual condition.

She had been a believer in Christ, I should think, for fifty years, yet she had always remained in that timid, fearful, anxious state. She was a kind old soul, ever ready to help her neighbours, or to speak a word to the unconverted; she seemed to me to have enough grace for two people, yet, in her own opinion, she had not half enough grace for one.

One day, when I was talking with her, she told me that she had not any hope at all, she had no faith; she believed that she was a hypocrite.

I said, ‘Then don’t come to the chapel any more; we don’t want hypocrites there. Why do you come?’

She answered, ‘I come because I can’t stop away. I love the people of God; I love the house of God; and I love to worship God.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘you are an odd sort of hypocrite; you are a queer kind of unconverted woman.’

‘Ah!‘ she sighed, ‘you may say what you please, but I have not any hope of being saved.’

So I said to her, ‘Well, next Sunday, I will let you go into the pulpit, that you may tell the people that Jesus Christ is a liar, and that you cannot trust Him.’

‘Oh!’ she cried, ‘I would be torn in pieces before I would say such a thing as that. Why, He cannot lie! Every word He says is true.’

‘Then,’ I asked, ‘why do you not believe it?

She replied, ‘I do believe it; but, somehow, I do not believe it for myself; I am afraid whether it is for me.’

‘Have you not any hope at all?’ I asked.

‘No,’ she answered; so I pulled out my purse, and I said to her, ‘Now, I have got £5 here, it is all the money I have; but I will give you that £5 for your hope if you will sell it.’

She looked at me, wondering what I meant. ‘Why!’ she exclaimed, ‘I would not sell it for a thousand worlds.’ She had just told me that she had not any hope of salvation, yet she would not sell it for a thousand worlds!

I fully expect to see that good old soul when I get to Heaven, and I am certain she will say to me, ‘Oh, dear sir, how foolish I was when I lived down there at Waterbeach! I went groaning all the way to glory when I might just as well have gone there singing. I was always troubled and afraid; but my dear Lord kept me by His grace, and brought me safely here.’

She died very sweetly; it was with her as John Bunyan said it was with Miss Much-afraid, Mr. Despondency’s daughter. Mr. Great-heart had much trouble with those poor pilgrims on the road to the Celestial City; for, if there, was only a straw in the way, they were fearful that they would stumble over it. Yet Bunyan says, ‘When the time was come for them to depart, they went to the brink of the river. The last words of Mr. Despondency were, Farewell night, welcome day. His daughter went through the river singing.’

Our Lord often makes it calm and peaceful, or even joyous and triumphant, for His departing timid ones. He puts some of His greatest saints to bed in the dark, and they wake up in the eternal light; but He frequently keeps the candle burning for Mr. Little-faith, Mr. Feeble-mind, Mr. Ready-to-halt, Mr. Despondency, and Miss Much-afraid. They go to sleep in the light, and they also wake up in the land where the Lamb is all the glory for ever and ever.

[C. H. Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon's Autobiography, Compiled from His Diary, Letters, and Records, by His Wife and His Private Secretary: Volume 1, 1834-1854, 239-40 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009). A bit of editing (shape, not content) to enhance readability.]


Yes, Spurgeon wisely exposed within her a deep, long abiding, & sincere love for both Christ & His Church. This woman’s love I’m sure was not perfect, & I’m equally sure that was the source of her fears. But Scripture informs that it is not our perfection that sustains us, but His. Just like the like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, He exhibits His glory by His faithfulness even in the midst of his beloved son’s faithlessness. In that parable, the father never disowns his son; he instead looks forward with joy to his return.


Therefore, the truest characteristic of spiritual fruit is not the so easily quantitative aspects of ministry, but the qualitative aspect of the abiding presence of the Spirit of Christ.

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

Philippians 1:9-11 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Hebrews 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
　

The Love of Christ Controls Us

2 Corinthians 5:10-15 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (11) Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. (12) We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. (13) For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. (14) For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; (15) and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Love is powerful emotion; indeed, “love” demonstrates its power as supreme when it triumphs over the also formidable emotion of “fear” (1John 4:18). Godly fear is a desirable basis for evangelism (e.g. Matt. 5:22ff, 7:21ff, 18:6-9, Luke 12:5, 16:19ff for Christ Himself utilizing it) & for continuing in the faith (2Cor. 5:11 & 7:10-11). 

But as John directs in that fourth chapter of his epistle, God’s ultimate goal is for love from Christ to eventually engender within the elect an all consuming love for Christ. Understand- this is the most glorious fact from that chapter: that we need not be overly burdened with trying to produce such a love in & of ourselves; for as verses 9 & 10 of that chapter plainly state, such love is not from us at all, but from God, in the Person of Jesus Christ. Indeed, all of Scripture states God as sovereign in the realm of producing real love…

We can know & exhibit no more of true love than He reveals to us, in us, & finally, through us.

Therefore, perceive, as the elect, you are (thankfully) not called to produce such love by your own efforts; in fact, it is such efforts that God terms “filthy rags”, for they devilishly disparage the desire of God to exalt Himself, which He accomplishes primarily through His Son. God, in desiring a pure love (agape) to be displayed, is consequently requiring that we find it through Him & Him alone.

Thus the glory of the cross of Christ- it is in there alone that we find the ultimate exhibition of love-
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

But then this “greater love” becomes greater still as the proselyte is given the still“greater” understanding this was not mere act of one imperfect man giving his life to save another temporally from a physical death (great as that act may be), but the supreme act of the only holy, righteous, & perfect Man to ever trod this terrestrial ball saving the proselyte from an eternal death in the “lake of fire” in the day of God’s final judgment (Rev. 21:8) .

Thus, it is this love- the “love of Christ” which “controls us”. This “control” is greatly to be praised, because it is God sovereignly exhibiting His holy, pure sort of love- not because of, but despite mankind. It is men’s haughty desire to extol themselves with an exaltation of an impure, imperfect, & sometimes even overtly evil notion of love, but God shows His power as He begins to consume our lesser love by the power of His uniquely unadulterated, pure love.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord- (7) for we walk by faith, not by sight- (8) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (9) Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (10) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Judgment is a difficult subject to broach with people, so it most often isn’t. Pastors & preachers the world over will instead defer again & again to tickle parishioners’ ears with the sweet sounding notions of love, mercy, & grace. They fail to dwell on the companion concepts of a completely holy & righteous God, man’s ongoing degeneracy, & the consequential need to deal with this disparity in a real way. Indeed, these three concepts are so necessary to the believer that they summarize the primary convictions of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8ff). So this is where those ministers tragically fall short- in failing to propound these three core doctrines, they dispense with the majesty of God’s love, mercy, & grace, for these are built upon the foundation of sin, righteousness, & judgment. The good news of Christ’s love carries no true weight apart from the bad news of mans’ requisite judgment before he can dwell in the presence of an utterly righteous God.

The good news is that Christ Himself endured the judgment that allows us to dwell eternally in the presence of such a holy God. That work was fully accomplished upon His speaking the words “It is finished” & His immediate death. Merrill Unger succinctly speaks to our manner of salvation thusly…

“The one who believes on Christ has been hailed to court, sentenced to condemnation, & executed in the Person of his Substitute.” Unger’s Bible Dictionary, pg 621

So we who repent to believe on Christ can trust that our salvation is secure because we were “buried with Him” (Rom. 6:3ff); consequently, we can trust that Paul is not warning Christians of such a dire judgment in 2 Corinthians 5:10. What he is giving us caution towards is the revelation that all that we do & say has implications for eternity, & so we must contrast all our “deeds in the body” with what the mind of Christ would have us do & say, lest we suffer loss. We have already dwelled on this judgment when we discussed it formerly, but to make clear what the apostle refers to, allow this synopsis…

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, (13) each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. (14) If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. (15) If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
　

　
But in keeping with our main theme of pondering Christ’s glory, we should consider the fact that Paul’s attributing to Christ the power of arbiter of this separate judgment of the elect reinforces the fact that the Father has indeed given Him all judgment…

John 5:22-23 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.


So when the liberal wings of Christian denominations & sects like Jehovah Witness & Christian Science deny the supreme authority of Christ to pass judgment, they attack the very intent of the Father they falsely suggest to honor. By ascribing to His Son the highest honor of judging His beloved, it is shown that the Father-
1) Knows Christ to be autonomously capable of fulfilling that role with the same degree of sovereign character & wisdom as He.
2) Recognizes His Son’s works of righteousness & atonement that enable Christ alone to be an arbiter of mercy & grace to the Father’s elect.
3) Reveals the “oneness” of the Father & the Son, in that Christ elsewhere still declares that the Father judges too (John 8:16, 1Peter 1:17- the Father judges us through His uniquely intimate bond with His Son).
4) Commands us to honor His Son to the same degree that we honor Him.
Therefore, those who subsequently deny the Son’s equivalent stature with the Father completely deny the Father as well.

Hence, with the revelation of John 5:22-23, we should propose to false forms of Christianity the following simple question-

“Does what you believe allow you to 'honor the Son, just as (you) honor the Father' "?


John 8:15-16 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.

Romans 14:10-12 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; (11) for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (12) So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. (4) For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. (5) Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.