Date - June 1/60

Contributor - Eugene Heideman

Title - Can We Know That We Are Saved?

Topic - Assurance of Salvation

The answer to this question is, "yes, we know it by faith".

Faith is "not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also a hearty trust which the Holy Ghost works in me by the Gospel, that not only to others, but to me also, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits." (Heid. Cat. Q. & A. 21).

In this answer of the catechism, faith is shown to be knowledge of that which God has revealed in His Word. In other words, it is the knowledge of the promises of God. Among those promises are these: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3 :16). "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8 : 1). "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips, and so is saved" (Rom. 10 : 910. : All quotations are from the RSV). These promises with others comprise the knowledge of faith.

Knowledge in the Bible does not refer to the intellect alone, for we are to know with the whole person. Adam knows Eve, and she bears him a son (Gen. 4: 1). In the covenant, God knows Israel and therefore punishes her (Amos 3 : 2). To know the promises of God is thus to embrace them and take them to one's heart, where they may be treasured up and meditated upon. These promises , are to become my dearest possessions, because they are the Word of Goa, who has sent His Son to die for me. We are to treasure them as The young girl values the letters from her boy friend and as the mother rejoices over the letters from her son or daughter.

Faith is also the hearty confidence that these promises of forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are given not only to others, but also to me. It is not simply a vague idea and trust that God cares for me as, He cares for the flowers of the field and the cattle upon the hills. for although He loves them, He 'does not give to them eternal life. However, my confidence is that for the sake of the merits of Jesus Christ, who has been raised from the dead, God gives to me eternal life. This is my faith.

In this way, it makes no difference whether I say that I know that I am saved, or that I say that I believe that I am saved. If one has learned the Catechism, then the two mean exactly the same thing.

Unfortunately, many of us continue to do as the Roman Catholics do by separating faith from knowledge. Then there are certain things which we can know and the rest must be accepted by faith. Such a distinction can only lead to doubt of the promises of God. Because we must accept His promises by faith, the implication is that we cannot yet know. Although I believe that I am saved, I cannot know it until I suddenly perhaps find myself in heaven. At best, I can with fear and trembling believe, live a good life, and hope that I will be saved. This type of thought is wrong and only doubts the promises of God. It leads to pride, in that one tries to place his own reasonings above the Word of God. Faith may not be set in opposition to knowledge. When we believe, we know that we are saved.

Although we may not set knowledge in opposition to faith, it must be realized that in this age we know and live by hearing rather than by sight. Because Christ has ascended to heaven, our salvation is stored up for us there (Eph. 1 : 11-14). When we partake of the Lord's Supper we are not to cleave to the external bread and wine ' but are to lift up our hearts to heaven to where our true Bread and Wine is seated at the right hand of God the Father. As he is our righteousness, so he is our life and our salvation. Now these things are stored, up for us in heaven as our savings are stored in the bank. But because Jesus has not yet returned, we live by faith, knowing that the promises of Scripture are our guarantee that one day we will receive these things in their completeness. We live by what the Apostles have told us and by what the Holy Spirit seals in our hearts; when Jesus comes, we will see these things- for ourselves. Now we know by hearing; then we will know by sight.

God has given us signs of our salvation. One is the preaching of the Word, which occurs weekly or daily. In the preaching, He speaks to us the promise of eternal life. The mere fact that He has told us ought to be sufficient for us. Yet, knowing us, He has seen fit also to give to us the sign and seal of the two sacraments. Through baptism and the Lord's supper, we may know that God's promises have not only been made to others, also to us, in that we also receive the baptism, the bread, and the wine. These means of grace are sufficient for us to know that we are saved.

Yet many do not seem to be satisfied with the Word and the sacraments. Like the Jews, they continue to ask, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you" (Matt. 12 : 38). A special sign from God is asked to give us certainty of salvation. One may seek a conversion experience; another may demand a knowledge of his special election; while a third demands that certain of the marks, characteristics, or fruits of faith be made known. It may be that God in His wondrous and wide mercy will provide additional signs, but we may not demand them and should be very careful even about praying for them. As that generation was told to be satisfied with the sign of Jonah, so we are to be satisfied with the assurance of salvation given through the preaching and the sacraments. The demand for more signs leads to skepticism and unbelief rather than to the knowledge of faith.

Can we know that we are saved? Yes, "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8 :38-39).