Untold multitudes of church members today are religious, but lost and many lack the assurance of their salvation. Many are grappling with where they stand with the Lord-am I saved or not? Others are deceived and have a false assurance that they ought not have. Yet others want to know how to live the Christian life victoriously. Such people must be awakened out of their slumber and shown what are the evidences of a true work of grace in salvation. The greatest proof of the new birth is not a past event, but a present experience of God at work within a believer's life.
Dr. Steven J. Lawson is the Senior Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, having served as a pastor in Arkansas and Alabama for the past twenty-nine years. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University (B.B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.), and Reformed Theological Seminary (D. Min.)
In the book Absolutely Sure, Stephen Lawson seeks to explain the fruits that should be evident in the life of a Christian, as seen in the book of 1 John. In this book, Lawson explains that the point of 1 John is to bring assurance to the believer, and Lawson does a good job in systematically going through the different fruits that a believer should be seeing in his or her life. I recently finished my own study of 1 John, and was shocked that I had not read this book earlier, as 1 John has quickly become one of my favorite books of the Bible. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has wondered about their personal assurance, especially to middle and high school students as assurance tends to be a big issue among that demographic.
Lawson does a great job of expositing 1 John with the goal of giving the believer assurance of his or her salvation--a more common problem than one might think within the church.
Despite an almost fetishistic penchant for alliteration, Lawson manages to not only give said assurance, but point it out biblically in a categorical manner, giving the believer nine solid points and signs in his or her own life that they can look to know salvation is theirs.
Using 1 John the author unfolds the truths of God's word that either confirm salvation and a life lived for Christ, condemn the rejection of Christ, or convict the sinner to find true life in Christ. The writing was very plain and understandable- one star taken away for poor editing. Some section headers and paragraphs were not printed together in the edition I own.