Can I Be Sure I'm Saved? (Crucial Questions)

by R.C. Sproul

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:21–23)

Jesus is saying that there are many people who profess to be Christians, who use the name of Christ, and who call Him by His exalted title “Lord” but actually are not in the kingdom of God at all. They do not belong to Him and will not be able to stand at the last judgment. The terrifying aspect of this is that these people are not on the fringes of the church. Rather, they are immersed in the life of the church, heavily involved in ministry, and perhaps have the reputation of being professing Christians. Yet Jesus doesn’t know them and will banish them from His presence.

Then there is Reformed theology, my own theological persuasion, which teaches that we not only can know today that we are in a state of grace, but that we can have full assurance that we still will be in a state of grace at the times of our deaths.

In thinking about fruitfulness, we must remember that we are not saved by our works. Rather, we are justified by faith alone. Yet we also remember that the magisterial Reformers of the sixteenth century, such as Martin Luther, said we are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone. This view is at odds with the Roman Catholic schema, which holds that a person must have faith to be justified, but he also needs to have works. So the Catholic view is that faith plus works equals justification. But in the Protestant view, faith equals justification plus works. ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW: Faith + Works = Justification PROTESTANT VIEW: Faith = Justification + Works In the Protestant view, works are a consequence, a manifestation of the state of grace we are in; thus, they add nothing to justification. The only works of righteousness that serve to justify a sinner are the works of Christ.

One of the key texts of Scripture in regard to the pursuit of assurance is 2 Peter 1:10–11, where we read: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Here, without ambiguity, the apostolic mandate is for us to inquire into the certainty of our election, and not in a cavalier, casual way. Rather, we are to make our calling and our election sure through a diligent pursuit. The apostle tells us this is very important, then goes on to give us practical reasons to be diligent in making our calling and election sure.