Christians can look within to help us know we’re saved
When Christians seek assurance that we’re really saved, there are good teachers who tell us to look to the finished work of Christ on the cross, trusting in His work alone and not our own works. That’s how we’re saved in the first place, so that’s where our assurance rests.
I agree with every word of that. All our hope is in Christ alone, not ourselves. It is His work that secures our salvation, not ours, and that work was finished when He said it was (John 19:30). That is a good, grace-centered perspective on assurance.
That said, there is another work — entirely the Lord’s — that He does for us, except this work He does in us. Whereas His work of justification was completed 2,000 years ago, this work is ongoing as long as we breathe — His work of sanctification, to make us holy as He is holy.
One of the most definitive Scriptures that describes this is in Philippians 2:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
The work He does in us drives us to want and to do what pleases Him, so it results in our good works. What God works in us, we work out; that’s what verse 12 says, and why verse 13 begins with the conjunction “for.” But it’s important to note that sanctification refers to His work, not ours; our work is the fruit of His work.
Why sanctification brings assurance
This is pertinent to our assurance of salvation for two reasons:
First, the Lord’s work of sanctification is inseparably linked to His work of justification. Paul’s “golden chain of redemption” in Romans 8:29-30, which promises that all who are justified will be glorified, states its purpose — that we are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (verse 29). Our sanctification is the purpose of the chain, at least here on earth. Other writings of Paul that pair our redemption with our sanctification are:
Ephesians 2:10 — “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” That immediately follows the well-known text on salvation by grace through faith.
Titus 2:14, which says Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
Simply put, there is no salvation without sanctification. Our justification is just the beginning of our walk with Christ.
This leads to my second point: His work in us is so inevitable, so certain, that it is an identifying characteristic. Several times in the Bible, we see the fruit of sanctification — our works — cited as proof of the genuineness of our faith:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
The only cited difference between the sheep and the goats in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 is what they did or didn’t do.
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14, 17).
That last one is the most common proof-text for those who claim that our works merit salvation, so it must be taken in context. James had just described a “faith” that would leave a brother or sister destitute; when he asks “Can faith save him?” he means that kind of faith. A false faith. A dead faith. The passage actually affirms salvation through faith alone, but the fruit of sanctification helps indicate whether salvation has truly occurred.
A key passage
This raises several questions: How much fruit is necessary to be assured? Are we not saved if there’s not enough fruit? Do we have license to judge others’ salvation according to their works? My only answer is that if a professing Christian is bearing zero fruit, if there’s no visible difference between his old life and new life, if nothing has changed, then he should not be assured of his salvation. Remember, this is about assurance, not a definitive judgment of one’s eternal state, nor a suggestion in any way that our salvation is earned or kept by our performance.
The difference is taught in a passage in 2 Peter 1:
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We see in verse 10 that this passage is about assurance, about being sure of our election. Nowhere does it deny our election; in fact, it’s addressed to those who are “cleansed.” The passage is about what we see, not what we are. If we lack the fruit described in verses 5 through 7, verse 9 says we’re shortsighted; we cannot see what’s distant. Our salvation may still lie ahead, but we cannot perceive it. Verse 11 (“for so an entrance …”) indicates our sanctification as the path — not the cause or condition — of our entrance into the everlasting kingdom. If there’s fruit on that path, we can be assured that we’re on our way. If not, we cannot see our destination.
Let’s reiterate again that we’re not looking for our work; we’re looking for His work. If we see it, we can be assured, because:
He completes His work in us (Philippians 1:6).
He keeps us (1 Peter 1:5).
He seals us (2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 2 Timothy 2:19).
He will lose none of us (John 6:39).
He bears fruit in us (Matthew 13:23, John 15:1-5, Galatians 5:22-23).
Salvation is a single work of Christ that includes multiple works, in each of which we can find assurance.
Absolutely look to His finished work of justification on the cross. I will scream sola fide from the mountaintop all day; if you believe, if you trust in Christ alone, you are saved (John 3:16, 5:24, 6:40, 11:25-26). But you can also look to His work in you to help you know whether you really believe.
