The last word in our series about understanding our salvation is the word “assurance.”  Assurance speaks of an evidence that we know what we believe is true.  We could say that assurance is the persuasion and conviction of the truth of God concerning our reliance upon Christ for salvation, and constantly abiding in this profession which is extremely valuable, very costly and of great price.

            An insurance contract is sort of like assurance.  I used to sell insurance years ago and have many stories from that experience.  But what we were selling was something that could not be seen.  In a nut shell we were selling a promise that if whatever we were insuring against happened that the money would be there to take care of the situation.  The purchaser paid a sum of money in exchange for that promise.  The buyer was given an insurance contract which basically was a pledge of that promise.  It became the assurance for the promise of insurance, if that all makes sense.

            The Bible talks about holding on tightly to our confession in Hebrews 10:19-23 and puts it this way, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

            We have previously discussed the old fashioned concept of “praying through” so I won’t go into all the details about that again.  But this is what we are basically speaking of when we talk about assurance.  If we will seek the Lord in our salvation experience He will give us an assurance that it is a genuine experience, that He is not a fairy tale but He is real and that by truly raising from the dead we are also given victory over the grave and death through Him.  It is true.  We can know that it is true and we can be assured that it is true and not the concoction of some religion to entice us to believe what they believe or a farce to get your money.  Becoming a Christian transcends all those things.  Folks it is a genuine experience in a genuine faith striving for a genuine hope of eternal life in Heaven.

            My mother passed away just this past Sunday (July 22, 2018 if you may be reading this at some future date).  We buried her yesterday (July 26, 2018 again if you are reading this at some future date).  I tell you this because during this time the Lord gave me the most revealing, convincing and realistic assurance of the hope of Heaven that I have ever received.  Let’s face it; we talk about it; we say we believe it but honestly haven’t there been times that you have wondered “Is it all really true?”  Maybe I’m the only one but I don’t think so.  We may never speak a doubting word in public but in our hearts we have wondered.  But this assurance was a calm undoubting realization that all was well and it was going to happen without question.

            Yes we can have that degree of experience.  We can know without doubt even though we have no physical evidence.  We can believe without doubt when it may seem unbelievable.  We can see in our spirits what we cannot see with our natural eye.  We can know that our repentance and turning around is the right thing to do.  We can be reassured that our conversion is true.  We really have been reconciled to God through Christ, and He has redeemed us and provided propitiation and imputation.  We can know that, even though we are unworthy, He is sanctifying us and making us worthy through Christ, and we can rest comfortably in the fact that He has adopted us into His huge enormous family and we can cry out “abba, Father.”  Yes He gives us this assurance.

            Today if you do not know Christ as your Savior please get with someone you who know is.  Ask them to explain more to you.  Repent and turnaround from the old way of living and be converted into a new creation.  Be reconciled with God the Father and be redeemed back to Him.  Let the old man be covered in propitiation and have the righteousness of Christ imputed into your account.  Let Him begin to sanctify you completely and be adopted into His family.  Pray with that person until you get the assurance from Heaven that you have now become a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords and you shall be saved!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.