Assurance: The Tangible Test

Think about who you were…a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago. Has anything changed? Are you a different person? More to the point, have you matured spiritually? All of us change over time, but has it been an upward trajectory in Christlikeness?

As we think about assurance, we not only have the subjective inward witness of the Holy Spirit, and the objective claims of Scripture, but also the tangible test of godliness. The Bible teaches that true Christians, by their very nature, grow in godliness, and that progress is both an outflow and an evidence of our salvation.

Although this principle can be found in many passages of Scripture, I don’t think it clicked for me until I was teaching through 2 Peter a few years ago. Peter begins the epistle describing the infinite resources at the believer’s disposal: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” We can become “partakers of the divine nature” through God’s “great and precious promises.”

From this position and with this vast supply, Peter exhorts his readers to “make every effort” to grow in godly character traits. The words and phrases used in 2 Peter 1:5-7 indicate that godliness requires discipline and hard work. Peter is not merely outlining required behaviors and telling his readers to conform to that standard. That would be legalism. To the contrary, Peter first explains the grace all Christians have received, and then urges them to be fueled by God’s energy as they grow in godliness.

In Christianity – rightly understood – the capacity always precedes the command. The indicative (what is already true) produces the imperative (what we are called to do). Here again, just like Titus 2:11-12 (“the grace of God…trains us…), God’s grace initiates and sustains our discipline toward godliness.

Furthermore, as we think about assurance, growth in godliness is proof of salvation. Tom Schreiner writes, “those who lack godly virtues and are not abounding with them give no indication that they are believers.”[1]

If someone doesn’t care about godliness, how can anyone really know they’re saved? If someone is living a life dominated by sin, where’s the evidence of Christ’s life-changing grace? If someone doesn’t want to be with other Christians and worship the Lord in the congregation, what does that say about their relationship with the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ?

On the positive side, experiencing God’s transforming grace and enjoying the tangible fruit of a changed life can be a powerful assurance of salvation. John Calvin reminds us that “purity of life is not improperly called the evidence and proof of election, by which the faithful may not only testify to others that they are the children of God, but also confirm themselves in this confidence.”

The Apostle Peter adds these powerful words, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, 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.”

Are you practicing godliness? Are you becoming more Christlike? Are you different than who you were…a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago? Hopefully we can each answer those questions “yes!” And if that’s the case, when we look at what God has done in our lives, we can have assurance of our salvation.

[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 303.