Lacking Assurance of Salvation
Hi friends, it just occurred to me that this might be a good thing for me to post, in case it might help someone else.
For about 6 years, I have dealt with crippling anxiety about salvation, not knowing if I’m saved or not. I am admittedly not out of this yet, and am still working through it, seeking clarification from God, etc.
Over the years, I’ve found a few things that have helped me, and I wanted to kinda spread the word. The things that have really helped me:
1. Talking to a Pastor.
If you find a pastor whom you can confide in, whom you trust to know God’s truth, etc., this can work wonders to help you unravel your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and more. Sometimes we need someone else to help us look through the “evidence” that we are Christians and help us “examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5) .
1a. One important thing to keep in mind: the trend in recent decades, I think, based on what I’ve heard from Paul Washer (more on that below) is for pastors to simply ask people “well, have you trusted in Jesus?” or “do you believe in Jesus?” or “have you asked Jesus into your heart?” when people tell them they’re not sure they’re saved. Try to find a pastor who WON’T do this. Chances are, you’ve already considered these points.
For me, I HAVE believed in Jesus, I HAVE trusted in Jesus, etc. but I am unsure if I REALLY did. I am unsure if I did it with the right motives, or if I just thought I did in an emotional flurry, or something. I don’t know if I was sincere. A pastor who will be helpful with this question won’t simply ask you if you’ve believed, but will talk with you about the nuances of salvation and the EVIDENCE of salvation. The Bible itself encourages us to “test ourselves to see if we are in the faith,” and we do this by seeing if we are seeing real change in our lives. If we aren’t, we might not be saved (although everyone goes through periods of dryness, backsliding, etc.).
2. On that note, read the book of 1 John.
Continuing what I said above, when someone told a pastor decades ago that they were concerned they weren’t saved, this pastor would not simply say “have you trusted in Jesus? then you’re good.” While it’s true that only faith in Jesus is required for salvation, we ARE encouraged to test ourselves to see if we have truly believed and if we are continuing in that faith. So, this decades-ago pastor would sit down with this person and walk with them through the book of 1 John.
1 John is great for assurance questions, because it has a lot of “tests.” It walks through the evidences of true faith and the nature of true faith in a way that helps us examine ourselves.
3. Paul Washer’s Gospel Assurance and Warnings.
Similar to above. Washer walks people questioning their salvation through the “tests” of 1 John and others in the Bible. This book is beautifully clear and easy to understand. https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Assurance-Warnings-Recovering/dp/1601782942
4. JD Greear’s Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart.
For those wondering, the significance of the title is that Greear struggled for years to know if he was saved or not, and he “asked Jesus into his heart” repeatedly, incessantly, afraid he hadn’t done it “right.” In this book, he discusses the nuances of salvation, evidences of salvation, etc. and explains, in essence, how to find assurance so that you can finally “stop asking Jesus into your heart.” https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Asking-Jesus-Into-Heart/dp/1433679213
5. Know that you are not alone.
This probably won’t make you feel a ton better, but I went years without realizing that anyone else had this problem. Even if no one around you has this problem, you are not weird. And your struggles are valid, and deeply felt by others across the world.
For those who DO NOT struggle with this:
Please understand, or attempt to. This is a real problem that real people have. It is anxiety inducing. It is terrifying. It is depressing. It makes worship hard. It makes reading your Bible hard. It makes fellowship hard. It makes going to church hard. It is often a heartbreaking and terrifying place to be in, and if you don’t experience it, it’s hard to understand. But please know that it’s real, and that sometimes “if you’ve believed in Jesus, you’re good” doesn’t suffice.
As a disclaimer: I am not a spiritual expert or authority on this. I have just struggled with this for a very long time, and wanted to share the things that have actually been helpful. I’ve had so many conversations with people just saying “you believe in Jesus, you’re fine!” which does not help with my questions. These things have helped, and have gone deeper, into the heart of the issues themselves.
As I come across other things that help, I will add them to this :)
