Assurance

If assurance feels out of reach, this conversation invites you into a steadier place. We open with Queen Victoria’s honest question—can anyone know they are going to heaven?—and follow the thread through Romans 5:9–11, where Paul ties our confidence to three gifts: safety from wrath, certainty through Christ’s living intercession, and the deep enjoyment of God that flows from reconciliation. The point isn’t motivational uplift; it’s theological bedrock that supports real life.

We walk the text slowly. Justification by Christ’s blood means the verdict has already been rendered, and that promise reaches into the future with a firm “we shall be saved.” Then we unpack Paul’s greater-to-lesser logic: if God reconciled us when we were enemies by Christ’s death, much more will he save us by Christ’s life. Hebrews 7 sharpens the edge—Jesus saves forever because he lives forever. That turns assurance from a self-managed feeling into a Savior-anchored certainty. Along the way we clarify the difference between the consequences of sin we may experience now and the ultimate wrath believers are spared, keeping the conversation both honest and hopeful.

Finally, we turn from safety and certainty to enjoyment. Reconciliation doesn’t end with relief; it blossoms into praise. We talk about what it means to exalt in God with clear heads and full hearts, and why joy is not optional flair but the aim of being made right with him. A lighthearted Einstein story ties it together: it’s not enough to be recognized—you need to know where you’re going. By the end, you’ll have a clearer grasp of who holds your future and why that changes how you worship today. If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs confidence in Christ, and leave a review to help others find it.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Defining Assurance
• 1:33 Queen Victoria’s Question
• 3:13 Scripture, Reconciliation, And Belief
• 4:12 Safety In Romans 5:9
• 7:07 Wrath Explained: Immediate And Ultimate
• 8:47 Certainty In Christ’s Death And Life
• 11:43 Enjoyment: Saved For Worship
• 14:34 Praise As Our Chief End
• 16:29 Einstein’s Ticket And Our Direction

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:38

Paul writes, and not only this, but we also exalt in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation, safety, certainty, and enjoyment. I believe that all three of those words could easily be categorically arranged under one word, a word that summarizes one of God's perfect gifts. It is a word that many people do not have. It is a controversial word. In fact, it has created distinct denominations.

SPEAKER_00: 1:10

Simply, assurance.

SPEAKER_01: 1:34

And we have notes written between her and others that indicate her interest. On one occasion, she was in a service at St. Paul's Cathedral and listened to a sermon that interested her greatly. And afterwards, she asked her private personal chaplain, is it possible for someone to know for sure that they are going to heaven when they die? Her chaplain responded by saying something to the effect, there is no way anyone can know that for sure. They had a conversation, and the elements of that conversation were picked up in the news, and in fact, they were recorded and reported in the court news. And it came to the notice of a pastor named John Townsend. After reading of Queen Victoria's conversation with her chaplain and the sad answer, the tragic answer she was given from him, he decided to send a note to her. That note has been preserved. He wrote this to her gracious majesty, our beloved Queen Victoria, from one of your most humble subjects, with trembling hands but heartfilled love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure now for our eternal life in the home that Jesus went to prepare. May I ask your most gracious majesty to read the following passages of Scripture. And he listed Scripture for her to read. He said, I sign myself your servant for Jesus' sake, John Townsend. He then gathered friends about him and they began to pray with greater intensity for Queen Victoria's salvation. It wasn't long before he got a note from her to John Townsend. I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of scripture you referred to. I now believe in the finished work of Christ for me, and trust by God's grace to meet you one day in that place he has prepared for us in heaven. Signed Victoria. Isn't that great? It didn't quite hit the news or our Western Civ books that we studied, but she became a believer in Christ. After she found Christ and his finished work on her behalf, she began carrying around a little booklet, copies of it to give away to people. She became a royal evangelist. The book that she would give away had the title Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment. And she would give it away. These were the things that she had discovered in Jesus Christ: safety, certainty, and enjoyment. Today we come to the end of our series on the perfect gifts from God in that first paragraph in Romans chapter 5. And as I read this story, it struck me that you could easily outline these last three verses in that paragraph, verses 9 to 11, with these three words from Queen Victoria's little book. You could safely, and I believe accurately, write into the margin of your text that you have with you, I trust, these words. You could write in the margin beside verse 9 the word safety. Look at what it says. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. Isn't that a wonderful declaration of safety? You could write beside verse 10 the word certainty. Paul writes, for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. What a great statement of certainty. In fact, Paul is using what we would call the greater to lesser argument. In other words, what he is saying in this verse is that if God could reconcile us while we were enemies of his through Christ's death, if he can do that much more than he can save us through Christ's life. Besides, verse 11, you could easily write the word enjoyment, where Paul writes, and not only this, but we also exalt in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You remember how the paragraph began, inviting us to exalt, to passionately praise God, and now he will end it. We exalt in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation, safety, certainty, and enjoyment. I believe that all three of those words could easily be categorically arranged under one word, a word that summarizes one of God's perfect gifts. It is the word that Queen Victoria discovered. It is a word that many people do not have. It is a controversial word. In fact, it has created distinct denominations. It's known in the phrase eternal security. Or one word, simply assurance. In these three verses, Paul will inform us of our wonderful assurance in Jesus Christ with three statements. And the first statement revolves around our safety. That is, this wonderful assurance that we have first of all been saved from somewhere. Namely, judgment and hell, the great white throne, revealed in Revelation, the latter part. Look at verse 9 again. He says, Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. Now there are several kinds of wrath or wraths of God given to us in the Bible. In fact, there are probably a half a dozen that you could do in your own personal study, and I would encourage that if you're looking for a word to track through the scriptures. Let me give you two of the kinds of God's wraths. First, there is immediate wrath. Others have called it natural wrath. This is the penalty that somebody experiences when they sin. Now, not all sin results in immediate consequences, but if we think in terms of a person's lifetime, many sins bear consequences that are born through the course of a person's life. It might be sexually transmitted diseases from those who are promiscuous. It might be the effects in the body that come from lust and greed and anger and lying and many more sins that do pay a price in our own bodies. We feel the effects of the sins. In fact, Solomon wrote that even envy eats away at the bones of a body. This is the principle of reaping sin, because you have sown sin, the immediate wrath of God. There is immediate wrath, and there is, secondly, an ultimate wrath. This is what we could call eschatological or prophetic wrath. This is the wrath that will be unveiled during the reign of the Antichrist, known as the Great Tribulation. This is the wrath of God that has poured out ultimately its fullest horror at the judgment of God over all of the nations and the casting of those who've disbelieved into hell. This particular kind of wrath, this eschatological wrath, is the wrath that Paul is referring to here in Romans chapter 5, verse 9. And notice what he promises us. We shall be saved from the wrath of God. Would you notice? He did not say, and we hope to be saved from the wrath of God. Or we'd like to think we will be saved from the wrath of God through him. Or we're doing the best we can at this Christianity thing, hoping that we'll do enough good things to be saved from the wrath of God. No. He says, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. Why? Because we have been justified, past tense. We shall be, future tense, be saved from his wrath. So we are safe even now. It's interesting the word translated, we shall be saved, is what Greek students call temporal future. What it means is that you have something here and now. You do have it right now. But it is something that you will experience in its fullest measure in the future. We are already safe now. The second word is certainty. We have not only been saved from something, we have been saved by someone. Look at verse 10. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, here's the greater, the lesser, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Would you notice that in this verse we are told something has happened because of Christ's death, and something has happened because of Christ's life. Look at it again. We were reconciled to God through the death of his son, the latter part of the verse. We shall be saved by his life. You see, salvation has everything to do with the death of Jesus Christ, but it also has everything to do with the life of Jesus Christ. It's all about Jesus Christ. Period. His death and his life. The Bible says Jesus, because he lives forever, is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7, 24 and 25. In other words, we are saved by Christ, the Lamb of God who died, and we are kept saved by Christ, who lives to represent us. Just as we did not work to gain our salvation, so we do not work to keep our salvation. It is the work of Christ. Writing to Christians, the Apostle John said the same thing this way. We can come to this table with perhaps tears in our eyes, but smiles on our faces. Why? Because his death guarantees our redemption, and his life guarantees our glorification. It points to the resurrection that will come. So the death of Christ has redeemed us, but the life of Christ preserves us. In other words, we are saved by his death. We are kept saved by his life. We are saved from somewhere. We are saved by someone. The third word that Queen Victoria often shared with others was the word enjoyment. That is, we have been saved for something. Would you look at verse 11? And not only this, not only this, but we also exalt in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So he says, rejoice. He began it that way and he ends it this way. To rejoice in God, by the way, is the greatest of all human activity. What is the chief end of man? The Westminster shorter catechism asks generations. Man's chief end is to glorify God and what? And enjoy him forever. Now we got the part about he died to deliver us and he lives to keep us saved, but we're really not sure about the chief end is to just enjoy him. Are you enjoying God? Would you say that you are enjoying God? Paul would remind us that we have been saved from the penalty of sin, and we have been saved for the praise of our Savior. In other words, we have been saved from the wrath of God. We have been saved for the worship of God. And we exalt, that is, we with fervent, passionate adoration, praise God. We praise God. Praise God. You want to say that with me? Praise God. Somewhere between Baptist and Presbyterian in that one. Let's try it again. Praise God. Shout it out. Praise God. Man, now that's fantastic. Would that our cities would echo with the sound of our praise. Like the city of Ephesus that shook with the chanting of their allegiance to a false God. Would that our city would resonate with people who are convinced that God is good and he is worthy of praise. That they would see it in our lives. That they would hear it from our lips, from the lips of people who know, who know, who know that they have been redeemed because of the death of Christ, who know, who know as well, who know that they are kept saved by the life of Christ. And they know where they are going. Ultimately. I came across some time ago a funny story about Albert Einstein, the great physicist who was honored by Time magazine as man of the century, this last century. He was once traveling on Princeton by train, and the conductor was coming down the aisle punching the tickets of those who were passengers, and he got to Einstein, and Einstein checked his vest pocket and it wasn't in there, and he checked his coat pocket and it wasn't in there and the other coat pocket, and he stood up and he searched his pants pockets and he looked on the seat beside him, and then his bags, he couldn't find his ticket. The conductor finally said to him, Listen, Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. It's okay, you don't have to worry about it. You don't need a ticket. Einstein sat back down, but he wasn't very relieved, it seemed, by the news. The conductor continued down the aisle, punching tickets, and as he was ready to move into the next car, he happened to look back, and there was the brilliant physicist on his hands and knees looking under the seats for his ticket. The conductor ran back to him and said, Dr. Einstein, don't worry. I know who you are, you don't need a ticket. It's not a problem. To which Einstein responded, Young man, the problem isn't that you might not know me. The problem is I don't know where I'm going. Can you identify with his pain? Well, Paul, in these last few verses, has in effect given you your ticket. This is it. He has reminded us of who we are, where we have been, and where we are going. And then he summarizes it by saying, could we do anything less in light of this, but exalt God with passionate enjoyment and excitement and fervency? We praise our God through Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation. Why don't you stand with me? If the Ephesians for two hours, according to Acts chapter 19, could praise God, their false God, why don't we for a few seconds do what we've just rehearsed? Stand with me and let's shout it out to our God. Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God. My friend, you have been saved from somewhere, don't forget it. You have been saved by someone, don't forget him. And you have been saved to something. Don't fail to praise him, for he is good.