BLESSED ASSURANCE

By Robert R. Breaker III

copyright 2003
All rights reserved

This tract in printed form can be ordered from Breaker Publications.

BLESSED ASSURANCE

Do you remember the old Hymn by Fanny J. Crosby entitled "Blessed Assurance?" It's a
wonderful Christian song with a powerful message of assurance of salvation. The first stanza
goes like this:

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

According to the Bible this blessed assurance really does exist. Do you, dear reader, have this
assurance of your salvation?

The word assurance is found seven times in the King James Authorized Version. Let's look
at each of these instances and see for ourselves what the Bible says about assurance.

The first occurrence is an Old Testament passage. In Deuteronomy 28:66, God says the
following to Israel:

And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and
shalt have none assurance of thy life:
Here the Lord tells these rebellious people that they shall doubt and have NONE assurance.
This verse clearly shows that doubt and assurance are contradicting terms. They are anonyms
or opposites, and are completely against each other. If one doubts, he has no assurance. If one
has assurance, he will not doubt.

The verse is not speaking about salvation in the New Testament. It does not mention
doubting one's salvation, rather doubting one's physical life. It also speaks about fear. To fear
is to doubt and forget assurance.

So how about you? Do you fear dying? Do you have any assurance of life after death?

The second time we find the word assurance, is in Isaiah 32:17, where we read, "And the
work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance for ever."

Here God is speaking to the Jews again. He says that the work of righteousness is PEACE
and assurance for ever. This is an everlasting assurance. It is unchangeable. It is assurance
that one has always based upon the effect of righteousness.

In the New Testament, salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in Jesus Christ
and his precious Shed blood. This is clearly seen in Romans 3:25, of which the Bible,
speaking of Jesus Christ, says, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God." Thus, when someone puts their complete faith and trust
in the blood of Jesus Christ, they are saved. And when they are saved, they receive God's
righteousness according to 2 Corinthians 5:21: "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

They then have peace with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, as stated in Colossians
1:20: "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all
things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

So, when a person is saved, he not only has eternal life (John 3:16), but has peace and eternal
assurance, of which our verse speaks. How about you, dear reader, do you have peace and
everlasting assurance that you're saved?

The third time assurance is mentioned in the Bible is in Acts 17:31. There we read:

"Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in
that he hath raised him from the dead."

We read here that God gives assurance unto all men. What is the assurance of which the
verse speaks? Assurance that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. Of this there can be no
doubt. The Bible tells us in 1 Cor. 15:5-6 that Jesus was seen of over 500 witnesses after his
resurrection. It also gives us the resurrection account in the Gospels. Do you doubt, dear
reader, that Jesus rose again? Or are you assured that he did so?

The fourth time we read the word assurance in the Bible is in Colossians 2:2:
"That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of
the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and
of the Father, and of Christ."

This verse speaks of full assurance. And the context is that of salvation, or Christ dwelling
in the believer (Col. 1:27).

The verse goes on to explain that this is full assurance of understanding. Are you sure you
understand what salvation is? When the Bible speaks of Salvation, it likens it to two things.

1. Being Born Again

2. Being Married (espoused)

When a person is born, they do not doubt it. They have full assurance that they have been
born, because they exist. They feel, think, breath, and move. There is no doubt they are born!

Also, when a person is married, they do not doubt it. They know they are married. They were
there with their mate when they made their vows.

Thus, they are fully assured that they have agreed to join together in holy matrimony.

If this be so, how could a person doubt they are saved if they'd trusted Jesus as their Saviour?
Should they not have full assurance? Yes, they should! It should be a blessed assurance, for
salvation is being born again (John 3:3,7) and being espoused to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). How
about you dear reader? Do you have full assurance of Salvation? If not, won't you trust Jesus
Christ as your Saviour today by faith in His Blood?

The fifth time we find assurance in the scriptures is 1 Thessalonians 1:5:

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for
your sake."

The word of God here speaks about much assurance. Much assurance of what? Assurance
of the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures:
The Gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according
to the scriptures. Think about this for a minute, Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh (1
Tim. 3:16), loved you enough to die in your place for your sins! Wow! Do you believe he did
it? Or do you doubt it?

Many today think that Jesus was just a mythical character. Or they think that he was not God
but just a man, a religious teacher. They further deny the divine inspiration of the Bible,
thinking it's just man's words instead of God's. Because of this unbelief, many deny the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But do you? Have you any assurance that
Jesus died for your sins according to the scriptures? I do. I know he did because the Bible
tells me so, and I believe it. I have much assurance that he died in my place for my sins.

The sixth time the word assurance appears in the Bible is Hebrews 6:11:

"And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of
hope unto the end."

Again we see the words full assurance, but this time it's applied to "hope." What is this
hope? Titus 2:13 talks about the "blessed hope" of Christ's coming, which we call the
Rapture. One day very soon, the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and call his
church up with him to Glory (See 1 Thessalonians chapter four for more details). How about
you? Do you know for sure you'll go at the Rapture? Do you have this full assurance?

The last and seventh time the word of God mentions assurance is Hebrews 10:22. There we
read:

"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."

This is probably the most important of all the verses on assurance. It tells us that a Christian
should have full assurance of FAITH. In other words, a born again Christian should have that
Blessed Assurance in his heart that he's born again, and knows it.

To say that one doubts their faith is to confess they have none. For doubt and faith are a
contradiction in terms. To doubt is to not believe. But to believe is to obliterate doubt. So
how about you, dear reader? Do you have full assurance of your faith in Jesus Christ?

1 John 5:13 says:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God."

This verse tells us that a Christian can KNOW he has eternal life! What is it that makes a
person know they have eternal life? The things written (the words of God). Dear friend, the
only way you'll have Blessed Assurance that your going to heaven is by trusting the blood of
Jesus Christ according to the scriptures (Rom. 3:25).

So how about it? Do you doubt your salvation? Or do you have eternal life and know it?
Seven times the Bible speaks of assurance. The first reference is in having none, and being
afraid of dying. Are you afraid to die? Afterwards it speaks of eternal, full, and much
assurance. Do you have these? Are you sure you are saved and on your way to heaven? If
not, why not get saved today by trusting the blood of Jesus Christ to save your soul? For if
you do, you too will have that "Blessed Assurance."

If you were saved reading this tract, we'd love to hear from you. Please write to me at the
email below:

CONTACT ME AT:

RobertBreaker3@hotmail.com