How Christ Was In You? - How to be Sure You are Qualified to Claim the Promise of Eternal Life

The Assurance Question

The question Apostle Paul asks is a good one: “Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” How is Christ in us?

Perhaps you have heard this question a hundred times: “Are you sure you are saved?” And of course, your answer to that question may always be, “Yes, I am 100% sure.” Now, just because your answer is, “I am 100% sure,” does not automatically mean you are saved. Just because someone answers with such certainty, even attaching a percentage to it, does not make it true. It may only be their personal belief. They might say, “I am 100% sure, I’d bet my life on it,” but that conviction does not mean they are saved. The statement, “Yes, I am sure, 100%,” is not equivalent to being saved.

This does not mean that everyone who says, “Yes, I am sure I’m saved,” is not saved. But if your answer is, “Yes, I’m saved, 100%,” the next question is how? How do you know? If you ask people from other religions, they might also answer “Yes,” because they believe, “I am in this church, that’s why I’m sure.” A person can be sure in their own mind without actually being saved and on their way to heaven.

Let me explain, so as not to cause confusion. Your level of certainty, whether it’s 100% or 99%, does not guarantee you will go to heaven. You are only sure in your own mind that you are going; it does not mean you are predestined for heaven. Let us not be afraid of that word; predestination is a word from the Bible. If you are saved, you are destined. It is like having already bought a plane ticket; you have a seat number. Even before you arrive, your seat is reserved. This seat is for Kurt, and he will be on this flight. So, predestination is a biblical term.

When it comes to salvation, we must be persuaded and convinced. But what should convince us? We cannot just say, “Oh, I’m 100% sure.” What is your basis? You cannot just say, “I’m just saved.” Anyone can say they are saved when they are not.

The Dangers of Deception and False Doctrine

Let us look at a few warnings from Scripture. In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul writes, “And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus.” We see there are words that are cancerous. If you are exposed to a “cankerous” word, it will slowly eat away at the good cells. Even if you started correctly, this kind of teaching will corrupt your entire doctrine until it becomes cancerous.

In 2 Timothy 3:13, it says, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” There are people who deceive. Perhaps you have been deceived. How can you say you are saved? “Someone told me I am saved.” Remember, the Bible says there are deceivers. But we also need to understand that they themselves may be deceived. The verse says, “deceiving, and being deceived.” So the deceiver himself has been deceived. So we ask ourselves, “How was I saved? Who told me?” Is that person the basis of my salvation?

Ephesians 4:14 warns, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” There is such a thing as “every wind of doctrine.” Magic is often just sleight of hand; you think the card disappeared, but it was just hidden by a quick hand. The verse says these doctrines come from the “sleight of men” and “cunning craftiness.” They are simply very good at what they do. Do we see the problem here?

If you are asked again, “Are you saved?” and you say, “I am 100% sure,” how can you be so sure? If your reason is, “Because someone told me I am saved,” how reliable is that person?

The Only Trustworthy Foundation

What does the Bible say? In Psalm 118:8, we read, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” Where did you place your trust for that 100% certainty? Perhaps it was in a person. The Bible says it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

Consider Psalm 19, verses 7 and 8, which speak of the testimony and words of God: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Is there any arguing with that? The Word of God can be trusted because it is sure and right. The adjectives used here—perfect, sure, making wise, right, rejoicing the heart, pure, enlightening the eyes—show that God’s Word is completely trustworthy. So, compared to man and the word of a holy God, whom will you choose?

Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It does not say faith comes by hearing the preacher, or the soul-winner, or the counselor. It comes by hearing the Word of God. So if someone leads you to Christ, they must use the Word of God, not their own illusions, words, or understanding.

Romans 16:26 says, “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” Our profession of faith—when you testify, “I am saved because…”—must be based on a sure foundation. We must be certain of what it stands on.

So, if you are asked again, “Are you saved? Are you sure?” and you answer, “Yes, 100% sure,” what is your reason? If it is, “I just feel it,” that is not a sure foundation. You are in a dangerous position. If your reason is, “I grew up in the church,” that is the wrong answer, and we will soon see why.

For the issue of salvation, it is obvious you cannot trust the devil. John 8:44 says that when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Secondly, you cannot trust in mere man. Romans 3:4 says, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” So you should not believe me if I am not speaking from the Bible, if I rely only on my own ability or intelligence. When it comes to salvation, you cannot trust the devil, and you cannot trust man.

So I ask again: Are you 100% sure you are saved? Who did you trust? Was it Satan, because you were deceived? Or was it just a person, because you trusted them? “My soul-winner was a good person; surely he wouldn’t deceive me. Surely I won’t go to hell.” If your basis for salvation is that your life changed when you started attending church, that is a dangerous answer, because that is based on works. It is based on you, not on God.

If you cannot trust the devil and you cannot trust man, who can you trust? We must trust the One who can guarantee that what He promises, He will do. That is none other than the holy and righteous God. Romans 4:21 says of Abraham, “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” He was fully convinced that what God promised, God would do. Do you believe that?

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul was confident. The Psalms said it is better to trust God than to have confidence in man; here, Paul expresses his confidence in God. He was sure that the good work God began in him, God would perform until the day of Jesus Christ. God would not leave him hanging.

Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” All of God’s promises in Christ are “Yes” and “Amen.”

Are we convinced that it is better to trust in the Lord than in man, and in the Word of God than in the words of any person? Here is the catch: God will only honor the promises that He Himself made. He will not honor promises you invented and then obligated Him to fulfill, or prayers taken out of context. He is not obligated to those. God fulfills His own promises. That is clear from the passages we read. When God says, “I will do this,” He will surely do it. He is trustworthy. But He will not fulfill what He did not promise. He will not fulfill your illusions or wishes. He must have promised it for Him to do it.

When we apply this to salvation, to claim the promise of eternal life, you must have met God’s requirements. If what you believe is not what God said about how He saves, He will not be obligated to you. For example, He told Noah, “Make thee an ark.” Imagine if Noah said, “Lord, I don’t want an ark, I want an airplane.” No matter how great an airplane he built, it would have sunk because that is not what God commanded. He commanded an ark. God told Moses, “Lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it.” What if Moses said, “Lord, I don’t want to do that. I want to do something more epic. I’ll just tap the water with my staff.” If Moses had used his own method, God would not have fulfilled His promise, because He never promised the sea would part that way. The instruction was to lift up his hand.

Do we see the point? When God makes a promise, He keeps it. But He will not keep a promise He never made. That is basic. When it comes to salvation, God offers eternal life as a gift. But not everyone receives it, because there are requirements. It is like a government rice distribution program where you need a stub and a seat. You cannot just say, “Oh, the barangay captain knows me.” If the captain says, “Everyone get your stubs and take your seats, we are giving out rice,” you cannot receive rice without meeting the requirements. That would be corruption.

To claim God’s promise, which is eternal life, you must stick to the conditions and requirements. You cannot say, “Oh, I’ve been saved for a long time,” or, “I already know that.” You must follow what He commands. Then, when you are asked, “Are you sure you’re saved?” you can answer, “Yes, I am sure, because God’s promise is applicable to me.” And how do you know it is applicable? That is what we will now discuss.

God's Qualifications to Claim the Promise of Eternal Life

I have seven points that explain God’s qualifications for a person to claim the promise of eternal life. Just like you need qualifications to vote or to graduate, you need to meet God’s qualifications to claim His promise. This is what your assurance must be based on, not a feeling. You must hold onto a promise that God has given you because you have met His qualifications. If you do not meet them, God will not honor your claim. You cannot throw a tantrum before God and say, “But Lord, I’ve been coming to church for so long! I must be saved!” You must pass the qualification. If you don’t, God will not honor the promise for you.

1. You Cannot Involve Any of Your Works

The first qualification is that you cannot involve any of your works. Ephesians 2:8 is famous: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” But let us read verse 9: “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” The first qualification to claim eternal life is that it cannot be your work. It cannot be anything you do for God. You cannot say, “Lord, I am saved because I am a pastor’s son,” or “I grew up in this church, singing since I was a child.” You cannot say that to God, because those are works. If works were the basis, you would not pass God’s standard and could not claim the promise. You would be disqualified.

When we say we can claim the promise, it means we can sleep soundly at night knowing, “I am going to heaven because God gave me a promise of eternal life.” Not everyone has this. Some say, “I have eternal life.” “Why do you have it?” “I just do.” That is not how it works. The first qualification is that it cannot be your work. It cannot be trusting in your baptism, which is a work. If that is your basis, you are in a dangerous position. If anyone here thinks they are going to heaven because they have been a Christian for a long time or because their life has changed—"I used to be like this, but I left that behind and now I am like this"—if your basis for salvation is what you left behind, that is still works, because you are the one who did the removing.

2. You Must Have Heard and Known the Gospel

You must have heard and known the gospel. Ephesians 1:13 says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” You did not trust first and then hear; you heard first, and then you trusted. The second qualification to claim the promise of eternal life is that you heard the gospel, and then you acted according to what God commands.

So, you must know the gospel. If you are asked, “Do you know the gospel?” and you don’t, I doubt you can claim the promise. How can you be saved if you do not even know the gospel, the good news that is the means of salvation? If you think the gospel is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, those are books called gospels, but that is not the gospel you must hear and know to claim the promise of eternal life. You cannot claim a raffle prize if you do not know you won. You cannot force the issue if your name was not called. Likewise, you cannot claim eternal life if you have not even heard or understood the gospel.

If you think the gospel is “inviting Jesus into your heart,” that verse is in Revelation and is not the gospel. That is not the good news that saves. If you do not know the gospel, how can you say you have claimed the promise of eternal life? Of course, salvation is not mere knowledge. Many children know the gospel but are not saved because they have not yet trusted it. But if you have not even heard or known the gospel, I must tell you that while you may be sure you are going to heaven, God is not. As the verse says, it is better to be “known of God.”

So what is the gospel? We can read it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

What did you keep in memory that makes you think you are going to heaven? What message do you remember being shared with you? Maybe you remember, “I was a sinner, so I pleaded with God because I was going to hell, and I called on God to save me. Then I knew the Holy Spirit gave me peace in my heart.” Where is the gospel in that testimony? It is not there.

Look at verse 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; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Is that what you kept in memory? Or did you just hear a message, get touched by it, cry because you did not want to go to hell, and pray, “Lord, I don’t want to go to hell, please come into my life. Lord, I turn from all my sins.” Think about that. You are telling the Lord you are turning from your sins as a condition for Him to enter. It makes it seem as if the Lord’s entry is based on your turning from sin. It is as if we are doing God a favor: “Lord, I am letting you into my life. What a privilege for You to be in my life. Without me, Your godhood is wasted.” It is backward. We are the pitiful ones without the Lord.

That is the gospel in a nutshell. The broader message includes how Christ died—the preaching of the cross is also the gospel, and the preaching of the blood is also the gospel. The blood of Christ on the cross, where He was crucified, paid for our sins. The good news is that what He did for us is what saves us. It is not us “letting Christ in”; it is about Him accepting us. That is what it means to be “known of God.” You must hear the gospel from the Word of God. You cannot just say, “I watched The Passion of the Christ and saw how much He suffered, so now I know I need to add to His work because His suffering was so great, it must not be enough.” That means you did not get it. You are devaluing His work. People who practice penance say they are doing it to lessen their sins. That means they did not understand that Christ already paid for sin in full. Why are they still trying to reduce the debt? They did not grasp the gospel.

3. Asking God to Save You Disobeys His Instruction

This may sound strange, but asking God to save you is to disobey His instruction, thereby disqualifying you from claiming the promise.

Consider this testimony: “One night, I was listening to a sermon at church. The singing convicted me. The preacher spoke about hell, and I was terrified. At the end, the preacher said, ‘If you want to be saved, ask God to save you.’ So I went to the front, cried, and prayed, ‘Lord, I admit I am a sinner who has sinned against You, and I know I am going to hell. Lord, I ask you to save me.’”

The very act of asking, “Lord, please save me,” shows you have not grasped the gospel. If you understood the gospel, you would not ask God to save you. God’s promise is that He will perform it. He does not fail. He is not obligated to act on something He did not promise, but He is obligated to His own promises. When you say, “Lord, save me,” you have not understood the gospel.

Imagine you are on a sinking ship. Your companion is drowning and yelling, “Save me! Save me!” You throw him a life preserver. Do you expect him to keep screaming, “Save me! Save me!”? No, you expect him to grab the life preserver! That is his lifeline. The gospel is that life preserver. Christ has already done what is necessary for us. You do not need to say, “Lord, save me.” He has already provided the means of salvation. You just need to grab hold of the life preserver.

Praying, “Please, Lord, have mercy on me. Please, Lord, save me,” are prayers of disobedience to what God has already declared. We think God will be moved by our pity. God is merciful and gracious, no doubt. But if He is so merciful and gracious, why is not everyone saved? Because of Christ. God gave Christ. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If you want to go to the Father, there is Christ, the life preserver. If you say, “Lord, have mercy on me,” the Lord is saying, “I have already had mercy! There is My Son! I sent Him! What more mercy are you asking for? You only need to trust Christ.” If the drowning man keeps yelling for help but refuses the life preserver you threw, there is nothing more you can do. God has provided one way. If you reject His way, He can do nothing more for you. There is not an old way and a new way. There is only one way. Christ said, “I am the way.”

4. Trust Christ Alone by Believing the Gospel

Fourth, you must trust Christ alone by believing the gospel. The verse is again Ephesians 1:13. Why do I add the phrase “by believing the gospel”? Because it is not enough to just trust in “Christ.” Many churches talk about Christ. People testify, “I thank the Lord for my trust in Christ.” Are they saved? Not necessarily. There is a requirement: you must have heard and known the gospel. It is not just Christ, but what He did for your sin.

If you are told, “Just trust Christ. Believe in Him. Just believe, and you’ll be okay,” that is incomplete. That is not the full gospel. The complete message is Christ and His work for us. It is not enough to just believe a god exists. You must trust Christ by believing the gospel. When you hear the gospel—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures—and you believe that message, you are believing that Christ has paid for your sins. You are trusting that what He did is sufficient and that you do not need to add anything to it. You cannot separate Christ from the gospel.

5. Believing Alone Receives the Righteousness of God

This brings us to a question: Does believing alone allow one to receive the righteousness of God? Let’s look at Romans 3:21-22: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe...” It does not say “upon all them that ask Jesus into their hearts.” It says “upon all them that believe.”

To receive the righteousness of God—which you need to enter heaven—the requirement is to believe. We are not righteous; Christ is. He has the righteousness of God, and God gives it freely, but the requirement is belief.

If you are still not convinced, look at Romans 4:23-25: “Now it was not written for his [Abraham’s] sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

These verses make it clear: if you believe the gospel, you receive the righteousness of God. This makes believing the very thing that qualifies you to claim the promise. We have been searching for the qualification. It is not my works, my faithfulness, or my feelings. It is not begging God for mercy. The qualification is believing. This is the certified, quality-controlled pass to heaven. Why? Because you believed. If by believing the gospel you have received the righteousness of God, what more are you looking for? Why would you complicate things or look for another way? If this is already enough, you are saved. You are qualified to claim the promise of eternal life.

Believing is simple, but it is not easy. It is simple because you do nothing but believe. It is not easy because for someone who has spent their entire life in a religion of works—trusting in a co-mediator, praying the rosary all day—it is incredibly difficult to believe that the work of Christ is finished and sufficient. Do not belittle belief. It is difficult for someone to be convinced that what they have believed their whole life is wrong. But believing is the only path that is not a work, and therefore it is the only way to claim the promise of eternal life.

6. If Believing Is Sufficient, Why Justify Other Methods?

If believing is the qualification, why would I look for another way and try to justify it? Why would I complicate my own salvation? Some might say, “I was saved because I asked God to save me.” As we’ve discussed, God is not obligated by that prayer; He is obligated to His promise through Christ.

When you believe, the Holy Spirit enters you automatically. You do not even have to call Him. It is a free gift. Praise God for that! Think about it: if you had to recite a specific prayer to be saved, what if you were on your deathbed and couldn’t get the words out? But if it is only by believing, then as you hear the message of God and your heart responds, “That’s right, that’s true,” and you understand that Christ’s work is sufficient and you believe it—at that moment, while you are still listening, the Holy Spirit has already entered you. You did not invite Him; He entered on His own accord. Why? Because you believed in Christ. It is like a signal. When God sees it, He saves you instantly.

7. Believing the Gospel is Acknowledging the Truth

Believing the gospel is simply acknowledging the truth (2 Timothy 2:25). It is making yourself obedient to God’s instruction on how a sinner receives His promise of eternal life. The qualification of God, consistent through all these points, is simply to believe. And why? Because believing is the only thing that is not a work.

Let’s read Romans 4:5 carefully: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” This verse explicitly separates believing from the list of works. If there is a long list of human works, God says that this one thing, believing, is not on it. It is outside the list. The point is this: it is the only way to claim the promise of eternal life, because God gives it only to the one who “worketh not.” If you try to work for it, He will not give it to you. If He asks you in heaven, “Why are you here?” what will you say? “Lord, because I was faithful,” or “because I went to church,” or “because I let you into my life”? In all those answers, the glory goes to man, not to God.

Romans 4:5 removes all doubt. God has set aside one thing that is not a work, and since He saves “not of works,” then that one thing must be His only way. And that is believing. When you heard about the pandemic on the news, did you have to consciously pray, “COVID, I am now letting you into my mind as a reality”? No, you simply heard it and acknowledged it as truth. It is the same with the gospel. “Oh, so the work of Christ is finished. I just have to believe it. I don’t have to do anything.” Yes, because it is “not of works,” and only those who believe, adding nothing, are qualified to claim the promise of eternal life. If you do anything alongside it, you are disqualified.

If you have followed God’s requirement, which is believing the gospel, God is obligated not only to save your soul but also to secure it.

Now, if you are asked, “Are you saved? Are you sure?” you can answer, “I am 100% sure.” And if asked how you know, your answer will not be based on feelings. It will be: “Because God says I have eternal life if I simply believe in the work of Christ.” Your answer now comes not from the devil or from man, but from the Word of God. That is the confidence you need. Too many people answer, “Yes, I’m sure,” but the real question is, is God sure? That is why Paul wrote, “…ye have known God, or rather are known of God.”

This is the Word of God, and you can place your full confidence in it and in His gospel. So what will you answer? Are you sure you are saved? And for those who are not yet sure, you can be sure today. Just trust in Christ and His gospel. You must know the gospel to believe it.

How Christ Was In You? - How to be Sure You are Qualified to Claim the Promise of Eternal Life

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