Is it possible for a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ to have full assurance of salvation?
It is and there are at least three reasons why doubts and fears as to this should be for ever banished from the mind of one who truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. They are (1) The greatness of the Saviour, (2) His resurrection from the dead, and (3) The testimony of God in His Word.
(1) THE GREATNESS OF THE SAVIOUR.
If an angel, even the greatest of them, had come to save sinners, we might well have had doubts as to the results, for an angel is but a creature and could not have measured the infinite demands of God's justice in order to satisfy them nor could we have been sure that his power would be sufficient to overthrow the dominion of the devil and death, in order to set sinners free from them. But God did not send an angel, He sent His Son. "Herein is love, not that we loved Him, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). God knew the greatness of the work, and He sent the only One who was able to do it; so that we may joy. If the Son of God has taken up our cause we may fear no more, for He will carry it through to a successful issue. He cannot fail, and if He is my Saviour my salvation is eternal.
Think of the greatness of this Person. It is written of Him: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3). He is the almighty and eternal Word, the Creator of worlds. It was He who became flesh and "dwelt among us," (v. 14), and to Him John the Baptist pointed saying, "Behold the Lamb of God" (v. 29). He only could tell the greatness of our sin against God and expiate it. He only could know to the full the demands of God's justice and satisfy them. He only could grapple with the power of death and overthrow it. All this He has done. To His Name be eternal praise!
How glorious is the light that breaks upon the soul when the greatness of the Saviour dawns upon it. Hope sure and certain drives dark despair from out the heart and fills it with gratitude and praise! Yes, we may have full assurance of salvation because of the greatness of the Saviour.
(2) GOD HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD.
The Scripture says: "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17), so that the resurrection of Christ becomes a question of vital importance to us. If God has not raised Christ from the dead, it means that He has failed in His mission to earth. Sin has proved itself stronger than He; the work too great for Him; the judgment of God heavier than He could bear. If He has not been raised from the dead the devil has triumphed, and there is no Saviour. We are yet in our sins, with nothing before us but a hopeless and woeful eternity. But Christ is risen. God has raised Him, and His resurrection is the proof that God has been glorified, and His righteousness vindicated, sin has been atoned for, the work of redemption accomplished, Satan defeated, and that salvation — full, free and eternal — has been secured for guilty men.
The resurrection of Jesus is God's seal upon His finished work; His divine and immutable attestation of the absolute perfection and atoning value of His sacrifice. That work was done for us, ungodly sinners, for "Christ died for the ungodly." He "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 4:5-5:1). We may have full assurance of salvation because our Substitute is now clear of all the judgment which was ours, having borne it for us. "God has raised Him from the dead"
(3) THE INFALLIBLE WORD OF GOD.
In the Word of God we have reliable authority upon which to base our confidence. What it states must abide eternally true; it is as stable and unchanging as the throne of God. In the Word of God we have the testimony of God as to the greatness of Christ and the completeness of His work. He tells us that it was for sinners that Jesus died, and we believe it because He says it. He tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin, and we believe it because He says it. He tells us that Christ is risen from the dead and that through His name the forgiveness of sins is preached to men, and we believe it because He says it.
But God also tells that "By Him [Christ Jesus] all that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:39), and we must believe this also because God says it. If we can say that we receive God's testimony to Christ and His work, and that He is our only hope and trust, we are amongst the "all who believe," and God declares that they "are justified from all things," and we may have full assurance as to this because God says it.