Christian Confidence is Offensive but Necessary

The three Jewish magistrates administering in Babylon refused to bow down and worship the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and were accused before the King of this capital offense:

• But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon--Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego--who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:12)

The King then offered them one last opportunity to do homage before his statue to avoid being cast into a “fiery furnace.” However, they courageously responded,

• Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

Such courage depends on a clear knowledge of and a confidence in God. However, it’s this very type of knowledge and confidence that is being so widely rejected today. While some insist that they aren’t possible, others attack doctrinal certainty as arrogant, unattractive, imperialistic and dismissive of other religious beliefs.

I’d like to argue that these challenges are illogical, unbiblical, and dismissive of who we are to be in Christ.

DISMISSING CERTITUDE IS ILLOGICAL: In order to dismiss certainty, the skeptic needs to make a statement of certainty. For instance, one otherwise competent theologian stated, “We can’t be certain about those very important spiritual and moral issues.” However, in order to dismiss Christian certainty, he had to make a statement of certainty – “We can’t be certain!” If we can’t be certain about such matters, how can he state so strongly that he is certain that “we can’t be certain.”

This incoherence is not a matter of wording. It is a necessary byproduct of trying to dismiss certainty. Others call themselves “Christian Agnostics,” claiming “You really can’t know if the Bible is God’s Word!” Here too, they are denying certainty with a statement of certainty – “You can’t know” – thereby contradicting themselves.

Nor can the multi-culturalist complain that our Christian certainty represents an unacceptable judgment of others. In making such an assessment, they too are judging! Nor can they claim that it’s offensive without being “offensive” themselves! Nor can they charge us with “arrogance” without being arrogant and dogmatic themselves.

CERTAINTY IS BIBLICAL: The Bible says a lot about certainty and the need for it:

• For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. (John 17:8)

• Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:3-4)

• Col. 2:2-3 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

• For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephes. 5:5)

• Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 3:13)

More importantly, confidence is so essential to the quality of our relationship with our Lord:

·       Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

CERTAINTY OR CONFIDENCE IS NECESSARY AND PERSONALLY ENHANCING: The three Hebrew administrators couldn’t have lived courageously without confidence in their God. Nor can we live courageously and coherently without the confidence that our faith imparts to us. The Book of Hebrews gives us a condensed set of portraits of the power arising from the assurance of faith:

• Through faith [they] conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. (Hebrews 11:33-36)

This doesn’t mean that assurance comes without blood, sweat and tears. It had eluded me for half of my life in Christ. I must confess that it would have been easier to have been a postmodern Christian and dismissed the hope that assurance was possible. Instead, I had been tormented by thinking that it was possible, while it seemed that there was nothing I could do to obtain it. This made me feel like a second-rate Christian. However, God is faithful, who eventually brought me to a place of stability and confidence, although it required confronting my various doubts.

Paul writes of the “riches of assured understanding” (Col. 2:2). We needs these riches in order to stand, and our God can make us stand (Romans 14:4).

CAN WE BE ASSURED THAT WE ARE SAVED? This issue is critical to our relationship with God. If we are not confident that God has received us and will never let us go, we will have great difficulty to love Him and to live for Him.

However, the Bible provides many ways that we can know that we are eternally His. For one thing, He has promised that any who really want Him can have Him:

·       All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37; 3:16)

·       For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:12-13)

We might fear that God would never accept us after all the sins we have committed. However, Paul confessed that he had been the worst sinner. Not only did he kill Christians, but even worse, he forced them to renounce Jesus! Therefore, if God had forgiven him and even made him the foremost missionary, this proves that He is ready to receive anyone, no matter how sinful:

• The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 15-16)

We are also fearful that we might not have enough faith to be saved. However, our Savior is very gracious. The “Hall of Fame of Faith” (Hebrews 11) provides us with many examples of exemplary faith. One example of this highlights the faith of the children of Israel:

• By faith the people [of Israel] crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29) 

However, when we read the original Exodus account, it doesn’t seem that the Israelites had any faith. Instead, as the Egyptian chariots were approaching, they angrily rebelled against Moses. However, since they were between a rock and a hard place, they followed Moses through the parted sea. Did they have faith? Only the smallest measure!

What does this tell us? That we only need the smallest measure of faith to satisfy our merciful God!

The Apostle John affirmed that if we have sincere faith, we can know that we are saved:

·       Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. (1 John 5:1-2)

If we are endeavoring to keep his commandments, however imperfectly, we can know that we are in Him:

• By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:3-6)

Although obedience doesn’t save us, it certainly helps us to know that we are saved. Why so? Well, if we trust in our Lord, we will do what He tells us to do. If we don’t trust Him, we will not. If we trust in our doctor, we will do what he tells us to do. This principle applies even more to obeying our Savior.

We tend to worry that we are not righteous enough or deserving enough to be saved. However, our Patriarch Abraham repeatedly failed God. He even confessed that everywhere that they would travel, he would have his wife Sarah deny that she was married to Abraham so that, if they would take Sarah, Abraham would be rewarded instead of killed (Genesis 20:13).

Abraham nephew, Lot had been living a highly compromised life in Sodom and thereafter. However, in God’s eyes, he was righteous:

·       …He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard). (2 Peter 2:7-8)

Lot’s daughters had even got Lot drunk to have sex with him. Nevertheless, in God’s eyes, he was righteous.

How can we reassure ourselves that we belong to God? There are many ways. Jesus taught that those who belong to Him come to His light:

• And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

The fact that we come to the light of His Word is a good indication that we have been born again. Otherwise, we would run from the Lord and His Word. The Apostle John put it this way:

·       We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (1 John 4:6)

The fact that we read the teachings of the Apostles to learn how to follow Jesus is something that the natural person does not do:

• The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14)

The fact that we care about the things of God – the Bible, forgiveness, heaven, living for Jesus – is a powerful indication that we have been regenerated.

Nevertheless, many of us have a conscience that condemns us, making us feel that we couldn’t possibly be saved. However, this is normal:

• We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. (1 John 3:19-23)

Sometimes, we have to preach the Gospel to our condemning heart. What sermon do we preach? We remind ourselves that we have the fruits of the Spirit? Which? In the above verses, John mentioned three: We keep his commandments, believe, and love one another. Of course, we do none of these things perfectly, but we confess our sins when we don’t measure up to His standards. And when we do, He forgives and cleanses us of all our dirt.

The Apostle John had provided many tests by which we can reassure ourselves. He added sincere confession:

·       Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15)

If, in all ways, we are not seeking to conform our lives to our Savior, we will not receive His assurance that we are saved and will fear judgment:

• God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear [of judgment] in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (1 John 4:16-18)

When our goal is love, first of God and then or our neighbor, we are walking as Jesus did and will have confidence, even in the face of judgment.

If you still lack this confidence, just trust in the Lord. He is able to provide.

DOES GOD KNOW THE ENTIRE FUTURE?

There are many verses that suggest that God was blindsided by events. However, there are many verses that explicitly inform us that God is perfect in His knowledge:

• You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. (Psalm 139:3-4)

• Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)

But are future events “hidden from God’s sight?” Evidently not!

• Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. (Psalm 147:5)

If His understanding has no limit, then His knowledge of the future would also have no limit.

• “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you." (Isaiah 42:9)

To declare them, He must know them. But does He know all future events?

• Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let him foretell what will come. (Isaiah 44:7) 

He declares that none are like Him able to declare “what is still to come”:

• “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)

When He claims that He makes “known the end,” it doesn’t seem that there are any details left out:

• “For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'” (Isaiah 48:4-5 (NIV) 

God wouldn’t leave any room for the idols to fill in the missing blanks, because God had no missing blanks of foreknowledge to leave out.

However, there are a number of verses that seem to suggest that God is not perfect in foreknowledge. God had given Moses a song to teach to Israel which prophesied her future rebellion, but this song includes a curious detail:

• "I will hide my face from them," he said, "AND SEE what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.” (Deuteronomy 32:20) 

This verse seems to suggest that God does not know what will happen to Israel, and that He will have to play “wait and see.” However, when we read the rest of the song. We find that God does know precisely:

• "I will heap calamities upon them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.” (Deuteronomy 32:23-24)

• Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. (Deuteronomy 32:43)

How then do we explain “and see?” Perhaps God is merely using language as a human might, as if to say: “Then my words will be vindicated in the seeing.”

Some verses even seem to suggest that God had changed His mind. For instance, God informed Samuel that

• It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. (1 Samuel 15:11; KJV; All other verses in the NIV) 

The KJV makes it seem that God has changed His mind based upon new information about Saul. However, in the same account, the Prophet Samuel confidently claims that God does not change His mind and that there is no reason for God to change His mind:

• Samuel said to him [Saul], "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does NOT LIE OR CHANGE HIS MIND [“repent” in the KJV]; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." (1 Samuel 15:28-29)

The same Hebrew word is used in both sets of verses. In 15:11 it says that God does repent, but then Samuel says that He doesn’t repent. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction?

Words are often used differently. In regards to the first verse, the NIV translates the Hebrew as “It grieved God,” not that He changed His mind but only His course of action according to His plan. In fact, He had always planned that the kingly lineage would be of Judah and not Saul’s tribe of Benjamin:

• The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. (Genesis 49:10)

God’s perfect omniscience is not an academic matter. It is a matter of our food - our peace and trust. If God is not omniscient and therefore might change His mind in our regards, we have no basis for peace. He might later change any of His promises. He might even decide that He doesn’t want me. We cannot have a joyful confidence about such a God or any assurance about our salvation or place in heaven.

The laws of physics are another indication that God will not learn some new facts and change things around. Instead, as far as we can tell, the laws are immutable, elegant, and universal. God gives us no hint at all that He is monkeying with the laws as new information comes into His lab.

It is also alleged that God didn’t know how Abraham would respond and whether or not He would be able to fulfill His covenant through him. As Abraham was ready to plunge his knife into Isaac, the sacrifice that the Lord had required of Abraham, the Angel of the Lord intervened:

• "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. NOW I KNOW that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Genesis 22:12) 

The Angel of the Lord then renewed the covenant with Abraham. However, it seems unlikely that the Lord didn’t know the outcome of this trial. For one thing, He had earlier unconditionally promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to the world (Gen. 12:1-3). Later, He indicated that Abraham’s obedience was a foregone conclusion:

• Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will SURELY become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth WILL be blessed through him. For I have chosen [“known” in the Hebrew] him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." (Genesis 18:17-19)

Abraham’s future obedience was clearly foreknown by the Lord and so too the fulfillment of His covenant. How then are we to understand “NOW I know” in light of God’s apparent foreknowledge? Perhaps in this manner: “Now I know with my eyes.”

In any event, God’s foreknowledge is inseparable from the entire biblical revelation. Everything that He has promised us depends upon His perfect knowledge and ordaining of the future.

Jesus assures His followers that they need not worry about our needs as do the unbelievers because of God’s foreknowledge:

• Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8)

We can only rest assured in Him because He knows ALL things.

Also, the Bible assures us that the “Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19), and that we are His solid and unmovable foundation. In order to give us the assurance that nothing will ever separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39), He must have perfect foreknowledge. In fact, to give us any assurances, He must have perfect foreknowledge. Without this, He would always be learning new things, and with this new knowledge, there would always be a likelihood that He would have to revise His plans. Heaven forbid!

KNOWING THAT GOD HAS EMBRACED US

How do we know that God has lovingly received us? This question threatens us. The great reformer, Martin Luther, was a afflicted because he lacked the assurance that God had received him. He almost died on several occasions trying to prove to God that he was worthy of Him. His priest and spiritual guide, Von Staupitz, assured Luther, “All you need to do is to love God.” However, unsure of his final destination, Luther stormed back, “Love Him? I hate Him!”

The Apostle John knew that this is an issue necessary for our peace and assurance and, therefore, devoted one of his letters to help the brethren know that they had been embraced eternally by God. In a theologically packed statement, he wrote:

·       We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6)

Although obedience does not save us, it is the inevitable fruit that assures us that we have a living, saving faith. An apple tree bears apples and not poison ivy. The apples don’t make the apple tree. It is the tree that produces the apples. It is the appearance of apples that assure us that we are looking at an apple tree. In the same way, our obedience to God’s Word reassures us that God loves us.

However, the simple test of obedience to His commands or Word can also fill us with uncertainty and dread. We might ask, “Am I obeying enough?” However, we are all miles away from the perfect model of Jesus. Nevertheless, we “must walk as Jesus did.” Not very reassuring!

However, we can reassure ourselves in several ways. Jesus’ intention was to serve the Father before all else. The Father was #1. If we are seeking first the Lord and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), we can assure ourselves that we are walking as Jesus did. If we embrace God in this manner, we can be assured that He embraces us.

We will fall short, far short! However, if we humble ourselves before the Lord (confessing our sins), He will lift us up (James 4:10). John puts it like this:

·       If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

But we must confess our sins! These who refuse to confess do not have a living faith, for if we truly trust God, we will do as He tells us to do, confess our sins, and turn from them. If we refuse, we are “liars.” Therefore, we cannot extend a false hope to the “liar,” telling him that he is saved even though he refuses to “obey His commands.”

This also puts the kibosh on the unbiblical teaching of universalism. If someone refuses to follow Jesus, and claims that he is nevertheless saved, we must bring them to John’s words that he is a “liar” without hope. If they did have a future hope despite their unwillingness to repent, John would have argued that “all will be saved anyway, and so no tests of your faith are really necessary.”

John’s teaching also suggests that we are not free to discard any of Jesus’ teachings. Instead, the way that we love God is to keep His Word, all of it! When Jesus was tormented by the Devil while fasting in the desert, He quoted Deuteronomy 8:

·       The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:3-4)

If Jesus lived by the Father’s every word, so must we! He did not pick-and-choose. This is how we “must walk as Jesus did,” seeking to obey His every command.