Call Us: 423 661-4734 | Email: requests@comeandreason.com      
Assurance of Salvation

Assurance of Salvation

My question is about one’s assurance of salvation.  Based on your model of salvation as opposed to the common or traditional view of salvation, as being a legal act, when can one be assured of salvation?

The common view says that a person is saved at the point where one, by faith accepts Jesus in his/her life. We call this justification by faith. At that same point one can then have the assurance of salvation, the thief on the cross is usually used as an evidence to support this view. The assurance of salvation is maintained thru the process of sanctification which begins and continues till Jesus comes provided the person remains in Christ or maintains a saving relationship with Jesus.

Your model seems to focus more on the healing of our terminal condition, restoring us to God’s original design or way of living–the circle of love, which makes a lot of sense to me especially when one understands sin and the law in the same way as you do.  Now based on your model when is salvation assured? Is there such thing as justification in your model?

Thank you for your weekly studies. It has helped me see God as a truly loving God who does not inflict punishment on anyone.

Keep up the good work. JH,  Australia


Thanks for such a great question and one that many people struggle with regardless of which “model” they hold.

In my model we have the “assurance” of salvation when we “trust” Jesus with our lives, that’s it. Once we trust Jesus, He, our great Heavenly Physician, will perfectly heal and restore us, thus our assurance is in Jesus, not in ourselves or our future. “This is life eternal that they might know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3). When we “know” God as Jesus revealed Him to be and trust Him, then we have confidence, faith, or trust in Jesus’ ability to “save” (salvage) us! Our assurance or confidence is in our Savior (just like the thief on the Cross) not in a legal payment.

Consider a terminal physical illness. If a physician has a remedy which will cure you 100%, what is the essential step necessary in order for you to have “assurance” you will be “saved?” Is it not trust in the physician?  When you trust the physician, you will open yourself to his treatment, follow his prescription, and surrender yourself to his interventions and the outcome is assured. But if you don’t trust the physician, then you won’t let him treat you, you won’t follow his prescription, and you won’t get well.

Likewise with our eternal salvation.  If we trust Jesus, then He will perfectly heal us. It is in this trust relationship with Christ that we find our assurance of salvation. At the moment we trust Him and turn our lives over to Him we have His assurance that He will save us. But if we refuse to trust Him and instead trust in a “legal payment” or trust in rituals, observances, or sacraments, then we have no assurance, for there is no remedy to sinfulness in such things. Only those who experience the renewing, regenerating, indwelling Spirit experience transformation of heart and mind – real healing, real salvation!

Now let’s go back and examine the traditional view you quite accurately described above. The word salvation comes from the root “salvo” from which we get “salve” as in a medicinal ointment or “salvage” as in restoring something broken to unbrokenness. This is what salvation actually is, the healing, restoring, regenerating process. A legal act cannot do this. But God, being gracious, loving, and understanding, stoops down to meet us where we are to bring us up to where He wants us to be. Therefore, God has, in times past, communicated in legal language to people who could comprehend nothing else. At Sinai, when God wanted friendship and love, the only thing the people would hear was thunder and law, so God gave them what they could hear. Just as a parent gives parental “laws” to protect children who are too immature to understand the dangers of smoking or drugs, God gave ‘legal’ law to protect His immature children from destroying themselves long enough for them to grow up into trust and allow Him to heal them. Sadly, some never grow up.

In fact, some have misunderstood God and His use of law and created an entire legal framework for salvation. The “penal substitution” model of assurance is built upon distrust of God. In this traditional model, our assurance is in the “payment” made, because God is seen as a stern, severe, and “just” being who requires appeasement in whom we really don’t trust. Therefore, we need to be able to claim the “blood of Jesus” as our “legal right” to salvation and have Christ “plead” His blood to the Father in our behalf. Such a model, in which salvation is thought to be a legal payment made by one member of the Godhead to satisfy the law or the Father, is an outgrowth of paganism in which angry and wrathful deities are assuaged by “payments” in order to grant “forgiveness.” Sadly, Christianity has succumbed to this pagan thought infection and too often teaches a pagan view of God and the atonement.

Justification means being “set right” or “put right.” Have you ever “justified” the margins on a document? If you have a word processor on your computer there is a command that allows you to “justify” the margins. When you execute this command what happens? Do you “legally pardon” your margins? Or do you put your margins in order, put what is out of harmony into harmony, set the margins straight or right?

When man sinned, what changed that needed to be set right? Did God somehow get changed and now Christ needed to die and minister His blood to the Father to set the Father right? Or did mankind get changed and Christ needed to come in order to set mankind right with God again? When God “justifies” us, He is setting us “right” with Himself. He is “rightifying” us! (Romans 8:31-34). This justification of the human race happened in the person of Jesus Christ, who, being fully human, being part of this race, having taken our humanity upon His divinity, lived a perfect life of love and destroyed the infection of sin, thus “rightifying” the species. He recreated, restored, healed, cleansed, set right, justified, and purified the human species in His own victorious life, death, and resurrection! It is in the Godman Jesus that the human race (species)  was healed, set right, renewed, justified, rightified,and  put back into God’s original ideal!

When we as individuals recognize all that Jesus revealed about the Father and are won to trust we open the heart and then we, as individuals, are “set right” or “justified” in our individual relationship with God. We then receive, via the work of the Holy Spirit, the transfusion of Christlikeness! The Holy Spirit takes what Christ achieved and reproduces it in us! His victory over evil, His perfect character of righteousness, His character of love, is downloaded into our hearts and we become like Him. Our thoughts are brought into harmony with His, our desires in union with His, our character renewed to be like His, our motives cleansed to be like His. We live a Christlike life, for it is no longer I, the sinful, selfish me living, but Christ, the lover of others who lives in me! Only in Jesus is this possible. Only in a trust relationship with Him can we ever be justified or set right, because only in Jesus can we know the truth about God, which wins us to trust and then, in that trust relationship, experience the transfusion of His character of love which restores us to His original ideal!

Blessings All until next week!

Email me the blog whenever a new one is published.

Donate online, securely via PayPal using your credit or debit card (no PayPal account needed, unless you want to set up a monthly, recurring payment).


cancel recurring payment

 

Want to use zelle instead?
See how on our
Support and Donations page.

Upcoming Events

calendar

Testimonial Post Slider

Testimony 17

The blessings of clarity and understanding you and your class inspire me to take from the word of God have impressed upon me so greatly the true, loving character of our Creator. I have found amazing freedom and joy through building a stronger, more intentional relationship with Him. What is new is that this is now a relationship built on love, reverence and respect rather than fear and obligation, and as such my eyes have been slammed OPEN as I am continually impressed by the manifestations of God’s true character in His provisions for fallen man.

T.E.H., Salt Lake City, UT, USA

 

Testimony 72

I am blown away by the truth that you present. God’s Design Law makes so much sense! You have validated my impression that, if God is love, He would not kill those who don’t want to know him. If God gives us choice, then how can He destroy us if our choice is not to follow him. Thank you for opening my eyes and heart to the pure love of God seen through Jesus. The love I now have for Jesus is deeper and free from condemnation. My heart has been opened to love others as Jesus loves me. May God continue to bless your God-given insight into His word and your ministry. The truth has set me free!

H. Miller, Centereach, NY

Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA

Testimony 50

After coming into contact with Come And Reason Ministries, I can finally say that many of my unanswered questions have fallen into place. I discovered that my view of God’s Law was “imposed laws and rules” with “imposed punishments” and that this was the major culprit of my many unanswered questions. Thanks be to God for using you and those around you to help us who have struggled with this “infection” of thought. I have now rejected the “imposed law” concept to fully embrace “Design Law”… to look thru “Design Law,” instead of “imposed law,” is a relief.

Viliami L., Australia

 

Testimony 39

[This ministry is the] biggest blessing I have ever received! Your DVDs and lessons could not have come at a better time in my life. I have experienced in the past year many difficulties that, if it wasn’t for this wonderful view of God that I have discovered through this ministry, I would not have been able to respond in love and forgiveness. My heart is being transformed everyday by the Calvary-looking God you teach. Hallelujah!! I have tears in my eyes as I write, because my life has taken a complete turn from where I was heading.

I am from Central America. Most of my family is scattered in different parts of the world and all have the same view of God that I had growing up; a distant, exacting, and ready-to-punish-us-with-tragedy type of God. So, I have been translating lessons for my family and, to my surprise, they have also been sharing them with others! I can already see the difference. My brother has often said, “Thank you for sharing, I have never heard it this way!” My other family members are taking an amazing turn from a message of “repent or burn” towards a loving God, pleading to us that we won’t reject him because he loves us eternally.

Bless you for all you do.

Sofia S., Ashfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 26

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 20

I just wanted to personally thank you for your teachings and insight into scripture. I came across your website via my cousin who suggested I look into “Healing the Mind” information. My youngest daughter has been struggling over the last couple of years and it all came to a head this spring. When I started listening to the “Healing the Mind” lectures my own life began to be transformed. I began sharing with all my daughters the concepts you laid out so clearly. I ordered your book and soaked it up. I just want to say “Thank You!” My walk with the Lord has been refreshed and renewed. Your obedience to the Lord is a blessing to so many.

R. K., Anderson, SC, USA

 

Testimony 60

Just watched watched lesson 10 in the 1st quarter 2021 bible study classs on Isaiah. I want to thank you for your intellectual spirituality; it’s not an oxymoron! From the point of view of a teacher I also enjoy seeing how much personal pleasure you clearly take in not just tasting, but feasting on God’s word – it reminds me of Jeremiah not being able to hold it in! It makes me smile that your cup is so full and overflowing that you make it to Tuesday’s lesson (on a good day). It just goes to show the richness of God’s Word.

God bless the Come and Reason Team from our church here in Great Britain.

Andrew H., Great Britain

 

Testimony 25

I just want to say thank you so much for your conversations via YouTube. I regularly tune in to your lectures, “Let’s Talk” sessions, and many others. Through these I’ve found greater depth and meaning to God’s word. Thanks for all that you do and please continue. I’m currently working in the middle of Silicon Valley at Stanford University. I feel like God really has me in the right place right now and I’m sensing that your teachings might be part of it.

B. F., Silicon Valley, CA, USA

 

Testimony 9

I really enjoy with you the view of a gracious God. Thank you for sharing the work you are allowing the Lord to do in you.

L., Queensland, Australia

 

Testimony 27

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 67

I was introduced to Come And Reason by a friend of my mother-in-law, who gave me several CD’s of Dr. Jennings. The clarity of the message and recognition that God’s is a God of love was so clear, advancing beyond Dr. Maxwell’s message. However, grappled with Maxwell saying God used emergency measures for the fallen world. Now after several years of being a regular listener of the Come And Reasoning bible study class and attending Jennings’ meetings in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, things are becoming clearer for me. Design law versus imposed law has added so much to my personal understanding of theology. This message has really impacted my work in counseling so many people miserable because they are searching for and trusting human governments to create order and peace or believing in a God who says love Me or I will kill you. I am grateful that I have an alternative view to offer my clients that makes sense. I teach a bible study class on a semi-regular basis and I value the materials that Come And Reason so freely offers to aid me in presenting this vital message. Thank you for continuing to provide advancement in our very limited understanding of a Infinite God that is rational and believable.

Dr. Roger D, Arlington, TX, USA

 

Testimony 53

I was so blessed by a friend who gave me your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” while I was sitting in church asking God to please help me learn more about Him and help me not to be so confused and scared. That was about 2 years ago. Your books have helped me to love God even more. I’m not confused or scared anymore! I have listened to all of your bible study classes and feel like I know the wonderful people that attend every week. Thank you for all that you’re doing in spreading the true message about God and His law of love. God bless you and your whole class.

Elssy P., Modesto, CA, USA

 

Testimony 46

Over the past couple of years God has been expanding my view of Himself and His character. Along my approximately 40-year journey, I have often had questions, but was hesitant to voice these and step outside the traditionally accepted thinking, for fear of admitting that I may in fact be eternally lost. In the recesses of my thinking has been the thought – if one blindly accepts (which is widely regarded as “real faith”) and does not question, is this really ‘truth?’ I often find it challenging to grapple with very theological ‘speak,’ but Dr. Jennings has a real gift of explaining spiritual concepts with clear practical examples. The weekly discussions are growing my Christian experience and slowly changing my view of how to live as a child of God in today’s complex world. Finally the whole Old Testament sanctuary teaching moved in my mind from fantasy to reality!

Beverly S., South Africa

 

Testimony 56

I cannot thank you enough for opening my understanding to the beautiful truth of God’s Law of Love and how it applies to everything. I have been a Christian for over forty years, but I feel like I am only now seeing with my eyes open. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

Tammy Cinzio, Australia