While there are many sources of false assurance in the world today; Jesus is our only true source of lasting confidence. The apostle John writes, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13). Our source of assurance, then, results from knowing and practicing the things which have been written in the inspired word of God.
There is a vast difference between the pseudo-confidence so common place in the religious world today and the genuine confidences that is firmly planted in the word of truth. Confidence is not the result of some better-felt-than-told experience. Nor is it based on the assurances provided by others. It is based on the good news we read about in the timeless word of God. Peter says, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:22-23). When God’s word is the source of spiritual rebirth, confidence is the result. Jesus promises, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 24:35).
Assurance based on subjective feelings is faulty to the core. Feelings come and go. The assurance of those who base their salvation on feelings rises and falls like the tides of sea. Instead, we must build our hope on the solid rock of God’s revealed word. Ultimately, confidence comes from being in Christ. Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). The Bible tells us that a penitent believer comes into Christ when he is united with Him in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4). Then, as he walks in the light of His word, he enjoys the assurance of salvation by virtue of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ
(1 Jn. 1:7).