Original subtitles

RC Sproul was asked the question, "How

can I know that I'm saved?" Here's his

answer.

>> Do you know in your heart whether you

have any any

genuine affection

for the biblical Jesus?

>> That sounds right to a lot of

Christians, but it's not the question

Jesus forces us to confront. And once

you see what I'm about to show you, it's

going to change the way that you think

about salvation. Grab your Bibles and

let's get into it.

Welcome to Wise Disciple. I'm Nate Solo.

And before I did this full-time, I spent

years as a pastor and a Bible teacher

answering questions just like this. And

I pray this blesses you. So, it looks

like there's a question from an audience

member and RC Sproul answers. And the

question is, how can I be assured that I

am saved? Watch this. Because we have

four kinds of people.

The people who aren't saved and know

that they aren't saved.

uh people who aren't saved and don't

know that they aren't saved,

people who are saved and know that

they're saved, and people who are

unsaved who know that they are saved.

That's where the problem comes in

because you have all kinds of people who

have a an assurance of salvation

illegitimately

because they don't understand what

salvation requires. Maybe somebody

taught them if you raise your hand in

evangelistic meeting or if you walk down

the aisle or if you speak the sinner's

prayer or if you do this method or that

method that guarantees that you're

saved. But the New Testament and Jesus

specifically warns us about a false

assurance.

>> Yeah, this is totally right. As a matter

of fact, there is one major scene where

false assurance plays out and it's in

Matthew 7. Even Sproul is about to

reference it. But there's also a problem

here and I'll point it out in a moment

>> that there were many will come on the

last day and say Lord Lord didn't we do

this and didn't we do that and so on and

he will say those horrible words depart

from me I never knew you you workers of

iniquity so there is such a thing as a

false assurance that's why we need to

know what salvation really is and what

it really requires and then the question

is in my own subjective evaluation

Do I meet the requirements as we've just

heard? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

and I will will be saved. And then you

say, well, do I really believe in the

Lord Jesus Christ? How can I sin the way

I sin when I know that's not consistent

with true faith in Christ? Good news to

know that we don't have to be perfect in

order to be saved, but we do have to

[clears throat] understand who it is

that saves us and how it is that we are

saved. I

>> Okay, did you catch that? So, we have to

know who it is that saves us, right? So,

we have to know God. 100% agree. But

then Sproul says this, we also have to

know how it is that we are saved. That's

true. But I think this doesn't get at

the heart of the real struggle that a

lot of people have with this issue. And

I'll I'll show you what I mean here.

Okay. If you had to guess what is the

criteria to being saved as Jesus has

laid it out here in Matthew 7, what

would you say?

Okay, I I'm going to this passage

because Sproul brought it up and I think

this is right. So, this is a great

passage to study on this issue, but this

so this is Matthew 7. But if you could

put your finger on the word or the

phrase here that answers the question,

how am I saved? What would that be? Let

me read it for you. On that day, verse

22, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did

we not prophesy in your name and cast

out demons in your name and do many

mighty works in your name? And then I

will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of

lawlessness.

Okay? Isn't it verse 23 there?

But notice this is what Jesus does not

say. And then I will declare to them,

you never believed in me. You you guys

never believed that I died for your sins

and rose from the dead. Right? That's

not what Jesus is saying. You know,

somehow all of these guys are performing

all these mighty works for God, but they

did it all without first believing that

he died for their sins and rose again on

the third day. Is that what's going on

here? No.

Jesus says, "I never knew you."

That's different than merely asenting to

the proposition that Jesus rose from the

dead, is it not?

Now watch how this plays out and how

Sproul explains this

>> very practical ways. I' I've talked to

people who struggle with this question.

I ask him, "Do you love Jesus, the the

biblical Jesus? Do you love the biblical

Jesus perfectly?"

I've only heard two people in my life

who have answered that question in the

affirmative to me who would say yes,

they love him perfectly. That's for the

perfectionist problem with another

story. But the vast majority of

professing Christians will answer that

question. No, they know I don't love

Jesus perfectly. I know I don't love

Jesus perfectly. And then they'll say,

well, I will say to them, well, do you

love him as much as you ought to love

him?

Well, if they answer the first question,

no, they've got to answer the second

question, no, because I ought to love

him perfectly. And so if I say I don't

love him perfectly, then I know I don't

love him as much as I ought to love him.

So now the spiral seems to tend to be

more and more [clears throat]

pessimistic. Then I ask this question.

>> Do you love him at all?

Do you know in your heart whether you

have any any

genuine affection

for the biblical Jesus?

I love Sproul and I agree with him. All

right. I just think this question needs

to be framed more precisely for how

people actually struggle today because

I'm concerned that over the years, for a

lot of reasons, and with the best of

intentions, we have flattened out the

rugged theology of God's word. Stick

with me. I'm going to explain this. And

there's where your theology comes home

to roost. If I can say yes, I know that

I don't love them the way I should love

him, that I don't love him perfectly,

but I know in whom I have believed, I

know that I have some real affection for

Christ in my heart and in my soul. Then

if my theology is sound, then I ask the

question, how could that possibly be?

Because I know an unregenerate person

has no affection for Jesus and can't

possibly have any affection for Jesus.

So if I have any affection for Jesus,

that tells me I'm regenerate. And if I'm

regenerate,

I have true faith. And if I have true

faith, I'm numbered among

the elect.

Yeah. So Sproul says the test is, do you

love Jesus? And by love, do you actually

have any affection for him? Now, I think

I know what he's saying. I I think I

know why he's saying that. But in my

opinion, this can be very misleading to

a lot of people. Why? because it's

possible in today's day and age for a

lot of folks to think that they love

Jesus and have affection for him, but

only as it fits into

uh the framework of believing in the

truthfulness of certain propositions.

All right? Again,

is this how Jesus puts it in Matthew

7:23?

No. Okay. So, let's do this. Let's zoom

all the way out. All right. Matthew 7 is

the conclusion of the sermon on the

mount. That sermon starts all the way

back in Matthew 5 with the biatitudes

and it runs straight through to the end

of chapter 7. So if we want to

understand the warning here at the end

of chapter 7, we have to understand the

vision that Jesus has been painting the

whole time. And that overarching vision

is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of

heaven. All right? Jesus is not giving

random moral advice in his sermon. What

he's describing uh is what it looks like

when God's reign actually takes hold of

a person and a community.

From the very beginning, Jesus describes

the kinds of people who belong to this

kingdom and spread this kingdom on

earth. They are the poor in spirit. They

are the meek. They are the merciful, uh

the peacemakers, right? Those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness. You know,

by the way, these are not random

descriptors. They are the specific

character traits that reveal the kind of

heart that knows God intimately

and everything that follows in the

sermon builds on top of that. Right? So

Jesus contrasts uh kingdom people.

Right? So so these would be his

disciples with the corrupt religious

leaders of his day, the scribes and the

Pharisees. And he does this over and

over and over again. By the way, it's

not because the Pharisees were atheists

or that they rejected God's word. It's

because something was deeply wrong at

the level of their heart.

Go back when this video is over and

reread the sermon on the mount with this

in mind. You'll see what I'm talking

about. Okay. Now, as the sermon moves

forward, Jesus talks about uh anger and

lust and retaliation and um uh love of

enemies, right? Um he talks Genesis 6,

acts of righteousness, generosity, you

know, prayer, um trust in the father,

right? And the whole time he's doing the

same thing. He's showing what life looks

like when someone is actually living

under God's reign rather than merely

talking about it.

Because again, the contrast that we are

meant to appreciate here is not between

a Christian and an atheist. Right? So

that would be someone who obeys God and

someone who rejects God. No. In the

sermon on the mount, both types of

people who are being contrasted here

appear to obey God.

At least on the outside.

I'm pausing for effect so that you get

this. Okay? The disciples and the

hypocrites, those are who you're

supposed to contrast. That means

according to Jesus, if you obey God with

your body but not your heart, you are

still a lawb breakaker. Why? Because you

end up warping the commands of God with

your improper motives.

Now, that's not a new idea. This has

always been God's attitude. All right?

In Isaiah 29, the Lord rebukes his own

people. And watch what he says in verse

13. The Lord said, "Because this people

draw near with their mouth, and they

honor me with their lips, while their

hearts are far from me, and their fear

of me is a commandment taught by men.

Therefore, behold, etc., etc." Jesus

explicitly applies this particular

passage to the Pharisees in Matthew 15.

And he calls their obedience

lawlessness. Why? Because their hearts

were far from God.

Again, you have to understand on the

ground. So, just picture this. If you

are watching these two types of people,

right? So, the the disciples of Jesus

and the corrupt religious leaders, you

would see obedience to God's commands,

right? But only one type is real

obedience. The other type where it's

just outward obedience, God says, "No,

that's lawlessness."

Why? Because their hearts are far from

me.

Now, here's the $6 million question. You

ready? How is it possible to obey God's

commands and at the same time be far

from him in your heart?

The answer is when you reduce the words

of God and treat them like propositional

statements that are divorced from

covenant relationship.

That right there, that's a recipe for

disaster. Because what happens when you

do this is you end up knowing a lot

about the word of God while completely

missing the God of the word.

Do you understand? And that brings us to

the passage that unsettles everyone.

Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to

me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom

of heaven." Now, stop there for a

moment. These people call Jesus Lord.

They speak religious language fluently.

They even claim to do ministry in his

name. Okay. Jesus does not accuse these

people of bad belief. He does not say,

"Hey, you know what? You guys

misunderstood justification." Instead,

he says, "I

never knew you.

You and I, we never knew each other."

That's relationship language, friends.

In scripture, knowing is very intimate.

It's covenantal. It's personal. Okay. In

Genesis chapter 4, it says that when

Adam knew Eve, his wife, they had

children together. That's the kind of

close, intimate, loyal knowledge that

God is talking about within the bounds

of his covenant with his people.

And if we can really let that sink in,

then we can see the question of

salvation is more than um mental ascent

to the right doctrine and theology. It's

more than that. It's also deeper than

outward religious performance. Okay. So

again, I'm summarizing the sermon on the

mount for you. This is about whether you

know God personally and God knows you

back in this close intimate covenantal

dynamic.

This is why Jesus says this, "For I tell

you, unless your righteousness exceeds

that of the scribes and Pharisees, you

will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus isn't talking about exceeding the

quantity of the scribes and Pharisees

actions. You know, as a matter of fact,

think about that. A lot of us would find

it impossible to outperform the

Pharisees acts of obedience in the first

century, right? No. Jesus is talking

about exceeding the quality of their

obedience.

This is not about obeying with the body,

but with the heart as well.

The real question you should be asking

if you're thinking about assurance is,

do you know Jesus intimately? And does

he know you?

Do you know him so closely and so well

that you understand his heart and his

motives?

Is that what you're seeking to do with

your life?

That's why it was so good to hear Sproul

say that we need to know who God is.

That's exactly right. Because if we read

the scriptures, you know, with the right

uh motive, not simply to know what it

says, but to know who this God of the

Bible is, we'll start to see that he is

a loving, merciful, slow to get angry,

gracious, and giving God, and also just,

also righteous, also holy. And we're

going to love him for it.

We're going to love him so much that we

will naturally desire to emulate him in

the world, to extend his grace and mercy

and righteousness to others. Not because

his commandments say to do it, but

because we desire what he desires.

Because our hearts are aligned with his.

Because we love him and we want to

please him.

This is the question we all have to

wrestle with as we work out our own

salvation with fear and trembling.

Friends,

are you with me?

Now, you might be thinking, Nate, you

know, I have repented of my sin and I

believe Jesus died for me and rose from

the dead and I do desire what you're

saying and I'm trying to live this way.

I'm just doing it imperfectly. Well,

praise the Lord. You know, you just

described me, right? That that's just

what it means to be a Christian. You

just described it.

See, this is what I'm talking about. The

assurance that Jesus is confronting in

Matthew 7, it doesn't rest merely on

believing that he died for your sins and

rose from the dead. That is a a

fundamental part of the gospel. And

there is no way that you can be saved

without that. Okay? So don't hear what

I'm not saying. But the assurance that I

suspect a lot of you are looking for

actually rests in whether repentance and

faith have produced a lifestyle of close

intimate relationship with the God you

profess to believe in.

As a matter of fact, there's an inverse

there as well to explore. That is if you

feel right now

um questioning or struggling or you feel

far from God, let me ask you, is it

because you are not spending time with

God where the focus is on God, you're

not in your word, you're not praying,

you're not fellowshipping with the

brothers and sisters. What do you think

the byproduct of that is going to be?

It's when you make uh uh you make it

your priority to know God, to know Jesus

Christ and that close covenant dynamic

and then to live your life out of that

overflow. That's what Jesus is after

friends.

That's what it's about. That's what he

taught us. You know, this is why he says

in John 17:3, eternal life is this. That

they know God. There it is again. And

that they know Jesus Christ.

It's not a bunch of gospel facts. We're

supposed to relationally know God.

So when you stop asking, "Have I done

enough?" Right? Or, "Have I believed

enough?" Right? And you start asking,

"Do I actually know him?"

That's when you're wrestling with the

question that Jesus was answering all

along. If this video challenged you or

encouraged you or even made you a little

uncomfortable, I'd really love to hear

from you. Drop a comment below and tell

me how do you think about assurance now.

I'm genuinely curious to get your

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bye for now.