How Union with Christ Shapes Our Assurance of Salvation

Awareness of Assurance

You cannot be a Christian without faith, but you can be a Christian without assurance. And there are seasons and times that many of us will experience in the Christian life where assurance of our salvation gets covered over and feels hidden—almost the way the sun can be hidden behind the clouds. But just as the sun behind the clouds is still shining, a true Christian whose assurance is hidden is still saved.

The question is, How do I get the experience and the knowledge and awareness of assurance back into my life? And there are many biblical answers to that question, but none is more foundational than the believer’s union with Christ. We know that in Christ there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are righteous in God’s sight and have full access to him as his children. That’s who we are.

But we also know that in Christ we’re guaranteed to be fruitful and to be growing because we’re like branches connected to a vine. As we abide in him, we will bear much fruit. And as we see that, even in small measure, we can take heart and be strengthened in our assurance that he is, in fact, at work in us.

But also, when God brings us into Christ, he will never let us out. Paul speaks so confidently at the end of Romans 8 about how nothing in life or in death—nothing at all—can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So as we come into Christ, as we reflect on the reality of being united with him, we can find those clouds breaking, that doubt or discouragement dissipating, and a strong sense of assurance coming back into our lives.

Brad Wetherell is the author of Saved to Sin No More: How Union with Christ Empowers a Life of Holiness.

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