Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How To Know For Sure You Are Saved

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved: J.D. Greear, Paige Patterson: 9781433679216: Amazon.com: Books

“This is a warm and personal letter. This was quite beneficial. This is a really useful tool. This is completely biblical. It is my sincere recommendation that this book be read by any Christian who desires to know, experience, and spread certainty of salvation in Christ.” The Church at Brook Hills is led by David Platt, Senior Pastor. Birmingham, Alabama (USA) “The topic of salvation is really important. When we read Scripture we are instructed to “labor out our salvation with dread and trembling,” but it also portrays beautiful imagery of Christians striding confidently in their faith.

This book will be a blessing to people who are struggling with their situation before God, as well as a wake-up call to those who have placed their trust in false assurance.

This is a book that is quite valuable.

In addition to providing encouragement and equipping Christians who are dealing with their confidence of salvation, this book will also enable any Christian to more effectively communicate the gospel and help others toward real repentance and trust in Jesus.” Covenant Life Church is led by Joshua Harris, who serves as Senior Pastor.

• Bible texts that reassure Christians of their trust in salvation were designed to help them maintain their faith when they were faced with doubt or uncertainty.
• In the same way that Greear’s work is an assault to easy-believism, it also shines a light on the promises of God’s Word.
• What to say and how to express it are important considerations.
• Greear’s book, which I recommend.
• James MacDonald James McDonald is the Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel and the author of the website VerticalChurchJamesMacdonald.com.
• Is your conscience a barrier between you and God, or a bridge between you and Him?
• D.

The Gospel, on the other hand, is the path that leads from conviction to salvation.

J.D.

Read this book and you will be able to appreciate the miracle of biblical conversion with new eyes and a hungry heart.

Professor of EvangelismStudent Ministry and Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary “I used up two Sharpies’ worth of ink in the process of writing “AmenWOW” in the margins of this new book.

Thank you, J.D., for your kind donation to the church.” David Nasser is a pastor, author, and evangelist.

If it seemed like a tract against the so-called ” sinner’s prayer,” then it was.

However, when I read this book, I discovered that this is not at all what it is about.

D.

A friendly, forgiving Savior who joyfully accepts all those who come to him is the focus of this book, which is a must-read for anybody who loves Jesus.

Russell D.

Author, Christ Was Tempted and Tried: The Temptation and Triumph of Jesus It took me by surprise when I first saw the headline, because I am an evangelist who constantly pushes people to repent and accept Jesus into their hearts as their personal Savior.

J.D.

Clayton King is an American businessman and philanthropist.

Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart is very useful in answering a variety of follow-up inquiries.

D.

David A.

Dr.

“When it comes to evangelism, many of our churches today are immobilized at worst and confused at best because of poor methodology and shoddy theology,” says the author.

Mike Calhoun is a professional basketball player.

“This is a very useful and much-needed book.

The book explains how to teach the Gospel in such a way that it can help prevent these sad outcomes from occurring, as well as how to assist people who are now suffering them.

The need of having a true assurance of salvation in one’s life is also highlighted.

Frank Barker, who is now Pastor Emeritus.

To be sure, he is correct in reminding us that we must highlight the essential necessity of repentance and faith as prerequisites for salvation.

D.’s book that I would say differently, the great bulk of it is something I heartily embrace.

It’s a good buy!

Allen, Ph.D.

I wish this book had been available then.” I was able to resolve the situation because of God’s grace and the reality of the gospel.

God desires for us to be filled with the delight of knowing that we are secure in Jesus for all time.

“I will be recommending this book on a regular basis!” Daniel L.

“Having worked with young people for many years, I am all too familiar with the snare that my friend J.D.

My conversations with many 18-24 year olds have revealed that they had no idea what they were doing when they repeated a prayer with another person when they were younger.

I am grateful that J.D.

Roger Davis, President of the Student Life Association ‘Stop Asking Jesus into your Heart’ by J.D.

It is a relationship with God that is alive and breathing, real and relevant, and that is established through Jesus Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel both saves and maintains life! Read, ponder, and rejoice in the knowledge that you have of the assurance of your salvation!” Ed Newton is a Bible Communicator based in Memphis, Tennessee.

About the Author

J. D. Greear serves as the head pastor of The Summit Church, a multi-site church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with a congregation of over 2,000 members. He graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with an M.Div. in International Church Planting and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology, among other degrees. Greear also spent two years living and working among Muslims in Southeast Asia, where he published the book Breaking the Islam Code. He and his wife are the parents of four children.

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart? A Conversation with J. D. Greear

What if we cease begging Jesus to come into our lives? J. D. Greear responds affirmatively if we believe that asking Jesus into our hearts on a regular basis is the best approach to ensure that we are saved. The title of his book is Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved, and it is a brief and easily accessible read. In this book, if you’ve ever counseled anyone who are continually doubting the authenticity of their faith or the legitimacy of their salvation, you’ll want to read and suggest it to them as well.

• J.D.
• The major argument of his book is the topic of today’s conversation, and he will be joining me.
• What are your worries about this discourse and the consequences it has for evangelism and outreach?
• J.
• Greear (J.
• Greear): A great deal of the dispute surrounding the sinner’s prayer originated as a result of certain remarks made by David Platt, who was said to have said that the sinner’s prayer was superstitious and unbiblical.
• But, I believe, what David was referring to was the fact that, for many evangelicals, earning salvation has become something akin to a Protestant ritual or sacrament, which, if performed correctly, punches your ticket to eternal life.

In my opinion, this is an unbiblical interpretation of authentic conversion.

Repentance and faith in the gospel bring people to God’s mercy and grace.

It is not the prayer itself that saves, but rather the repentance and faith that precede the prayer that secures salvation.

However, I did not create this book in order to participate in that issue – the subject and title of the book were picked long before the controversy erupted.

A large number of people have expressed frustration with their inability to find certainty no matter how many times they repeat the prayer, while others have expressed false confidence as a result of having gone through a ritual with their pastor.

I wrote the book in order to provide comfort to those who are unduly worried, as well as to cause discomfort to those who are unjustifiably comforted.

How can you make sense of this?

J.

Greear (J.

Greear): I certainly don’t want to discourage people from pressing for a decision when the gospel is proclaimed, but I also don’t want them to be discouraged from pressing for a decision.

If we do not exhort the hearer to personally accept God’s offer in Christ, then we have not truly communicated the gospel to them.

I’m not attempting to argue that the sinner’s prayer is inherently evil in and of itself.

According to Paul, those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Rom 8:9-11; Gal 2:20; Eph 3:17).

That is what has to be made very clear.

On the one hand, there are many individuals who never pause to consider their own salvation, despite the fact that they definitely should.

What is the reason behind this?

D.

D.

I believe that it is worsened by the clichéd, shortened, and sometimes sloppy manner in which we convey the gospel to people.

Shorthand terms for the gospel can be beneficial, as long as everyone understands what the shorthand words are referring to.

In the United States, surveys have revealed that more than half of individuals who have done so believe they are going to paradise, despite the fact that there is no discernible difference between their lifestyles and those of those who do not belong to a religious organization or practice.

We must teach redemption via repentance before God and faith in the accomplished work of Christ, as well as other means of salvation.

I disagree.

J.

Greear (J.

Greear): Yes, and you can see that happening in many circles that are ordinarily quite conscientious about theological purity and consistency.

The gospel, in its purest form, begs for a reaction from the listener.

The gospel is an invitation to participate.

As a result, as I mentioned above, I make an effort to press for a decision whenever I preach the gospel.

My book compares the moment of conversion to the moment of sitting down on a chair for the first time.

Despite the fact that you may not recall making that decision, the fact that you are now sitting demonstrates that you did.

The key is that the posture that results from the choice is important, not the moment of choosing.

How can bringing this to the attention of those who are still standing decrease the need for them to be seated?

To the contrary, if we stop obsessing over getting the initial moment just correct, we will be able to evangelize without the fear of messing up the “magic moment.” Don’t get me wrong: there is a critical time when a person transitions from being a nonbeliever to becoming a believer.

You see, when we consider faith to be nothing more than a prayer, we fail to see the importance of discipleship.

Only Jesus’ disciples will be saved, not those who perform a religious ceremony on their own own.

Trevin Wax is a neologism that refers to a person who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologism for someone who is a neologis How did this book come to be written?

1. What do you hope it will be able to achieve?
2. D.
3. D.
4. In fact, this is not a foreign concept to me, as I was once one of those people who was constantly doubting my own salvation.
5. Every time there was an altar call, I was at the front of the congregation.

The situation became quite uncomfortable for everyone concerned, to say the least. (“Does anyone else want to be rescued today besides J.D.?”) Because we have reduced conversion to a rite of passage, many Christians are preoccupied with whether or not they performed it correctly:

• “Did I express myself enough sorry?” “Did the prayer represent a moment of complete surrender?” “Did I grasp the concept of grace sufficiently?”

Many of those folks, like myself, privately recite the prayer over and over again in their heads. They feel better for a short period of time, but then the questions start up again. Rinse and repeat as necessary. The good news is that God is interested in what we have to say. Numerous individuals believe that God does not desire for us to have confidence about our salvation, as if doubt were a type of carrot that he dangles in front of our faces to keep us acting in the correct way. Some kind of obedience may be compelled by a desire for paradise or a dread of damnation, but not the kind of obedience that God desires.

That sense of security we strive for comes from a correct comprehension of the gospel message.

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved

FOUR TIMES, CHAPTER 1 WAS BAPTIZED “The number of times you’ve asked Jesus into your heart,” if there were a Guinness Book of World Recordsrecord for “the number of times you’ve asked Jesus into your heart,” I’m quite confident I’d hold it. Probably five thousand times by the time I reached the age of eighteen, I had “asked Jesus into my heart.” I began when I was four years old, when I addressed my parents on a Saturday morning and inquired as to how someone might know if they were going to heaven.

1. My parents and pastor were both confident in my sincerity and my understanding of the specifics, therefore I was baptized as a result of their confidence.
2. My Sunday school instructor, on the other hand, taught us one Friday night during my ninth grade year that, according to Matthew 7:21–23, many people who believe they know Jesus would come to realize on that final day that He never actually knew them.
3. My instructor emphasized that they would be sent away from heaven and into eternal punishment with the devastating words, “I never knew you; go from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” He went on to say that they would be turned away from paradise and into everlasting punishment.
4. Is it possible that I might be one of them who were turned away?
5. And could I have realized what I was getting myself into at the age of four?
6. As part of my request for re-baptism, I shared a powerful testimony in front of our church on the need of becoming serious with God.
7. Wrong.

I’d seen some individuals cry torrents of tears when they were rescued, but I hadn’t witnessed it myself.

And there were a few sins that I found myself falling back into again and over again, no matter how many resolves I made to improve my behavior in the future.

Was that prayer a moment of absolute surrender on the part of the speaker?

As a result, I recited the sinner’s prayer once again.

Again and again.

I would experience a brief flash of clarity, followed by a brief joy as I realized I had gotten it right.

As a result, I’d pray once more.

I believe I’ve been rescued at least once in each of the denominations available.

There were a total of four instances.

I quickly established myself as a regular at our church’s baptism services.

It had been a harrowing event.

No matter how many times or how honestly I prayed to Jesus to come into my heart, I was unable to discover the certainty of salvation.

If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected].

It’s possible that, despite your repeated sinner’s prayers, you’re still unsure whether God will ultimately open the gates of heaven to you and let you in.

Another possibility is that you are unaware of your own salvation and are intrigued by the thought that anyone could possibly know such a thing about themselves.

Perhaps you are concerned that you have rejected God so many times that you have completely eliminated your chances of salvation.

In addition to this, there is another side to the problem.

Jesus forewarned that there are a large number of individuals who appear to be assured of salvation, but who in fact do not possess it.

Undoubtedly, many of individuals will have uttered a sinner’s prayer at some point in their lives.

Quite the character, in fact, with a curse that could only be described as “sailor-like” and so many tattoos on his body that I couldn’t tell what color his skin was.

He wasn’t the type of person who you’d expect to be well-versed in the Scriptures.

He came to a halt, seized the ball, and said, “Dude, are you trying to witness to me?” just three words into the conversation.

“Yes, that’s correct.” “Wow, that’s fantastic,” he said.

But don’t be concerned about me.

And I was a real person.

The commitment thing, the “real love waits” commitment thing, the verse memorizing thing, and the mission trips were all part of my weekly schedule.

And I didn’t like the thought of a deity dictating who I could or couldn’t have sexual relations with.

“I’m a contented atheist now.” In his words: “But here’s the cool thing: the church I grew up in was Southern Baptist, and they believed in everlasting security, which means that once you’ve been saved, you’re never going to lose your salvation.” If I may ask, are you a Baptist?”****an uneasy quiet from me****He went on to say, “That implies that my salvation from when I was thirteen is still valid, even if I no longer believe in God.” Isn’t it true that “once saved, always saved”?

1. If you’re correct and God exists and Jesus is the only way, that means I’m safe.
2. If I’m correct, then I haven’t squandered my life by restricting my way of living because of a fairy tale, have I?
3. Take a look at the facts: He had, in fact, prayed to receive Jesus into his heart, and all signs were that he was completely serious in his intentions.
4. Furthermore, this individual demonstrated quick “fruit” upon his conversion, becoming enthused about Jesus and being active in His service.
5. So, did he get it right?
6. Let me give you a succinct response, one that I’ll spend the remainder of the book delving into: he cannot.
7. One of the characteristics of a saved person is that they hold fast to their confession of faith until the end of their lives.

A group of people heard Jesus’ message and responded with an early, encouraging reaction of belief, only for that response to diminish over time, as Jesus described in His parable about the different sorts of soil.

They are expected to remain at the church for an extended amount of time.

A huge group of individuals who “believed in His name,” but to whom Jesus would not devote Himself because “He knew all mankind,” according to the apostle John (2:23–25), was detailed by the apostle John.

These sad anecdotes serve as a reminder that many people are on their way to everlasting judgment under the misconception that they are on their way to heaven.

They prayed that prayer and lived their lives under the delusion that they would be admitted to heaven after death.

Approximately half of all adults in the United States have prayed such a prayer and believe they are going to heaven as a result, according to a Barna study conducted in 2011.

When it comes to the groups stated in Matthew 7 and Luke 8, if they are not referring to them, I’m not sure who they could possibly be referring to.

One of the Enemy’s biblical titles is “the Deceiver.” Nevertheless, Satan enjoys tricking individuals on their path to hell into believing they are on their road to heaven, therefore protecting their consciences from Jesus’ appeals to repent and turn from their sin.

I’ve starting to question if the clichéd ways in which we (as evangelicals) speak about the gospel contribute to the escalation of both issues, namely, unnecessary doubt and false certainty, respectively.

Although these expressions may not be incorrect in and of themselves, the Bible never instructs us to seek salvation in any of these methods expressly.

The term “belief,” as I’ll explain later, refers to the act of accepting that God revealed the truth about Jesus, specifically that He is Lord and that He has completed the work of our redemption for all eternity.

(See Romans 4:5) Your salvation will come to you if you believe in your heart that God resurrected Jesus from the dead and proclaim with your lips that He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

(See Romans 10:9–10) Repentance (which we will also discuss in greater depth later) is defined as “acting” on one’s belief.

In His teaching of the gospel, Jesus asked for the first reaction, which is what Paul claimed God had ordered all men everywhere to do now that Jesus had been raised from the dead (Mark 1:15).

There is no redemption other than through repentance.

Repentance and faith are heart postures that you choose in response to Christ’s accomplished work on the cross.

Never make the mistake of identifying the prayer with the position, though.

The actual material — the stuff that really matters — is the posture of repentance and trust that you maintain in the face of your statements.

Overemphasizing terms such as “invite Jesus into your heart” provides certainty to some who shouldn’t have it while denying it to others who should have it.Clarifying Two Things I Am Not Making a Proclamation Not that “asking Jesus into your heart is heretical,” as some have claimed.

8:9–11; Eph.

1:27–28; Gal.

Many other things take place at the moment of salvation, as well: we are washed in Jesus’ blood and sealed by His Spirit, assured of a dwelling place in the new heaven and earth, grafted into the vine, have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and the claims of Satan are revoked, among other things.

• In other words, if we go around telling people that if they want to be saved, they should pray and ask Jesus to “begin construction on my home in heaven” (John 14:1–3) or “put my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life,” that is not necessarily wrong, but it may be misleading.
• Having said that, if the thoughts underlying the phrases are understood, the phrase “asking Jesus into your heart” is one of the more scriptural summaries of salvation to be found.
• Having Jesus enter into your heart, in that sense, would mean that He fuses Himself into the deepest part of who you are — that you rest your hopes upon His righteousness, depend on Him for strength, and submit to His Lordship at your core.
• 12:13; Gal.
• The presence of Christ is “in our hearts” in this sense.
• In some ways, “praying the sinner’s prayer” has taken on the characteristics of a Protestant ritual that we require people to go through in order to obtain entrance into paradise.
• I’m not suggesting that we should hold back.

People in the revivalist traditions were called upon to respond immediately to the gospel by walking down an aisle or asking Jesus into their hearts.

11:28; Rev.

In fact, if we do not encourage the hearer to personally respond to God’s gift in Christ, I do not feel that we have completely proclaimed the gospel of Christ to them.

Many of the greatest Reformed evangelists throughout history have encouraged their audiences to do a sinner’s prayer.

Please save me.

Immediately, I implore you to join me in prayer at this time.

Please forgive me.” I am deserving of thy vengeance.

I entrust myself entirely to thee, O Lord.

I am willing to stake my life on this word of thine, which says that anybody who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.

Amen.” George Whitefield extended the same type of invites.

After their initial encounter, Ananias persuaded Paul to pray to God for forgiveness of his sins, and Paul did so (Acts 22:16).

For salvation, I am arguing that repentance and faith are absolutely necessary, and that we must stress this above all else.

J.D.

Excerpted by permission of B H Publishing Group.

The publisher has granted permission for this excerpt to be copied or republished in its entirety without written permission from the author. Unless otherwise specified, excerpts from this website are offered purely for the personal use of users to this website by Dial-A-Book Inc.

Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart by J.D. Greear

When it comes to the “number of times you’ve asked Jesus into your heart,” I’m quite confident I’d hold the world record for that category. I’m quite sure I’ve “prayed the prayer” more than a thousand times by now. Every time I tried, I was earnest, but I was never quite sure if I had done something correctly. Was I truly remorseful for my sin the first time I confessed it to someone? Some people sobbed uncontrollably when they were saved, but I didn’t do anything like that. Was I sincere in my apologies?

1. Is it true that I “got” grace?
2. Again and again.
3. And perhaps become baptized one more.
4. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
5. However, when I began to talk about it, I had such a large number of responses from individuals stating that they had the same experience that I came to the conclusion that the problem was widespread.
6. In addition, the inverse is also true.
7. In both cases, the clichéd, shortened, and sometimes clumsy manner in which we convey the gospel in shorthand compound the situation.

It is clear, however, that in the instance of “the sinner’s prayer,” the majority of people no longer believe it.

We must be completely clear on this topic, which is the most critical problem on the planet.

We must teach redemption via repentance before God and faith in the accomplished work of Christ, as well as other means of salvation.

In their preaching, the greatest Reformed evangelists in history—men like George Whitefield, Charles H.

Every time the gospel is proclaimed, that invitation should be offered, and a decision should be demanded of those who hear it (Matt.

22:17).

Repentance and faith in Christ, on the other hand, are in and of themselves a cry to God for redemption.

According to the Bible, those who call on the name of the Lord shall be rescued.

2:20; Eph.

I am not even absolutely opposed to the terminology of asking Jesus into your heart.

God does not provide salvation in response to mere words; rather, faith is the tool through which redemption is obtained.

This ultimately became clear to me when I studied Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans, which I did practically out of desperation.

Just as Abraham was regarded righteous because he trusted that God would meet His promise, we are counted righteous because we believe that God has done so through Jesus Christ.

We are rescued as a result of our submission to those two realities.

The important thing is not how we felt or what we said at the moment of conversion; the important thing is the posture we are in in this moment.

If you are now seated, there was a point in time when you moved the weight of your body from your legs to the chair and vice versa.

When determining where your physical trust lies—legs or chair—present posture is more reliable than previous recollection when attempting to determine where your physical trust lies.

No, believers are still capable of reversing their positions.

As a Christian, you will deal with the presence of sin in your life for the rest of your days.

However, each time you fall, you get back up and turn your gaze upward.

6:9–10).

So, when it comes to confidence, the only issue that matters is: Where is the weight of your soul centered? Are you still in a state of rebellion, or have you accepted Christ’s finished work and sat down with him?

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved

In the words of pastor and author J. D. Greear, “If there were a Guinness Book of World Recordsentry for ‘number of times having recited the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m very confident I’d be a top candidate.” His search for certainty of salvation lasted many years, and he soon discovered that he was not alone in his quest. It is common for evangelical Christians to have a “lack of certainty.” J. D. reveals in Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart that erroneous methods of presenting the gospel are a major source of consternation.

The concept of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” is frequently used to provide false confidence to people who are not saved—while also preventing those who are actually saved from completely accepting the truth of salvation.

He also provides solutions to several difficult issues concerning certainty, such as: What precisely is faith?

Why are there so many warnings that appear to indicate that we may be on the verge of losing our eternal salvation?

How to Know for Sure You are Saved – Grace Evangelical Society

Put an End to Inviting Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Certain That You Are Saved Written by J. D. Greear. BH Publishing Group, Nashville, TN, published a book in 2013. There are 128 pages. Hardcover price is $12.99. The descriptions of this book make it sound like a Free Grace introduction on the subject of confidence. Take notice to the intriguing title and subtitle. Despite this, the book offers a moderate Lordship Salvation approach to assurance. There are five complete pages of endorsements in the book.

• Daniel Akin (President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary), and Roger David are just a few of the well-known individuals who have contributed to this effort (President of Student Life).
• Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, provides an illuminating preface to the book.
• “By the time I reached the age of eighteen, I had probably ‘asked Jesus into my heart’ five thousand times,” the author writes in the book.
• “The one thing essential for redemption is a posture of repentance toward and confidence in His accomplished work,” according to the author, which is unfortunate (pp.
• It is not stated until later in the book why the condition is repentance and faith, rather than merely faith, as the condition.
• In his conclusion to the chapter, he states that “confidence has two components” (p.
• In particular, he distinguishes between “belief in the witness of everlasting life” and “evidences of eternal life at work in us.” The latter is where the majority of people become perplexed.

“Jesus in My Place” is the greatest chapter in the book, and it is found in Chapter 3.

The last two phrases of the chapter, however, undo all of the hard work that has been done up to that point: “But what precisely, you may question, does it mean to believe?

38).

24).

40).

pp.

Saving faith, according to the author, is a conviction that those who just believe in Jesus have everlasting life, however there are a few brief references to actions being necessary.

50).

51).

Chapter 5 is devoted to the issue of repentance.

It is not enough to “just utter a sinner’s prayer,” “feel sad for our sin,” “confess our guilt,” “become pious,” “partially submit” or “perfection.” Repentance, according to Greear, involves much more than these things (pp.

The author goes on to explain that repentance “is the absence of settled defiance,” that it is “not just about halting sin but also about starting to follow Jesus,” that it is “a Spirit-fueled change of wants,” and that it is “a Spirit-fueled change of desires.” Because he believes that repentance is a necessary requirement for everlasting life, he argues that in order to be born again, one must believe in Jesus and surrender his or her life to Christ (no established defiance), begin following Christ, and wish to honor God with one’s or her life.

When it comes to being born again, Greear claims that it is necessary to deny oneself, take up one’s cross, and follow Christ, referencing Mark 8:34-35 as though they were evangelistic passages (p.

“Have you truly repented?” asks the author at the conclusion of Chapter 5, which is identical to the inquiry that concluded Chapter 3.

73 for further information.) Of fact, the reader will never know if repentance means surrendering to Christ, following Christ, or simply changing one’s wishes.

No matter how closely one’s wants match those of Scripture, the body inside us will never confront those desires.

The author then takes the standard Calvinist perspective, stating that everlasting security is genuine, but only for those who persevere in their faith.

81).

86-88).

87).

As the phrase goes, this is “the true philosophy of eternal security.” That, in my opinion, represents permanent insecurity – at least until death.

The fact that Greear believes it necessary to provide an explanation following the remark I just quoted should be highlighted.

87).

Throughout the book, the author emphasizes the need of perseverance in faith and good acts in order to demonstrate that one has truly been born again.

But what if the outcome is now just probable?

The following three lines go on to explain that unless one perseveres, he “will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven” (pp.

As a result of an attempt to unite faith and good actions as co-conditions of everlasting life, contradictions and misunderstandings such as these have arisen in the religious tradition.

“The Evidence You Have Believed” is the title of Chapter 7 of the book (p.

“A love for God” and “a love for others,” according to the evidence, are among these characteristics (pp.

The author, in the manner of a good preacher, now addresses a logical concern: “yet I still like sin” (pp.

The fact that “Christians may and do suffer with just about any form of sinful longing” is a source of encouragement for him (p.

The author goes on to state that “the very presence of the fight itself might be an assurance that God’s Spirit is at work within you.” He closes this part by stating, “Often the most compelling proof of my progress in grace is my growing awareness of my need for grace” (p.

In the final portion of Chapter 7, the author writes, “It takes a community to recognize regeneration” (p.

Greear then makes the startling statement, “Identifying the evidences of actual regeneration in your life might be difficult, if not impossible, to undertake on your own,” which is truly remarkable (p.

His conclusion is that we require the assistance of people in the local church in order to determine whether or not we have been born again.

If a group of legalists got together, wouldn’t they tend to tear each other down and question if others are truly born again (cf.

Given my skepticism regarding my own proof of real regeneration, would I be confident in declaring that someone else is actually regenerate based on their own, erroneous evidence of true regeneration?

The final chapter discusses what to do “if you continue to have doubts” (p.

Greear acknowledges that he still has doubts about his salvation, asking himself, “Am I truly saved?” (p.

However, it seems to me that if even the author, who is a renowned expert, cannot be certain of his own everlasting fate, how could I reasonably expect to be certain?

He is a man of integrity.

112) This book has both positive and negative aspects.

However, the author claims that the majority of the time, certainty may be found in our aspirations and our works.

Although it is not for everyone, it is strongly recommended for any well-grounded believer since it will show them what a dreadful mess Evangelicals have made of certainty in our day and age.

If this is one of the better books on assurance available today, which it very certainly is, it demonstrates that we require more volumes on assurance. Robert N. Wilkin is the editor of the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, which is based in Corinth, Texas.