Assurance of salvation(being sure that you are saved and loved by God) is an amazing blessing. It brings lots of joy in life and it gives Christian power in their ministry.
But the problem is Christians can be in a state where they are unsure whether they are saved or not. And that is an agonizing state to be in.
The Bible speaks of something like tasting the goodness of God, or experiencing the heavenly gift and partaking the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6). It is like something that stirs up inside of us when the gospel is preached, we understand what is being said and "see" the glory of Christ (with faith, not with physical eyes)
It is hard to put into words, but that is what stops people from trusting in their works and efforts, and rest in peace on the righteousness of Christ, and that is where assurance of salvation is found, and that is what it means for Christ to be our solid rock.
What can cause a lack of assurance?
1. Sinning or doing something against our conscience is the main cause. But the bible tells us how to deal with it.
The preventive measure is to avoid doing things that we know are sins, and things that we are unsure of but we know would go against our conscience, while also caring for others by being mindful of what would defile their conscience. (not putting a stumbling block in a brother's path)
But when prevention fails and we sin, 1 John tells us that sin is not erradicated in this life, and we need to confess our sins to God, then He will be faithful and just to forgive us. Denying the truth that sin still exists in a Christian or doubting whether or not God will forgive us when we confess will further kill our assurance.
2. Ignorant of scripture - need to find balance and have our reasoning guided by scripture
This can come in many forms. In my personal experience it's not understanding God's standard of what is good and right. For example, it is shown in the 10 commandments that thou shalt not steal, and I would make excuses for downloading copyrighted material. And in doing so, I'm denying the essence of the law to not steal by taking thing I didn't pay for.
Another instance is when people discover something about election (Some people say that every teaching on election should come with a big warning - "Will cause a crisis of faith!"). Then their reasoning takes them to extremes, thinking: if God chooses people to be saved before the foundation of the earth, then what's the point of me trying anything? or How do I know I'm one of the chosen?
But looking at scripture, it presents a balance between God's work of election and human decisions. 2 Peter tells us that we are responsible for making our calling and election sure by doing a whole bunch of stuff after we have faith. It's true that faith is a gift, and we know we have that gift when we can say with confidence that my righteousness is not within myself, but only on the righteousness of Christ, but we have to put in efforts as well. We are responsible for making a response to God's word. Because that's the means God uses to give us faith. "Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God."
So our concern shouldn't be whether we are chosen or not, but have I responded to the gospel as God wants me to? (repent and trust in Christ) Then we know we are chosen if at this moment I can say with confidence, yes I have, while looking to God's promise for the future that he who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of Christ Jesus.
May God bless us with assurance and joy.
