In his first recorded interaction with mankind, Satan came armed with one of his most potent weapons. His opening move, as he came to usurp the dominion that God had given to man, was to introduce doubt in the mind of Eve as to what God had actually said (Gen 3:1). Eve’s response was a distortion of the Word of God (vv2-3), and that weakness was swiftly exploited by the devil, who then uttered a brazen denial of God’s Word. Consequently, Eve’s view of things became deceptive (v6) and the result was disaster. The method by which Satan brought about the fall of man is one he still employs and, sadly, it can still be effective.
When a Christian is troubled by doubts concerning their salvation, behind the problem there is often a departure from confident dependence on the truth of God’s Word. There is nothing pejorative in that suggestion; some of God’s choicest saints have been afflicted with doubts, and believers who are so troubled are in the company of heroes such as Elijah, John the Baptist and Paul the Apostle. Those stalwart servants of God were steeped in the Scriptures, and they believed them with all their heart. However, circumstances arose which momentarily and uncharacteristically overwhelmed their faith, and doubt troubled them. Remember, Elijah, John and Paul were real people, and their respective ministries took them into situations, both highs and lows, that took their toll in physical, mental and emotional strain.
Fresh from the sensational victory over the prophets of Baal, Elijah feared for his life at the hands of Jezebel (1Ki 19:1-4). Conscious that he was the messenger prophesied by Malachi, with a ministry greater in content than that of any other prophet, John the Baptist wondered if he had gotten it all wrong (Mat 11:2-3). Paul, to whom the glorious “gospel of God” was committed, had not the faintest doubt that you and I could be saved eternally by the grace of God, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, perhaps on occasions when he was physically weak, beaten, imprisoned, cold and alone, his actions before he was saved and the suffering he had caused the Lord’s people all came flooding back into his mind. Whilst absolutely certain that you and I could be saved, did that dear man sometimes wonder whether he could be? “A thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan sent to buffet me” (2Co 12:7)1 sounds very much like “the fiery darts of the wicked [one]” (Eph 6:16) that can only be quenched by “the shield of faith.” If, indeed, that was Paul’s repeated experience, it explains the relevance of the answer to his cry for deliverance: “[Paul], my grace is sufficient for thee” (2Co 12:9).
Doubts, particularly concerning the great matter of personal salvation, can arise because of an incomplete understanding of God’s purpose (as with John), or because circumstances are exploited by the Adversary who lets fly a salvo of “fiery darts” (as with Paul), or from a sense of personal worthlessness (as with Elijah). For each of those godly servants, deliverance and assurance came by the word of the Lord. And so it will be for the believer who, through whatever cause, is tormented by doubts about salvation. Probably, the most common form of doubt does not concern the doctrine of how a righteous, sin-hating God can “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom 3:26), but simply this: Have I really got it? Am I truly saved?
That particular doubt often arises from the conflict in the believer between that which we inherited from Adam and that which has been born of God. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal 5:17). Thus, the Accuser brings to the Christian’s notice all the thoughts, words and deeds that are inconsistent with being “a new creature: [in whom] old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Co 5:17). Deceitfully, the impression is given that the troubled believer is the only one thinking, speaking and acting like this. Attention is drawn to others in the assembly and the cheerful, confident Christian life that they are (apparently) living. You are not like that, he whispers; you are a failure in your testimony and only pretending to have what others clearly have. The spiral of doubt and discouragement steepens, and the enemy who could not thwart God’s grace in saving you succeeds in robbing you of all joy and effectiveness for God.
What is the answer? When the Lord Jesus healed the woman whose life was slowly ebbing away, Mark records that “she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague” (Mar 5:29). In His kindness and wisdom, the Lord Jesus did not leave the woman with her feelings as the only assurance that she was healed; He left her with His word: “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague” (v34). Assurance of salvation does not come from the memory of some experience or feeling, however precious it was at the time; it comes from resting confidently on the Word of God.
Doubts, ultimately, are a trial of faith, and the Saviour, when tried in body, soul and spirit in the wilderness, answered the taunts of the devil in the words of Scripture alone. While doubts, of course, never assailed the Lord Jesus, he went through the wilderness experience so that He could truly sympathise with us today (Heb 4:15-16). When doubts arise, three immediate actions will help: first, remember that the ungodly do not have such doubts! In themselves, they are an evidence of salvation. Second, earnestly and honestly pour out your soul to the Lord. There is no greater issue in life than to be assured your sins are forgiven and your soul is saved; so confess your doubts and cry to the Lord for clarity and assurance. Then, third, read the Scriptures carefully, and let the Spirit of God restore confidence in the living Word and “full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
