NHCF Blog

by John Doyle“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life”1 John 5:13The words of this precious hymn *Blessed Assurance* were written more than a century ago in 1873. The world has changed in staggering ways since that time. We now have Automobiles, Radio, Television, Computers, Cell phones and the Internet and these are just a few of the major inventions of the past century. Culture has changed too, and even churches have changed. But the one thing that has not changed and will never change is the security that we have as believers due to our Salvation in Christ.Many of us these days "Take out insurance" on our Homes, and Vehicles and many other things but we as believers can be assured there is no Insurance needed for our Faith, because we have a full Assurance of Life Eternal in Glory because of the Gift of God His son Jesus for us all.If you have been, as Fanny Crosby put it long ago in the song, “Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood,” you have the blessed assurance of salvation. No matter what happens, changes or comes against you, your place in God’s family is sure. It is not because of anything you have done, but because of what Jesus did for you through His Death, Burial and Resurrection.The Apostle John spent much of 1 John explaining to God’s people how they could have the assurance that the song writer Fanny Crosby later wrote and sang about. His desire was that they “know” they had eternal life. Notice he didn’t say think, or feel, or hope. He said, “Know.” But how can anyone really know we will go to Heaven when he dies until he actually dies?Many Christians have doubted their salvation at some point or another in their lives because they have strayed from their journey with Christ. Many times, this doubt arises not because we doubt God, but ourselves. We consider our lives, how we are living, the depth of our faith, and we wonder. Perhaps we compare our life to a former time of growth spiritually and wonder, “what happened?” “How did I get here from there?” Or, maybe we were taught that salvation could be lost which Biblically is not true.But God’s Word says we can know we have eternal life. We don’t have to worry or fear. This assurance is ours now. Notice that John is speaking to those, “who believe in the name of the Son of God.” He didn’t say, “believed.” Our assurance does not come from a past event or experience. Assurance comes from continual faith and perseverance that is growing and yielding the fruit of obedience. Salvation is past (what Jesus did), present (being changed into His image by the Holy Spirit), and future (living with Him in glory forever).When doubts arise, examine your heart. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Does that…

by John DoyleIt is so important that we as believers in Christ enjoy and rejoice knowing that we are unconditionally loved by God to the greatest degree possible. Our desire should be to magnify the Lord for loving us the way He does. This is why it matters to us what Jesus really accomplished for us when He died, was buried and rose again. There is a common way of thinking about Christ’s death that diminishes our experience of His love. It involves thinking that the death of Christ expressed no more love for me than for anyone else in the human race. If that’s the way you think about God’s love for you in the death of Jesus, you will not enjoy being loved by God as greatly as you really are.Have you ever felt that amazing love in times of struggles or grief? I am sure you have. It's a never ending unconditional Love. Ephesians 2:4–5 “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”Six things stand out in Ephesians 2:4–5. 1. The phrase *Great Love*“Because of the great love with which He loved us.” That phrase is used only here in the New Testament. Let it sink in. God loves His own with a “great love.” Surely Paul writes this so that we will enjoy being greatly loved.2. The peculiar greatness of this love that moves God to “make us alive.”“Because of the great love with which he loved us, . . . God made us alive.” His great Love is the cause of our life. Our life did not cause the greatness of His love for us. It’s the other way around. The greatness of his LOVE made us alive.3. Before he made us alive, we were “dead.”“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive.” There is such a thing as the living dead. Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Luke 9:60). Before God made us alive, we were the living dead.We could breathe and think and feel, but we were spiritually dead. We were blind to the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3–4), we were stone-hearted to his law and could not submit to him (Ephesians 4:18; Romans 8:7–8), and we were not able to discern spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). Only God could overcome this deadness so that we could see the glory of Christ and believe (2 Corinthians 4:6). That’s what he did when he “made us alive” (Ephesians 2:5).4. God does not make everyone alive.What happened to you, to bring you to faith, has not happened to everyone. And remember, you don’t deserve to be made alive. You were dead. You were “by nature a child of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:3). You did not do anything to move God to make you alive. That’s what it means to be dead. But…