Christian Assurance I

The doctrine of assurance is a cornerstone of the church. Almost every church has a doctrine of assurance, but not all doctrines match the Bible's doctrine of assurance. The 'seeker sensitive' and emerging church movements today have have downplayed, or in some cases, rejected the very notion of having doctrines at all. The error of this should be obvious. Doctrine is our belief in God, who God is, and what God expects from us. These new movements are actually seeking to create new doctrines that replace Biblical doctrine which they are deeming to 'harsh' to attract people. Their goal is to have large congregations at the expense of sound sound theology. So if their view of God is not based solely form scripture who, and what are they are they saving people to? How is one to know they are saved then? By signing a card? Putting a dated cross on the wall?
Fortunately, the Bible very clearly lays out the doctrine of assurance for us. John points out in his epistles how the evidence of God's efficacy manifests itself outwardly. This is our only guide post in which to gauge our salvation. Today's sermon illustrates a very clear systemic theology that we can use to 'check' our assurance with absolute certainty.