Written by Derek J. Brown |
Saturday, April 30, 2022
If we are ever wavering between confidence and doubt with regard to our standing with God, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to be decisive in spiritual matters. Obedience often requires earthly sacrifice, and if we are unsure that we possess eternal life, we will be unable to endure earthly trouble for the sake of Christ. Assurance is essential to the Christian life. If you have fallen into a pattern of doubt and have neglected the assurance of your salvation, let this be the day you heed the Scripture’s exhortations and, by God’s grace, find your footing through faith in God’s sure promises.

I remember a conversation during college in which a friend confessed to me that he did not think it was necessary, or even possible, for a believer to gain assurance of their salvation. I was surprised by his comments, especially because we were attending a Christian college that emphasized all the biblical truths related to assurance of salvation: election, grace, faith, repentance, substitutionary atonement, the fully deity and humanity of Christ, and eternal security.
As it turns out, this was not an isolated incident. Over the past several years as I’ve wrestled personally with the issue of assurance and had opportunity to speak to others about it, I’ve found that many Christians do not rightly understand the biblical basis or importance of this doctrine. Assurance is essential to genuine Christianity and central to the New Testament’s theological framework, yet plenty of Christians are content to walk through life without the sure knowledge that they belong to Christ. There are, of course, those who claim assurance who have no right to do so; but it seems that there are an equal number of professing Christians who have either resigned to the fact they will never have assurance or that they don’t really need it.
What is assurance?
When I use the phrase “assurance of salvation” I am referring to a professing Christian’s confidence that he is, through the gospel, presently in right standing with God and will, upon his death or at the return of Christ, enter into eternal life and be delivered from the penalty of eternal condemnation. Assurance is the present intellectual and heart-felt conviction that I am, at this moment and for eternity, at peace with the living God through Jesus Christ.
But is such assurance really that important? In light of our sin and struggles with faith, shouldn’t we be content with the reality that we may or may not achieve assurance in this lifetime? While Scripture acknowledges that we will wrestle with sin and a lack of faith, it also consistently calls professing believers to gain assurance of their salvation. Scripture doesn’t suggest that those who are without assurance of their right standing with God are not necessarily saved, but neither does it applaud those who lack it, as though being without assurance was a mark of spiritual humility and maturity. Here are five reasons why assurance is essential for the Christian life.
1. Assurance is God’s will for you.
The first reason we must say that assurance is essential for the Christian life is because assurance is God’s will for you. Listen to the language of the New Testament (emphasis added):

Colossians 2:1-3: For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Hebrews 6:11-12: And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 10:22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

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Christ conquered witchcraft on the cross. Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15). Jesus is greater than Moses, who defeated the Egyptian magicians and set God’s people free from fear and bondage. He defeated Satan, sin, and sorcery.
In 2016, the former Ugandan Parliament House Speaker Rebecca Kadaga raised eyebrows and caused controversy for her re-election thanksgiving to the ancestors in a shrine. Before her, the then Vice President, Professor Gilbert Bukenya, had done the same. Indeed many politically influential Africans appeal to the power of witchcraft. But what is witchcraft? Why does it persist in Africa? And how do we respond to it as Christians? Answering these questions I hope to show that Christians need not fear witchcraft.
What Is Witchcraft?
In A Biblical Study of Witchcraft, Festus K. Kavale notes a renewed boom in the interest and return to witchcraft. Ugandans, and I hear Kenyans too, love Nollywood’s witchcraft films starring the talented Patience Ozokwor. Most of us have encountered witchcraft, whether in word, life, or on a screen. And you or someone you know may be living in fear of witchcraft even now.
David Noel Freedman defines witchcraft as “the practice of sorcery or necromancy for divination or the manipulation of (generally evil) spirits.” Avraham Negev sees witchcraft as the use of occult or supernatural forces “to exert an influence over (one’s) fellow human beings or to change the course of events.” Witchcraft is when someone uses sorcery or divination to manipulate or use supernatural forces to prosper themselves or harm their enemies, or both. It is born out of our desire to control our destiny and future, do good or bad—our attempt to manipulate the gods.
The Fear of Witchcraft Pervades Time and Cultures
Witchcraft is universal. It existed in the Ancient Near Eastern world of the Old Testament. Greeks and Romans practiced it, and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians assumes it (Ephesians 6:12, 16; Acts 19:19). Salem, where our son was born, is America’s witchcraft capital. And I can recall one of my distant grandmothers practising divination in her shrine near my childhood home. 
Witchcraft is not restricted to those who don’t know God. Israel was so inclined to enchantments and sorcery that prohibitions against them were necessary (Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10). Paul found it necessary to remind Christians that sorcery stems from the flesh (Galatians 5:19-20).
Gilbert Bukenya and Rebecca Kadaga would certainly consider themselves Christians—so did my grandmother, whose Bible and rosary never left her shrine. As such, witchcraft remains pervasive across time, cultures, and religious professions.
Why Does It Persist in Africa?
Julius K. Muthengi, in The Art of Divination, notes that recurrent family sickness that claims lives, unexplained and untimely deaths, barrenness, and pandemics are some reasons Africans visit witchdoctors. Linked to this, many fear witchcraft being used against them, so they turn to it for protection. A shrine hosts guests when a student seeks answers for her failed grades, a politician fears the next polls, and a businessman’s bank statement displeases him. In short, problems and pain tend to move people towards shrines. 
Yet for Kavale (who, as we saw, noted a renewed interest in witchcraft) some Africans explore witchcraft out of curiosity through ‘simple experiments’ until they are trapped. Others heed the call by schools for “a return to traditional practices as a way of showing patriotism.” Such a call is audible in Ugandan academic and political circles. Indeed, there remains a considerable reaction among African elites against Christianity for its supposed colonial roots, and a rallying call exists to return to traditionalism and witchcraft.

Genuine saving faith, which only those who have lost their life for the sake of Christ have, is proven valid and is completed by works. These works are the proof of genuine saving faith. These are righteous works, not just religious activity. These works are acts that conform to God’s revealed Word. James tells us that these are acts of compassion such as giving to the poor and helping them to be warm and filled instead of just telling them that you will pray for them. We are not saved because we do these things, no; we do these things because we are genuinely saved.

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38 (NASB)
Jesus is coming back soon. Are you ready? Are you trusting in man-made or self-made religion to be what God will recognize as sufficient so that Christ will be your Advocate before the Father when you are judged? Without Christ as your Advocate, you will have no defense. How does Christ become our Advocate? How do we know if He is our Advocate? Let us examine Christ’s own words about this.
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26 (NASB)
What does it mean to “come after” Christ? Is this simply the act of joining a church? Jesus is taking to people who have been following Him and listening to His teachings as He ministered to them. He turns to this large group of people and tells them plainly that to be His disciple one must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Christ. If one does not do this then they CANNOT be Christ’s disciples. What does it mean to deny self? This is relinquishing personal control of one’s life in surrender to Lordship of Christ who is control of it. The taking up ones own personal cross is referring complete commitment to Christ even if it means death or persecution. When Christ says that His disciples must follow Him He is referring to living ones life according to His example as well as coming into fellowship with His other disciples.
Christ then tells us that these things sum together into a losing of ones life for His sake. Those who deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Him have given up a self-centered life of rebellion against God for the sake of Christ and the gospel. In return, they will find everlasting communion with God. On the other hand, those who live a self-centered life focused on the present world will not find eternal life with God. Those who have found eternal life with God have lost their life for Christ’s sake, but have actually saved their life.
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