Questions:

- What were the events which led up to the time you became a Christian?
- Since that time have you had any doubts that you really are a Christian?
- Would you like to get rid of those doubts?


1 John 5:12-13

1. Need for Assurance
God wants His Children to Know that they belong to Him.  He wants us to recognize His voice and follow Him as children so their fathers.
1 John 5:13 "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life…


2. Causes Of Doubts
a. Misunderstanding Salvation - At Salvation, God's Holy Spirit comes into our human spirit and  begins to convict us of  words, actions, and attitudes that grieve our Heavenly Father; thus, we may feel like a greater sinner than before salvation  I Tim. 1:15
b. Failing To Grow  -  God predicts that if we do not diligently add to our faith the qualities of virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, Godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, we will become spiritually blind and lack foresight.  Such an individual will fail to remember "… that he was purged from his old sins" II peter 1:9     
c. Lacking "Birth date"  -  Many have doubts about salvation because they cannot recall a point in time when they put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.  God compares salvation to birth (John 3:3) and to marriage (Rev. 22:17).  Each of these events involves a process but is celebrated at a point in time.