Assurance Of Salvation (1976)

How do I really know that I have eternal life? We, as Christians, need the assurance that our basic relationship with our heavenly Father is not altered even by our failures or even by our sins. Does assurance come from seeking and serving God with the utmost diligence? Does assurance really rest on our perseverance in good works until the end of life? The fundamental grounds for assurance that we possess eternal life rests always on the promise of God.  If we are searching for assurance in anything that we find in ourselves, we will never find assurance if we are candid and honest with ourselves.  Faith is not occupied with itself.  Faith is occupied with God and faith is occupied with the testimony of God.  We are not invited to believe that we believe, but to believe that what God says is true.  Passages mentioned include: 1 John 5:9-13, 1 John 1:3-4; 2:1,12-14,20-21,24-26; and John 3:16, 5:24, 6:35.  Given at Dallas Theological Seminary Chapel in 1976.