"On every side are people full of assurance, certain that they are journeying to Heaven; yet their daily lives show plainly that they are deceived, and that their assurance is only a fleshly one. Thousands are, to use their own words, “resting on John 3:16,” or 5:24, and have not the slightest doubt they will spend eternity with Christ....
Now dear reader, you may be quite sure that your faith in Christ is true “gold,” and yet, after all, be mistaken. The human heart is dreadfully deceitful (Jer. 17:9). God’s Word plainly warns us that “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Prov. 30:12). Do you ask (O that you may, in deep earnestness and sincerity), How can I be sure that my faith is a genuine and saving one? The answer is, Test it. Make certain that it is the, “faith of God’s elect” (Titus 1:1). Ascertain whether or not your faith is accompanied with those fruits which are inseparable from a God-given and Spirit-wrought faith......God Himself has supplied us with tests, and we are mad if we do not avail ourselves of them, and honestly measure ourselves by them......
Let the really concerned soul read slowly and thoughtfully through the first Epistle of John."
~ Real men read Pink (A.W. Pink), "The Doctrine of Assurance"
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