Title: Can We Know if Someone Else is Saved?
For the last 25 years, we have always preached through books at Heritage.
And the general rule that I like to follow is that about 60 to 75% of our Sundays are spent in our main book of study. Now sometimes we’ll have seasons where it’s a little lower than that because we’re on the holidays or we have guest speakers or the schedule doesn’t lineup exactly right but I have never stood up here like I am today. It has been eight weeks since we have been in the book of Hebrews and that was for a lot of logistical reasons with the Easter holiday and with Marc preaching a couple series of sermons so the challenges I have to recalibrate our minds to get back into the mind ship of the authorship of Hebrews.
So after an 8 week hiatus, we are finally back in our main book of study. And the transition that we’re going to make today coming off of our long series that was leading up to the question “Is it possible for somebody who was authentically saved to lose their salvation?”
(A question by the way where we arrived at the biblical answer absolutely not! Somebody who is authentically saved from beginning to end their salvation is in God’s hands.)
We now see a warning right on the heels of that teaching from the author of Hebrews that begs a different but very related question…A question that many of us have asked ourselves;
Is there a way to truly an authentically know for certain if someone else is saved?
(Before we dive in, does anyone want to take a preemptive crack and answering the second question? Do you think you can know if another person is saved?)
Today, we are going to seek to find the Biblical answer to this question through three steps:
- Understanding the Author’s Biblical Imagery (J.I. Packer)
- Understanding the illustration in practical terms (Dave Guzik)
- Pastor Ben’s Application and Answer
Let’s look to the text, but to help with context we’ll read v. 1-8
7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
(read 6:1-8, placing v7-8 on the screen)
J.I. Packer
According to the prophetic imagery of the Old Testament, the ground is God’s people (Is. 5:1-7), and the rain falling on it is the Word (Is. 55:10-11), or the Spirit of God (Is. 44:3-4). The unproductive field is destroyed (Is. 5:4-6)
Is. 55:10-11
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
Is 44:3-4
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring,
And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up among the grass
Like poplars by streams of water.’
Matthew 13:7-8
7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.
Matthew 13:22-23
22 And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”
David Guzik:
When the earth receives rain and bears useful plants,it fulfills its purpose and justifies the blessing of rain sent upon it.
The writer to the Hebrews applies the point: “You’ve been blessed. But where is the fruit?” God looks for what grows in us after He blesses us, especially looking for what grows in terms of maturity.
But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected: If ground is blessed by rain but refuses to bear fruit, no one blames the farmer for burning it. The idea shows that growth and bearing fruit are important to keep from falling away.
When we really bear fruit, we abide in Jesus (John 15:5) and are in no danger of falling away.
PB’s Conclusion and Answer to the Question:
Both Packer and Guzik are pressing the same point in different ways. This is about PURPOSE. We are what we produce. (Salary Vs. Hourly employees) As believers, REAL fruit is the evidence of faith.
Application: A fair way to judge the authenticity of another’s faith is to examine the fruit.
And I’ll just start with a simple one: Jesus in John 14.21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (NIV)
Others? (Fruit of the Spirit)
There is also a very sobering warning in v.8 “It ends up being burned.” We cannot afford to ignore this. Those who do not produce fruit are rightly destroyed. They are not fulfilling their purpose (praising God) and therefore, they have no utility, no usefulness in the Kingdom.
This serves as a devastating wake up call for:
1. Lazy believers and Easy Believe-ism
2. Non-believers who are selective in which commands they obey
3. Believers AND non believers who state, “God would never destroy his creation…God is love”
The Final Answer: Can we know? No? But we can observe, and (guided by the Holy Spirit) we can BELIEVE that someone else is saved, if the fruit and growth are obvious. (PB and Mary example)
Q/A