Men of the Word Sermon Podcast · Grace Community Church

Assurance and the Historicity of Christ

·50 min·3 clips

You cannot hope to have assurance of salvation if you doubt the historicity of Jesus Christ.

1. Men of the Word Sermon Podcast opens Assurance and the Historicity of Christ with 1 John 1:1-4 and 1 John 5:13. 2. The speaker is the sermon host, and he uses 1 John to teach why assurance matters for believers. 3. The episode asks whether assurance of salvation belongs to Christians, and answers that it begins with the historicity of Jesus Christ. 4. The speaker sets the background in 1517 with Martin Luther’s 95 theses and the Protestant Reformation. 5. He contrasts that Reformation with the 1545 Council of Trent called by Pope Paul III. 6. He says the Council of Trent issued 151 anathemas and rejected sola scriptura, sola fide, justification by faith alone, and assurance. 7. He quotes one canon that says a born-again man is not bound to believe he is assuredly among the predestinate. 8. He introduces Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit cardinal and 'doctor of the church,' as a major Counter-Reformation theologian. 9. He quotes Bellarmine calling certainty of gracious pardon 'the principal heresy of Protestants.' 10. He says Roman Catholic rejection of assurance was both theological and pragmatic, including church control over people and money. 11. He turns to 1 John as John’s answer to a confusing religious climate around A.D. 80-90. 12. He describes rising Gnosticism as a mix of Greek philosophy and pagan religion built on dualism. 13. He says Gnosticism treated matter as evil, attacked the incarnation, and encouraged licentious living. 14. He says John writes to defend the gospel and to give believers tests for knowing who is in fellowship. 15. He reads 1 John 1:1 as five historical claims: heard, seen, looked at, touched, and manifested. 16. He distinguishes John’s emphasis from John 1:1 by saying 1 John stresses incarnation rather than pre-existence. 17. He explains that John’s 'we testify' and 'we proclaim' in verse 2 are claims of direct eyewitness reporting. 18. He says the purpose statements in verses 3-4 are fellowship with the apostles and the Father, plus joy made complete. 19. The tone is pastoral and argumentative, with repeated appeals to Scripture, church history, and direct application. 20. Readers who want a doctrinal sermon on assurance and Christ’s historicity will fit this episode, while listeners wanting light devotional content may skip it.

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