What do some denominations believe about assurance of salvation?
Some denominations teach that a believer cannot be assured of salvation, insisting instead that people must hope they make it, work diligently to hang on, and avoid any sin that would forfeit salvation and land them in hell rather than heaven.
Les explains that the verses he is coming to will disturb one group of people across various denominations — those who feel you cannot be assured of your salvation. According to that thinking, you have to hope that you make it, you have to work like the dickens to hang on, and you have to be sure that you never sin in such a way that you will lose your salvation and end up in hell instead of God's heaven. He notes these verses will fly in the face of that kind of thinking, and he can't help it, because all he is going to show is what the Book says. The surrounding context stresses that Christ died, His divine blood had to be shed, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission; He rose from the dead, is at the right hand of God interceding for us, watches over us, and has promised, "Who can be against you? I'm for you." Yet Les cautions that this must not be interpreted to mean nothing bad can happen to a believer, since Satan can transform himself into an angel of light and confuse the issues — but the promises remain, that God is still in total control and sovereign.