Are you a Christian? How can you be sure? How can we know for certain that our sins are forgiven? How can we be sure that we have been born again and that we have eternal life? How can we be certain of our hope of heaven?
The Bible says that we can be sure. We can be certain. Here in this most profound passage in John 6 Jesus gives us four ways in which we can be absolutely certain that we are Christians and that our eternal destiny is completely safe. Four grounds for assurance which comfort us and give us hope. Four wonderful promises to enjoy and to share.
1 We believe in Jesus
35 Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
We thought last week about Jesus being the bread of life. For us bread is often just a snack or a nibble of a starter or something on the side plate. But for Jews in Israel in Jesus’s time and many still today, bread isn’t just an optional extra. The bread is the heart of the meal. The bread is the plate and the knife and fork. Each person has their own loaf. In turn they will break off a piece of bread and dip it into one of the various shared dishes of meat or cheese or vegetables. They eat more bread in a day as any of us do in a week because the bread is the staple food which keeps them alive.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” And Jesus is the only bread which ultimately satisfies.
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. … Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’

Jesus the bread of life gives eternal life. We are sure we are saved because we have believed that Jesus is indeed the Bread of Life.
. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
We believe in Jesus. We put our trust in Jesus.
The Jews thought that all they had to do was be born as a Jew and to do good works to earn their way into heaven. This is what Jesus said to them.
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’
28 Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’
29 Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he ha
We cannot earn our salvation. It is given to us by God as a completely free gift. Having faith and believing in Jesus is not some good work we do to earn salvation. Faith is simply the channel through which God’s blessing flows. It’s a bit like a telephone. If our friend calls us, we have to pick up the phone and answer. But having a phone doesn’t oblige our friend to call us. We don’t earn the call just by having a phone. But we need to answer the call when it comes. God calls us by His unconditional grace. But we need to respond by faith to receive that grace.
Faith is not based on proof.
30 So they asked him, ‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’
32 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
Faith is not based on proof. Faith is not based on signs and wonders. Faith is simply trusting Jesus that He was who He claimed to be – the Son of God and the Bread of Life.
We trust that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, sent by God
29 Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’

. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
We trust that Jesus was sent from God and more than that, came down from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever.

We put our trust in Jesus who is the only way to God.
46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
So we put our trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the only way to God. We keep on believing even though there are others who do not believe, and even stand opposed to Jesus.
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ 42 They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I came down from heaven”?’
Those people had just seen Jesus feed the 5000 families with just five loaves and two fishes.
That miracle is more than a demonstration that God cares about people going hungry. It is also more than a demonstration of God’s power at work in Jesus and proof that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. Jesus feeding the 5000 is actually a visual aid which reveals to us that Jesus is truly the Bread of Life. All those people had just seen that amazing miracle. Yet some of them did not believe in Him. And there are many today who do not put their trust in Jesus. But here is the promise for those of us who do believe in Him.

40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’

We know we are saved and that our eternal life is secure – because here is the promise Jesus promises makes to EVERYONE who believes in Him. They SHALL have eternal life. I WILL raise them up. That is the promise of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Then we can be certain of our salvation for a second reason.

2 We have come to Jesus

35 Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
We have come to Jesus. When did you first come to Jesus? Some people grew up in the church and can’t remember when they first became a Christian. But I did not grow up in church and I can clearly remember the evening when I first came to Jesus. It was Friday 15th June 1973. That was the day I first came to God and asked Him to change my life. Almost 44 years ago. That is certainly the day I was born again, born from above, as Jesus told Nicodemus we all have to be. Even if you can’t name a specific date, or even a year, each one of us can say that we HAVE come to Jesus at some time in our lives. If not before – then that could be today. Right now, even!
It goes without saying that we should come to God for the right reasons. Some of those Jews were coming for the wrong reasons.
26 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’

We need to come to God for the right reasons. For the food which endures to eternal life. Because of who Jesus is, not just for selfish or materialistic reasons. We need to come in sincere repentance and genuine faith. But when we have come to Jesus, here is another wonderful promise He makes to us.
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
“I will never drive away.” I will never cast out, drive away, throw away. And this is emphatic. I will certainly never. Absolutely not! If we have come to Jesus he will never turn us away or reject us! And that’s a promise!
And then here’s a third reason why our salvation is guaranteed.
3 We are safe in God’s hands.
. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’

We have come to Jesus and we are safe in His almighty hands. I shall lose NONE of all those He has given me. God wants everyone who believes in Jesus to have eternal life – and Jesus promises to keep us safe for eternity!
. 44 ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
I will raise them up! We know that we can’t do anything we can to be saved. But then sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that we need to hold tightly on to God so that we stay saved. That is not the case. We stay saved because God keeps tight hold on us! Like when our children are small. We say to them, hold tight on to Daddy’s hand. But in fact if there is ever any danger it is actually the loving parent who is holding on to their child’s hand and who will never, ever, let them go. Our eternal life rests in the hands of our all-powerful and all-loving heavenly Father who will never, ever, let us go! God wants Jesus to keep tight hold of us, and that is what He promises to do.
. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Our eternal life is secure and guaranteed because we believe in Jesus. Because we have come to Jesus. Because we are safe in God’s hands. And here’s a fourth reason.
4 Because Jesus is our food and drink
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

This bit may be harder to understand. But hang on in there. Jesus could be talking about the way we remember him by eating the bread and drinking the wine at a Communion service. But I think this is more general and more profound than that. Jesus is certainly not talking about literally eating his flesh.
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’
53 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
The bread of life does not mean literally eating the flesh of Jesus. It is a metaphor. Just as bread gives strength and life to our physical bodies, so Jesus the bread of life gives us strength and life spiritually. And this links to the events of Easter and Jesus’s death and resurrection.
V 51b This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

Manna was the bread from heaven which miraculously fed the Israelites in their forty years in the wilderness on the way from slavery in Egypt all the way into the promised land. And Jesus feeds us spiritually in this life, all the way from the first moment we come to Him, to that day when we will be with him eternally in glory,
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
Eating Jesus’s flesh and drinking his blood is a way of remaining united to Christ, of abiding in him. Jesus will talk about remaining in him or abiding in him again in John 15.
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

We remain in Christ, abiding in Christ, joined to Jesus, by feeding on him. This is not just about eating the bread and drinking the wine to remember Jesus once or twice a month. This is about feeding on Christ, drawing our strength from Him, every moment of every day and especially through prayer and Bible study and worship and courageous witness and loving service.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. … 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
We know we are Christians, we know we are saved, because Jesus is our food and drink. Because we believe in Jesus. Because we have come to Jesus. And because our lives are kept safe, not in our hands but in the hands of our loving heavenly Father and our Risen and Victorious Saviour, who promises us, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.