True believers may lose the comfort and joy of assurance through neglect, sin, temptation, or spiritual darkness, but God preserves His grace within them and restores their confidence in His time.

Saving faith can exist without full assurance, but believers should diligently pursue assurance through the Spirit-enabled use of God’s ordinary means.

The Holy Spirit bears witness with believers that they are God's children, showing that true assurance comes through His work in applying Christ, Scripture, and the evidences of grace.

Genuine believers can confidently affirm their salvation by examining the inward evidence of the Spirit at work in them.

Christian assurance is not a guess, a mood, or confidence in our own spiritual performance, but faith resting on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the gospel.

The 1689 Baptist Confession rejects both false presumption and despair, teaching that sincere believers may gain real assurance through true faith in Christ, sincere love for him, and a conscientious pursuit of obedience.

While true believers may possess genuine assurance of salvation, Scripture repeatedly warns that many religious people deceive themselves with false assurance, making careful self-examination and faith in Christ alone essential.

Believers may know they belong to Christ through the promises of the gospel, the witness of the Spirit, and the evidences of grace, while avoiding both false assurance and needless despair.