God is not ambiguous about His desire for His children: He wants you to stand before Him with unwavering confidence at the day of judgment. This is not a peripheral matter. The Scriptures are explicit—God has provided, in Christ, everything necessary for you to approach Him without fear, without shame, and without the gnawing uncertainty that so often plagues the religious conscience.
“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."
— 1 John 2:28
This is not a suggestion or a distant ideal. It is the revealed will of God for every believer. The command is clear: Abide in Christ. This is not a call to self-examination or to the endless cycle of introspective works. It is a call to remain where God has placed you—in Christ—so that, when He appears, you will have confidence and not shrink away in shame. The alternative is not neutral. To forfeit this confidence is to stand before Him uncertain, ashamed, and robbed of the very assurance He purchased for you.
John presses the point further:
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."
— 1 John 4:17
God perfects His love in us, not so we can boast in our own progress, but so that we may have boldness—not timidity—when the day of judgment comes. The ground of this boldness is not your performance, but the astonishing reality that, as Christ is, so are you in this world. This is the language of sonship, of inheritance, of a conscience cleansed by the blood of Christ. Anything less is a denial of the finished work.
Peter likewise refuses to let assurance be treated as optional or secondary. He exhorts:
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
— 2 Peter 1:10-11
This is not a call to frantic striving, but to a settled diligence—a diligence rooted in the certainty of your calling and election. The result is not mere survival, but an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom. God intends for you to enter, not as one barely escaping judgment, but as one welcomed with rejoicing, standing unashamed, clothed in the righteousness and sanctification of Christ.
Let us be clear: to accept any doctrine that leaves you uncertain, ashamed, or lacking boldness before God is to undermine the very foundation of justification. It is to trade the abundant entrance for a fearful, doubtful existence. This is not a minor error. It is a collapse of the covenantal promise, a forfeiture of the inheritance, and a denial of your sonship. If you allow your conscience to be governed by anything other than Christ’s finished work—if you seek assurance anywhere but in Him—you will never know the confidence God intends, and you will rob yourself of the reward He freely gives.
God is not a distant examiner, waiting to find fault. He is the One who has already cleansed you, perfected you in His love, and called you to abide in His Son. The reward is not for the self-assured, but for those who rest in Christ’s assurance. The abundant entrance, the boldness in the day of judgment, the unashamed standing before God—these are not the prizes of the spiritually elite, but the birthright of every believer who refuses to let anything displace Christ as their righteousness and sanctification.
If you would know this confidence, this assurance, this reward, you must ground your conscience in Christ alone. Anything less is loss. Anything less is to stand before God with a trembling heart, when He has called you to stand rejoicing.
For a deeper exploration of how Christ Himself is your righteousness, sanctification, and reward, see Christ As Righteousness Sanctification and Reward. Do not settle for a conscience that wavers. Stand where God has placed you—in Christ—and enter abundantly into all He has prepared.
