R.C. Sproul

Well, let's start with the first one.

What does he mean when he says to be all the more diligent to make your calling and your election sure?

I had a person ask me that once and said to me, how can I know if I'm a Christian?

I said, well, let me ask you a couple of questions.

Do you love Jesus perfectly?

He said, no.

do you love Jesus as much as you ought to love Him?

Of course, that's just the same question repeated, isn't it?

And he said, no.

And now whatever assurance he had when he asked the question is starting to slip out of his fingers, and I finally asked him the third question, do you love Jesus at all?

But I said, be careful.

I'm not asking you if you love the Jesus that was portrayed to you at a youth camp.

I'm asking you if you love, have any affection in your heart for the biblical Jesus, for the Jesus whose person and work is set forth in the pages of the New Testament.

Do you have any affection for him?

And if that person says to me, yes, I do, I can tell what the disposition of my heart is.

I know that I don't love him as much as I ought to, but I know.

I do love him.

I want to see the consummation of his kingdom.

I wish I didn't disobey him as much as I do, but I know that I have affection in my heart for him.

And I said, well, okay, here's where your theology is so important.