Finding Assurance in the Body of Christ

When we recite the Apostles’ Creed, one of the truths we affirm is our belief in the communion of saints. This statement refers to our shared participation in Christ and one another. When we are united to Christ by faith, we are also united to His people. Scripture uses the analogy of a head and a body to describe this union (Col. 1:18). Yet Western culture prizes personal autonomy, self-expression, and individualism. As a result, the communion of saints aspect of the Christian faith is often supplanted with language that emphasizes Jesus as “my personal Savior.”

There is, without question, a personal element to the Christian faith. Both repentance and faith require a personal response to the gospel. However, modern evangelicalism often isolates conversion (faith and repentance) from incorporation into the church. In our text from Sunday (Col. 2:1–3), Paul draws a direct link between assurance of salvation and life in the corporate body. In these verses, Paul shows that assurance grows as believers are encouraged, united in love, and focused on Christ. In this blog, I would like to consider further how each of these contributes to assurance.

Encouragement

The first thing Paul mentions is that corporate life encourages hearts (v. 2). Doubt often thrives in isolation, but encouragement strengthens faith. Satan, our adversary, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Lions often attack those isolated from the herd because they make easy targets. In contrast, when believers unite together in the battle against the enemy, their defense is far stronger than when they are left alone.

When believers gather, they remind one another of God’s promises. When we take the Lord’s Supper each Sunday, we are “proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). Each time we do this, we mutually reaffirm our faith to one another. Furthermore, in the corporate context, God uses ordinary means, the preaching of the Word, the ordinances, prayer, singing, and godly conversation, to strengthen wavering faith.

United in Love

In verse 2, Paul also speaks of believers being “knit together in love.” Love is the bond that unites us to one another as those who are united to Christ. In a loving community, believers are known, cared for, corrected, and supported. This communal life guards us from isolation, despair, and pride. Where love abounds, faith is strengthened and assurance is nurtured.

Understanding

Paul also mentions reaching “the riches of full assurance of understanding” (v. 2). Through teaching, worship, singing, and godly conversation, our understanding grows as we learn Christ together. Life in community helps believers see Christ more clearly. Surrounding ourselves with Spirit-indwelt believers who have covenanted to do life together helps correct faulty interpretations of Scripture and guards us from false ideas that can unsettle confidence in the gospel.

Christ-Centered

Paul’s concern for the Colossians was that they might drift from apostolic teaching and follow false teachers. Life in community provides accountability and discernment. When believers walk together, false teaching is more easily recognized and resisted, preserving confidence in the truth of the gospel. During His earthly ministry, Christ entrusted the keys of the kingdom to the church, giving her authority to exercise discipline and to hold believers accountable for their professions of faith. A life of isolation provides no such accountability, whereas life in community affirms and strengthens our profession. As believers fix their faith together on Christ, they are reminded that assurance rests on who Christ is and what He has done, not on fluctuating feelings.

Life in community in no way negates the personal walk of faith, but God has not designed His people to live in isolation. He has created us for life together. While one may encounter God in private moments, such as a walk through nature, He has promised to meet His people in a special way when “two or three are gathered in my name” (Matt. 18:20). He has promised to strengthen faith through the proclamation of the Word (Rom. 10:14–17), and He has attached His promises to the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper for the strengthening of faith.

Assurance grows in community because God uses the church to encourage hearts, bind believers together in love, deepen understanding of Christ, and protect faith from doubt and deception. Christian confidence is strengthened not in isolation, but in shared life centered on Christ.