Christ Already Took Care of the Big Problems

How should assurance of salvation change your life? That is a question J. C. Ryle answers magnificently in his book “Holiness.” Ryle contends that many Christians live life either without assurance of their salvation, or are indifferent towards it. In a great chapter, Ryle lays out why assurance of salvation is important and what characterizes the life of a believer who has assurance of salvation. Today, I want to think through a particularly gripping point Ryle made : assurance of salvation allows Christians to rest in the fact that Christ has already taken care of the big problems of life.

(Assurance) enables him to feel that the great business of life is a settled business, the great debt a paid debt, the great disease a healed disease, and the great work a finished work; and all other business, disease, debts and works are by comparison small.

“Holiness” by J.C. Ryle

What the quote means

This quote appears in a section of Holiness where Ryle wants to show how assurance of salvation affects the life of a believer. In particular, Ryle is concerned that Christians who do not have assurance often are greatly affected by the uncertainties of life. “Doubts and fears have the power to spoil much of the happiness of a true believer in Christ” Ryle argues. If you doubt your own salvation, how can you expect to maintain a joy in Christ? In this section, Ryle is arguing from the lesser to the greater.

If uncertainty causes doubt, fear, and joylessness on a physical level, how much more will uncertainty on the state of your soul cause doubt, fear, and joylessness on a spiritual level?

In the quote above, Ryle is listing a blessing that comes when Christians are sure of their salvation. Namely, assurance of salvation gives the Christian a unique perspective of life: Christ has already taken care of the big problems of life, death, and eternity. Therefore, all other issues which Christians inevitably face in life are not nearly as big or as frightening.

Why it is important

The Christians life is a fight of faith and the fight of faith is a fight to see.

What do I mean by “see”? A lot of your day to day Christianity comes down to believing and holding onto God’s promises over and against whatever you are dealing with on a physical level. Daily you wake up and fight to maintain a Christ-centered, gospel-oriented perspective. What you practically believe about Jesus and the Gospel is going to affect how you respond to and feel about every situation you face in a given day.

Ryle’s point is that if you do not have the perspective that Christ has objectively, decisively, and eternally dealt with the absolute biggest problem in your life (i.e. your sin), then you will see the world in a completely wrong way. If you don’t see your own sin as your biggest problem and Christ as the final solution, then every problem, big or small, will throw you off. It will take your joy, cause you to doubt, create a large amount of anxiety in your heart, and rob you of any contentment.

In short, if you don’t believe Christ has already taken care of the big problems of your life, you will feel overwhelmed by all the smaller problems you face. So, you must fight to hold on to the proper Biblical evaluation of your life:

• Your biggest issue in your life is not your circumstances, those around you, your lack of opportunity, your lack of money or power, your looks, or anything of that nature. Your biggest problem is that you have personally sinned and broken the law of the eternally Holy God.
• There is no amount of effort on your part that can counteract the broken relationship you have with God nor remove His just punishment on your rebellion.
• The only possible way to reconcile with a thrice-Holy God is through the means He provides. Specifically, through Jesus bearing the punishment and wrath that your sin deserves.
• For those who believe in Christ, there is “therefore now no condemnation” and, instead of getting God’s just wrath, you receive God’s undeserved favor.

When you have this perspective, this worldview, then life suddenly becomes a lot more manageable. Your circumstances didn’t change. Your position in the world didn’t change. But by faith you realize that your biggest problem was the one thing you could never deal with yourself. But Christ has. If you are assured of that reality, then there is a peace and a rest and a contentment which could never be found any other way.

Takeaways

1. Renew your mind through prayer and the Word every morning

From the time you wake up in the morning to the time you sleep at night, you are going to be bombarded with false worldviews that are contrary to Scripture. The world is going to tell you that you have a hundred different problems that you need to solve now. You aren’t pretty or handsome enough. You don’t have enough money. Your car isn’t fancy enough. You aren’t happy unless you buy this or that.

If you enter your day without time in the Word and in prayer, you may as well walk into a war-zone with nothing but a T-shirt and shorts. You have no protection, no Christ-centered perspective apart from prayer and the promises of the Bible. In fact, you probably need several times during the day where you renew your mind with the Word. Don’t think for a second that you are impervious to the false messages you hear every day. If you remind yourself that Christ already took care of the big problems, then you will be able to resist all the voices of the world that try to convince you that you have a whole lot of issues you need to solve.

2. Simplify your life by resting on Christ’s completed work

I find that most of my frustrations, anxieties, and annoyances come from trying to solve a “big problem” I think I see in my life. But every problem will look big to you until Christ becomes bigger to you. Life becomes a lot simpler and joyful when you realize Christ already took care of the big problems. You suddenly can both rest in the reality of the Gospel while also faithfully serving where God has you. You stop trying to work to earn the favor of man or God.

Do you feel stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious about the next day? Perhaps you either don’t have assurance of salvation or you are not fixing your mind on it as you should.

As Ryle writes, when you have the finished work of Christ in your mind and heart, all your businesses, diseases, debts, and works that you must deal with seem small in comparison. As is so often the case, most of your problems in life come down to whether you are trusting Christ and His promises or not. Look at your life and take stock. See if there is any “thing you have to do” or “problem you have to solve” which actually is coming from you not resting in Christ.

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