How can I be sure? - and other questions about doubt, assurance and the Bible - Paperback

Every Christian Has Asked It. Most Have Never Found a Satisfying Answer.

Does God really love me? Am I actually a Christian — or just going through the motions? What if none of it is true?

These questions are not signs of weak faith. They are the questions that most honest Christians ask at some point — quietly, often alone, and frequently without knowing where to turn for a biblically grounded answer.

How Can I Be Sure? by John Stevens is a short, clear, and genuinely pastoral guide to doubt and assurance in the Christian life. Part of the Questions Christians Ask series from The Good Book Company, it does something that is both simple and enormously valuable: it opens the Bible on the subject of doubt, explains what Scripture actually says, and helps Christians find the confident, joy-giving assurance that God intends his people to have. The Good Book Company

Neither Dismissive Nor Paralysing — Just Biblical

One of the most important things John Stevens does in this book is to resist the two most unhelpful responses to Christian doubt.

The first unhelpful response is dismissiveness: treating doubt as a spiritual failure, a sign of inadequate faith, or a problem to be quickly suppressed rather than honestly engaged. This response leaves struggling Christians feeling ashamed of their questions and unable to bring them into the open — which is precisely where the devil wants them.

The second unhelpful response is the opposite extreme: treating doubt as something neutral or even spiritually healthy in itself, as though questioning everything indefinitely is a mark of authentic faith. Stevens helpfully defines the difference between doubt and unbelief — showing that while doubt is a normal part of the Christian life, it is not a destination to remain in, and that the Bible consistently calls Christians to move through doubt toward confident, grounded assurance. The Good Book Company

The book is clear and simple without being simplistic. It is empathic and uses the Bible well. The author understands that doubt is a complex beast, displayed in a variety of forms and arising from many different causes. Westminster Bookstore

The Many Faces of Doubt

One of the most practically useful features of this book is its recognition that doubt comes in many different forms — and that the same person may experience very different kinds of doubt at different seasons of their life.

The introduction helpfully shows the variety of doubt, presenting stories of all the different ways doubts can enter the Christian life. There is intellectual doubt — genuine questions about whether Christianity is true, whether the Bible can be trusted, whether the evidence is sufficient. There is emotional doubt — the kind that arises from suffering, loss, or a season when God feels distant and prayers seem to go unanswered. There is assurance doubt — the kind that asks not whether God exists but whether I am truly his — whether my faith is real, whether I am truly saved, whether I am too bad or too inconsistent to be truly loved by God. Google Books

Stevens addresses all of these with the pastoral wisdom of someone who has genuinely thought through the full landscape of Christian doubt — and who meets each kind with the appropriate biblical response.

Five Questions — Five Biblical Answers

The book is structured around five chapters, each addressing a key question about doubt and assurance:

1. What is doubt? A clear, accessible definition of what doubt actually is — distinguishing it from healthy questioning on the one hand and from unbelief on the other, and establishing the biblical framework for understanding doubt’s place in the Christian life.

2. Why is doubt dangerous? Doubt is not the same as unbelief, but if we don’t wrestle with our doubts wisely, they can lead to unbelief. Stevens is honest about the dangers of unaddressed doubt — the way it robs Christians of joy, weakens service and witness, and can, if left untended, pull a person away from faith altogether. Greenhousepublishing

3. What do I have to believe to be a Christian? One of the most practically important questions the book addresses — getting clear on what genuine saving faith actually requires, distinguishing it from the feelings and experiences that Christians often mistake for faith, and grounding assurance in the objective work of Christ rather than the fluctuating state of the believer’s emotions.

4. How can I overcome doubt as a Christian? Practical, pastoral, and rooted in Christ’s work on the cross and the Spirit’s witness in our lives, this section lifts eyes away from our own shortcomings and up to what Christ has done for us and in us. This is the heart of the book — specific, biblically grounded guidance for the Christian who is in the middle of doubt and needs to know how to find their way through. Greenhousepublishing

5. How can I develop a confident faith? The goal of the book’s journey — not the elimination of all questions but the growth of a robust, well-grounded, genuinely confident Christian faith that is able to hold honest questions without being destroyed by them.

The Liberating Reality the Bible Offers

What Stevens consistently points toward throughout the book — and what the Questions Christians Ask series at its best always does — is the liberating reality of what Scripture actually says, rather than what Christians are afraid it says or afraid it does not say.

The Bible does not promise Christians a life free from doubt. But it does offer something genuinely better than the absence of doubt: a faith grounded not in the consistency of our feelings but in the consistency of God’s promises. A confidence rooted not in our performance but in the finished work of Christ. An assurance that is not self-generated but Spirit-given.

This is the liberation this book offers — and it is genuinely good news for every Christian who has ever lain awake wondering whether God really loves them.

What This Book Covers

• The many faces of doubt — intellectual, emotional, and assurance doubt, and how to recognise them
• The difference between doubt and unbelief — why the distinction matters and what it means practically
• Why doubt is dangerous — the pastoral honesty about what unaddressed doubt can do to a Christian life
• What saving faith actually requires — getting clear on the biblical foundation of assurance
• How to overcome doubt — specific, Christ-centred, biblically grounded guidance for the Christian in the middle of doubt
• How to develop a confident faith — not the elimination of all questions but robust, joy-giving assurance
• How to help others who are doubting — guidance for Christians who want to support struggling friends or family members

What Readers Will Gain

• A clear, biblical framework for understanding what doubt is and where it comes from
• The pastoral reassurance that doubt is a normal part of the Christian life — not a sign of spiritual failure
• Practical, specific guidance for working through doubt toward genuine assurance
• A grounding of assurance in the objective work of Christ rather than the fluctuating state of feelings and experience
• Tools for helping others who are struggling with doubt — whether in pastoral, friendship, or family contexts
• The liberating reality that God’s love and commitment to his people does not depend on the consistency of their faith
• A short, accessible, and genuinely sustaining resource to return to in seasons of doubt

Who Should Read This Book

• Christians who are currently struggling with doubt — whether intellectual, emotional, or assurance doubt
• New believers who are wrestling with questions about the genuineness of their faith
• Mature Christians going through a season when God feels distant or faith feels thin
• Pastors and church leaders wanting a reliable, short resource to give to doubting church members
• Christians who want to understand how to help friends or family members who are struggling with doubt
• Churches in India where Christians regularly face questions about assurance — particularly those from backgrounds where religious performance and merit are deeply embedded cultural assumptions
• Anyone who has ever asked Does God really love me? or Am I actually a Christian? and never found a satisfying biblical answer
• Small groups wanting a short, accessible, discussion-generating resource on doubt and assurance

What Endorsers Are Saying

“All Christians struggle with doubt from time to time. The Devil uses it to deprive us of our joy and to stop us serving Jesus wholeheartedly. This is an extremely practical little book that is great to read before doubts come, if you find yourself in the middle of them or if you want to help someone else who is struggling. Highly recommended.” — Editor, Foundation journal, Grace Community Church Bedford Greenhousepublishing

“Definitely one that I will be recommending to others. It’s clear and simple without being simplistic; it’s empathic and it uses the Bible well.” — Reader review Westminster Bookstore

About the Author

John Stevens is the National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) in the UK — a network of hundreds of independent evangelical churches committed to biblical faithfulness and gospel mission. He is one of the most respected voices in UK evangelical Christianity, known for combining theological rigour with genuine pastoral warmth and practical wisdom. His work on doubt and assurance reflects both a careful student of Scripture and a pastor who has walked alongside many Christians through seasons of genuine spiritual struggle. Life Is Story

About the Questions Christians Ask Series

How Can I Be Sure? is part of the Questions Christians Ask series from The Good Book Company — short, readable books which clearly explain how the Bible answers the questions Christians are asking. Other titles in the series include: Christianbook.com

• Did the Devil Make Me Do It? by Mike McKinley
• What Happens When I Die? by Marcus Nodder
• Why Bother With Church? by Sam Allberry
• Why Did Jesus Have to Die? by Marcus Nodder
• Can I Really Trust the Bible? by Barry Cooper
• and more