Introduction

Evangelicals exhibit a mysterious suspicion of the assurance of salvation. And so it is that lots of Christians struggle with a lack of assurance. They have anxiety about the final state of their soul. They ask:“Is God pleased with me? Am I good enough? Where do I stand? Have I done enough? Am I on the right path? Am I going to be condemned to Hell?”This anxiety unsettles their relationship with the Lord. Jude 22 says, “Have mercy on those who doubt.” In the Christian life, doubt does occur, and the approach to dealing with it is mercy rather than austerity. Just like it is the duty of Christian charity to give a drink of water to a sufferer, Christians should offer cups of cool mercy for every doubter anxious for their soul.

The Puritans defined assurance as “a God-given conviction of one’s standing in grace, stamped on the mind and heart by the Spirit in just the same way as the truth of the gospel facts was stamped on the mind when faith was born, and carrying with it the same immediate certainty.”[1] Calvin called assurance, “full and fixed certainty.” Assurance is a fruit of faith. In its most mature form, faith grows into assurance.

Consider five questions about the doctrine of assurance.

#1: What does the New Testament say about assurance of salvation?

The Greek word for assurance is plērophoria. It means to have complete certainty. This word occurs four times in the New Testament (Col. 2:2; 1 Thess. 1:5; Heb. 6:11; Heb. 10:22). The New Testament uses another Greek word that is translated as confidence or assurance. It is the word hypostasis. This word occurs five times in the New Testament (2 Cor. 9:4; 2 Cor. 11:17; Heb. 1:3; Heb. 3:14; Heb. 11:1). The definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” So while assurance isn’t part of the essence of faith, it is a characteristic of mature faith. The book of Hebrews works out what this means with the use of another word, parrēsia, which is translated as confidence. Hebrews 3:6 says, “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence.” Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy.” So the common evangelical thought that assurance of salvation is impossible, is unbiblical.

#2: Should Christians have the assurance of salvation?

While not all the faithful receive it, assurance is one of the blessings of God. God wants you to feel like you belong to him. Just like a good Father wants his children to feel like they belong in the family, so too does the greatest Father, the Heavenly Father, want you to feel like you belong in the family of God.

Regular patterns of sin contribute to a lack of assurance. Sin gathers like the dark skies, prepared to unleash fire from heaven. Yet Hebrews 4:16 says that with confidence you should draw near to the throne of grace. This means that even in the weakness of your sin you should still have confidence in who God is. By faith in Christ, Christians have peace with God. There is no condemnation (Rom. 8:1). They are united to Christ’s death and resurrection, which produces peace rather than spiritual topsy-turvydom that wanders back and forth over the line after every sin and repentance. God’s people are in His grip (Jn. 10:28).

Christians can have assurance in the gospel of Jesus Christ that impacts every part of the Christian life. The notion that assurance gives an open door to sin is poppycock. It’s presumption to trust in yourself. It’s not presumption to have assurance in the promises of Christ. The promises of Christ never give a green light to sin. The grace offered in the gospel transforms you and makes you a new creature in Christ. Rather than incentivizing sin, assurance works oppositely. Christ says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest … For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:27-30).  Christ also says to take up your cross daily (Lk. 9:23). Assurance doesn’t mean you live a comfortable life. The Christian life is neither easy (Lk. 14:25-33) nor painless (Rom. 8:17). By faith Christians walk in the fear and comfort of Christ (Acts 9:31). The Lord comforts you in your affliction (2 Cor. 1:4) When you understand the mercy of God, you will obey him out of love. The logic of the gospel is that obedience isn’t a heavy burden (1 Jn. 5:3).

#3: What are the ordinary means by which Christians gain assurance of faith? (six suggestions)

First, cultivate a lifestyle of Christian love.

Colossians 2:2 says “That their hearts may be encouraging, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance.” The love of God is most tangibly seen through the church’s love for one another (John 13:34f; 1 John 3:11-24).

Second, confess your sin during the Lord’s Day service.

First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Heartfelt confession of sin moves God to mercy rather than anger. It's important to belong to a church that leads you to confess your sin every Sunday. The Sunday worship service should incorporate all the elements that lead to assurance of faith. At a bare minimum, spring cleaning should happen every Sunday.

Third, remember the promises of God.

Jesus trusted in the promises of God (Is. 49:1-7). Then he spoke those promises to his people. John 6:47, “Whoever believes has eternal life.” Elsewhere Jesus says, “In that day you will know Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20-21). To not have the assurance of salvation is to not believe what Jesus has said. Believe it! Nothing can separate you from the love of God (Rom. 8:31-39).

Fourth, ask someone to pray for you.

Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God.” When we pray these promises for one another, things happen, what Calvin called the testimonium internum Spiritus Sancti (the inner witness of the Holy Ghost).  The Spirit’s witness gives real and solid knowledge. The Holy Spirit impresses on the mind the objective reality of God’s Word, that the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13). Christ called to the Father for help (Mt. 27:50), so too can we cry Abba Father (Rom. 8:15f). The Son intercedes our prayers (Heb. 4:14-15) and the Father hears them.

Fifth, serve others and obey God.

First John 2:3-6, 28-29 says that abiding in Christ gives you confidence that you are born of God. First John 2:3 says “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.” Good works strengthen assurance. Christ was obedient to his heavenly Father, and this assured him of his special role (Ps. 31:5; John 15:10). The ones who fix their eye upon the death and resurrection of Christ are the ones who obey the Lord. The ones who obey in faith are the ones drawn back to Christ in hope and love. The Puritan John Flavel refers to this reciprocal action as the “double act of faith.”

Sixth, remember your baptism.

Romans 6:3 says you are baptized into Christ. In this, you are united to all that Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished. You are also baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 11:16) to receive the promises of God (Acts 2:38). The Heidelberg Catechism, #67 says, “The Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that our entire salvation rests on Christ's one sacrifice for us on the cross.” Jesus received assurance at his baptism (Mark 1:9-11). If baptism assured Jesus, it is good enough to assure Jesus’ followers. Remembering your baptism is to reflect on the objective promises of God, without which the subjective elements of faith will waver.

#4: If the Bible recommends assurance, then why is it so rare?[2]

First, evangelicals forget that justification is by faith alone in Christ alone.

The human tendency is to imbibe the idea that justification with God is the result of something we do (or don’t do). They forget that Christ accomplished the salvation of all those who believe in him. Salvation depends on faith in Christ so that it may rest on grace (Rom. 4:16). No person’s work, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, is the ground of their justification. Only the work of Christ and simple faith in Jesus is the ground of justification.  

Second, evangelicals fail to make their calling and election sure.

Peter writes, “Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” (2 Pet. 1:10). Paul writes, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). Faith in Jesus justifies a sinner before God. And true Christian faith is always a living, obedient faith through which the fruit of the Spirit is manifested in the life of the believer. True Christian faith is not slothful about growing in grace. The faith of assurance comes for those who “practice these qualities” of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, and love (2 Pt. 1:5-10). The more you abide in Christ, the more God’s peace abides in you.

Third, evangelicals have turned doubt into a virtue.[3]

Evangelicals think that the more one doubts the more virtuous they are. But doubt is inevitable. It doesn’t need to be sought out. It doesn’t need to be ignored or suppressed. Christians need to apply faith to their doubts (Mark 9:24) in the hope and expectation that the Heavenly Father will use doubts as the road to a firmer, more mature faith. God uses doubt to sanctify his children (1 Cor. 15:43; 2 Cor. 12:9; Heb. 11:34). And this he does in a way that leaves those who persevere, stronger in the end. The tree benefits when the strong wind blows its branches back and forth. This strengthens the roots. The shaking settles and roots the tree.

Since evangelicals think doubt is a virtue, that means assurance is a vice. For evangelicals, doubt equals transparency. And since evangelical theology emphasizes brokenness rather than victory—“none of us are perfect” rather than “be holy because I am holy”—transparency means revealing sin. In other words, since ongoing sin is the evangelical reality more real than others, doubting is thought to be more genuine than assurance.

#5: What do the Reformed confessions say about assurance?

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18: Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation

Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions: of being in the favor of God and estate of salvation; which hope of theirs shall perish: yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God: which hope shall never make them ashamed.

This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.

This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure; that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from inclining men to looseness.

True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God’s withdrawing the light of his countenance and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.

The Canons of Dort, Chapter 5

Article 9: The Assurance of This Preservation

Concerning this preservation of those chosen to salvation and concerning the perseverance of true believers in faith, believers themselves can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith, by which they firmly believe that they are and always will remain true and living members of the church, and that they have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Article 10: The Ground of This Assurance

Accordingly, this assurance does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word, but from faith in the promises of God which he has very plentifully revealed in his Word for our comfort, from the testimony “of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are God’s children and heirs” (Rom. 8:16-17) and finally from a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience and of good works. And if God’s chosen ones in this world did not have this well-founded comfort that the victory will be theirs and this reliable guarantee of eternal glory, they would be of all people most miserable.

Article 11: Doubts concerning This Assurance

Meanwhile, Scripture testifies that believers have to contend in this life with various doubts of the flesh and that under severe temptation they do not always experience this full assurance of faith and certainty of perseverance. But God, the Father of all comfort, “does not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear, but with the temptation he also provides a way out” (1 Cor. 10:13), and by the Holy Spirit revives in them the assurance of their perseverance.

The Heidelberg Catechism,

1. Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?      

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

[1] J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Wheaton, ILL: Crossway, 2010), 180-189.

[2] Iain H. Murray, J.C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2016), 241-243.

[3] Alec Ryrie, Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019), 139ff.