Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE PLAGUE OF FALSE ASSURANCE” 

We Baptists have always embraced the benefits of the assurance of salvation. We know that the difference between eternal security and assurance of salvation is actually the difference between a fact and a feeling. Eternal security is a fact, while assurance of salvation is a feeling, a confidence. Baptists, though we are essentially a fact-driven people, have nevertheless embraced assurance of salvation as a great source of joy and delight in the Christian’s life.

But to the degree Baptists have been influenced by the unscriptural theology and practice of Charles G. Finney, the 19th-century evangelist and Bible college president who did so much to overturn effective evangelism and replace it with decisionism[1], we have also suffered from what I term the plague of false assurance.[2]

Let me give you a typical example of how decisionism and this plague of false assurance go hand in hand: 

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God,” 

and assures him of his salvation.

Let me state that although it is possible for a sinner to come to faith in Christ like what I have already described, it is also entirely possible, using the same approach, for a sinner to do exactly the same things without being saved. When that occurs, would anyone know the difference between the genuinely saved and the completely lost person, after they both supposedly prayed some sinner’s prayer? The answer is no.

Yet, although most people would admit to having no idea who is and who is not saved after such an exchange between a soul winner and a sinner, the soul winner is expected to do everything he can to give assurance of salvation to the presumably new Christian before ending that soul winning encounter. However, what if the hopefully new Christian is not an actual new Christian? What if the sinner is still lost, as many people will admit to being after such exchanges have taken place between them and a soul winner? Must we not grant that in such a case, where the hopefully new Christian is not a new Christian, that the assurance of salvation given to him is not legitimately an assurance of his salvation?

Will you not consider even the possibility, then, of someone having an assurance of his salvation that is not legitimate? False assurance of salvation would certainly be any assurance of salvation someone has who is not truly saved. Can that be denied? Certainly not. False assurance of salvation might also be a genuine Christian’s assurance of salvation if that Christian’s assurance is based upon unscriptural foundations.

If assurance of salvation is a person’s certainty that his soul is safe in the care of Jesus Christ, let us consider the possibility of that person’s certainty being wrong, being misplaced, of his soul not being safe in the care of the Lord Jesus, or of him being certain when he has no business being certain that all is well with his soul.

Four considerations for you: 

First, THE EXISTENCE OF FALSE ASSURANCE 

Most Christians think it is every person’s right to be assured of his salvation, to know that you know you are going to heaven. But what if assurance is not a right? What if assurance is sometimes wrong, an erroneous conclusion based upon improperly understood Scripture? What if someone is positive that he occupies a position of favor with God and that all is well with his soul, but he is mistaken? Have you ever considered that possibility?

Consider those Jews in John chapter 8 who had such great assurance of their salvation. In verse 39, they responded to the Lord Jesus by saying, “Abraham is our father,” suggesting that their relationship with God was cemented by their ancestor Abraham’s relationship with God. Then, in verse 41, they came right out and said: “We have one Father, even God.” But the Lord Jesus Christ refuted their assertions, showing the attentive Bible believer that it is possible for a person to have assurance of salvation and to be entirely mistaken in that assurance.

Lest you think false assurance is a problem that was confined to Christ’s earthly ministry, consider the effort by the Apostle Paul to persuade the Corinthian Christians to examine themselves to see whether they were in the faith, Second Corinthians 13.5, though there is no hint that any of them felt uneasy about their salvation. In other words, Paul told Christians possessing assurance of their salvation that they needed to check each other out to make sure they were in the faith. That suggests that their assurance of salvation might not have been legitimate, or might not have been founded upon Bible truth. Why else would Paul have urged them to examine each other?

As well, what about Paul’s comment to the Galatians in Galatians 4.11, where he writes, 

“I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain”? 

Why did he write those words? Though the Galatians were confident of their Christianity, having much assurance, the Apostle Paul began to have doubts about them because of their behavior. He entertained the notion that their assurance might have been false. Thus, the Apostle Paul shows us that assurance is sometimes mistaken.

Therefore, we know there is such a thing as false assurance and that it is something more than an abstract idea. People really can be wrong about their strong and positive feelings that all is well between them and God. Sometimes lost people can be wrong about their assurance of salvation. As well, sometimes Christians can be wrong about their assurance.

It is established, then, that false assurance of salvation does exist with both saints and sinners. 

Next, THE CAUSE OF FALSE ASSURANCE 

First, consider once again that there are two kinds of people who can have a false assurance of their salvation. There is the lost person, who has solid confidence that all is well with his soul, and that when he dies, he will certainly go to heaven. There is also the Christian who really is saved and who has the same kind of solid confidence that he will go to heaven when he dies. Both the lost man and the Christian, as we have seen, can have a false assurance. With the lost man who thinks he is saved and is not, as well as the Christian who has great confidence, false assurance in both situations is related to their assurance being based upon an unscriptural foundation, not really knowing what the basis for Scriptural assurance of one’s salvation ought to be.

Though we do not have the time to deal with it in great detail, this plague of false assurance has developed as a direct result of the decisionism advanced by Charles Finney in the USA in the 19th century. Before his time, pastors and missionaries universally treated new converts as hopeful Christians, knowing full well that the events surrounding their so-called conversion experiences could be very misleading as indicators of a person’s true spiritual state.

The Savior’s parable of the sower in Matthew 13 provides great insight into this plague of false assurance. Matthew 13.3-8: 

3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 

Our Lord interprets His parable in Matthew 13.18-23: 

18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

Briefly, the parable our Lord Jesus taught pictures four kinds of soils, with each soil representing a particular type of receptivity to the Gospel message, and with the final example being the only instance of a real conversion experience. This is the person who hears and understands, and who bears fruit. The other three are examples of those who respond in one way or the other to the Gospel message, but who are not saved. Of particular interest to us is the second reaction to the Gospel in the parable, which is clearly the reaction of someone who is not converted. Matthew 13.20-21: 

20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

In this parable, it is undeniable that our Lord Jesus Christ taught that an unsaved person can hear the Gospel, seem to respond very favorably, yet not actually be truly born again. Thus, what do we know from the response of someone who receives God’s Word with joy? We know that he can still be lost, according to Matthew 13.20-21. He can also be saved since some who are truly converted do respond in this way when they come to Christ. The point that is frequently lost on most people is that a person’s affirmative reaction when he hears the Gospel, his joyful response, is not a reliable indication, one way or the other, of whether the sinner was really saved.

Thus, whenever someone bases his assurance of salvation on the kind of reaction he had to the Gospel when he responded to it in a positive way has a false assurance. Furthermore, when you consider that some of those who respond to the Gospel with joy are still lost, and some who respond to the Gospel with joy are actually saved, then you have both lost and saved people with a false assurance of salvation, an assurance that is based upon a reaction to a single event in the past.

How many Christians do you know who, when asked, will tell you that they know they are saved because of some past conversion experience they remember vividly? As well, many of you know people who you know are not saved, but who nevertheless are convinced they are Christians because of some past conversion experience they remember vividly.

The common feature in false assurance, with both the lost and the saved who are plagued with false assurance, is their reliance upon a past experience they remember vividly as a source of their assurance that they are safe and secure in Christ. With Christians, it is their conversion experience, with unsaved people it is what they wrongly misinterpret as their conversion experience.

I submit to you that the error arises as soon as a person develops a fixation upon a past experience that he vividly remembers and uses as a basis for his assurance of salvation. Whether he was actually saved at the time of that past event he vividly remembers or not, I submit to you that no one has a Scriptural basis for using such past events to assure themselves they are truly saved.

To state the matter another way, God does not use past events to assure people that they really are Christians. 

Third, THE DANGERS OF FALSE ASSURANCE 

It may surprise you to conceive that there can be that there is danger in assurance. We seem to be so sure that it is always right to be sure. Scriptural assurance is a wonderful thing, in that it properly results from the precious indwelling Holy Spirit giving you peace and joy and the associated feelings of well-being and serenity that flow from peace of mind and joy of heart. But what danger is a person in when he has feelings of well-being and serenity that are not produced by the Holy Spirit’s active work in his life but are delusions, deceptions? Have you ever heard the claim, “I am sometimes wrong, but never in doubt?”

The dangers of the plague of false assurance in a lost person’s life should be obvious to us all. Any lost man who is fooled into thinking he is bound for heaven will resist the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, and will, therefore, be immune to the threats and promises of the Gospel message. After all, we recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit’s convicting and convincing work to persuade the sinner of the danger of his lost condition and his desperate need for Christ. That being the case, why are soul winners encouraged to immediately work to give assurance of salvation to someone who has just prayed a sinner’s prayer when we have Bible proof that one cannot immediately tell after conversion who is saved and who is lost? The truly converted person does not need to be given such assurance, since he is on his way to heaven anyway, and since the Spirit of God will produce joy in his life. However, the person who is still lost can be severely harmed if he is wrongly persuaded that he is now a Christian, making it all the more difficult to bring him to Christ. Why do soul winners thoughtlessly work to give assurance to people who may be greatly harmed by false assurance? Presumption. There is little reflection associated with personal evangelism these days, and even less contemplation of the welfare of the sinner who is mishandled by someone more concerned with soul-winning than disciple-making.

What is not obvious to us all are the dangers associated with false assurance in the life of the person who truly is a Christian. In Galatians 5.22, we see part of the fruit in the life of the believer of the Holy Spirit of God: 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” 

Do you not see, from this verse, that peace of mind and heart is supposed to be the Holy Spirit’s doing in a Christian’s life? Thus, real assurance of salvation springs from the peace of mind and joy of heart the indwelling Holy Spirit produces in the Christian. Therefore, if someone bases his assurance of salvation on an event that took place in the distant past he risks eliminating the Holy Spirit’s peace and joy, contributing to his sense of assurance. That causes some to wrongly conclude they can do anything they want, engage in any sinful activity they choose, without such wickedness having an impact on their assurance of salvation. Is that a good thing? Is God’s plan for assurance really so divorced from a Christian’s behavior that he can commit any sin he wants without it affecting his sense of well-being about the safety of his soul? No, it is not. Right doctrine promotes holiness, while it is false doctrine that works to opposite ends. God’s plan for the Christian’s assurance of salvation is not rooted in his past, but his present. Assurance of salvation is supposed to result from the sense of confidence and well-being that springs from the Holy Spirit of God presently producing peace, love, and joy in the Christian’s life. Assurance of salvation is something no unsaved person should ever be able to counterfeit, and they cannot counterfeit assurance unless they falsely base their assurance upon some past event that they misconstrue as a conversion experience. God’s plan for assurance of salvation makes it impossible for any lost person to be assured of his salvation because he is not saved. God’s plan for assurance of salvation makes it impossible for any saved person who is committing willful sin to be assured of his salvation because when he is sinning, the Spirit of God is grieved and withholds the peace, love, and joy that is necessary for continued assurance.[3] Consider. The Christian commits a sin. The Spirit of God is grieved or quenched and the Christian loses his peace of mind and his joy. He then begins to wonder, “Is my relationship with God what it should be? Would a real Christian be doing what I am now doing?” He is then motivated to begin addressing the issue of the sin he committed in the hopes that his assurance will be restored. This leads to confession and repentance. Remember David’s prayer in Psalm 51.10-12: 

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 

Notice, the issue of assurance has nothing to do with losing your salvation. The believer is secure in Christ. But assurance is not supposed to be a once and for all time settled matter with the Christian. Assurance is supposed to be the present comfort and delight the Christian has that corresponds to his present behavior and service to the Lord. However, with this plague of false assurance that afflicts so many Christians, they sin and continue in their sins because their false assurance never wavers. Why should it waver? It has no bearing on their present behavior and works independently of the Holy Spirit. That is not a good thing since it enables Christians to flagrantly sin without the loss of assurance that is supposed to happen when the Spirit of God is grieved or quenched by the Christian’s sin. 

Fourth, THE REMEDIES FOR FALSE ASSURANCE 

Christianity has been greatly harmed by this plague of false assurance. With lost people having assurances, they have no business having, and with Christians having assurances unrelated to their behavior, no wonder the cause of Christ is in the sad state that we find it in today.

No one should feel good about his relationship with God when he is lost, or when he is wallowing in sin when he is a Christian. Assurance of salvation is properly reserved for that child of God who follows his Lord, who lives a consecrated and holy life, and who is a credit to the cause of Christ.

The remedy, then, for false assurance, is twofold: First, it involves an assurance of salvation that is properly based upon the way you are living now. Next, it involves the Christian living a spiritual life, so the indwelling Spirit of God will be pleased with your life and free to produce the love, joy, and peace that leads directly to the kind of assurance of salvation God wants you to have.

Consider some passages that deal with this matter of assurance, so you can see for yourself what the proper basis for assurance is supposed to be in God’s Word: 

Please notice that in each of those four verses, just as with all the others that bear on this issue of assurance of salvation, the confidence one has springs from something that is occurring in the present, not something that occurred long ago.

Thus, the remedy for a false assurance is a real assurance. Real assurance springs directly from your present conduct giving rise to confidence, a confidence that only a Christian would behave as you are now behaving. Such behavior is made possible by God’s grace, by the indwelling Spirit of God, and by the new life, you have in Christ. That kind of assurance is not possible for any sinner and is not possible for any Christian committing willful sin. 

Turn to Second Corinthians 13.5: 

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 

Written to Christians who had a false assurance of salvation, Paul’s desire was for their assurance to instead be based upon their present behavior, not some event in their past, and not even their past conversion experience.

Which brings us to you. Do you have the assurance of your salvation? Is it a false assurance based upon a past event? If it is, you may have an unscriptural assurance that makes you feel good about yourself even though you are actually unsaved.

Understand that Paul was not advocating the Corinthians examine themselves, as though any individual is competent to evaluate himself. Rather, this is an exhortation for a congregation to examine themselves, which is properly done when one Christian is carefully dealt with by another, perhaps more experienced, Church member.

That is something you may want to consider, Christian.

__________

[1] Decisionism is the belief that a person is saved by coming forward, raising the hand, saying a prayer, believing a doctrine, making a Lordship commitment, or some other external, human act, which is taken as the equivalent to, and proof of, the miracle of inward conversion; it is the belief that a person is saved through the agency of a merely external decision; the belief that performing one of these human actions shows that a person is saved.

Conversion is the result of that work of the Holy Spirit which draws a lost sinner to Jesus Christ for justification and regeneration, and changes the sinner’s standing before God from lost to saved, imparting divine life to the depraved soul, thus producing a new direction in the life of the convert. The objective side of salvation is justification. The subjective side of salvation is regeneration. The result is conversion.

[2] See John S. Waldrip, Suffer The Children (The tragic legacies of Finney & Bushnell), (Monrovia, CA: Classical Baptist Press, 2018), available at www.ClassicalBaptist.Press

[3] Ephesians 4.30; 1 Thessalonians 5.19

 

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