Calvary Road Baptist Church

“An Offense To The Spirit Of God: Assurance Without Evidence”

First John 2.3 

Uncertainty. It’s unsettling and uncomfortable to be uncertain about something important, especially about something as important as the destiny of your eternal and undying soul. The human mind and heart crave certainty, desires for things to be settled. This is especially true in regard to the state of your soul, your relationship with Christ, your standing before God, where you will spend eternity. Typically, where there is no certainty, there is also too often no willingness to address the matter.

In First John 2.3, we will address the subject of assurance, that settled certainty about the condition of one’s soul that a person craves. If you are new to the subject, assurance of salvation is a matter that is usually taken for granted in the so-called Christian community, but a concern about which most people are mistaken. I desire to clear up some of the errors so that you will see what God’s Word says about the doctrine of assurance.

First John 2.3 is a great starting point for a consideration of this subject of importance to all who claim to be Christians: 

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” 

The first occurrence of the verb “know” has to do with assurance of salvation, while the second occurrence of the word “know” has to do with the hypothetical likelihood of whether or not the reader has ever, really, come to know Jesus Christ in a saving way. Let me paraphrase this verse, bringing into English the Greek tenses of the verb translated “know.” The Waldrip paraphrase reads this way: 

“And here is how we do presently know that we actually came to know him at some time in the past, if we are currently obeying his commandments.” 

This verse is a first-class conditional statement, with the two parts of the statement listed in sequence opposite from what we usually see, but without changing the meaning in any way. “If we are currently obeying his commandments, then we do presently know that we actually came to know him at some time in the past.”

Think about what the Apostle John is writing here. A person’s Scriptural assurance of salvation is based upon credible evidence. And what is that credible evidence, according to this verse? Obedience.

In the next verse John maintains that a person who asserts that he has an assurance that is not based upon credible evidence is a liar: 

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 

This is very interesting. The language is very strong. Let’s pursue this line of thought.

Three considerations are worth pursuing: 

First, WHAT ASSURANCE OF SALVATION IS SUPPOSED TO BE 

Our text is only one of several verses in God’s Word that deals with this issue of the assurance of one’s salvation. But what is found to be true of this verse’s relationship with assurance you will find to be true of other verses when they are rightly understood.

The first occurrence of the verb “know” in our text is in the present tense. Meaning? Meaning that John is dealing with his reader’s present confidence, his reader’s present feeling of well-being concerning his soul. How do you feel about your soul’s condition, right now? Are you comfortable? Are you confident that all is well with your soul now? If you are, you have assurance.

Recognize that one’s assurance of salvation is not the doctrine of whether or not a Christian can lose his salvation. That doctrine is the doctrine of eternal security, or the preservation of the saints as the Reformers termed it. Eternal security is not how you feel about your soul’s salvation. Eternal security is an undeniable Bible fact whether or not any person, you or me, is or is not saved.

Assurance, on the other hand, has to do with your sense of well-being about whether or not you truly are a child of God, and has nothing directly to do with whether or not someone can lose his salvation. Rather, it has to do with whether or not you ever, truly, were saved in the first place.

Reflect on the confession of faith issued by the Baptists in London in 1689. Here is part of what the London Baptist Confession of 1689 had to say about assurance of salvation: 

“True believers may find that their assurance of salvation fluctuates; sometimes more, sometimes less. They may prove neglectful in preserving it, as for example, if they give way to some particular sin that wounds their conscience and grieves the Spirit; or a strong temptation may suddenly spring upon them; or God may see fit to withdraw ‘the light of His countenance’ and cause darkness to envelop them, a course He sometimes takes even with those who fear His name.”[1] 

Next, a portion of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession of Faith of 1742, keeping in mind that virtually all Baptists in the Americas trace our spiritual ancestry back to the Philadelphia Baptist Association:[2] 

“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....”[3] 

The Baptists of centuries gone by recognized that one’s assurance of salvation fluctuates depending, in part, upon one’s obedience to God. What I am relating to you is not something new, not something weird or strange, but a centuries-old view of assurance, rightly understood by Baptists who studied their Bible.

Look again at First John 2.3. 

The point is, How can you tell now that you really were saved then? Or to be more accurate and true to the Scriptures, How can you tell now that you really are saved now? Because, after all, what really matters is whether or not you are saved right now. Amen?

Our text is one of the several passages in the Bible, which addresses the question of how you can tell now whether you are saved. In other words, how do you feel about your relationship with Christ? And how should you feel about your relationship with Christ? It’s based, according to our text (and the Particular Baptists of London in 1689 and Philadelphia in 1742 would agree), on your obedience.

Assurance of salvation is supposed to be a feeling, a persuasion, being convinced, that you are truly born again. So, how does this assurance of salvation come? According to the verse we are examining, obedience. Are you obedient? Then, generally speaking, you should have assurance. Are you disobedient? Then your assurance should waver, your assurance should fluctuate. If your assurance of salvation doesn’t waver or fluctuate when you sin, then it isn’t real assurance, not the Biblical kind anyway.

The problem with most contemporary Christians is that they think “converted Christian persons can (not may) live in sin throughout their post-conversion lives with no threat to their eternal destiny.”[4] Thus, what most professing Christians think is assurance of salvation is no assurance at all, but presumption, or stubbornness. Assurance is supposed to be how you feel about your status or standing before God, how you feel about your relationship with Christ, based upon your obedience, which is evidence. 

Next, WHO ASSURANCE OF SALVATION IS SUPPOSED TO COME FROM 

If you were to ask most professing “Christians” if they have the “assurance” of their salvation, they would tell you “Yes,” and they would hold to their conviction even through an episode of adultery, or a season of drunkenness or drug abuse, or even if they hadn’t attended a Church service in years.

Furthermore, most professing “Christians” with an “assurance” of their salvation would tell you (if you asked them), that they were given “assurance” of their salvation by the person who led them to Christ. And this is how it’s typically done: The so-called “soul winner” leads the sinner in a prayer, asking Jesus into his heart (even though such is not found in God’s Word and is a distinctively Roman Catholic caricature of conversion). Then the “soul winner” takes the new “Christian” to First John 5.13 and they read the verse together: 

“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.” 

Finally, the “soul winner” asks the new “Christian” if he believed on the name of the Son of God. The new “Christian” knows he is supposed to say “Yes,” so he usually says, “Yes.” If he says, “I don’t know,” the “soul winner” will ask him, “Did you ask Jesus into your heart, or didn’t you?” as if asking Jesus into his heart is a guarantee of conversion. He will then be told that he should “know” that he has eternal life, and to think otherwise shows a lack of faith (something no new “Christian” wants to be guilty of).

So you see, most new “Christians” are given assurance of salvation by the “soul winner” who led them to Christ, or by the altar worker who has been trained to do so by the pastor. Sadly, not one time does it ever enter into anyone’s mind that giving assurance to a person may be the wrong thing to do. “What a ridiculous thing to say! What gives you the right to make such a claim?” What if that person isn’t really converted? Is it a good idea to convince an unsaved person to be sure of his salvation? Not unless, as the late Robert Schuller did, you believe Hell to be low self-esteem. If Hell is real, the worst thing in the world to do with an unconverted person is to convince him so that he has “assurance” of his salvation. Giving “assurance” to a lost person is terrible.

But an even more important question is whether or not any individual, no matter how well-intentioned he is, has any business giving anyone “assurance” of salvation. Is that any Christian’s job? If First Thessalonians 1.5 is any indication, assurance of salvation is something the Holy Spirit should be left to deal with Himself. Please reflect carefully on that verse: 

“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” 

The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of convincing sinners of their sinfulness, is He not? Then why is it that no one seems to be confident that the Holy Spirit is as capable of persuading Christians of their conversion as He is persuading sinners of their sinfulness? The reason why the Holy Spirit plays no role in the assurance of salvation of most so-called converts these days is that the Holy Spirit plays no role in their supposed conversion experiences or the evangelizing of those same sinners leading up to their so-called conversions.

I am persuaded that the Holy Spirit has virtually nothing to do with most efforts at bringing sinners to Christ these days. No Holy Spirit involvement is evident in convicting most sinners, or in converting most sinners, or in assuring most new so-called “Christians.”

Why am I so persuaded there is no Holy Spirit involvement in much of this? Because Decisionists go ahead and do whatever it is they do regardless of any evidence of the Spirit of God’s involvement in the soul-winning effort or evangelistic work in the sinner’s life. In other words, they will lead anyone they can get to repeat their words in a sinner’s prayer. Then they will try to give anyone “assurance” they’ve gotten to repeat those words. They pay little attention and display no concern that there is no evidence of the Spirit’s involvement in any of their efforts. A far cry from the evangelism practiced in the Book of Acts.

To restate to make myself extremely clear: Assurance of one’s salvation is supposed to come from the Holy Spirit of God, not some preacher, not some “soul winner,” and not some altar worker. 

Finally, WHAT MEANS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE USED TO GIVE ASSURANCE 

It must be admitted that the Holy Spirit of God makes use of means to accomplish His goals in people’s lives. I only wish Decisionists additionally realized that various means are to be used in getting sinners convicted of their sins and then converted to Christ. It should not be thought unusual, then, that the Spirit of God makes use of means in giving new Christians assurance of their salvation.

If it is admitted the Holy Spirit makes use of means to give new Christians assurance of their salvation, would you not expect the Word of God to give some guidance about the Spirit’s use of means? Or would you just expect the Bible to be silent about the use of means, making it necessary for us to guess about such things? I think that if anyone will dare to look, he will find by what means the Spirit of God gives assurance to new Christians ... and old Christians.

May I give you just a partial list of the means used by the Spirit of God to comfort and give assurance of saving grace to a person? He uses God’s Word to make wise the simple, Psalm 19.7. He sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God, Romans 5.5. He brings about unity of heart and purpose, Ephesians 4.3. He evokes humility and meekness, Ephesians 4.2. He provokes zealous service, Galatians 4.18. He transforms to mortify the deeds of the body, Romans 8.13. He alters the personality of the Christian, Galatians 5.22-23. He bears witness with the Christian’s spirit that he is a child of God, Romans 8.16. And, closing out this incomplete list of the Spirit’s means, the Spirit of God leads the believer by His Word, Romans 8.14.

Decisionists believe that a preacher or a “soul winner” or an altar worker should give “assurance” to someone who has just mouthed the words of the sinner’s prayer. But such “assurance” is based entirely on a presumption. This very short list that I have provided are but a few of the real and substantial pieces of evidence beyond our text that the Spirit of God provides to genuinely converted people to comfort and assure them. Is it not obvious that the Holy Spirit’s use of evidence in a person’s life to assure him is far better than the presumption of some misguided and uninformed so-called “soul winner”? 

Please do not mistake my intentions. I am very much in favor of each and every Christian, both those newly converted and those who have walked with God for decades, enjoying the assurance of their salvation.

My concern is that each person’s assurance is the assurance given by the Holy Spirit of God; a holy assurance, a godly assurance, a Scriptural assurance, and not some carnal presumption given by some ill-advised and uninformed but well-intentioned individual.

Let us recognize that we are in the vicinity of holy ground. Some holy ground is to be walked on carefully, but with no shoes on the feet. But there is other holy ground that is not to be walked on at all.

Such is the holy ground of a person’s assurance of salvation. 

I greatly fear the Holy Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, is being excluded from virtually every area of contemporary Christianity that is not Charismatic or Pentecostal, insofar as evangelism is concerned. To be sure, He is talked about by some, and manifestations of Him are pretended by others. But in that part of Christianity that He is most concerned with, being Christ’s Agent and Advocate for the souls of men, He is frequently ignored.

I assert that the Holy Spirit of God is allowed to play virtually no role in most contemporary evangelism, as convincer of sin, as the agent of the new birth, and as assurer and comforter of the professing Christian.

Narrowing my comments on the subject of assurance of salvation, I put forth three remarks: 

First, THE SINFUL SUBSTITUTE FOR GODLY ASSURANCE COMMON TODAY 

It was recognized by the Baptists in England in 1689 and the Baptists in Philadelphia in 1742 that assurance of salvation was given by the Holy Spirit, and that the assurance the Spirit of God gave would fluctuate, would vary, and was not a constant. However, what typically passes for assurance of salvation today does not fluctuate, does not vary, and is a constant in a professing Christian’s life, no matter the depth or duration of sin he is involved in.

How can this be explained? It can only be explained in this way: What passes for assurance these days is not the assurance and comfort of the Holy Spirit to which God’s Word refers in First Thessalonians 1.5 and to which the writers of the 1689 London Baptist Confession and the 1742 Philadelphia Confession referred.

Consider Ephesians 4.30 reads, 

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” 

First Thessalonians 5.19 reads, 

“Quench not the Spirit.” 

These are dire warnings against sinning against the Spirit of God. Yet many of our days are convinced a Christian can grieve or quench the Spirit of God without suffering any adverse consequences to his sense of spiritual well-being, his assurance of salvation, his comfort of grace.

Excuse me, but I don’t believe it. I am convinced by God’s Word that when the Spirit of God is grieved or quenched He is very likely to withdraw the offending person’s sense of well-being and assurance, causing doubt to creep into the offending person’s mind and heart. The result is that offending individual rightly questions the genuineness of his conversion experience and his relationship with God.

How can it be explained that a person can commit adultery or fornication, can engage in drug use or drunkenness, can lie and cheat and steal, without any adverse affect on his sense of “assurance”? Quite easily. Such a person doesn’t have an assurance that results from the Holy Spirit’s comfort of the soul. Rather, he has embraced a prideful presumption and an arrogant self-deceit concerning the state of his soul. Such pride, in all its forms, is sinful and wicked. Such false assurance as I’ve described is a sin against the Holy Spirit of God, excluding Him from His proper role of granting assurance. 

Next, THE SINFUL EXCLUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN MODERN “ASSURANCE” 

When the Holy Spirit of God is pushed aside in favor of a constant and unvarying confidence that requires no obedience to God, that depends on no comfort from God, then a dangerous journey has begun. What kind of Christianity is one left with when the Holy Spirit is treated as unnecessary?

Do not forget that the Spirit of God is the Lord Jesus Christ’s gift to indwell the believer. What must one then think of the Savior when the gift of the Savior is considered dispensable? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think this pushing aside of the Spirit of God has been intentional. It is a tragic byproduct of Decisionism.

When you reduce conversion to nothing more than a perfunctory decision, executed in the form of an unscriptural prayer that asks Jesus to do something He has no stated intention of doing, then you have effectively removed the miraculous element from Christianity. Make no mistake about it; the new birth is a miraculous event every time it occurs. Being a miracle, you cannot reduce it to a formula, or a mechanical prayer, or a mere decision. After all, only God decides when He will perform a miracle.

So, Decisionism, having removed the miracle-working regeneration of the Holy Spirit from conversion, and having replaced it with a mere decision, went on to remove the Holy Spirit from those events leading up to conversion, as well. That’s why we no longer hear of Decisionists urging sinners to strive since striving is what sinners do who are profoundly convinced of their sinfulness by the Spirit of God.[6]

Having removed the Spirit of God from convincing the sinner before conversion, and from regenerating the sinner at the time of conversion, we are left with people who profess to be Christians who are not really converted. How are such people to be satisfied? How are such people to be convinced they are Christians after they have decided after they have prayed? The Holy Spirit won’t do it since He is under no obligation to honor an entire process that has excluded Him entirely.

In steps the Decisionist pastor, or the Decisionist altar worker, or the Decisionist “soul winner,” to give “assurance” to the still unconverted new so-called “Christian.” Since the Spirit of God has been pushed aside from His convincing work and from His converting work, there is no hesitancy in pushing Him aside from any role in giving “assurance.” After all, He will certainly spoil everything by refusing to comfort the unconverted and will only give assurance to the genuinely saved.

Granting that some few people are converted under Decisionist preaching, the man who would replace the Holy Spirit’s role as assurer and comforter presumes to give everyone who prays “assurance.” Thus, not only is the unsaved person given a false “assurance” from some man, but that rare genuine Christian is also given a false “assurance.” This will serve only to interfere and confuse the genuine Christian, however, making the right use of the Holy Spirit all the more difficult in his growth in grace and in his maturing as a godly and holy believer.

This replacing of the blessed Holy Spirit’s assuring of only believers with a carnal presumption, that is strongly gripped by both the saved and the lost, is bad all the way around. The lost are persuaded that they are saved when they are not, making it all the more difficult to bring them to Christ. And the saved are confused and led down a path of error away from a needful and beneficial and lively ministry of the Spirit to comfort their spirits. 

Finally, THE SCRIPTURAL REMEDY FOR MODERN “ASSURANCE”  

Galatians 5.17 declares that 

“the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.” 

There can be no peaceful coexistence between the erroneous notion of “assurance” and the Biblical notion of assurance that comes only from the comfort of the Spirit of God. The modern and erroneous approach to “assurance” must be dismantled, torn down, and discarded.

Once that is done, the Spirit of God must be waited upon, must be obeyed, must be listened to, and heard as He speaks through the Bible. If He gives your soul comfort, if He assures you employing evidence that He has produced in your life, then you will have the assurance the Bible speaks of, the assurance that Paul referred to, the assurance that really means something, the comfort of the soul that testifies of sins forgiven and new life in Christ. 

It all boils down to evidence. There can be no faith without evidence. We know that from Hebrews 11.1. And there should be no assurance without evidence, either, since the Spirit never conflicts with Scripture.

The Holy Spirit expects no Christian to believe anything without evidence of some kind. He doesn’t even expect you to be assured that you are really converted unless there is evidence that you are a Christian.

What evidence there is is evidence that can only be produced by Him. So, my friend, what evidence is there that you are converted? What evidence is there that the Holy Spirit can point to to comfort your soul? What evidence is there that can be attributable only to His work in your life? That’s assurance.

__________

[1]The Baptist Confession Of Faith Of 1689, (Leeds, UK: 2002), p. 44.

[2] The only exception would be the Swedish Baptists, the Baptist General Conference.

[3]The Philadelphia Confession of Faith of 1742, (http://www.baptiststart.com/philadelphia.htm#18)

[4]John H. Gerstner, Wrongly Dividing The Word Of Truth, (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2000), p. 240.

[5] This is not to deny the importance of persuasion, 2 Corinthians 5.11, but to recognize its limits and to avoid manipulating sinners into making groundless claims of conversion.

[6] Luke 13.24

 

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