More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
This rare grammatical structure has significance in the Hebrew language. When someone repeats the personal form of address, it suggests and communicates an intimate personal relationship with the person to whom he is speaking.
Rome claims that most “assurances,” in the final analysis, are based on conjecture, opinion, and ideas that come from the hearts of people whom the Bible defines as deeply rooted in deceit. The Scriptures tell us that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9), so it is easy for us, Rome says, to deceive ourselves and to rest our confidence about the state of our souls on mere opinion. Consequently, assurance of salvation is not possible apart from some special act of revelation.
Then there is Reformed theology, my own theological persuasion, which teaches that we not only can know today that we are in a state of grace, but that we can have full assurance that we still will be in a state of grace at the times of our deaths.
Jesus says that His true brother is the one who does the will of the Father, not one who simply makes a decision to follow Him.
It wasn’t that Judas was genuinely converted and then fell out of grace and was lost; rather, although he was close to Jesus, he was never a converted man. That ought to give us pause as we consider the states of our own souls.
Jesus begins His explanation by saying: “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path” (Matt. 13:18–19).
But Jesus warns us about that here in the parable of the sower when He says that many people hear the gospel with joy—but they don’t continue in the faith.
Clearly, then, there are many who respond to the message of the gospel with joy but ultimately do not continue in the faith. Not everyone who hears the Word of God is saved, and the same is true for many who respond to it initially. Those who are genuinely saved are those who prove themselves to be doers of the Word. When the seed takes root and grows, there is fruit.
In thinking about fruitfulness, we must remember that we are not saved by our works. Rather, we are justified by faith alone. Yet we also remember that the magisterial Reformers of the sixteenth century, such as Martin Luther, said we are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone.
ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW: Faith + Works = Justification PROTESTANT VIEW: Faith = Justification + Works
In the Protestant view, works are a consequence, a manifestation of the state of grace we are in; thus, they add nothing to justification. The only works of righteousness that serve to justify a sinner are the works of Christ. So when we say that we are justified by faith alone, we mean that we are justified by Christ alone, by His works; our works do not count toward our justification.
Some true Christians are not as fruitful as other Christians, but every true believer bears some fruit. If he does not, he’s not a believer. That’s why Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16a)—not by their professions.
making a decision to follow Jesus has never converted anyone. This is because it is not a decision that converts a person; it is the power of the Holy Spirit that does so.
Every living person, without exception, can be assigned to one of these categories. The categories are: 1) those who are saved and know it, 2) those who are saved but do not know it, 3) those (like the man I mentioned above) who are unsaved and know it, and 4) those who are unsaved but do not know it.
Yet, true assurance survives the doubts, for as we will see, it is based on more than feelings. The person in this category has a foundation from which he can say, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12, NKJV).
Regeneration, which is that work of God by which we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, is a real work of conversion, and it happens instantly by the work of the Holy Spirit, so that a person is either in that state or not. There is no process of regeneration; it is instantaneous.
Actually, one of the most dangerous things we can do as Christians is to determine our theology by our experience, because no one’s experience is normative for the Christian life. We have to determine our theology from the Word of God, not from what we feel.
If we rest our assurance on an experience and not on the Word of God, we’re inviting all kinds of doubts to assail us in our pilgrimages. We need to seek authentic knowledge of our salvation, not just some warm and fuzzy experience.
But no one taught more clearly about the last judgment and a division between heaven and hell than Jesus Himself. In fact, Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven, and He warned His hearers that on that last day, every idle word would come into judgment. But if there’s anything unredeemed human beings want to repress psychologically, it’s that threat of final, comprehensive judgment, because none of them wants to be held accountable for his sins.
The Scriptures make very clear that no one is justified by the works of the law (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:11).
The biblical standard of goodness is the righteousness of God, and we are judged both by our behavioral conformity to the law of God and by our internal motivation or desire to obey the law of God.
Therefore, if someone obeys the law outwardly while his or her heart is not fully given to God, then that person’s virtue has been tainted. That’s why Augustine said even our best virtues are but splendid vices. As long as we’re in this body of flesh, sin will taint everything we do.
At this point, Jesus was not teaching a new way of salvation. He was not saying we can be saved by donating our goods to the poor. Neither was He implementing a universal mandate for people to divest themselves of all their private property. He was dealing with this particular man, a rich man whose heart had been completely captured by his wealth. His money was his god, his idol. In essence, Jesus said to him: “You say you have kept all the Ten Commandments. All right, let’s check number one: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ [Ex. 20:3]. Go, sell everything you have.” After that, the
...more
The person who is trusting in his righteousness to be saved has a false assurance. We cannot do enough to be saved. We are unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10).
Outward professions can be deceiving. One can go through the external motions of a profession but not truly be in possession of the inward reality of salvation.
One of the key texts of Scripture in regard to the pursuit of assurance is 2 Peter 1:10–11, where we read: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
In 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul writes, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” Paul is talking here about his confidence for his own future because of his knowledge of where he has put his faith. He says he trusts not in his own power to persevere to the end of the race. Instead, his confidence is based on the One in whom he has believed, knowing that One is able to keep him.
As I understand the Scriptures, election is unto salvation. In this view, if you are elect, you will be saved, and if you are saved, that is the clearest sign that you are numbered among the elect. Let me say it another way: None who are saved are not elect, and none who are elect fail to be saved. Salvation flows out of election, so if we want to be sure of our salvation, we need to know whether we are numbered among the elect.
election does not simply make salvation possible, it guarantees the salvation of the elect. In other words, the purpose of God in election is to save the elect. That purpose cannot and will not be frustrated.
The very moment we have true faith, in that same instant, God receives us as justified people.
The Bible speaks about the call of the gospel that goes out to everyone—what we call the outward call or the external call. Not everyone who hears this call is saved. We also speak of the inward call, the call of God in the person, in the heart, which is a work of God the Holy Spirit, and which call is effectual. In this call, the Holy Spirit opens the hearts of believers, working within to bring about the purpose of God. It is this call Paul has in view in Romans 8:28. All of the elect receive this inward call,
There are other aspects to salvation besides those mentioned here; Romans 8:30 hits the highlights, as it were. For instance, sanctification is not in this list. Rather, this list includes (going back to verse 29) first, foreknowledge; second, predestination; third, calling; fourth, justification; and fifth, glorification.
For God to elect someone, He must have some idea of whom He is electing. So foreknowledge must precede predestination, because God is predestining specific individuals whom He loves and chooses.
if I’m justified now, I have nothing to worry about—He who has begun a good work in me is going to finish it to the end (Phil. 1:6).
Jesus told Nicodemus that rebirth must occur before anyone can see the kingdom, let alone enter it (John 3:3, 5). And rebirth is tied to this internal calling. So as we seek assurance, we can know we’re numbered among the elect, because without election, this work of the Holy Ghost could never take place in our souls.
To be born again means to be changed by the supernatural operation of God the Holy Spirit. Understanding this is critical for our assurance of salvation.
By nature, the Scriptures tell us, we are at enmity with God, and the word enmity is a description of a hostile attitude. Before we are regenerated, we are disinclined toward the things of God. We have no genuine affection for Christ; there is no love for God in our hearts.
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). So as soon as we disobey one of His commandments, that’s a signal to us that we do not love Him perfectly.
