‘Dear friend, you can be sure’
Of course, you can doubt. Christians can doubt. What tends to trouble believers who doubt is not whether God exists, or that Christ died on the cross to save sinners, or that he rose again so that those who believe in him might receive the gift of eternal life. All Christians believe these essential elements of the gospel. The doubters we refer to are often clear on these matters; what they struggle with is being certain that they themselves have really believed with the faith that is needed for salvation. They are clear about the faith they need to have; they are less sure about whether they have that faith.
Let me introduce you to two ‘friends’. Tom was converted at university. He returned home to work and attended the local parish church, which did not clearly teach the gospel. His Christian friends at college felt that he gave evidence that he was a Christian, but Tom struggled with doubts about his salvation. He was dutiful in the church but lacked joy, and his own doubts kept him from feeling confident to witness to his work colleagues. Some suggested he seek a further experience of God to free him from his doubts.
Not feeling very loved by her parents, especially her father, Tina had a difficult childhood. In her teens, she suffered anxiety and depression, and by temperament was prone to introspection, low self-esteem and an accusing conscience. When she came to faith in her thirties, she carried a lot of ‘baggage’. Although she’d come to a Bible-teaching church, a lack of assurance led her to struggle with prayer, often feeling that God was far from her. Tina would compare herself unfavourably with others in the church.
Assurance grows from our faith
The Scriptures teach that it is possible not only to have an assurance of faith but that such assurance is desirable, something to be sought and known. The Apostle John wrote his first letter so that his readers ‘may know that they have eternal life’ (1 John 5:13). John wanted them to be sure. It is plain from his letter that this assurance depends upon some vital matters, which include correct beliefs about God, Christ’s Person and work on the cross, his resurrection, our willing obedience to him, and our love for one another.
The formulators of the Westminster Confession (and, so, the Baptist 1689 Confession) say that assurance is not of the essence of faith; that is, it is not an automatic and inevitable experience of those who have genuine faith. Although the ‘seed’ (A. A. Hodge) or the ‘germ’ (J. Murray) of assurance is in that faith, assurance is akin to the ‘fruit’. As H. Bavinck says, assurance grows out of that initial faith. It may happen quickly, even at conversion, or it may take weeks, months or years before the believer experiences it. For the believer to know assurance and benefit from the joy and peace it brings, he or she must seek to cultivate it.
Assurance is based on what Christ has done
God gifts all his children with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God bears witness with (or to) our spirit that we are the children of God and enables us to feel a love towards God and to call on him as a Father in heaven who loves us (1 John 3:1, 4:13; Rom. 8:15,16; Gal. 4:6). The Spirit also encourages the believer with an awareness of a change of heart. However, it is possible to over-examine oneself in the attempt to discover genuine ‘faith’. Better, wrote A. Bonar, to look outwards to Christ rather than inwards to one’s attainments. Although assurance is a felt spiritual experience, given by God, it is not an extraordinary biblical revelation. It is based, rather, upon what Christ has done.
Assurance involves the believer having a clear understanding of justification by faith and the inward witness of the Spirit. The Christian has a responsibility to gain assurance (2 Pet. 1:10; Heb. 6:11-12), using the normal ‘means of grace’, and to do this in an appropriate way. Let’s return to our two friends and see how they came to a greater assurance of faith and the help this was to them.
Tom realised his need to get his biblical understanding clearer. This led him to go to another church where the Bible was taught clearly and believed. He came to realise that the experience others had encouraged him to seek was not what he needed because he saw that God had already given him this: God’s power, through Christ’s gospel and by the Spirit, ‘has given us everything we need for life and godliness’ (2 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 5:1-5). Freed from the pressure to obtain that elusive ‘something extra’, he has more joy in worshipping God and in serving Christ and has gained confidence in sharing the gospel.
Tina came to see that her background, and especially her relationship with her father, had influenced her perception of praying to a heavenly Father. As she grew in her appreciation of a biblical understanding of God’s fatherhood, prayer became more meaningful and precious to her. She also came to see that her temperament led her to over-introspection and consequent depression. She needed to rest on God’s promises in Christ and entrust herself to God’s love and care for her, realising she no longer needed to compare herself with others. She feels increasingly that God values her for what she is, one of his children.
Assurance grows from a living relationship
An important antidote to doubt and questioning is to recognise daily the goodness of God, which fosters a sense of his love. Assurance is normally found in the context of an ongoing, living relationship. As a wife doesn’t need to turn daily to her marriage certificate as proof of her husband’s love (she knows it by his daily actions), a Christian gains assurance by seeing God’s daily goodness and recognising his love and care towards them.
Despite these dynamics, however, assurance can be shaken or diminish. To avoid this, the Scriptures encourage believers not to fall into sin, which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit. When we do sin, we are to confess and, having an advocate in heaven, find our sins forgiven, experience a restored fellowship with God and a good conscience (1 John 1:9f). Even so, strong temptations, Satanic attacks and unusual testing from the Lord can shake our faith and lead to a temporary diminishing of assurance. In God’s providence, these ultimately prove the genuineness of the believer’s faith, which is more precious than gold (1 Pet. 1:7).
My friend, do not doubt. You need not doubt, neither need you fear. You can be sure. It is possible ‘to draw near to God with a full assurance of faith’ (Heb. 10:22). With the Apostle Paul, you can be very aware of your own sin and, yet, at the same time know that ‘we are more than conquerors through him who loved us’ (Rom. 7-8).
