ASSURANCE

See also: Means of grace

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.

The Bible, Hebrews 10:22

Assurance

Horatius Bonar

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:19–20).

In the early Church there was nothing ofthe uncertainty which we find among Christians now. They knew what they were, and it was on the authenticated facts concerning Christ that they rested this certainty. No one then thought of saying, “I believe, but I am not sure whether I am born of God;” for they took for granted that “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” They did not analyze their own faith to ascertain how far it was of the right quantity and quality. They never thought of themselves at all, but only of Him who, though rich, for their sakes had become poor. All the epistles take for granted that they knew that they were Christians; nor is anything written there to encourage them to suspect themselves, or to teach them the art of doubting. Nothing is there addressed to them to lead them to make much of their doubts, or to believe in their own faith as the true way of deliverance from doubting. “We know,” was the apostle’s language; “We know,” was the response which that language met with from all to whom he wrote.

The frequent use of this expression in the epistles lead us to make inquiry as to its actual import, and its bearings on ourselves. It is undoubtedly the language of certainty; and, as such, let us see in what connection it is used.

It is used respecting things past, things present, and things future, all of which are represented as being absolutely certain to the person knowing.

(1) The Past – 1 John 5:20, “We know that the Son of God is come”; 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death unto life.” These two things, one relating to the Son of God, and the other to the Christian, are spoken of as equally past, and as equally certain objects of sure knowledge.

(2) The Present – 1 John 2:18, “We know that it is the last time’’ 2:3, “We know that we know Him”; 2:5, “We know that He abideth in us”; 5:19, “We know that we are of God.” All these things are represented as ascertained and conscious certainties, regarding which there could be no doubt whatever. This was the true state of the early Church universally. We do not readof anything short of this – anything corresponding to the state of doubt, and gloom, and uncertainty, in which we find so many Christians now.

(3) The Future – 1 John 3:2, “We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” The early Christians counted the one as sure as the other. Their future was not darkened with the clouds of uncertainty: clouds of tribulation might envelope them, but their future was glorious.

We find the expression “I know” used in a similar way in other parts of Scripture. 2 Tim. 1:12, “I know whom I have believed.” We find the words, “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things.”

All these passages show us what the condition of personal certainty was which the early Church enjoyed, of which we ought to be in possession. A Christian is not one who “thinks;” or “hopes,” or “trusts” that he is forgiven and accepted, but who knows it as certainly as he knows the facts regarding Jesus, His death and resurrection.

How did they come by this certainty?

They got it out of the promise which the gospel embodies. That gospel consists of two parts or testimonies, or rather a testimony and a promise. The testimony relates to the Christ of God, His person and His work; and the promise is, that whosoever believes the testimony is not only entitled, but commanded to draw the conclusion that he has eternal life. A testimony without a promise would not have done it; it would have merely brought us into the position of men who see that their salvation is a possibility. They could not, from the testimony alone, draw the conclusion, “I have eternal life;” but the promise annexed to the testimony, declaring that every one who receives the testimony is saved, enables them at once to draw the personal conclusion. Thus we see that, while personal assurance is not the first thing in faith, it ought to follow immediately, and will do so where the gospel is rightly understood.

It is out of this annexed promise thatour assurance comes, and not out of subsequent acts, or feelings, or experiences of our own. He who has not this assurance must not be believing the very gospel, but either more than it, or less than it. He who takes the whole gospel, both testimony and promise, knows that he has eternal life.

But, let us inquire a little further into this apostolic and primitive certainty. BothJohn and Paul use this word “We know,” frequently. They use it not merely as apostles, but in the name of all believers. They do not merely say I, but we (1 John 3:14; 2 Tim. 1:12). It is the language of certainty, not of opinion or conjecture. Let us ask, (1) What is the certainty? (2) how they got it? (3) how they kept it? (4) how they used it?

I. What is the certainty? – We know that we are of God – that is, that we belong to God, that we are His children. This is –

(1) Very definite. There is no mistaking what it means. We have passed from death to life; no longer condemned children of wrath, but God’s property – God’s sons, God’s heirs. Not generally “we are Christians,” but “we are of God.”

(2) Very decided. It is not “We hope we are of God, We think we are, We trust we are, We are inclined to believe we are, but “We are.” There is no want of decision here, no vagueness, no ambiguity, no hesitation, no “if”, no “perhaps”, but “we know.”

(3) Very personal. It was something regarding themselves individually, not merely as classed with a certain body generally, but a personal thing, of which they were as cognizant as of the family, or city, or nation to which they belonged. Paul knew, and John knew, and all the early Christians knew that they were of God.

Yes, this was the apostolic watchword; “We know that we are of God.” It was the Reformation watchword; it must be ours.

II. How they got it. In believing. It wasnot that they first believed themselves to be of God, and so were of God. They believed what God has told them concerning His Son, that Jesus was the Christ. They believed the record, the true record, concerning the eternal life which was in Him. In believing that record they became sons of God and they knew this. The assurance of their own sonship was the necessary and inseparable consequence of believing the record, the gospel, the report. They got this certainty at once – not after passing through a long and mysterious process; not after summing up all their own goodnesses, and being satisfied with the quality and the quantity of their faith; not as a result of tedious metaphysical investigation into their spiritual state – but as the simple and inevitable inference from their believing the gospel.

III. How they kept it. They held the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. They continued to believe all that they did at first, and just in the same simple way. That which gave them peace and assurance at first, continued to do so to the last. Not as if it were a light matter whether they became holy or not. Far from this. That gospel which they believed taught them that they were to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The peace they got was a holy peace, and could not exist in conjunction with an unholy life. The love of God out of which that peace had come to them was a holy love, and the indulgence of sin was incompatible with the belief of it. That sin in a true saint does not alter his standing as a pardoned man in the sight of God, is true; but it comes between him and God, and shuts God out. It may not tell upon God’s feelings toward men; but it must tell upon man’s feelings towards God, and also upon his knowledge of God’s feelings towards him. The assurance does not come out of our holiness; yet it cannot be maintained save in connection with a holy life.

IV. How they used it. Not for pride, self-seeking, or vain-glory. It did not destroy humility and meekness in them, nor did it lead to careless living. It brought with it no contempt of others, and no ostentation in their religious profession. They used it in none of these ways, nor for such purposes. It was to them:

(1) A humbling truth – That God should have given them sonship was humbling; that He should have given them the assurance of it was more humbling still; for it brought out more fully all their own unworthiness, in contrast with God’s boundless love. Compassed about with such love, so free and great, how could they be proud? Where is presumption? It is excluded. By what law? of faith and certainty.

(2) A quickening truth – It had true life in it, true power. It stirred, it roused, it animated, it nerved. Uncertainty as to our relationship to God is one of the most enfeebling and dispiriting of things. It makes a man heartless. It takes the pith out of him. He cannot fight; he cannot run. He is easily dismayed, and gives way. He can do nothing for God. But when we know that we are of God, we are vigorous, brave, invincible. There is no more quickening truth than this of assurance.

(3) A gladdening truth – This needs no long proof or illustration. What gladness is contained in these simple words, “We know that we are of God!” Until we can say this, where is joy? When we can say this, where is sorrow? It has fled away. What can cast us down?

(4) A sanctifying truth – Yes, it sanctified the early Christians; and this in two ways: (a) separating them from a world that knew nothing of his love; (b) making them inwardly holy, like Him to whom they knew that they belonged. “Now are we the sons of God…He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself.”

Are you sure? Can you say, I am of God? Has your gospel brought you certainty? or has it left you in non-assurance, a prey to doubt? Then what has it really done for you?

The Bible is the book of certainties. Itgives not uncertain sound anywhere. It does not speak the language of doubt, or speculation, or conjecture, or opinion, but of certainty. Its object is to place us on the same footing of certainty, absolute certainty; enabling us to say not merely I think, or I judge, but I know; enabling us to say without faltering, yet without boasting, I possess the true, the real, the certain, the authentic. Our certainty from such a source is as sure as demonstration, because it rests on the authority of the God only wise.

John’s first is written in the language of certainty. “We know” is its motto, its burden from first to last. “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (2:20). “We know that we have passed from death to life” (3:14). “We know that we are of God” (5:19). “We know that the Son of God is come” (5:20).

We now look at three certainties from John’s epistle.

1.      We know that the Son of God is come. This is the central point of earth’s history, the most real, and certain, and productive of all its facts and events. On it everything turns, whether men see it or not.

(1.      There is such a being as the Son of God. He is not merely a son, but the Son, the eternal Son, the only begotten Son, the well-beloved Son; one with the Father.

(2.      He has come. Not merely He is, but He has come down to us in very deed. The word implies, remaining as well as coming. It is not, He has visited us, He has come and gone; but, He has come to us, and is with us. He has arrived, not to depart, but to remain.

(3.      He is Jesus of Nazareth. A very man is He. Born at Bethlehem, brought up at Nazareth, the son of Mary, Jesus, who went out and in amongst us. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

(4.      We know this. It is the most certain of all certainties; an event beyond the shadow of a doubt; the surest of all sure facts in earthly history. We know it on God’s authority and on man’s. Divine and human testimony unite here. Word and deed make us sure of this. Ah, this is knowledge! The like of it is not to be found elsewhere. This is the knowledge that satisfies, gladdens, and gives us a foundation to rest on – THE SON OF GOD HAS COME.

2.      We know that He has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true – for the meaning of “understanding” we refer to Eph. 1:18: “The eyes of your understanding darkened.” Christ is the giver of the new mind, whereby we discern the truth. He is, (1) Renewer; (2) Teacher; (3) the Wisdom itself. He is the knowledge, and He gives the power of knowing. “Who teacheth like Him?” He is the opener of the eye and ear. He that is true is evidently the true One, or true God. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,” to give us a mind capable of knowing and comprehending this true God. It is not a God that we need to know, but the God, the one living and true God. There is no knowledge of God out of Christ, apart from Christ, or without Christ. Where the knowledge of Christ is not, there is utter ignorance of God – the worship of a false or an unknown god. False worship is a serious thing, a fearful sin, a hideous blasphemy. Falsehood touching God is infinite dishonour. Misapprehension of God is the root of all idolatry; and worship under such misapprehension is idolatry or superstition. It is the true God that is to be worshipped, none else. He will not give His glory to another. Nor will the knowledge of any false god fill or pacify the soul. It isonly that God whom Jesus of Nazareth revealed that will suffice for the human spirit.

3.      We know that we are in Him that is true. To be in Him is to be out of the world, and out of self. We are to be in Him as the flower is in the garden, as the star is in the sky, as the graft is in the olive tree. We are to be rooted and built up in Him. Here it is not near Him, nor on Him, but in Him. We dwell in Him, and He in us. We are in Him as the true God; as such He is our God, our habitation. Thus we are compassed about with Him as the earth is by the air; He compasses us about. It is not merely that in Him we live, and move, and have our being; but much more than this, something of another kind; something that involves spiritual life, fellowship, love, and everlasting blessedness. But it is added, “in His Son Jesus Christ.” We are not only in the Father, but in the Son, as we read (1 Thess. 1:1), “The Church of the Thessalonians which is IN God the Father, and IN the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is this inbeing, this indwelling, this participation or fellowship, that is our true standing and privilege.

(1.      This knowledge saves. There is no salvation without it. It is saving knowledge. In knowing the true God we are saved.

(2.      This knowledge gladdens. False knowledge of God, or the knowledge of a false god, imparts no joy; this does. It is joy to know the true One.

(3.      This knowledge purifies. Error or falsehood cannot deliver from sin, cannot purify the soul. All error is impurity, unholiness. All truth is good, and alltruth respecting God sanctifies, expands, elevates.

(4.      This knowledge makes us useful. It is like a light or a fire within us that cannot be hidden. It is like a power within us which cannot but work. It is irrepressible.

Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee. He has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, His Son. Blessed the man that knows Him. Unhappy he that knows Him not. Better that he had been a beast; better that he had never been born.

Horatius Bonar

__________

A well-grounded assurance is always attended with three fair handmaids: love, humility and holy joy.

Thomas Brooks

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh what a foretaste of Glory Divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of the Spirit, washed in His Blood.

Fanny Crosby

Speculations I have none. I’m resting on certainties. “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Michael Faraday, nearing death, quoting from the Bible, 2 Timothy 1:12 kjv

Repose in the blood of Christ; a firm confidence in God, and persuasion of his favor; the highest tranquillity, serenity, and peace of mind, with a deliverance from every fleshly desire, and a cessation of all, even inward sins.

Arvid Gradin, defining “full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22), for John Wesley

What a wonderful thing it is to be sure of one’s faith! How wonderful to be a member of the evangelical church, which preaches the free grace of God through Christ as the hope of sinners! If we were to rely on our works, what would become of us?

G.F. Handel

The Holy Spirit is no skeptic. He has written neither doubt nor mere opinion into our hearts, but rather solid assurances, which are more sure and solid than all experience and even life itself.

Martin Luther, to Erasmus

Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord’s power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope, and been suddenly snatched from danger, and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the word and power of God, beyond and against appearances: and this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance; for even assurance has degrees.

John Newton

God sometimes marvelously raiseth the souls of his saints with some close and near approaches unto them – gives them a sense of His eternal love, a taste of the embraces of His Son and the inhabitation of the Spirit, without the least intervening disturbance; and then this is their assurance. But this life is not a season to be always taking wages in; our work is not yet done; we are not always to abide in this mount; we must down again into the battle – fight again, cry again, complain again. Shall the soul be thought now to have lost its assurance? Not at all. It had before assurance with joy, triumph, and exultation; it hath it now, or may have, with wrestling, cries, tears, and supplications. And a man’s assurance may be as good, as true, when he lies on the earth with a sense of sin, as when he is carried up to the third heaven with a sense of love and foretaste of glory.

John Owen

The wise Christian will not let his assurance depend upon his powers of imagination.

A.W. Tozer

Assurance

A.A. Hodge

I think the first essential mark of the difference between true and false assurance is to be found in the fact that the true works humility. There is nothing in the world that works such satanic, profound, God-defiant pride as false assurance; nothing works such utter humility, or brings to such utter self-emptiness, as the child-like spirit of true assurance. Surely this can be known. If a person is self-confident, there is self-assurance; if there is any evidence of pride in connection with his claim, it is a most deadly mark – it is the plague-spot which marks death and corruption. But if there is utter humility, you have the sign of the true spirit.

This will manifest itself in connection with another mark. If one is really united to Christ in a union so established that Christ is indeed in possession of the soul, the whole consciousness will be taken up with what I would call Christ-consciousness, and there will be no self-consciousness. Little children are very prompt to show their character. There is a great difference in them. Bring a child into a room. She comes thinking about nothing in particular, looking at her mother, then looking at the guests or anything that objectively strikes her, not thinking of herself. That is pure, sweet, and lovely. She grows older, and she comes to think of herself and what people think of her, and her manner has lost its unconsciousness. A great deal of what you call bashfulness is rottenness at the heart; it is self-consciousness. Nothing in the world so tends to defile the imagination, to pervert the affections, and to corrupt the morals, as self-consciousness. You know it is connected with every diseased and morbid action of the body.

A young woman told me that she wanted the witness of the Spirit, and she talked about it everlastingly; she wanted to tell her own experience and feelings always. I told her she must forget herself, not think of her own feelings. The man who is talking about his love unceasingly has no love; the man who is talking about his faith unceasingly has no faith: the two things cannot go together. When you love, what are you thinking about? Are you not thinking about the object of your love? And when you believe, what are you thinking about? Why, the object that you believe. Suppose you ask yourself, “Am I believing?” Why, of course you are not believing when you are thinking of believing. No human being believes except when he thinks about Christ. Am I loving? Of course I am not loving when I am thinking about loving. No human being loves except when he is thinking about Christ as the object of his love.

In Virginia I once saw one human being in whom there was the perfect work of grace, as far as I could see as her pastor, and I was intimate with her six years. Even on earth she was one of those who had made their garments white in the blood of the Lamb, and she seemed always to walk upon the verge of heaven. I never heard her speak of any one particular of her character or of her own graces. I have come out of the pulpit when the congregation had gone, and have found her upon her knees in her pew, absolutely unconscious of all external objects, so far was she absorbed in worship. When I roused her from her trance, she cried instantly, “Is He not holy? Is He not glorious? Is He not beautiful? Is He not infinite?” She did not speak of her own love or of her feelings.

A great deal of Perfectionism is rotten to the core. All self-consciousness is of the very essence and nature of sin. Then, again, true confidence leads necessarily to strong desires for more knowledge and more holiness, for unceasing advances of grace.

I was told once, in a congregation where I preached, that I need not tell a certain young man anything about religion; he had finished it – that is, that, having finished it, he found nothing else to do. That is what the word “perfect” means. Now, when a man has finished eternal life, when he has finished learning all the revelation of God, when he has experienced all the infinite benefits of Christ’s redemption, when he has finished all the mysterious work of the Holy Ghost in his heart, he ought to be annihilated. There is no place in heaven or on earth for such a man.

But a man who really has the love of God in his heart is always reaching forward to the things which are before. The more he loves, the more he wants to love; the more he is consecrated, the more consecration he longs for. He has grand ideas and grand aims, but they lie beyond him in heaven.

A.A. Hodge

__________