By A.A.
Hodge
This is quite 'deep theology' by the great A.A.
Hodge, but it really is worth presevering with. We always say
that a strong biblical grounding is the best way to avoid the
influence of the sects and cults.
ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION
I. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly
deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of
being in the favor of God, and estate of salvation[1] (which hope
of theirs shall perish):[2] yet such as truly believe in the Lord
Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good
conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured
that they are in the state of grace,[3] and may rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them
ashamed.[4]
1. Micah 3:11; Deut. 29:19; John 8:41 2. Amos 9:10; Matt. 7:22-23
3. I John 2:3; 3:14, 18-19, 21, 24; 5:13 4. Rom. 5:2, 5
II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable
persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope;[5] but an infallible
assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises
of salvation,[6] the inward evidence of those graces unto which
these promises are made,[7] the testimony of the Spirit of
adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of
God,[8] which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby
we are sealed to the day of redemption.[9]
5. Heb. 6:11, 19 6. Heb. 6:17-18 7. II Peter 1:4-11; I John 2:3;
3:14; II Cor. 1:12 8. Rom. 8:15-16 9. Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; II Cor.
1:21-22
THESE sections teach the following propositions: -- 1. There is a
false assurance of salvation which unregenerate men sometimes
indulge, in which they are deceived and which shall be finally
disappointed.
2. There is, on the other hand, a true assurance, amounting to an
infallible certainty, which sincere believers may entertain as to
their own personal salvation, which shall not be
confounded.
3. This infallible assurance of faith rests -- (1.) Upon the
divine truth of the promises of salvation. (2.) Upon the inward
evidence of those graces unto which those promises are made. (3.)
The testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our
spirits that we are the children of God.
1. That unregenerate men, beguiled by the natural desire for
happiness, flattered by self-love, and betrayed by a spirit of
self-righteousness and self-confidence, should frequently indulge
an unfounded assurance of their own gracious condition, is
rendered antecedently probable from what we know of human nature,
and rendered certain as a fact from common observation and from
the declarations of Scripture. Micah iii.11; Job viii. 13,
14.
True assurance, however, may be distinguished from that which is
false by the following tests: -- (1.) True assurance begets
unfeigned humility; false assurance begets spiritual pride. 1
Cor. xv. 10; Gal. vi. 14. (2.) The true leads to increased
diligence in the practice of holiness; the false leads to sloth
and self-indulgence. Ps. li. 12, 13, 19. (3.) The true leads to
candid self-examination and to a desire to be searched and
corrected by God; the false leads to a disposition to be
satisfied with appearance and to avoid accurate investigation.
Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. (4.) The true leads to constant aspirations
after more intimate fellowship with God. 1 John iii. 2, 3.
2. That true believers may in this life attain to a certainty
with regard to their own personal relations to Christ, and that
this certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion
founded on a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith,
is proved from the fact ;
(1.) That it is directly affirmed in Scripture: " The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God." Rom. viii. 16. " hereby we do know that we know him, if
we keep his commandments." 1 John ii. 3. "We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1
John iii. 14.
(2.) The attainment of it is commanded as a duty in Scripture. We
are exhorted "to shew the same diligence to the full assurance of
hope unto the end," (Heb. vi. 11); and to "give diligence to make
our calling and election sure, for if we do these things we shall
never fall." 2 Pet. i. 10.
(3.) There are examples of its attainment by ancient believers
recorded in Scripture. Thus Paul: "I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able," etc. " I have fought a good
fight,...... I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness," etc. 2 Tim. i. 12; iv. 7, 8; --
and John; 1 John ii. 3; iv. 16.
(4.) There have been unquestionable instances in modern times in
which sincere Christians have enjoyed a full assurance of their
personal salvation, and in which their entire lives have
vindicated the genuineness of their faith. The Protestant
Reformers as a class were eminent examples of the possession of
this assurance. God had qualified them for their great work with
an extraordinary measure of this grace. Their controversy with
the Romanists also led them to lay great stress upon the duty of
this attainment, even going so far as to identify assurance with
faith, making it essential to salvation. The Romanists held that
faith is mere intellectual assent to the truth, not involving
trust; and that hence faith has nothing to do with the judgment
any one makes of his own personal salvation; and hence that no
one could attain to any certainty upon that point in this life
without an extraordinary revelation. Council of Trent, sess. vi.,
ch. ix.
The Reformers, on the other hand, went so far as to teach that
the special object of justifying faith is the favour of God
toward us for Christ's sake: therefore to believe is to be
assured of our own personal salvation. Thus Luther, Melancthon,
and Calvin taught. This is the doctrine taught in the Augsburg
Confession and Heidelberg Catechism. It is not, however, taught
in any other of the Reformed Confessions, and, as will be seen
below, is not the Doctrine of our Standards.
3. This infallible assurance of faith rests;
(1.) upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation. Although
it is one thing to be assured that the promise is true, and
another thing to be assured of our own personal interest in it,
yet assurance of the truth of the promise tends, in connection
with a sense of our personal reliance upon it, directly to
strengthen our assured hope that it will be fu1filled in our case
also. Therefore God confirmed his promise by an oath, " That by
two immutable things" (his promise and his oath), " in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us in the gospel " Heb. vi. 18. Thus faith includes
trust. Trust rests upon the divine truth of the promises, and in
turn supports hope; and the fullness of hope is assurance. This
assurance rests;
(2.) upon the inward evidence of those graces unto which the
promises are made. Thus the Scriptures promise that whosoever
believes shall have everlasting life. The believer whose faith is
vigorous and intelligent has a distinct evidence in his own
consciousness that he for one does believe. Hence the conclusion
is obvious that he shall have everlasting life. The same promise
is given to all who love God, to all who keep his commandments,
to all who love the brethren, to the pure in heart, to those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, etc. Hence, when these
graces are possessed in such a degree, strength, and purity, that
we are conscious of their genuineness, then the conclusion is
immediate and irresistible, that we are in union with Christ, and
have a right to appropriate the promises to ourselves. This
assurance rests;
(3.) upon the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing
with our spirits that we are the children of God. This language
is taken from Rom. viii. 16. The sense in which this witnessing
of the Holy Spirit to our spirits is to be understood has been
much debated among theologians.
Some have maintained that the passage teaches that the Holy
Spirit in some mysterious way directly reveals to our spirits the
fact that we are the children of God, as one man immediately
conveys information to another man. The objections to this view
are, that Christians are not, and cannot be, conscious of any
such injection of information from without into the mind, and
that, as far as such testimony alone is concerned, we would be
unable to distinguish certainly the testimony of the Spirit from
the conclusions of our own reasons or the suggestions of our own
hearts. An expectation of such direct communications would be
likely to generate enthusiasm and presumption. Some have
maintained, on the opposite extreme, that the Spirit witnesses
with our spirits only indirectly, through the evidence afforded
by the graces he has formed within us. The true view appears to
be, that the witness of the Spirit to our spirits that we are the
children of God comprehends a number of particulars, all of which
are confined by the Spirit to this end.
(1.) The Spirit is the author of the promises of Scripture, and
of the marks of character indicating the persons to which the
promises belong.
(2.) The Spirit is the author of the graces of the saints,
corresponding to the marks of character which are associated with
these promises in the Scripture.
(3) The Spirit gives to the true believer, especially to the
Christian eminent for diligence and faithfulness, the grace of
spiritual illumination, that he may possess a keen insight into
his own character, that he may judge truly of the genuineness of
his own graces, that he may rightly interpret the promises and
the characters to which they are limited in the Scriptures; so
that, comparing the outward standard with the inward experience,
he may draw correct and unquestionable conclusions.
(4.) The Holy Spirit is the direct author of faith in all its
degrees, as also of love and hope. Full assurance, therefore --
which is the fullness of hope resting on the fullness of faith --
is a state of mind which it is the office of the Holy Ghost to
induce in our minds in connection with the evidence of our
gracious character above stated. In whatever way he works in us
to will and to do of his own good pleasure (Phil. ii. 13), or
sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts (Rom. v. 5), or begets
us again to a lively hope (1 Pet. i. 3), in that way he gives
origin to the grace of full assurance -- not as a blind and
fortuitous feeling, but as a legitimate and undoubting conclusion
from appropriate evidence.
(5.) The presence of the Holy Spirit is the first installment of
the benefits of Christ's redemption, granted to those for whom
they were purchased, and therefore the pledge and earnest of the
completion of that redemption in due time. Thus Paul says of the
Ephesians: " In whom also (Christ), after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession." Eph. i. 13, 14; iv. 30; 1 John ii. 20, 27; 2 Cor.
i.22; v. 5
III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence
of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict
with many difficulties before he be partaker of it:[10] yet,
being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely
given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in
the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto.[11] And
therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to
make his calling and election sure,[12] that thereby his heart
may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and
thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the
duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance;[13] so
far is it from inclining men to looseness.[14]
10. I John 5:13 11. I Cor. 2:12; I John 4:13; Heb. 6:11-12; Eph.
3:17-19 12. II Peter 1:10 13. Rom. 5:1-2, 5; 14:17; 15:13; Eph.
1:3-4; Psa. 4:6-7; 119:32 14. I John 1:6-7; 2:1-2; 3:2-3; Rom.
6:1-2; 8:1, 12; Titus 2:11-12, 14; II Cor. 7:1; Psa. 130:4
IV. 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:[15] yet are they never utterly
destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of
Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience
of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this
assurance may, in due time, be revived;[16] and by the which, in
the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.[17]
15. Psa. 31:22; 51:8, 12, 14; 77:1-10; Eph. 4:30-31; Matt.
26:69-72 and Luke 22:31-44 16. I John 3:9; Luke 22:32; Psa. 51:8,
12; 73:15 17. Micah 7:7-9; Jer. 32:40; Isa. 54:7-14; II Cor.
4:8-10
These sections teach: -- 1. That this infallible assurance is not
of the essence of faith; that, on the contrary, a man may be a
true believer and yet destitute of this assurance.
2. That being, nevertheless, as taught in the preceding sections,
attainable in this life in the use of ordinary means, without
extraordinary revelation, it is consequently the duty of every
one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure;
because this assurance, instead of inclining men to negligence,
tends properly to increase (1.) spiritual peace and joy, (2.)
love and thankfulness to God, and (3.) strength and cheerfulness
in the works of obedience.
3. True believers, after having attained this assurance, may have
it shaken, diminished, and intermitted: the causes or occasions
of which are such as -- (1.) negligence in preserving this grace
in full exercise; (2.) falling into some special sin; (3.) some
sudden and vehement temptations; (4.) God's temporary withdrawing
of the light of his countenance.
4. nevertheless, since, as was shown under chapter xvii., no true
believer is ever permitted totally to fall away from grace, he is
never left entirely without any token of God's favour; and, the
root of faith remaining, this assurance may in due time be
revived.
1. That this infallible assurance is not of the essence of saving
faith is affirmed over and over again in our Standards, and is
true. Assurance, in one degree or another of it, is of the
essence of faith, because just in proportion to the strength of
our faith is our assurance of the truth of that which we believe;
but since true faith exists in very various degrees of strength,
and since its exercises are sometimes intermitted, it follows
that the assurance which accompanies true faith is not always a
full assurance. Conf. Faith, ch. xiv., section 8; L. Cat., q.
81.
Besides this, the phrase full or " infallible assurance," in this
chapter, does not relate to the certainty of our faith or trust
as to the truth of the object upon which the faith rests -- that
is, the divine promise of salvation in Christ -- but to the
certainty of our hope or belief as to our own personal relation
to Christ and eternal salvation. Hence it follows that while
assurance, in some degree of it, does belong to the essence of
all real faith in the sufficiency of Christ and the truth of the
promises, it is not in any degree essential to a genuine faith
that the believer should be persuaded of the truth of his own
experience and the safety of his estate.
Theologians consequently have distinguished between the assurance
of faith (Heb. x. 22) -- that is, a strong faith as to the truth
of Christ -- and the assurance of hope (Heb. vi. 11) -- that is,
a certain persuasion that we are true believers, and therefore
safe. This latter is also called the assurance of sense, because
it rests upon the inward sense the soul has of the reality of its
own spiritual experiences. The first is of the essence of faith,
and terminates directly upon Christ and his promise; and hence is
called the direct act of faith. The latter is not of the essence
of faith, but is its fruit; and is called the reflex act of
faith, because it is drawn as an inference from the experience of
the graces of the Spirit which the soul discerns when it reflects
upon its own consciousness. God says that whosoever believes is
saved -- that is the object of direct faith: I believe -- that is
the matter of conscious experience: therefore I am saved -- that
is the matter of inference and the essence of full
assurance.
That this full assurance of our own gracious state is not of the
essence of saving faith is proved ;
(1.) From the form in which the offer of salvation in Christ --
which is the object of saving faith -- is set forth in the
Scriptures: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved;" " whosoever will, let him take," etc.; "Him that cometh
to me, I wi11 in no wise cast out." Acts xvi. 31; Rev. xxii. 1 7;
John vi. 37. The matter revealed, and therefore the truth
accepted by faith, is, not that God is reconciled to me in
Christ, but that Christ is presented to me as the foundation of
truth, and will save me if I do truly trust. It is evident that
trust itself is something different from the certainty that we do
trust, and that our trust is of the right kind.
(2.) All the promises of the Bible are made to classes -- to
believers, to saints, etc. -- and not to individuals.
(3.) Paul appeared to doubt as to the genuineness of his faith
long after he was a true believer.
(4.) As we saw above, the Bible contains many exhortations
addressed to believers to go on to the grace of full assurance,
as something beyond their present attainments. Heb. x. 22; vi.
11; 2 Pet. i. 10.
(5.) The experience of the great body of God's people in modern
times proves the same thing.
2. Since this infallible assurance is not of the essence of
faith, but its fruit, and one of the highest attainments of the
divine life; and since it may be attained in this life in the use
of ordinary means, without extraordinary revelation -- it follows
necessarily that its attainment is a duty as well as a grace,
that all that leads to it should be diligently sought, and that
all that prevents it should be carefully avoided. Genuine
assurance cannot lead to looseness and indifference in the
cultivation of grace and the performance of religious duties,
since its very existence depends -- (1.) Upon the evidence
afforded by diligence in those duties, and by the strength of
those graces, that we are true believers; and (2.) Upon the
approving witness of the Holy Spirit. As we have seen above,
under sections i. and ii., a false and presumptuous assurance is
to be discriminated from a genuine assurance by certain clear,
practical marks. On the contrary, genuine assurance naturally
leads to a legitimate and abiding peace and joy, and to love and
thankfulness to God; and these, from the very laws of our being,
to greater buoyancy, strength, and cheerfulness in the practice
of obedience in every department of duty. It hence follows that
every principle of self-interest and every obligation resting
upon us as Christians conspire to induce us to use all diligence
in seeking the full attainment and the abiding enjoyment of this
grace.
3. Since this assurance rests upon the consciousness of gracious
experiences and the witness of the Holy Ghost; and as we have
seen, under chapters xiii. and xvii., that true Christians may
temporarily, though never totally, fall from the exercise of
grace; and since these exercises in this life are never perfect
and unmixed with carnal elements -- it necessarily follows that
the assurance which rests upon them must be subject to be shaken,
diminished, and intermitted in divers ways. (1.) Since it is a
duty as well as a grace, it must be imperiled by any want of
diligence in preserving it in full exercise. (2.) Since it rests
upon the consciousness of gracious exercises, it must be marred,
if not intermitted, by any notable fall into sin which grieves
the Holy Spirit and wounds the conscience, thus clouding the
sense of forgiveness and diminishing the evidence of grace. (3.)
The same may evidently be effected by some vehement temptation.
(4.) The same effect may be produced by God's withdrawing the
light of his countenance, in the way of fatherly discipline, for
the purpose of trying our faith, of convincing us of our entire
dependence, and of the all-sufficiency of his gracious
help.
4. Since the true believer may fall into sin, but may never fall
totally from grace, it is self-evident, as taught in these
sections, that he may lose the exercise of full assurance, but
that he cannot lose the principle from which it springs; and that
hence, through the blessing of God upon the diligent use of the
appropriate means, it may be strengthened when weakened and
recovered when lost.
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