Assurance
Summary
The confident persuasion that one is in a state of salvation and acceptance with God through Christ, produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit and the evidence of transformed life.
☩Biblical Basis
Scripture speaks of the 'full assurance of faith' by which believers draw near to God, the 'full assurance of hope' unto the end, and the 'full assurance of understanding' in knowing the mystery of God. The Greek word plerophoria conveys the idea of complete conviction and settled confidence. Paul declared, 'I know whom I have believed,' and John repeatedly uses 'we know' as the groundwork of glad assurance throughout his first epistle.
☩The Witness of the Spirit
Assurance rests not on 'works of righteousness which we have done' but on Christ's high priesthood and atoning sacrifice. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, producing the cry 'Abba, Father' within the believer. This is not mere subjective feeling but the Spirit's direct testimony to the fact of adoption, making known the things freely given by God. The believer who receives this witness has confidence toward God and knows that he has passed from death to life.
☩Evidence in Life
While assurance flows from the Spirit's witness, it must be verified by the testimony of conscience and the fruit of a transformed life. The fruit of the Spirit supplements and continually establishes the personal witness of the Spirit. Jesus gave the important admonition that the real character of a tree is known by its fruit. Faith without works is dead, and assurance not accompanied by holiness and sincerity of conduct is self-deception rather than true confidence.
☩Degrees and Variations
True believers may have their assurance 'shaken, diminished, and intermitted' through negligence, special sins that wound the conscience, sudden temptations, or God's withdrawing the light of His countenance. Yet they are never utterly destitute of faith and love, from which assurance may in due time be revived by the Spirit's operation. Assurance does not belong to the essence of faith in such a way that one cannot be saved without it; a true believer may struggle long before attaining it.
Related Verses47 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Assurance," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Assurance," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Assurance," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Assurance," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 5.Philip Schaff and Johann Herzog (ed.), "Assurance," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. I (Funk and Wagnalls, 1908–1914).
- 6.George Morrish, "Assurance," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).