The Assurance of Salvation

Biblical Hope for Our Struggles

Zondervan

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780310516330
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

For years, Robert A. Peterson taught about the assurance of salvation in seminary and Sunday school classrooms. He was concerned, however, to find that some people who, for a variety of reasons, were unable to grasp the certainty of their salvation. The Assurance of Salvation identifies these "troublers" of assurance and provides the remedy to diffuse insecurity.

Peterson asserts that difficult backgrounds and experiences, intellectual doubts, tender consciences, habitual sins, and overconfidence that people face are the enemies of assurance. Through a competent handling of the Bible, he explains that by embracing three gifts from God--His Word, His Spirit, and His work in our lives--those who struggle with insecurity are able to personally experience the freedom of God's assurance.

CHAPTER 1

“TROUBLERS” OF ASSURANCE

The troublers are the problem. There are many troublemakers in the Bible, but only two are called “troublers.” And even one of those troublers was falsely accused—the man who accused him was the real troubler! In Scripture a troubler is one who disobeys the clear command of the Lord to the detriment of the people of God.¹

The first troubler is “Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing” (1 Chron. 2:7 ESV). Achan’s sin led to Israel’s defeat at Ai in the promised land, when an Israelite army fled before a smaller army because “the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water” (Josh. 7:5). When Joshua fell on his face before the Lord and asked the reason for this defeat, the Lord explained. He said that Israel had broken covenant with him by stealing and lying. The Lord had commanded his people, when they were victorious at Jericho, to engage in religious purification by devoting the city and everything in it to the Lord for destruction. Achan had disobeyed the Lord’s explicit instruction by taking a beautiful robe, silver, and gold (vv. 20–21). Because Achan took things the Lord had devoted to destruction, Israel itself became “devoted to destruction” (v. 12). That is why they experienced defeat at Ai. Achan truly was a troubler of Israel. The second troubler, however, only actually troubled the Lord’s enemies. God raised up the prophet Elijah to confront the wicked king Ahab. How wicked was Ahab?

Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. . . . He also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. . . . Ahab . . . did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 16:30–31, 33)

Ahab was exceedingly wicked. For that reason, he hated Elijah, who had the courage to rebuke him for his idolatry. As a judgment, Elijah had prophesied that there would be no rain in Israel except at his word. This divinely ordained drought went on for three years and led to the dramatic contest on Mount Carmel between Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. After the false prophets failed miserably to call down fire upon their offering to Baal, Yahweh showed that he is the true and living God by sending fire from heaven to consume a burnt offering, wood, stones, dust, and water in the trench around the sacrifice (18:36–39). As a result, the false prophets were put to the sword, and God sent rain by Elijah’s word (vv. 40, 45).

Before this contest Elijah sent for Ahab. When the evil king saw God’s prophet, the king said, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” (v. 17). Elijah, not one to back down from a confrontation, threw the accusation back at Ahab, “I have not made trouble for Israel. . . . But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals” (v. 18). Elijah then challenged Ahab to gather the false prophets to Mount Carmel for the contest mentioned above.

Achan was a troubler of Israel, and contrary to Ahab’s charge, Ahab was the troubler, not Elijah. Yet troublers not only appear in Scripture but also in our lives. Unfortunately, every believer in Christ has troublers too. Such troublers can come in many forms. An important type are those problems or people that hinder believers’ assurance of salvation. This book is about those troublers. Christians agree that assurance of salvation is a wonderful thing. They disagree on some of the details, as I explained in the introduction. But all agree that assurance is healthy and desirable. The troublers of assurance are the problem.

Before seeing from Scripture how God grants assurance of salvation, we need to get to know some of these troublers. Three words of caution are in order. First, categories of troublers of assurance could easily be multiplied. Below are key categories that are representative of other ones. Second, the categories are not watertight compartments. The problems most people have when struggling with assurance do not fit neatly into one category. But often one category predominates. Third, I plan to return to the troublers in subsequent chapters when discussing the ways God graciously assures his children that they belong to him. Let’s listen to stories for each of the five categories of troublers of assurance:

1. Difficult backgrounds

2. Intellectual doubts

3. Sensitive hearts, strong emotions, and fear

4. Hypocrisy and apostasy

5. Overconfidence

TROUBLER 1: DIFFICULT BACKGROUNDS

A difficult background can be a major troubler. Some have trouble putting their background behind them and moving forward. I’ll also consider the related issue of those who have a propensity to doubt because of a difficult background.

An Absent and Cold Father

For years Erica did not believe that God loved and accepted her. The roots of her troubles ran deep. Her mother and father separated and then divorced when she was nine. However, it was not a clean break. From time to time her father would come back, but he always left again. Erica described standing in the driveway watching her father drive away and feeling rejected. Each time it happened, her sense of rejection only intensified. Her father was cold and distant and failed to communicate love. Erica was a Christian when she entered college and still wanted her father’s approval and love. She loved God but never felt completely accepted by him. Her sense of God’s approval ebbed and flowed according to how well she performed a certain set of Christian duties. These problems continued for years.

A Propensity to Doubt

In Ruth Tucker’s candid and helpful book Walking Away from Faith: Unraveling the Mystery of Belief and Unbelief, Tucker, an experienced professor of missiology and church history, bares her soul.² She deals with losing faith, considers historical and contemporary challenges to Christianity, and includes stories of people who walked away from the faith along with stories of those who returned.

Most helpful to me is her candid report of her ongoing struggle with unbelief as a Christian leader. Even while she continues with God in worship, fellowship, and service, she struggles, sometimes mightily, with unbelief. Why? Her conclusion bears repeating, “I accept the conflicts and questions as part of my psychological and spiritual makeup, which allows me to humbly reach out to those with similar struggles.”³ She surely does help others as her book attests.

Does she give us any clues as to how she came to have such a “psychological and spiritual makeup”? The answer is yes. Her own religious background allowed for little blending of head and heart. She tells how the country church of her childhood introduced her to a heart religion that included altar calls and revivals. Others in the church claimed to have received miracles, visions, and heard voices, but she did not and felt left out. She explains, “I reached out to God the only way I knew how—through my emotions, my heart.”⁴

Ruth’s young adult years were spent in a fundamentalist setting, where rational biblical literalism replaced experience. Head triumphed over heart. But this too brought her no closer to God. Even now, she explains, “My secular life became more and more separated from my spiritual life. This dualism of reason and heart continues for me today.”⁵ She thus traces for us her background and experiences that have contributed and still contribute to her lack of assurance.

Does she despair as she struggles, sometimes on the border between faith and doubt? Does she forsake the Christian faith? The answer to both questions is a loud no. As she explains,

Unlike these who have abandoned the faith, I will not—if for no other reason than the mysterious fact that God has a grip on me. Besides, this is my culture, my tradition. I love the Bible stories and the old hymns of the faith. . . . This is my faith, and I will never abandon it—nor will God abandon me.

But do I believe it? If everything depended on my belief, there are some days when, I think, I would be doomed. But my salvation does not depend on the strength of my faith; it depends only on God’s grace. Even when my faith is weak, I have confidence in God’s hold on my life.⁶

I wish everyone Tucker mentions in her book persevered in the face of challenges as she does. But, sadly, this is not the case. For some, the troublers of assurance are so overwhelming that they give up the fight; they drop out of the race. My prayer is that this book will help some of them. And perhaps believers will find in it some things they can use to help their wavering friends.

TROUBLER 2: INTELLECTUAL DOUBTS

A huge source of difficulty for many is intellectual problems with the Christian faith and the doubts they spawn. Christine Wicker, a journalist, tells of her leaving the faith in her memoir, God Knows My Heart.⁷ She grew up in fundamentalist Christianity. She credits college and church with destroying her inherited faith. She became disillusioned by the Bible’s portrayal of a good and sovereign God who allows so many innocent people to suffer. When she studied other religions in college and learned of millions who worship other gods and who seem to be as good as Christians she knew, her faith took another hit.⁸

Wicker was not about to let others do her thinking for her, certainly not preachers of the Bible. She explains concerning faith, “I had to accept a narrow, handed-down wisdom from people who told me I was a filthy sinner with a brain that wasn’t worth using. Without it, I could explore a huge world filled with new ideas.”⁹ She candidly explains what she believes in today:

My own idea of God is, of course, merely one I made up. I started with the idea that God understands my heart, as my mother said, and from there everything fell into question. But once again, I made up my theology, gave up on having anyone else agree, kept quiet about it, and then began to see it reflected in unexpected places. I’ve already mentioned that Nouwen said God is the one who calls us beloved. That’s fairly close to being the one who knows my heart.¹⁰

In fairness, not everyone who rejects Christianity for intellectual reasons openly creates their own private religion, as Christine has done. And not all intellectual apostates feel a need to “go public” with their doubts. Troublers of faith and assurance take many forms. The next example shows us one such form.

Scientific Doubts

Scot McKnight is frank: “In my research of stories of those who have . . . abandoned the faith, the scientific evidence is the most common collision point.”¹¹ Supposed clashes between science and Christianity have led many to question their faith and some to leave faith behind. Christians have sometimes presented creationism in ways that do harm. At times a climate is created in Christian schools and in Sunday school that discourages students from asking difficult questions. This is wrong and hurts those who seek the honest truth. Instead, questions should be encouraged, and teachers need to learn where to get answers. My purpose here is not to try to solve the problems generated by faith and science. But I point readers to resources that offer guidance.¹²

Sometimes Christians have “defended the faith” by misrepresenting and belittling views they reject. Christine Rosen, who eventually left the Christian faith, remembers how her third-grade teacher in a Christian school spoke about creation and evolution:

“Genesis,” her teacher announced, “tells us everything!”

Christine comments: “This was...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. “Troublers” of Assurance
• Part 1: Assurance and God’s Word
• Part 2: Assurance and the Holy Spirit
• Part 3: Assurance and the Transformed Life
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index