I know the proof texts for this; however in reading the NT as a whole, it seems very contrary to its meaning. It seems prideful and presumptuous where Jesus is teaching humility.
I can allow that assurance may be useful for someone in their spriritual growth at some time, but for me, personally, it's a bad road to go down.
thanks very much for your reply. very much...
I know the proof texts for this; however in reading the NT as a whole, it seems very contrary to its meaning. It seems prideful and presumptuous where Jesus is teaching humility. I can allow that assurance may be useful for someone in their spiritual growth at some time, but for me, personally, it's a bad road to go down.
On whether assurance is "prideful and presumptuous where Jesus is teaching humility", I think we Reformers have something of a defense. :) For example, on the issue of internal goodness at birth, we would say that man has 0%. On the issue of man's goodness in cooperating with God toward salvation, we would say God gets 100% of the credit, and man gets 0% of the credit. On the issue of any other human (living or departed) being in assistance to our salvation, we would say that God gets 100% of the credit, and all those other very nice, wonderful, and Godly people get 0% of the credit. (This includes us as we are witnessing Christ's Gospel.) On the issue of God's sovereignty with regard to us, God is always 100% sovereign, and all men are always 100% slaves, either to sin or righteousness, wholly dependent on God's sovereign will. In my mind, there's gotta be some humility in there somewhere. :)
The bottom line is that the assurance we claim has nothing to do with us, or our merits, or our goodness, or anything like that. We had zero to do with it of ourselves. That we may know it about ourselves (and no one else) is a gift of God through scripture.
On whether it is a bad road to go down, that would only be if someone abandoned the very scripture they relied upon to get their assurance in the first place. For most it may have been shorter, but full and secure assurance took me years to apprehend. As you know, the Bible is packed with descriptions of what a saved Christian looks like. NO WHERE does it say that all you have to do is sign on the bottom line for Jesus and then go do what you want. The Bible clearly teaches 180 degrees away from that. So, if anyone knows enough of the scripture to claim assurance, he must also know enough to know he cannot rest on his laurels. Yes, it is a hypothetical danger, but I have never seen it actually happen. True security in Christ MEANS knowing that we have a new nature and that God has a specific plan for our lives.