dr_parsley
Puritan Board Freshman
I see two extremes of assurance where one might say:
1) "I'm in a bad way, there is little evidence of grace; I need to flee! It's doubtful I'm saved."
2) "There is plenty of evidence of grace year on year, a consistent growth in obedience and inner gaspings of love towards Christ. I should still be watchful but, barring an extraordinary deception, I can have significant assurance of salvation in the grace of Christ.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing most of us are somewhere in between:
1.5) "There is some evidence of grace year on year, a stop-and-start growth in obedience that I hope is not merely transference from one set of sins to another, and there is regular (if sporadic) inner gaspings of love towards Christ. I must flee to Christ, but as one fleeing into the bosom of my great friend.
This scheme contrasts with the fuzzy ideas I encountered in broad evangelicalism when I first believed. They were convenient and seductive and I fell into them and was damaged by them for a while, which is summarised by "If you believe in Christ, feel sorry for your sins and are sincerely trying to change, then you know you're forgiven by Christ's merits and not your own." This clearly leaves the door wide open to complacency as well as deception by oneself and by Satan.
At some point, then, "little evidence" becomes "some evidence" becomes "plenty of evidence"? What might constitute "plenty of evidence"? Thomas Watson had it this way: "[One type of sorrow is] a rational sorrow, which is an act of the soul whereby it has a displacency against sin and chooses any torture rather than to admit sin; [...] [this] is to be found in every child of God". That's a pretty high bar. Choose torture rather than sin? Well yes, sin in general I suppose, but one of my favourite sins? Choose torture rather than a godless overeating of my favourite food? If that's the case I'm in trouble!
Can anyone here think of what the bible says might constitute "plenty of evidence"? If (for good reasons) we discount those passages which are sometimes taken to indicate the requirement is perfection, then it seems to me that in the absence of explicit biblical advice one must look at the whole bible, it's overal message and assumptions on this, but this is not clear to me.
As examples, for assurance should you look for the grace of God providing:
??
1) "I'm in a bad way, there is little evidence of grace; I need to flee! It's doubtful I'm saved."
2) "There is plenty of evidence of grace year on year, a consistent growth in obedience and inner gaspings of love towards Christ. I should still be watchful but, barring an extraordinary deception, I can have significant assurance of salvation in the grace of Christ.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing most of us are somewhere in between:
1.5) "There is some evidence of grace year on year, a stop-and-start growth in obedience that I hope is not merely transference from one set of sins to another, and there is regular (if sporadic) inner gaspings of love towards Christ. I must flee to Christ, but as one fleeing into the bosom of my great friend.
This scheme contrasts with the fuzzy ideas I encountered in broad evangelicalism when I first believed. They were convenient and seductive and I fell into them and was damaged by them for a while, which is summarised by "If you believe in Christ, feel sorry for your sins and are sincerely trying to change, then you know you're forgiven by Christ's merits and not your own." This clearly leaves the door wide open to complacency as well as deception by oneself and by Satan.
At some point, then, "little evidence" becomes "some evidence" becomes "plenty of evidence"? What might constitute "plenty of evidence"? Thomas Watson had it this way: "[One type of sorrow is] a rational sorrow, which is an act of the soul whereby it has a displacency against sin and chooses any torture rather than to admit sin; [...] [this] is to be found in every child of God". That's a pretty high bar. Choose torture rather than sin? Well yes, sin in general I suppose, but one of my favourite sins? Choose torture rather than a godless overeating of my favourite food? If that's the case I'm in trouble!
Can anyone here think of what the bible says might constitute "plenty of evidence"? If (for good reasons) we discount those passages which are sometimes taken to indicate the requirement is perfection, then it seems to me that in the absence of explicit biblical advice one must look at the whole bible, it's overal message and assumptions on this, but this is not clear to me.
As examples, for assurance should you look for the grace of God providing:
- victory over all habitual or recurring sins so that if they do recur they are like dying spasms of the old man rather than healthy breaths
- predominant victory over habitual sins, but not necessarily all
- broad changes in your life; how you spend your time, the little things, how you correct your children and respond to difficult people etc.
??