Theological Term of the Week

assurance of salvation
The believer’s conviction that, by God’s grace, he belongs to Christ, has received full pardon for all sins, and will inherit eternal life.1

• From scripture:
  

  ….since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:21-22 ESV)
  

  Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!  (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV)
  

  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…. (Romans 8:15-17 ESV)

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647, Chapter 18:

  Of 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 (which hope of theirs shall perish): 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, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.

  II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.

  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: 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. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, 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; so far is it from inclining men to looseness.

  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: 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; and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:

  Assurance reveals itself in close fellowship with God, childlike obedience, and an intense longing to glorify Christ in all things. Assured believers view heaven as their home and long for Christ’s returen and their translation to glory. (2 Tim. 4:6-8)

  …Assurance helps the believer persevere, first, by encouraging him to rest on God’s grace in Christ and His promises in the gospel; and second by presenting these as a powerful motive for Christian living. As the Puritan Thomas Goodwin says, assurance “makes a man work for God ten times more than before….[It] causes the heart to be more thankful, and more fruitfully and cheerfully obedient; it perfects love, opens and gives vent to a new stream of godly sorrow, adds new motives, enlarges and encourages the heart in prayer, winds up all graces to a new and higher key and strain, causing a spring tide of all.”

Learn more:

1. Loraine Boettner: Personal Assurance That One Is Among the Elect
2. John MacArthur: A Believer’s Assurance: A Practical Guide to Victory over Doubt
3. Augustus Toplady: Thoughts on the Assurance of Faith
4. Kevin DeYoung: Assurance in the Reformed Confessions, Part 1 and Part 2
5. Tom Schreiner: Perseverance and Assurance: A Survey and a Proposal (pdf)
6. D. A. Carson: Reflections on Assurance (pdf)
7. S. Lewis Johnson: The Doctrine of Assurance (Read, listen or download)
8. Joel Beeke: Perseverance and Assurance (mp3)
   

Related terms:

• justification
• perseverance of the saints
• sanctification
• saving faith

1From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

perseverance of the saints
The teaching that those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thus truly believe in Jesus Christ will be kept by God so that the persevere in faith until their death; they cannot finally fall away and be lost.

• From scripture:
  

  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)
  

  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:37-40 ESV)
  

• From The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 79:

  Q79: May not true believers, by reason of their imperfections, and the many temptations and sins they are overtaken with, fall away from the state of grace ?
  A79: True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of God,[1] and his decree and covenant to give them perseverance,[2] their inseparable union with Christ,[3] his continual intercession for them,[4] and the Spirit and seed of God abiding in them,[5] can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace,[6] but are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.[7]
  
  1. Jer. 31:3
  2. II Tim. 2:19-21; II Sam. 23:5
  3. I Cor. 1:8-9
  4. Heb. 7:25; Luke 22:32
  5. I John 2:27; 3:9
  6. Jer. 32:40; John 10:28
  7. I Peter 1:5

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:

  This doctrine does not mean that believers are immune to sin or that they can never fail to exercise saving faith. Though their faith won’t die, there are times when, sadly, it will not be active. Apart from continuous influx of Christ into their souls, believers cannot continue or flourish. God alone gives the increase for He never forsakes the work of His hands. When we speak of the perseverance of the saints, we do mean that having brought the elect into vital union with Himself, Jesus Christ continually supplies them with His grace. He is the life of their life and the strength of their strength. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit, having selected the hearts of the elect as his dwelling place, never leaves them; He promotes their sanctification until He has made their souls ripe for entrance into heaven. The faithful, covenant-keeping God keeps alive in the hearts of His elect the spark of holy love, which He Himself has kindled, despite their waywardness, slothfulness, and disobedience…. God, and God alone, sees to it that his children never tear themselves loose from His grip and fall prey to Satan (John 10:27-30).

Learn more:

1. Brian Schwertley: Perseverance of the Saints
2. Loraine Boettner: Perseverance of the Saints
3. Nathan Pitchford: Perseverance Scripture List
4. John Piper: TULIP, Part 8, Perseverance of the Saints
5. John MacArthur: Perseverance of the Saints (pdf)
6. Curt Daniel: Perseverance of the Saints: Part 1; Part 2 (mp3s)

Related terms:

• assurance of salvation
• irresistible grace
• unconditional election 

Filed under Salvation.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

external call
The general gospel invitation offered to all people that comes through the proclamation of the gospel.1 Sometimes called general call, universal call, or gospel call.

• From scripture:
  

  [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  (Luke 24:47 ESV)
  

  I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21 ESV)

• From The Canons of Dordt, Head III-IV, Articles 8 and 9:

  Article 8: The Serious Call of the Gospel

  Nevertheless, all who are called through the gospel are called seriously. For seriously and most genuinely God makes known in his Word what is pleasing to him: that those who are called should come to him. Seriously he also promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all who come to him and believe.

  Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel

  The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:

  …[T]wo calls need to be distinguished: and outward or general call that everyone hears, which can be rejected (John 7:41b-42; 10:20; Heb. 12:25), and an inward call that God extends to the elect, which always results in conversion (Matt 22:9; Acts 2:39; Rom. 9:11; 1 Tim. 6:12).
  
  With the outward call, the gospel is preached and a call to salvation is extended to everyone who hears the message. God is serious about offering Christ to all hearers. …All men without distinction are invited to come and drink freely of the water of life in Christ Jesus (Isa. 55:1-7; John 4:14). Forgiveness and salvation are promised to all who repent and believe (2 Thess. 2:14; Rom. 10:15).  

• From Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray:

  We may properly speak of a call which is not in itself effectual. The is often spoken of as the universal call of the gospel. The overtures of grace in the gospel addressed to all men without distinction are very real and we must maintain that doctrine with all it’s implications for God’s grace, on the one hand, and for man’s responsibility and privilege, on the other. It is not improper to refer to that universal overture as a universal call.

Learn more:

1. Wayne Grudem: The Gospel Call and Effective Calling
2. Dr. John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan: Effectual Calling and the Free Offer of the Gospel
3. Colin Maxwell: A list of quotes on the free offer of the gospel.
4. Wilhelmus a Brakel: The External and Internal Call
5. John Bonar: The Universal Calls of the Gospel
6. Wayne Grudem: The Gospel Call and Effective Calling (mp3)

Related terms:

• effective call
• gospel

Filed under Salvation.

1 From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.