Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation - Chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith
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;349 which hope of theirs shall perish:350 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 a state of grace,351 and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God: which hope shall never make them ashamed.352
- 349. Job 8:13,14.
- Micah 3:11.
- Deuteronomy 29:19.
- John 8:41.
- 350. Matthew 7:22,23.
- 351. 1 John 2:3.
- 1 John 3:14,18,19,21,24.
- 1 John 5:13.
- 352. Romans 5:2,5.
This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope;353 but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation,354 the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made,355 the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God;356 which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.357
- 353. Hebrews 6:11,19.
- 354. Hebrews 6:17,18.
- 355. 2 Peter 1:4,5,10,11.
- 1 John 2:3.
- 1 John 3:14.
- 2 Corinthians 1:12.
- 356. Romans 8:15,16.
- 357. Ephesians 1:13,14.
- Ephesians 4:30.
- 2 Corinthians 1:21.
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:358 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.359 And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure;360 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,361 the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from inclining men to looseness.362
- 358. 1 John 5:13.
- Isaiah 50:10.
- Mark 9:24.
- Psalms 88.
- Psalms 77:1-12.
- 359. 1 Corinthians 2:12.
- 1 John 4:13.
- Hebrews 6:11,12.
- Ephesians 3:17-19.
- 360. 2 Peter 1:10.
- 361. Romans 5:1,2,5.
- Romans 14:17.
- Romans 15:13.
- Ephesians 1:3,4.
- Psalms 4:6,7.
- Psalms 119:32.
- 362. 1 John 2:1,2.
- Romans 6:1,2.
- Titus 2:11,12,14.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1.
- Romans 8:1,12.
- 1 John 3:2,3.
- Psalms 130:4.
- 1 John 1:6,7.
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:363 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,364 and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.365
- 363. Song of Solomon 5:2,3,6.
- Psalms 51:8,12,14.
- Ephesians 4:30,31.
- Psalms 77:1-10.
- Matthew 26:69-72.
- 364. 1 John 3:9.
- Luke 22:32.
- Job 13:15.
- Psalms 73:15.
- Psalms 51:8,12.
- 365. Micah 7:7-9.
- Jeremiah 32:40.
- Isaiah 54:7-10.
- Psalms 22:1.
- Psalms 88.