ANNOUNCER: You are listening to Grace in Focus, the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. On this episode, we are wrapping up a short series that we’ve done on the assurance of salvation. It will be a summary and review program, so we are glad that you’re with us. You can find out more about the Grace Evangelical Society at our website, faithalone.org. We have a free magazine that’s published six times a year, find out about your free subscription at faithalone.org. 

Now with today’s summary discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Bob Vacendak. 

BOB W: Pastor Bob Vacendak and I are going to be wrapping up in reviewing what we’ve said about assurance being of the essence of saving faith, which was Bob’s doctoral dissertation at Liberty University. So Bob, I’ve got five major points that we’ve been talking about and I thought we could briefly take a minute or two on each one. So how about let’s begin with the history of assurance of salvation from the early centuries to, let’s say at least until 1800, or until the modern time. 

BOB V: Well, if we were to go all the way back to the first century, it’s obvious that the apostles preached a message of absolute assurance. And the Lord Jesus as well, Lord Jesus, the apostles, but suddenly the early church fathers, just like the protégés of Martin Luther and Calvin did during the Reformation, they strayed from what their mentors had taught them, went their own direction. Well, the same thing happened with the early church fathers and suddenly you have an entire world that’s kind of moping around in the darkness other than, the people that do, that have held strongly to the New Testament teaching. 

BOB W: Right. And we pointed out there always been people who got it, but we don’t have their writings. And it wasn’t until the Reformation that we got people’s writings that said assurance is of the essence of saving faith. We talked about Luther and Calvin held that that, their followers departed, but some of them didn’t. Some of them were clear. And there was the Marrow of modern divinity and the Marrow controversy and Scotland and among Scottish Calvinists. And we talked about John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren and Robert Sandeman and the Sandemanians. 

And so assurance has been a flashpoint throughout all of church history. And there always been people who got it, but it’s nice that we live in a day and age when there is lots of writing available to show what assurance is and that assurance is of the essence of saving faith. I know we’re both very thankful for the influence of Zane Hodges in our lives. That was powerful. 

BOB V: Yeah. And you know what, Bob? I think that it’s important to point out that this belief that we have in assurance being a necessary part of saving faith, it’s not a novel teaching. It’s not something that’s new-fangled that’s only been out for 50 years. In fact, it’s interesting that if we go back all the way to the sixth century that Pope Gregory is fighting against assurance. So if nobody knew about assurance, then why would he even have to bring it up? 

BOB W: That’s a great point. All right. Second major issue we talked about is what is assurance? There’s a difference between what most people in Christianity, I’ll put air quotes around Christians, what most Christians say assurance is and what the Bible says assurance is or what focused Free Grace people say that assurance is. So what would most Christians, how would they define assurance of salvation? 

BOB V: Well, they would define it as something they’re striving after, that they wish that they could know it completely, but they really can’t know it because their pastors, their teachers, they tell them that you could only know that at, like William Perkins said, at the last gasp of breath. 

BOB W: So basically what they’re wanting to know is that they have everlasting life, that they are secure forever. And they’re saying you can’t, but they do say you can have assurance, right? So how do they define assurance? If assurance isn’t, I know, I’m certain what is it according to most Christians? 

BOB V: Well, they’re going to view it as like Scot McNight as a kind of assurance. It’s not 100% certainty. It’s not two plus two equals four, mathematical certainty. It’s not anything like that. It’s just getting a hunch, getting a hope that you’re probably going to get into the kingdom. If you keep on keeping on. 

BOB W: Or you might, but it’s some degree of confidence, this less than certainty. It’s kind of like, let’s say that we’re having one of these power ball lotteries, you choose to buy, let’s say, 100 million tickets. And let’s say there’s a billion tickets. Well, you would have assurance that you’re going to win because you got one chance in 10. But let’s say you got 500 million tickets. Now you got a 50/50 shot. That might be what most people would call full assurance or maybe you got 800 million tickets. So now you’re eight out of the 10, but whatever it is, you’re not certain and besides, according to most people in Christianity, this would fluctuate because after you have an argument with your spouse, now your assurance has dropped south of 50%. And when things aren’t going well, you know, you get in an argument or something. 

ANNOUNCER: The Grace Evangelical Society’s recently published Old Testament Commentary, Volume One is now available. Find it at faithalone.org/store. It’s where you can also find Bob Wilkin’s latest book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege, as well as many other titles by Grace Evangelical Society authors. Please come by and have a look today. You’ll find the GES store at our website, faithalone.org. That’s faithalone.org/store. Now back to today’s topic.

BOB W: Okay, now what would the Bible say or what does Free Grace theology say about what assurance is? 

BOB V: Assurance, according to Scripture, according to Free Grace theology, is the certainty that you have eternal life because you believed in Jesus, His promise for everlasting life. It’s knowing that you’ll be with Him forever because you believe His promise and His promise is sure. 

BOB W: So it’s know so, not hope so. It’s not maybe I’ll make it. Maybe I won’t. It’s not he loves me, he loves me not. You hope you end your life on the petal that says he loves me. No, it’s I know he loves me. I know I have everlasting life. I know I’m secure. Okay, third is how do we gain assurance according to most people in Christianity? What would most people say is the basis of assurance? 

BOB V: Well, the opposite of Ephesians 2:8-9. 

BOB W: That’s good. 

BOB V: They’re going to say that it’s by your good deeds. On the three-legged stool, that’s one of the three legs and the other one is the supposed witness of the Spirit to our Spirit, which is not what the Bible says. 

BOB W: No, it’s with. 

BOB V: Yeah, with. And even that that would be equivalent to the Mormon burning in the bosom. It’s nebulous. 

BOB W: It’s a feeling and feelings fluctuate. Now, they would say, well, there are some objective promises, but you don’t know if they apply to you unless you have enough works and enough feelings. Therefore, the most you can hope for is to have what they call full assurance, which is— 

BOB V: Not uncertainty. And it’s just a tragedy that the Church has found itself in this disastrous place.

BOB W: Okay. Now, according to the Bible, how do we get assurance of our eternal destiny? 

BOB V: You get assurance of your eternal destiny by taking Jesus at His word. When a person sees the promise of Jesus, everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him has everlasting life. And I will raise Him up on the last day. So we take Jesus’s word at face value. And when He says, you will never perish, I can say, hallelujah. 

BOB W: Yeah. So it’s not at all about your works. No, it’s not at all about your feelings. It’s totally taking Jesus at His word. You know, one of the things I’ve liked in this series a lot, and I won’t forget this one, you mentioned in one of the early episodes, 1 John 2:25, “And this is the promise that He has promised us, everlasting life.” That is a great verse. It emphasizes the promise. The promise that He’s promised us is everlasting life. False teachers in the first century were denying that, false teachers today deny that. But if you want to have assurance, take Jesus at His word. And this leads to our next point, the second to last point, assurance in the Gospel of John, one of the ways to find Jesus’s teaching on assurance is go to the book where He talks about it, which is the Gospel of John. So what do we say about assurance in the Gospel of John? 

BOB V: Well, first of all, we remember that the entire gospel was written with the very purpose, the stated purpose of people believing in Jesus as the Messiah and having life in his name.

BOB W: John 20:31. 

BOB V: So the whole book revolves around how do we have life in His name, eternal life? In fact, every place the word life is used in the Gospel of John is referring to eternal life. And so basically what we’ve got here is the Gospel of John, over and over emphasizes the freeness of eternal life, the fact that those who put their faith in Jesus’s promise, they take Him at his word, you’ve got the giver, you’ve got the gift, you’ve got the Lord Jesus and you have content. He’s giving content as to how we can know that will be with Him forever. He’s not trying to hide it from us. 

BOB W: And the content, which is surprising to people in the Gospel of John is not you’re a sinner and you need forgiveness. The content in the Gospel of John is not, I’m going to die on the cross for your sins and I’m going to rise again, even though all those things are true and even though they are taught in the epistles and the Lord taught it elsewhere. But the truth is in the Gospel of John, the content is that we need to believe, one, two, in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, Messiah, for what He promises, everlasting life. That’s what you find in John 3:16, John 5:24, John 3:36, of course that’s the words of John the Baptist, John 11:25-27, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for everlasting life. That’s the content. 

And those other things that people often emphasize, the deity of Christ, the sinlessness of Christ, His death and the cross for our sins, His resurrection, that all of those tell us why the promise of life is true. 

BOB V: Right. And they’re the very things that would help us along to say, ah, here is why I should be putting my faith in Him. 

BOB W: But unfortunately, many people leave out the gift of everlasting life and talk about all the other things. And then you get the impression that I’ve got to persevere in order to get in. In fact, not just in oppression, it’s often said. 

Okay, finally, our last practical ramifications. This is life transforming if we take what we believe and we apply it, then this is going to motivate us to love God, to live for God, to live in light of the Judgment Seat of Christ, to want to hear Him say, well done, good and faithful servant. 

BOB V: Yeah, a person that does not know for sure that they have eternal life is going to struggle. 

BOB W: And when you are set free, you don’t need to keep on struggling. Now you can serve. One of the things you said in your dissertation is we can serve with joy. And with gratitude. Who of all people has more gratitude than those who know they have everlasting life and they’ll never lose it. 

BOB V: Assurance is the certainty that you have eternal life because you believed in Jesus, His promise for everlasting life.

BOB W: Well, thanks so much, Bob, this has been a great series and remember, let’s all keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode, evangelizing young children. We will see you then. And let’s keep grace in focus.