BOB W: Now, Bob, we’re going through your dissertation on assurance of salvation. And you don’t need to worry that this is some kind of complicated subject. Actually, what Bob’s done is very simple and easy to follow. And today we’re going to talk about one of your chapters where you talk about how is assurance gained according to Calvinists, according to Arminians, and according to the focused Free Grace people. And we’re going to look at the different groups. 

So let’s begin. And of course, each of you is aware of what Bob’s going to be talking about here, because you’ve talked to Calvinists. You’ve talked to Arminians, and you know what they say about assurance. But I think it’s very helpful to review this. So how does a Calvinist say you gain, I’m putting assurance in air quotes here. You guys can’t see me, but I’ve got my fingers up in air quoting. And the reason I’m calling this, because in the last show we talked about the definition of assurance, according to Calvinists and Arminians, is not certainty. So how do they say you gain this, whatever assurance or full assurance is, how does a Calvinist do that? 

BOB V: Right. They don’t believe that a person can be 100% sure. Neither of them do. They don’t believe that. 

BOB W: Neither Calvinist or Arminian. 

BOB V: That’s correct. And so whenever they’re like Bob said, whenever they’re talking about assurance, they’re just talking about, in fact, Scott McKnight, who’s an Arminian theologian, he calls it a kind of assurance. 

BOB W: He does? A kind of assurance? 

BOB V: Yes, he calls it a kind of assurance. And he’s being honest. Because what he’s saying, don’t get me wrong. It’s not, it doesn’t mean that you’re 100% sure. And so on and so forth. He just writes that and says, you know, this is the way it is for us Arminians. 

BOB W: Well, you actually have a quote from Craig Keener from your dissertation, which you alluded to earlier, but I believe you found it. And he’s a famous New Testament scholar, right? 

BOB V: Oh, yes. Yeah. In fact, he’s written so many books. He’s, in fact, he’s like a genius of sorts when it comes to writing and so on and so forth. But both Calvinists and Arminians deny that a professing Christian is necessarily saved forever. 

BOB W: That’s what he said? 

BOB V: No, this is what I wrote and then I led into this quote. So Craig Keener, who’s Arminian acknowledges that idea that Calvinists and Arminians deny that a professing Christian is necessarily saved forever. And this is what he says. He says, “Calvinists and Arminians may disagree on whether a person was provisionally converted or not—”

BOB W: Provisionally converted. What does that mean? Probation? Salvation by probation. 

BOB V: Because they don’t know it and they can, both Calvinists and Arminians believe that they could end up being in the lake of fire. So he says, “Calvinists and Arminians may disagree on whether a person was provisionally converted or not, but they both agree that only those who persevere till the end will be saved. Both agree that a person who turns away from faith in Christ and never returns is not ultimately saved.” 

BOB W: Yeah, now what’s interesting about that, I think a, Craig Keener is right on the money in that quote and b, there seems to be a split among modern Calvinists. Some Calvinists still go with the old approach of if you fail to persevere, you prove you weren’t saved in the first place, but some newer Calvinists, sometimes they’re called the new Calvinists, they will say there’s initial salvation, which is by faith alone, and final salvation, which is by perseverance in faith and good works. And say final salvation is something you don’t have yet, you’ve got to run the race to get it. Schreiner and Caneday in The Race Set Before Us, say everlasting life is a prize to be won by continuing to run the Christian race. 

So some Calvinists essentially have adopted an Arminian position, they say, if you don’t persevere, you’re going to lose your salvation. You lose your initial salvation, but they say, but you’re really not losing it because initial salvation is not final salvation. But what’s funny is that’s really what Keener called, what did he call it, provisional conversion? So I mean, that’s kind of what some new Calvinists are saying, but how did the Calvinists, I think it’s slightly different with Arminians, how would a Calvinist say you gain whatever it is that they’re calling full assurance? 

BOB V: Well, obviously, they don’t believe in absolute assurance. And so they’re going to pull out what I call in the dissertation, a consistent Calvinist, which would be five-point Calvinists, right? These aren’t Calvinists like Eaton or Engelsma or Kendall. So they pull out the three-legged stool and they say, yes, salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. 

BOB W: Okay, three-legged stool is kind of a picture they use to remember that they say there are three legs to assurance. And this comes out of the Westminster Confession of Faith. 

BOB V: Correct. And so you have one leg, which is God’s word. 

BOB W: That’s the objective part. 

BOB V: Yes, but that’s not good enough. 

BOB W: That part by itself won’t give anybody any level of assurance. Because those promises aren’t to anybody. They’re specifically to the elect. They’re specifically the people that Christ died for. And Christ didn’t die for everybody. Now, this is according to Calvinism, this is obviously wrong. And they believe that only a small percentage of people are able to be born again and will be born again. And so that’s where this whole thing, the objective promises are just one little piece. 

BOB W: They believe that only a small percentage of people are able to be born again and will be born again. The objective promises are just one little piece. 

BOB V: So they have that as one of the legs on this stool that’s necessary for assurance. But then they add, and here’s where it goes awry, they add the fruit of the spirit. 

BOB W: That’s subjective.  And which often is looked at as the works that the Holy Spirit does in and through us. 

BOB V: Right. And then finally, you have the subjective witness of the spirit, Romans 8:16. And it’s horribly misused that verse. 

BOB W: So they say you’re looking at your works and you’re looking at your feelings and you’re looking at the objective promises. Of course, your works are not perfect and your feelings fluctuate. And so as a result, doesn’t this lead to—

BOB V: Doubt.

BOB W: Non-assurance? 

BOB V: Yes. And now again, they try to assure themselves, quote unquote, that look, I’m progressing. But they’re trying to answer the unanswerable question. Have I done enough good deeds? Have I loved my neighbor enough that it’ll merit God giving me everlasting life? So it’s a works salvation. I mean, Catholics, Calvinists, and Arminians are all in the same boat in the sense that none of them believe that a person can have absolute assurance in the here and now that they’ll be with God forever. 

BOB W: So essentially, even though they say they believe John 3:16, essentially, they are distorting the meaning of John 3:16 to fit their theology and they’re rejecting what Jesus said. 

BOB V: Yes, because again, they’re not really going on the basis of Scripture. They’re making an amalgam of the Bible, misunderstood. And then good deeds, the fruit of the Spirit, and then this mysterious nebulous inner witness that who knows how you’re going to determine that it’s valid. You can’t. 

BOB W: Yeah. You know, R. T. Kendall talked about the Puritan divines, the leaders of the Puritan branch. And he said, almost to a man as they were on their deathbeds, they were despairing that they were going to hell. And the reason why is as they looked over their lives, they say, I don’t see the kind of works that I would expect to see in the life of a truly regenerate person. 

And of course, here’s the problem, Bob. Instead of looking to Jesus and His promise that He has promised us, 1 John 2:25, for my assurance, instead I look to myself and I look to my works, and I look to my feelings, and guess what? I am not trustworthy. Jesus is trustworthy. Jesus is true. Jesus is infallible. I am fallible. He’s infallible, but I am fallible. And so as a result, if I don’t have my assurance solely on the objective promises of the Bible, well, then I’m not having it at all. 

I remember I spoke at a meeting of the, I think it’s called the FEBC. It’s a people who came over from Germany and Russia to the northern states and also to Canada. And I was speaking there, it was a guy named Ernie Taves. He was working in these Gemeinde churches, which is, I think Gemeinde means fellowship or something in low German. He talked about, there was a man in his mid 80s who was in hospice care, and he was going to this person and he was talking to them about the promise of everlasting life. And the guy kept saying, yeah, but I don’t see the kind of works in my life that I expect to see and woe is me, I’m on my way to hell. And Ernie kept telling him, no, no, it’s just believing in Jesus. And he said, it’s so hard to get through to him because he’s got a lifetime of tradition that’s blinding him. 

That’s not just true of Catholics, you know, people used to think in the early 70s, we were all concerned about Roman Catholics. Well, today people aren’t concerned about Roman Catholics because the theology of most Protestants is essentially Catholic. You know, we were concerned about Arminians and we were concerned about all the Protestants who didn’t have assurance of their salvation. 

But now it’s changed so much. All of you, as you have opportunities to share your faith, make sure you tell them about the promise He has promised us, everlasting life. I think it’s important that we emphasize to people, according to John 3:16, if you believe in him, you will never perish, but you have everlasting life. 

Now, we haven’t really gotten into the Free Grace position, so I guess in the next episode, okay, if the wrong way is by looking at our works and looking at our feelings, then what’s the right way? Well, also, we haven’t really discussed the Arminian approach, but it is pretty much the same, isn’t it? 

BOB V: When all is said and done, they’re agreed that no one can have absolute assurance. It’s a kind of assurance, but it’s not biblical assurance. 

BOB W: Well, thank you for tuning in and remember, keep grace in focus.

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On our next episode: we continue with how assurance is gained, part two. Please join us, and until then, keep grace in focus.