assurance is of the essence of saving faith

What Did Calvin Mean by Assurance Is of the Essence of Saving Faith?

June 25, 2025 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, assurance is of the essence of saving faith, Calvinism, Eternal Security, Eternal security and evangelism

A friend, HB, sent an exchange he had with someone online about Calvin’s famous saying. Here is what HB’s interlocutor wrote: “Assurance is of the essence” for the Reformers meant knowing that Jesus died “for me.” It was not being assured of one’s own eternal security. Zane Hodges took that Reformation term and gave his

Six Questions Regarding Assurance of Salvation, Part 4

October 16, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance is of the essence of saving faith, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 1:6-9, Galatians 5:4, John 5:39-40

The fifth objection is that if “assurance is of the essence of saving faith” were true, then from AD 100 until 1517, almost no one was born again. This is not a Biblical argument. If we based our theology on this type of reasoning, then we certainly would not believe that only people who profess

Are You Cross Wise?

September 30, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, assurance is of the essence of saving faith, evangelism, the cross and evangelism

There has been confusion for twenty years now concerning what Zane Hodges wrote about the cross and resurrection. In 1999 at our national conference, he delivered two messages on how to lead a person to Christ. In those messages he said that believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose bodily

Assurance and Faith

August 2, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, assurance is of the essence of saving faith, Faith, saving faith

Beware of what you say. You may contradict yourself. Or, you might contradict your mentor. Here is a great question from a reader/listener: At the beginning of the July 4th episode of Grace in Focus Radio on Discussions on Christianity for the Emotionally Damaged, Bob stated that assurance is another name for faith or belief.

Is Lordship Salvation a Saving Message?

February 7, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance is of the essence of saving faith, Lordship Salvation

While working on my autobiography, I wrote about the early years of GES. During that time some of my board members believed that Lordship Salvation is a saving message. Don’t misunderstand me. They were against Lordship Salvation. They felt it was false teaching. However, they believed that Lordship Salvation was a problem for sanctification, not

Has My Evangelistic Message Changed?

September 18, 2018 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - assurance is of the essence of saving faith, The finished work of Christ, what we believe in Jesus for

One of the dangers of writing articles and books for over thirty years is that people notice if you contradict yourself. I plead guilty. I have not always been as clear as I wish I had been. Here is an email with a genuine concern about what I believe: I am fairly new to GES