Assurance | Grace Evangelical Society

Assurance Is the Essence of Saving Faith

July 16, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, Assurance of the essence of saving faith, Berkhof’s view of saving faith, Eternal Security

We’ve written on this before. See here for a 1997 article by Zane Hodges. And here is a 2017 article by Shawn Lazar. Here is a 2008 article by me. Here is my recent review of a booklet which argues that assurance is of the essence. So why look at this issue again? Today I ran across a quote from Louis Berkhof, the premier Reformed theologian, concerning this issue.

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How Wrong Interpretation Can Destroy Assurance

June 12, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, James 2:14-26, legalism, Lordship Salvation

I thought this was a good question about James 2: Have you seen any articles/books expand on the fact that the traditional interpretation of James 2:14-26 (saving faith has works, and non-saving faith doesn’t have works) leads to legalism and lack of assurance of salvation? Recently I read a Free Grace book (can’t remember which one)

Romans and Perseverance of the Saints

May 31, 2019 by Kenneth Yates in Blog - Assurance, Perseverance, Sanctification

A reader recently wrote GES asking for comments on an article found online. The article deals with Romans 5-8. Click here for the article. In Romans 5-8, Paul deals with the Christian life. The main point of the article is that in these chapters Paul is saying that a productive Christian life is inevitable in the life of

Assurance and Ongoing Faith

May 23, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, Faith

Shawn Lazar, Ken Yates, and I received the following question via email: I read the affirmations of faith on the website (https://faithalone.org/beliefs) and saw a line that seems out of sort with what I have heard from GES teaching: “That is, as long as a person believes in Jesus for everlasting life, he knows he has

The Difference Between Backsliding and Apostasy

May 21, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - apostasy, Assurance, Backsliding, Hebrews 6:4-8

Free Grace people are united in saying that born again people are not immune to backsliding. Even Lordship Salvation people agree, though they would say that backsliding can’t last too long (but they don’t know how long is too long). But Free Grace people are not quite united on the question of apostasy. Do born again people

Asa Mahan’s Assurance of Salvation

May 14, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Asa Mahan, Assurance

Asa Mahan (1799-1889) was an Arminian philosopher and theologian. He was Presbyterian, but at a time when many Presbyterians were becoming Arminian (following the so-called “New Haven Theology”). Mahan was also the first president of Oberlin College (when it was a revivalist school and not the uber-liberal place it is today). Mahan was also co-worker with

Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)

May 9, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, Ephesians 2:10, good works, Perseverance

There is a great effort by many to soften the meaning of Eph 2:8-9 by suggesting that verse 10 means that while works are not the means of salvation, they are the necessary result of it. For example, Francis Foulkes writes, “But probably it is the whole course of life that is on view here. The nature and character of the works and

No Murderer Has Eternal Life Abiding in Him (1 John 3:15)

March 19, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 3:15, Abiding, Assurance, Fellowship, Perseverance, Transformation

A reader who likes our magazine wrote, asking us to take him off our subscription list: It is with sadness I ask you to remove me from your mailing list. I truly love your materials. But 1 John is fairly clear that there has to be transformation in your life or eternal life simply doesn’t abide

Saving Faith Debated in Scotland in 1720

March 12, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, Marrow Men, Marrow of Modern Divinity, Marrow Theology

People often ask who believed in Free Grace before us? There are hints here and there through history. One source of Free Grace type beliefs came from the Marrow Controversy in Scotland in the 18th century. William VanDoodewaard wrote his doctoral dissertation about the Marrow Controversy and published it as The Marrow Controversy and Seceder Tradition: Marrow Theology in the Associate Presbytery and Associate Synod Secession Churches of Scotland

I Discovered Another Calvinist Who Conceded He’s Not Sure

March 8, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Assurance, Doubt, John Piper, Perseverance, R. C. Sproul, Uncertainty

Some of you may have read the article by Dr. R. C. Sproul which he published back in 1989 in Tabletalk. In it he said that he was uncertain about his salvation, but that he learned the lesson that the Apostle Peter learned as well: “being uncomfortable with Jesus [is] better than any other option.” The Ligonier.org website only has magazine articles