Assurance – Grace Evangelical Society

Assured of the Promises

July 20, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, Doubt, promises

I was talking to a Presbyterian gentleman—a fellow admirer of Gordon Clark and John Robbins—about how Calvinists understood the nature of faith. When I asked his opinion as to whether they thought that assurance was of the essence of saving faith, he said they clearly did. “After all, when Jesus promised, ‘I go and prepare

Assurance and a Past Experience

June 24, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - altar calls, Assurance, Eternal Security, John 20:31, John 6:35

Sometime short questions powerfully capture the problem many people face. This question in my email, from someone we will call David, is a perfect example: Dear Bob: When I was in my teens, I think, or a little younger, I went forward in an invitation. I do not remember quite what happened there. I went

Why Holiness Churches Lack Assurance

March 10, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, holiness, lutheran, Lyle Lange

If you’re in a Pentecostal or Holiness church, or if you’ve recently come out of one, you probably struggle with assurance of salvation. Why? Lyle Lange, a Lutheran theologian, explains: The “holiness bodies” (such as Pentecostal, Church of the Nazarene, Church of God) look to special manifestations of the Spirit’s work in their lives to

Sin-Based Assurance?

February 17, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance

“I used to have a struggle with sin, but not anymore,” the man said. We were talking about assurance. He was explaining that his past struggles with addictive substances had caused him to doubt his salvation. How could he be saved if he was getting drunk all the time? But since he had overcome drunkenness,

Look Only at the Lord (Matthew 14:30)

January 27, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, Watchman Nee

I have a devotional by Watchman Nee called The Lord Is My Portion. In the reading for January 22nd, Nee meditates on Matt 14:30, which reads: But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Nee makes this comment: In walking

Evangelical Leaders Who Deny Certainty of Salvation

October 25, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - absolute certainty, Assurance, Eternal Security, Evangelical leaders who deny the possibility of certainty, Perseverance

Dr. John Niemelä called today and asked me if I had a list of quotes from Evangelicals who deny absolute assurance. Well, I didn’t have the list, but I did have many such quotes. So, I’ve pulled them together for this blog. Robert Peterson: Protestants do not claim the ‘absolute’ certainty that Rome rejects. The

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

How Do You Know You’re Trusting Jesus to Save You?

August 28, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance, questions

Question How do I know that I am trusting in Jesus to save me? I am worried if I was to die, I’d find out that I was believing something else. I guess I get a bit confused because I was raised believing that if someone is truly saved they will have a changed life,

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.

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