I received a phone call from a very distressed believer the other day. He was having doubts about his salvation. He went to his pastor to discuss this. His pastor told him that one of the hallmarks of being a Christian was that we have absolute assurance of our salvation. He went on to tell him that if he did not have assurance, then this shows that he may not really be saved.
I disagree. In fact, I think that it is healthy, necessary, and biblical for a Christian to question the validity of their faith.
Let me get something straight (hang with me here). From a theological standpoint, I believe very strongly that the primary or immediate cause of true faith in Jesus Christ is God’s mercy that opens hearts to believe. This mercy is grounded in God’s eternal, individual, and unconditional election, not piety or faith. Yet from a human standpoint we must recognize that there are secondary, mediate, or instrumental causes of faith. These are those that God uses to bring about His eternal decree. Among the secondary causes that God uses to bring people to faith are the teachings of faithful parents, personal experience, emotional viability, intellectual conviction based in honest critical thinking and investigation, and personal faith itself.
Putting these two together, my conviction is that God is the primary cause of faith while our will is the secondary cause of faith. If the primary cause is effective and efficient, than the secondary cause is assured. In other words, if God has elected an individual to salvation then this election will work itself out in the life of the individual through the secondary means, whatever form they may take (John 6:37). On the other hand, if evidence of a secondary cause is present, this does not necessarily mean that the primary cause is guaranteed to be behind it. Some people may make a profession of faith, a secondary cause, but not possess true faith because God’s electing decree, the primary cause, is not behind it.
This is illustrated in the parable of the soils (Matt 13:18-23). Of the four types of soil (the human heart) that the seed (God’s word) fell upon, three responded. Two of those that responded eventually died (renounced their belief). Only one took root and bore the fruit of salvation. The two that responded and died were those that displayed evidence of the secondary cause (faith), but showed that this faith was not based on the primary cause (God’s eternal election).
There is a healthy tension that exists with regards to our belief.
This tension exists because you and I—believers in Christ—don’t know with absolute certainty what kind of soil is producing our profession of faith. We may have the evidence of the secondary causes, but we are not certain whether or not this evidence is based in the primary cause. The fact is that there are people today who think that they are secure, but their faith is ill-founded.
Christ’s words concerning this as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23 are important (and terrifying).
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven– only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’
It is interesting to note that these people who come to Christ “on that day” truly believe that they are among those that followed Him. They believe that they are Christians. Yet despite their personal opinion concerning their spiritual status, Christ proclaims “I never knew you.” They were among those whose faith was ill-founded. They evidenced the secondary causes of faith, but, as Christ explains, they were never among God’s elect.
There is a fearful tension that exists with regards to our belief.
This is not an easy blog to write. As a matter of fact, I would rather not write it. Why? Because it would seem more expedient to tell everyone “Everything is alright. As long as you profess Christ, I am sure you are ok.” But I don’t know who is “ok.” All I know is that there are people who think they are “ok” and they are not.
Paul’s words to the Philippians add to the tension.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (2:12-13; emphasis mine)
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” But I thought that a key concern of discipleship was to make people assured of their salvation, not encourage fear or trembling concerning it.
The tension becomes real when we recognize that God does want us to be sure of our salvation, but only through a wrestling with the possibility that we don’t have it.
John writes to his readers:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13; emphasis mine)
Taken out of context, these verses might make us think that God values salvation assurance above all else. Yet John’s words contribute to the tension of our assurance. He writes many things that should cause us to examine the validity of our belief.
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:15-17)
Have you ever neglected to provide for someone in need? If so, according to John, God’s love may not abide in you.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)
Do you love? If not, John would not encourage you to be sure of your eternal life.
No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 3:6-9; emphasis mine)
According to John, one can be assured of eternal life if God’s seed abides in them. But if there is evidence (i.e. lack of love or abiding sin) that God’s seed does not abide in them, should they be assured? Will they not be among those who said “Lord, lord . . .”? I don’t know about you, but for me my sin, my neglect of others, and my lack of love, creates a tension in my assurance.
There is a biblically encouraged tension that exists with regards to our belief.
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1; emphasis mine)
Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12; emphasis mine)
Remember, there were two types of soil that drifted away, never having true belief.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7; emphasis mine)
Doesn’t this presuppose the possibility of not overcoming? Doesn’t this evidence that there will be those who give up?
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5; emphasis mine)
But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house– whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. (Hebrews 3:6; emphasis mine)
In the last decade of ministry, I have been in contact with more than my share of those who have “walked away” from the faith. Many who were professing believers—many evangelicals—sharing same faith as myself have since left their convictions behind, often adopting new and opposing convictions. In our postmodern world today, we are finding out that our “Christian culture” is not quit as Christian as we once thought.
In the church, we attempt to secure our ranks, sounding the alarm concerning this epidemic of apostasy. We take surveys in order to have a census of how many people are still professing Christians. Our hope is that it stays in the majority. We don’t want to lose any more. I really don’t either.
Yet at the same time, it would seem that we have made our own bed and we don’t like the way it feels. (I am now speaking primarily to Evangelicals.) We have attempted for so long to make sure that everyone who professed Christ was assured that their salvation was secure, that we have lost the biblical principle—the biblical mandate—to interrogate our own faith. We simply have existed under the assumption that if the evidence exists for the secondary cause (professed faith), the primary cause (true faith) must be present. Remember, there were three soils that believed, and only one that truly believed.
My purpose is not necessarily to encourage a perpetual state of insecurity about people’s status before God. I do believe that we can be assured of our salvation. But it does not have to do with whether or not you said the sinners prayer, walked and isle, or were baptized in the past. It has everything to do with whether or not you are enduring in your faith in the present. Do you trust Christ now? Do you know Him today? Are you still broken about your sinfulness? Will your faith endure?
I would rather people hold their assurance in relative tension and have eternal life than to lead someone to a false assurance in an ill-founded faith. While I don’t believe that one can lose their salvation, I do believe that people can be falsely assured of salvation that they never possessed. There is a healthy tension that exists with regards to our assurance. I am not asking people to question whether or not truth faith saves, but to question whether or not they have true faith.
