Chapter Two – True and False Assurance
The starting point in the pursuit of full assurance is self-examination.
2Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"
The Bible clearly calls upon us to question ourselves -- to examine ourselves and determine whether we are saved and have Scriptural reasons for this assurance. The Bible tells us to examine ourselves, not so that we who are saved would begin to doubt; but for the following two reasons:
1) That on the one hand those who are not saved would not be deceived by a false assurance.
2) That those are truly saved would come to have a firm and biblical assurance of it.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 18 is titled, “Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation.” There are four paragraphs or sections in this chapter. Dr. Joel Beeke, in his excellent book The Quest for Full Assurance, says “Its four brief paragraphs include the following themes: 1) The possibility of assurance, 2) The foundation of assurance, 3) The cultivation of assurance, and
4) The renewal of assurance.”
Let's look now at chapter 18 section one of the Confession, which has to do with the possibility of assurance:
I. Hypocrites and other unregenerate men may deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of their being in God's favor and about their being saved. Their presumptions will die with them. However, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, who honestly love him, and try to walk in good conscience before him, may in this life be assured with certainty that they are in the state of grace. They may also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and they will never be ashamed of that hope.
There is a false assurance and on the other hand, a true assurance of salvation. There are those who think they are saved who are not. They are deceived about the state of their soul.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"
Ultimately, only God knows those who are saved. 2Timothy 2:19 says, "The Lord knows those who are his." We can be deceived about our own salvation and about the salvation of others, but the Lord is not deceived. Hebrews 4:13 declares that, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
The confession says that such persons have "false hopes and carnal presumptions of their being in God's favor and about their being saved. Their presumptions will die with them."
The natural man is a religious man. He wants to go to heaven, but has no right or claim to heaven. He flatters himself that he is good enough to be accepted by God. Man naturally has a spirit of self-righteousness and self-confidence.
There are those who say they have faith in Christ, and yet there is no fruit and evidence of that faith. This is what the Bible calls “dead faith.” James 1:22 says, “But become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 2:20 says, “But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
Then there are some who have outward works that appear to be good, but their trust is in the works and not in Christ for salvation.
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:21-23)
Outward works, even done in the name of Christ, may be part of a false profession of faith. Such persons need to repent of their self-righteousness and trust in Christ alone and come to know Him as their Savior and Lord.
How can we distinguish true from false assurance? A.A. Hodge gives four tests that enable us to distinguish true from false assurance:
1) True assurance produces real humility; false assurance begets spiritual pride. (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 6:14.)
2) The true leads to increased diligence in the practice of holiness; the false leads to sloth and self–indulgence. (Ps. 51:12,13,19.)
3) The true leads to candid self–examination and to a desire to be searched and corrected by God; the false leads to a disposition to be satisfied with appearance and to avoid accurate investigation. (Ps. 139:23,24.)
4) The true leads to constant aspirations after more intimate fellowship with God. (1 John 3:2,3.)[1]
I like what G.I. Williamson said, “It is not the strength of one's conviction which proves the validity of his assurance but the character of one's conviction.”[2]
Professor Sinclair Ferguson summarizes the confession's concern about false assurance well. He said:
It is… terribly possible for someone to have a kind of faith and assurance that is little more than self-confidence, born out of an intellectual conviction rather than out of a helpless casting of one's sinful self upon a willing Savior. But so long as there is a vestige of reliance on my righteousness, my service, my knowledge of Scripture, -- so long as I rely on my faith rather than on Christ's work alone -- so long am I the possessor of a false and temporal assurance. The sands of time are littered with the strewn wreckage of men and women who have made shipwreck of their souls because they went forward with a false assurance, not having really laid the foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is a tremendous danger.[3]
It is interesting that Ferguson said that they “went forward” with a false assurance. I am convinced that countless thousands of people in the Bible Belt think they are saved because they “went forward” at some meeting! Un-biblical methods of evangelism inevitably lead to much false assurance of salvation.
Look now again at what the last half of section one of the Confession said:
"…those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, who honestly love him, and try to walk in good conscience before him, may in this life be assured with certainty that they are in the state of grace."
There is such a thing as true assurance of salvation. Genuine faith in the Lord Jesus is the foundation of such assurance. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1John 5:13)
Sincere love for Christ is also part of that equation. Notice that the confession did not say perfect love for Christ, but sincere love -- i.e. not hypocritical.
Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself (assure him?) to him.” (John 14:21)
Walking in good conscience before God is part of our assurance. A person who goes to God daily, confessing and forsaking sin, will build up his or her assurance.
Lastly, the confession says, “They may also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and they will never be ashamed of that hope.” Assurance is a subset of hope, joy and peace. Romans 14:17 reminds us that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
While it is possible to be deceived about one’s salvation, the Bible encourages us to seek and find a full assurance of faith.
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