c. The Assurance That Is Not Involved in Faith
will also know that he believes, and will be ready to affirm that he believes, even though he should at times be prompted to add the prayer, "help thou mine unbelief." This does not mean, however, that he will always be clearly aware of the security, the safety, and the joy that is involved in this assurance. c. The Assurance That Is Not Involved in Faith
But though there is an assurance that is of the essence of faith, it cannot be said that all assurance of salvation is necessarily involved in faith. Faith terminates on the promises of God and in the last analysis on Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners. It says: God promises to pardon the penitent sinner, to adopt him as his son, and to make him an heir of everlasting life; I embrace those promises, I appropriate them and rest on them for time and eternity. This is an assurance that is based directly on what is revealed in the Word of God. But now the believer can make his own faith or his spiritual condition in general the object of his contemplation or reflection, in order to determine the genuineness of his faith, the soundness of his spiritual state, the validity of his birthright, and the unimpeachable character of his claim to the inheritance of the saints. These things are not revealed in the word of God, and therefore cannot be the proper objects of faith. Neither can the assurance respecting them, which is obtained by reflection, be considered as an assurance that is of the essence of faith.
They who deny that assurance is necessarily involved in faith, and yet hold that believers can obtain the full assurance of salvation, generally claim that this certitude can only result from a logical conclusion from what is technically called "the syllogism of faith," of which the first premise is furnished by Scripture and the second by the regenerated consciousness. The Bible says that whosoever truly believeth is saved; and the Christian confesses that he is conscious of believing with a saving faith, and then draws the conclusion that he is therefore saved. While they who maintain that there is an assurance that is of the essence of faith, are all agreed that this
method of seeking assurance is also both Scriptural and Reformed, they do not all place the same estimate on it. Some consider it to be of secondary importance, while others regard it as the only way in which the full assurance of faith can be obtained.
It is a method that is recognized by our Confessional Standards. The Heidelberg Catechism asks: "Since, then, we are redeemed from our misery by grace through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we do good works?" And the answer is in part: "… that we ourselves may be assured of our faith by the fruits thereof." And the Canons of Dort, after asserting that the assurance of salvation springs from faith in God's promises, and from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, also adds: "… and, lastly, from a serious and holy desire to preserve a good conscience and to perform good works." This is also in harmony with the assertion of the Westminster Confession that the assurance of faith is founded on the promises of God, and on "the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made." This method of seeking assurance is not merely Reformed, but also thoroughly Scriptural. The principle of it is expressed by Jesus, when he says in warning against false prophets: "By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." Matt. 7:16, 17. John urged his readers to love the brethren with an unfeigned love, and declares:
"Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him." 1 John 3:18, 19. That this method is not quite as simple as it may seem, nor its results as conclusive as might be desirable, will appear in the next chapter. In this connection it is only necessary to call attention to the fact that the assurance so obtained is not of the essence of faith. Neither can we properly consider it as a fruit of the reflex action of faith, though it is often so called. It does not result from an operation of faith at all, but is simply a rational deduction from data supplied by Scripture and by the Christian consciousness.