To Be Assured Of One'S Salvation Through Faith In Jesus Christ Is Not At All Arrogance Or Presumption
of Jesus Christ who is, alone, our perfect and entire righteousness.
But we speak thus with the Apostle, and we say that by faith alone we are justified, insomuch as it embraces Him who justifies us, Jesus Christ, to whom it unites and joins us. We are then made partakers of Him and an the benefits which He possesses. These, being imputed and gifted to us, are more than sufficient to make us acquitted and accounted righteous before God.
To be assured of one's salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is not at all arrogance or presumption
It is established that to be assured of one's salvation, through faith, is not only neither presumption nor arrogance, but, on the contrary, is the sole means of stripping oneself of all pride, to give all glory to God (Rom. 8:16, 38; Eph.
3:12; Heb. 10:22, 23; 1 John 4:13; 5:19; Rom. 3:27; 4:20; 1 Cor. 4:4; 9:26, 27). Because faith alone teaches us to go out of ourselves, and compels us, to earnestly acknowledge that in ourselves there is nothing but cause for complete damnation. Thus it sends us away to Jesus Christ, and it teaches us and assures us that we shall find salvation before God through His righteousness alone. Truly, all that is in Jesus Christ, that is to say, all the righteousness and perfection (in Him there was no sin and moreover He has fulfilled all the righteousness of the Law), is placed to our account and gifted to us as if it were our own, provided that we embrace Him by faith.
That is why St. Bernard said, "The testimony of our conscience is our glory: not the testimony which the deceived mind, deceiving its owner, gives from itself to the vain-glorious Pharisee (Luke 18:11, 12); this testimony is not true. But the testimony which the Holy Spirit gives to our spirit is true." Faith finds in Jesus Christ all that is necessary for salvation.
This requires to be expounded in detail, so that one may know if, through faith, we take hold of a remedy sufficient to assure us fully of life eternal; according to what is written, "The just shall live by faith". (Hab. 2:4; Rom.
1:16, 17; Gal. 3:11). We say therefore that everything which obstructs man from communion with God, who is perfectly righteous and good, lies in three points. But, in the face of each of them, we find the remedy, not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ and all that He has, provided that we are united and joined to Him in communion of all benefits (John 17:9-11, 20-26).
That is why the Church, that is to say, the assembly of believers, is called the