Doubter #1:
writes, "I would submit that we as Christians will doubt in our lives. It's a
result of sin. It's going to happen. However, we do have the assurance of our
salvation in Christ as you quoted in Heb 3. Also in Romans... "nothing can
separate us from the love of Christ"... what a comfort!"
My Response: - If you
REALLY BELIEVE that NOTHING can seperate you from the love of Christ, then you
will never doubt your salvation. You will be comforted at all times. Because you
will know that no matter how greviously you sin, Christ's blood is 100%
SUFFICIENT to atone for that sin.
Search the Scripture! The lost have no
knowledge in them -- faith is simply the knowledge of the facts of the Gospel --
and thus believers know at all times they are saved, for can someone have such a
simple thing as a belief of the truth, and not realise it? Of course not.
Let me how explain how this teaching gives believers full assurance of
salvation AT ALL TIMES.
First, if unbelievers are "darkened in the
INTELLECT" (Eph 4:18), then if you "believe" in your intellect "that Jesus is
the Christ" you must be "born of God" (1 Jn 5:1). And can a man believe the
Gospel, and even for a moment, doubt he is a believer of it?
Second, if
Satan has "blinded the THOUGHTS of the unbelieving" (2 Cor 4:4), then if you
have the "MIND of Christ" you have "known the Lord" (1 Cor 2:16). And can a
believer call God a liar in this promise? Or aren't those that doubt God's
promises, "not believing God", that is, unbelievers (1 Jn 5:10) ?
Third,
because unbelievers do "not know...the Righteous Father" (Jn 17:25) -- they
don't know God -- then if you believe the God who is "Just and Justifying"
believers by the righteousness of Christ by putting it "upon" them (Rom 3), God
assures you, that you are saved by the righteousness you believe in. And will a
believer ever deny God by doubting their salvation? Of course not, they have SET
TO THEIR SEAL THAT GOD IS TRUE. John 3:33. And if a believer knows God is true,
could they call him a liar when he says, "EVERYONE BELIEVING IS JUSTIFIED" (Acts
13) ? No, believers are "hold fast the beginning of the assurance firm to the
end" -- they have assurance at all times -- and "hold fast to the boldness and
rejoicing in the hope" (Heb 3) -- they are never without boldness and confidence
that Christ's righteousness is enough for them.
Forth, if animals have
more knowledge of their masters, than unbelievers do about God (Isa 1:3, Jer
8:7), then if you possess the knowledge that Christ was "made under the Law" and
is the "fulfilment of the Law for righteousness", you must be a believer.
If
unbelievers are simply "flesh" and their every thought is "evil all day" (Gen
6:5), then if you believe Christ "died according to the Scriptures" 1 Cor 15
(i.e. you believe he died for his people / the sheep only) then you believe the
Gospel and are saved (Mk 16:16). And the unregenerate are "NOT KNOWING GOD" (2
Thes 1:8), so if you believe that "by the obedience of One, many shall be
constituted righteous" (Rom 5:19) you have been converted to the knowledge of
the Just God and Savior.
Doubter #2 writes, "If a Christian is doubting the promises of God for grace
for salvation, they must take careful inventory of where they stand with God.
But I believe that Christians can doubt THEIR faith, in which case they need to
take a look at their definition of grace. Their doubt lies in a potential
deciept in their own faith and they lose sight of God's grace."
-
You're right about something. If somebody doubts their salvation they DO NOT
UNDERSTAND THE GRACE OF GOD.
You make another good point. If somebody
doubts their salvation, they ARE DOUBTING THEIR FAITH. They are UNCERTAIN about
whether or not they believe the truth. (Because if they were aware they believed
the truth, they would be assured of their salvation.) Somebody doubting their
salvation is AGNOSTIC about The Gospel. They're not sure if they believe it or
not. After all, if they ACTUALLY BELIEVED THE GOSPEL they would REALISE AND
THINK "I AM A BELIEVER".
Paul says to the Galatians, "not knowing God,
you served as slaves to the ones by nature not being gods. But now, knowing
God..." (Gal 4:8-9)
Isn't Paul saying that when the Galatians were lost,
they didn't know who God was? So they didn't have any knowledge of God in them,
did they?
And if the lost do not have the knowledge of God in them, then
shouldn't the knowledge of God be proof to a man that he is saved?
Piper
is wrong -- the lost cannot believe the promises of God, so belief in the
promises of God would be infallible proof to a man he is saved.
Doubter #3 wrote, "I believe we
are finite humans, and indeed it is still are nature to doubt. We are a new
creation, but Paul spoke clearly that we wrestle with the old man and sometimes
do according to the likeness of the flesh according to that old nature. So I ask
you this question: If we can do, according to the old man, that which is
appauling to God, sin, even when we are in Christ, could we not also doubt,
because of our sin, our standing before a Holy God?"
My Response: - Believers
ARE wretched, sinful, depraved, perverted, disgusting, vile, corrupted, fleshly,
disgusting, filthy SINNERS.
They can have NO ASSURANCE of salvation
BASED ON THEIR WORKS.
They have "NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH", and "GLORY
ONLY IN THE CROSS of Christ"..
My conclusion is that YES, believers ARE
wretched men. And they know this. So they always base the EVIDENCE of their
salvation in THEIR BELIEF IN THE GOSPEL. Believers NEVER look to their works as
proof they are saved. Their works go up and down. In fact, some days they sin so
greviously -- like David did -- that they will say with Paul "in my flesh is no
good thing".
Consider the fact that Hebrews 11 says it is BY FAITH
we know the Word of God created the worlds. That implies that those without
faith -- lost people -- don't even know the True God created the worlds. Now, if
they don't know that fact, surely it's not possible for them to have the
knowledge of the Gospel in them either.
Also Isaiah 45:20 says that
people who pray to a god that cannot save "know nothing" or "have no knowledge".
So the lost have no knowledge of God in them. Clearly, they cannot believe the
promises of God. So belief in the promises of God is infallible proof to a man
he is saved.
So, if you understand and believe in God's Law and
Gospel you must be regenerate (the Law teaches that God demands PERFECTION, and
condemns those without Christ's perfect righteousness. The Gospel says that
Christ IMPUTES the righteousness and ATONES for His sheep).
You can
imagine what a radical change of mind conversion must be, if the unconverted
have absolutely no idea who the True God is. Romans 10 says when a man is called
by God, His voice COMES FROM BEHIND the man and saying "this is the way". 2
Corinthians 4:6 says believers are as PASSIVE in perceiving the truth, as we are
in seeing the sun. It's up to God to manifest His authority in a man's
conscience and convert the man to the Gospel of Imputed Righteousness. Because
natural man is intellectually dead, and God must give him the understanding (1
John) and shine the light of Christ into his mind.
Now, ask yourself.
When God does convict a man for the first time of His existence, can the man
ever doubt he has been converted? Could a man go from complete darkness into the
light, and ever doubt he is in the light? It is possible to go from having NO
knowledge of God at one point, to KNOWING THE TRUTH, and not realise you have
been converted?
Therefore, believers have peace and joy IN THEIR
BELIEF (Rom 15:13). Since they believe at all times (John 10:5, Mt 24:24), the
belief proves to them at all times that they are believers.
Doubter #4 writes, "Quick question: do you believe
that once someone is saved he no longer sins? I just want to know where you're
coming from. It seems that your gospel leaves no room for God's grace after
conversion. As if once a person realizes that he cannot keep the whole law and
trusts in Christ for his substitutionary work on the cross for salvation, he now
must keep the law. Or is Romans 8:38-39 there for no reason?"
My Response: -
My GOSPEL is LEAVES PLENTLY OF ROOM for GOD'S GRACE. The Gospel I believe in
says that BELIEVERS NEED TO DO NOTHING TO SAVE THEMSELVES. And seriously, if you
actually believed that NOTHING is required of you and that Christ has FINISHED
IT ALL, then you would never doubt your salvation.
I have mentioned
before that I am no longer a Presbyterian. Now, I have full assurance of
salvation. I've realised that the unregenerate -- according to the Bible -- have
NO KNOWLEDGE of God, so my understanding of the truth proves to me I am
regenerate. "The fool says in his heart there is no God", but I believe in
Jehovah -- the Just God and Savior -- then I am not a fool, but regenerate.
Anyone who believes in the existence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a
BELIEVER and is justified by Christ's righteousness. See John 17. Simply knowing
the True God and Christ is everlasting life. We must DENY the unregenerate any
knowledge of God, and this means in order to answer the question "Am I saved?"
we simply think "Yes, I have the knowledge of the True God, therefore I am
saved." Only the good soil "understood" the Word (see the parable of the soils).
In other words, the other soils had no "root", that is understanding. The
difference between the unregenerate and the regenerate is UNDERSTANDING.
Isaiah 1:3 says that oxen know their master, but unregenerate Israel did
not know God. So the unregenerate have NO knowledge of God at all! Animals have
more knowledge of their masters, than the unregenerate do about God. By
implication, if we DO understand God's gospel -- that He imputes righteousness
to the elect and declares them righteous -- then we must be regenerate! We are
not unregenerate like the unbelievers (who are just FLESH, Genesis 6:3, and have
completely lost the image of God for "EVERY thought of their heart is evil
continually"). The unregenerate do not have God in their knowledge (Romans 1).
And this is why Jeremiah 31 says God HAS TO write His laws on a man's heart when
he is converted. Before conversion, a man does NOT have God's law on His heart
but "his conscience is seared as with a hot iron" and he "calls good evil and
evil good ... light darkness and darkness light". Unregenerate man is so
confused, he doesn't even know the difference between good and evil!
Doubter #5 writes "When a believer doubts,
it is not that he doubts the truth of the gospel. Rather, the believer, still
struggling with “doing what I do not want to do,” sees in himself imperfections
in increasing measure as he approaches Christ. Paul called himself “the chief of
sinners” by the end of his life. Since faith is manifested outwardly by the
things we do, it stands to reason that a believer who struggles (note: not
passively succumbs to nor actively pursues) with a sin would question his
salvation, based on his own actions, not a question of the verity of the Good
News."
My Response: - Paul struggled with his sins EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY. In
Romans 7 he describes a CONSTANT war within him between the spirit and the
flesh. Clearly, Paul did NOT place any confidence in his works. He based the
evidence of his salvation in his BELIEF of the truth. He says, "I AM PERSUADED
IN CHRIST JESUS".
Now, if we say the unregenerate "KNOW NOTHING" in
themselves about God (Isa 45:20), then we will always have assurance of
salvation. Because we will think, "I believe in the facts of the Gospel, and the
lost know nothing of God in themselves, so I must be a believer." Indeed, we
will always be assured at all times, because we will know that the natural man
CANNOT receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are FOOLISHNESS to
him, and he is UNABLE TO KNOW THEM. And thus, we will think, "The facts of the
Gospel are foolishness to the natural man, but they are truth to me, so I must
be a believer."
Give the lost NO knowledge of God in themselves, and be
assured fully of your salvation.
Doubter #6 "I would venture to guess that [calling God a liar] isn't the heart of
most people when they doubt their salvation. What they're really thinking is,
"Why do I keep sinning when I'm supposed to be a Christian?" or "I can't
understand [and the human mind CAN'T] why God would still love me despite me
continual failure."
My Response: - Exactly. They don't understand IMPUTED
RIGHTEOUSNESS. They can't understand how God saves wretched sinnners. They've
failed to recognise how a Holy God can fellowship with filthy sinners. They ARE
IGNORANT OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. The righteousness of God is Christ's
obedience to the Law in the place of His people (Romans 5:19). This is how God
can be Just and Justifier. He IMPUTES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 3) and puts it
on the believer.
Anyone who understands that will never doubt their
salvation. They will know that God NEVER loved them because of anything they
did. He only loved them FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. "AND JEHOVAH IS WELL PLEASED FOR HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE", says Isaish.
Search the Scripture! The lost have no
knowledge in them -- faith is simply the knowledge of the facts of the Gospel --
and thus believers know at all times they are saved, for can someone have such a
simple thing as a belief of the truth, and not realise it? Of course not.