I've been debating friend of mine and last night he insisted that Calvinism taught that a person cannot know if he/she is elect? In other words, one cannot be sure of his salvation.

I hadn't this in detail, only remembering hearing a couple of lectures on the Puritans that they did struggle with assurance.

Is this true?

__________________
Dennis Oh
Toronto, Canada
"The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time" -- Carl F. H. Henry

No.

Canons of Dordrecht, 1st Head, Article 12: The Assurance of Election

Canons of Dordrecht, 5th Head, Article 9: The Assurance of This Preservation

You should challenge your friend to prove what he says. The Reformed confessions say otherwise.

__________________
Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA

"What sort of pledge and how great is this of love towards us! Christ lives for us not for himself!"
John Calvin, Commentary on the Hebrews (7:25)

He's mixed up. It is the Arminian and the Romanist that cannot have assurance.

__________________
Jim
1689 LBCF
Independent Bible Church
North Texas, USA

This is not true. We absolutely can be most sure of our election: for if we apprehend Christ by faith, we see our election in him. There may, indeed, be time before one comes to assurance of this, but it is certainly there for the believer.

__________________
Paul Korte
OPC
Flint, MI

They who perceive in themselves discoveries of the divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines, by which the very grace they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. --John Calvin

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I think it is natural to struggle with assurance but the Scriptures do say that we can know. If we can know that we have eternal life then we can know if we are the elect because it is the elect who have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

__________________
John Lanier
Elder in Training
Reformed Baptist Church
Topeka, KS

Amen and Amen

__________________
Michael P Doyle
Waukesha WI
Member of http://www.cornerstone-pca.com/
Attending http://www.lampseminary.org/

There has been some discussion within the Reformed community about how exactly and to what extent one comes to the assurance of faith. Speaking broadly, some Puritans seemed to make it rather difficult. However, by no means have any Reformed denied the possibility of assurance. The best treatment of this question is Joel Beeke's Quest for Full Assurance.

The argument from the non-Calvinist runs thus. If two people can have remarkably similar spiritual experiences, and if one falls away and is therefore to be regarded as non-elect, then present spiritual experience cannot testify truly to election. One must wait to see if he perseveres before being certain of his election. Thus, present certainty is impossible.

There is an error in this argument, though. It assumes that the believer cannot be sure of his own perseverance. Although when I look at others, I ultimately have to judge by perseverance (not being able to see the reality of faith inside), when I consider myself, I look to Jesus Christ and find in him my perseverance. Perceiving that I do indeed trust in Him, I believe also that I will persevere in the faith that He has granted me. No one who is looking to Christ has even the slightest possibility of failing to persevere.

__________________
Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student

We can be absolutely sure of our election not by peering into God's secrets but by being absolutely sure of our calling. The Holy Spirit can work this infallible assurance of faith in us.

The Calvinist believes the Bible and the Bible says we can be sure.

__________________
Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

Yup, this is precisely the argument that was posed: suppose a person believes and has assurance, then turns away and loses his assurance. Assurance that is lost is not assurance. I understand the argument. Suppose I am, right now, fully assured of my election, and then proceed to deny the faith and live in the flesh. I should for all good reasons begin to doubt my election, no?

So does this mean that we can only have full assurance only of our present spiritual condition, but not of our ultimate and final salvation?

The Apostle Peter seemed to have thought we could make our "calling and election sure:"
2 Peter 1
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

__________________
Brian Vandenburg
Member of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Vancouver, WA
"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God."-Westminster Confession of Faith

Is it safe to say that while God's election is unconditional, our growing in assurance in election is conditioned on diligence and effort? I'm willing to accept it cause it seems to make sense.

thanks.

If you denied the faith you wouldn't even be concerned about being chosen by God, no? In other words you wouldn't at that point doubt your election but deny the truth of election.

One's own assurance of salvation is, arguably, subjective insofar as one may have a profession of faith which can be false. (Matthew 7:22; John 2:23-25) However the original question was whether or not we can be assured of our salvation and the answer is, objectively, yes. If one falls away without being restored it is clear that their assurance was misguided or false because it was based upon something other than Christ Himself. In other words it was no (real) assurance at all.

We can be sure of our salvation/election:

Rom 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

__________________
Joshua F
Layman
Mountain View Community Church (Missionary Church Denomination)
Johnstown, CO

Quite the opposite. Our present assurance is the ground of our future assurance. Believing that God is NOW propitious toward me for Christ's sake also includes the idea that He always will be, else what good is Christ? If I determine that NOW I am truly believing, I can be assured that I will always continue to do so, since God gives and upholds faith.

So very true. It is a fine line that many cross over from objective to subjective.

__________________
N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

"Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Psalm 139 has helped me on this score.

__________________
Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

Patience must dwell with Love, for Love and Sorrow
Have pitched their tent together here:
Love all alone will build a house tomorrow,
And sorrow not be near. -Christina Rossetti

HyperCalvinism says you can't be sure. It sounds like someone has a label swapped.

__________________
Rich Koster
1689'er
Browns Mills NJ USA
Often Goofy Reformed Eccentric
Romans 7:14-25

These are some of my notes that I keep in my Bible dealing with Assurance. I have a small booklet by Dr. Beeke on assurance that was invaluable. Hopefull I have understood them correctly since the discussions of the puritans uses of syllogisms lost me. I also keep a copy of the relevant sections from the creeds but I did not include those in my response.

Our Struggle with Assurance
· Assurance belongs to Faith (Heb. 11:1; Ps. 23; Rom. 8:38; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Jn. 2:3; 3:14; 5:13)
· Believers struggle with the occasional experience of an unrelieved absence of the consciousness of divine favor (Ps. 38; 73; 88).
· Believers are to overcome their lack of Assurance (Heb. 6:11; 2 Pet. 1:10; Ph. 1:6).
· Not only must we struggle with the certainty of salvation in Christ, we must struggle with the certainty of our saving faith and our personal salvation.
· An unsaved person may have a false assurance (Jer. 17:9; Mt. 7:24-27; 25)

Though saving faith inherently contains trust and assurance by definition, full assurance of personal salvation must be regarded as a fruit of faith rather than of faith’s essence. While the Puritans distinguish full assurance from the initial trust of faith, they will not allow a division between the two, for full assurance grows out of an assurance implicit in the first act of faith. Personal assurance may be ascribed especially to the economical work of the Holy Spirit through an application of God’s promises in Christ which the believer appropriates by faith. The Spirit’s sealing work is based on the sure covenant of grace and the saving work of Christ, which in turn is grounded in God’s sovereign good pleasure and love in eternal election. God cannot and will not disinherit His adopted children nor break His covenant made with us in Christ.

The Grounds of Our Assurance
· The primary objective ground of our assurance: the divine truth of the promises of salvation. We are to first and primarily trust in God’s faithfulness to us in Christ as revealed in the promises of the gospel. (see Perseverance of the Saints)
- Understanding the nature of Salvation (2 Pet. 1:2-8; 3:18)
- The immutability of the gifts and calling of God (Rom. 11:29)
- Christ’s Work in the New Covenant (Heb. 7-10)
- The blessings of our Sonship in Christ (Rom. 8:16; see Spiritual Adoption)
· The secondary subjective grounds of our assurance: Practical and Mystical. Subjective experiences may sometimes feel more sure than faith in God’s promises.
- Inward Evidences of Graces
a. Practical: based on the believer’s sanctification and good works in daily life
§ Increasing godly characteristics/fruit (2 Pet. 1:5-10; Gal. 5:22-23; Mt. 7:16-20; Jn. 15:1-8; Jas. 2:17-18; Heb. 6:11-12)
§ Keep His commandments (1 Jn. 2:3-6; 5:2)
§ Loves his brother (1 Jn. 2:10; 3:10,14,17; 4:7; 5:2; Mt. 25:31-46)
§ Stays within the church (1 Jn. 2:19)
§ Does not make a practice of sinning but practices righteousness (1 Jn. 3:9-10; 5:18)
§ The chastening of the Father when we backslide (Lk. 22:31-32, 54-61; 24:34; Mk. 16:7; Jn. 21:15-19; Heb. 12:5-6)
b. Mystical: based on the believer’s internal exercises and progress in the steps of grace. We don’t trust our own trusting apart from the Spirit. But see in ourselves Christ’s special, peculiar and distinguishing graces as they conform to the Word of God. More time and energy should be spent seeking to the receiving and increasing of your grace than for the discerning of it.
§ A Present Trust in Christ for Salvation (Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:14; 6:12; Jn. 3:16)
§ Heart Evidence (Mt. 7:22; 1 Cor. 3:12; Gal. 5:22-love, joy, peace)
§ Believing Right Doctrine (1 Jn. 2:23-24; 4:6)
§ Abiding with God (see Communion with God)
§ Self-Examination (2 Cor. 13:5)

The Witnessing Testimony of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15-16; 1 Jn. 4:13; Gal. 4:16)
The Puritans were unclear whether the Spirit works in conjunction with the inward evidences of grace to confirm assurance to us or if He communicates it directly to us. Either way, He is at work in the whole process of giving us assurance, even in our trusting the promises of God. Without the application of the Spirit, the promises of God lead to self-deceit and fruitless lives. Without the enlightening of the Spirit, self-examination tends to introspection, bondage, and legalism. The witness of the Spirit divorced from the promises of God and from scriptural inward evidence, is prone to reap unbiblical mysticism and excessive emotionalism.

__________________
Kentaro,
Wylie, Texas

We can have assurance of our salvation. However, I want to be careful to point out we don't have a "once for all time" notion of assurance. Namely, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is fundamentally different than the common evangelical notion of "once saved always saved." The former carries with it the idea of assurance based upon the ongoing evidence of faith and the work of the Spirit, the latter attempts to gave absolute and infallible assurance on the basis of a one-time profession regardless of what transpires in the remainder of the person's life.

__________________
Ben
Chaplain, US Army
Ft. Riley, KS
TE Ohio Valley Presbytery, PCA

My pastor recently taught a SS series on the Biblical doctrine of assurance.

1. Am I believing in and trusting Christ alone for my salvation?
2. Am I bearing fruit in keeping with being a new creation in Christ?
3. Do I have the testimony of the Holy Spirit that God is my Father?
4. Am I persevering in the Way?

Self Examination
4 Standards
Walking in the Light
Evangelical Law Keeping
The Love of the World
The Love of the World Part 2
Doctrinal Integrity
Do I Love The Brethren?
Do We Love God?
An Issue of Speech
Sins Of The Tongue
Godly use of our speech
Dying to Self
Witness of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives
Look to Christ!

__________________
MarieP
Reformed Baptist Church
Louisville, KY

"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant" (Gen. 32:10)

If at all relevant to the discussion I enjoyed this from the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church's website (don't worry I am not converting).

Rom. 8:32, 33: "He that spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Luther's pastoral advice is therefore in accord with Scripture: "Gaze upon the wounds of Christ and the blood shed for you; there predestination will shine forth."

__________________
~ Charles Stephen Barribeau ~
Christ Presbyterian Church , OPC (They sing alot of Psalms!)
Original Westminster Standards (I need to study more...)
The Puritans were best! Also... I NEED TO READ MORE!!!
Philipians1:29(KJV) For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Janesville, Wisconsin (In the fellowship of Bob Vigneault and Matt+Megan Meisberger)