Does 1 John 5:13 Support Assurance of Salvation as the Essence of Saving Faith?

Christopher Cone

Robert Vacendak rightly observes that “Catholics, Calvinists, and Arminians deny absolute assurance of salvation.”1 Vacendak adds a vital hermeneutic observation that “Scholarly analyses of assurance often prioritize earlier studies, not Scripture.”2 Vacendak’s poignant reminder is a call to action that we base our understanding on the Biblical text itself.

Discussion

“...when the Jesuit Order was founded and then employed to stop the Protestant movement, it was the doctrine of the Assurance of Salvation that was their primary target.”

SI Filings

“The uniform teaching of Scripture is that ordinary Christians, should be able to make their ‘call and election sure,’ (2 Pet. 1:10), and that not by some ‘extraordinary revelation,’ such as Rome taught, but merely by looking for the unmistakable and certain evidences of the work of the Spirit in their lives.” - Ref21

Discussion

Saving Faith and Assurance

G. N. Barkman

When considering assurance of salvation, sooner or later we come to the question of saving faith. The ultimate issue concerns the nature of my faith, is it genuine or spurious? If I didn’t have some kind of faith, I wouldn’t be concerned with assurance at all. I wouldn’t even consider it.

However, if I have made a profession of faith in Christ, but am troubled about the reality of that profession, what I want to know is whether my faith is true saving faith, or something less. At some point I thought I believed in Christ, but is my faith now genuine or not?

Many refuse to allow questions about the nature of faith, at least in the heat of evangelistic efforts. Just ask Christ to save you, and if you are sincere, you will be saved. Never doubt it. To doubt that God saved you is to call God a liar, or so we are told. Some go so far as to assure people that “if you ever made this decision before, you don’t need to make it again. But if you have never before made this decision, you need to make it today, and if you do, you will be saved, never doubt it.”

Discussion