Sergey Hudiev

Assurance of salvation

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION IS THE DUTY OF THE BELIEVER

Now we will examine the question of whether or not an individual Christian can be assured that these promises relate to him personally. In the reading of the Apostolic Epistles the impression begins to take shape that not only can [the believer] be assured, but it is his duty to be assured. First of all, God gives [his] promises precisely for this reason that each of us would personally believe in them. Secondly, such assurance is the (as we will now examine) necessary prerequisite for carrying out our Christian duties. The Apostles own admonitions for living a pious life are build according to the principle that "[one's] position obligates." In other words, you are now children of God and must conduct yourselves accordingly: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (Eph 4:1) Remember the words of the Apostle which were cited in the previous chapter: Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. (Ro 15:7) How will we receive one another if we are not confident that Christ has received us? Many other places in Scripture speak of this very thing: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Col 3:12-13) Here the command of the Apostle to "put on" or "clothe oneself" in all of these virtues is based on the fact that we are "the elect of God, holy and beloved." Likewise, the command to forgive is based upon the fact that we ourselves are already forgiven by Christ. If I am not confident that I personally, owing to the redemptive work of Christ, am "the elect of God, holy and beloved" and one that has been forgiven, then I cannot be assured that the Apostle is relating [this] to me. In order to manifest obedience to God, I must first manifest trust. For example, let's assume that I hear the order: "All officers are to quickly appear to headquarters." In order to fulfill this order, I must be firmly assured in my rank as an officer. If I am not an officer, then there is nothing for me to do at headquarters. In this case, the order simply does not relate to me. In order for me to be able to fulfill the duty of an officer, it is necessary for me to first to be given the rank of officer. Often in the Scriptures, one encounters the other side which could be called a "command based on the promises." These are commands which (as in Col. 3:12) can relate to me only in the case in which the promises relate to me. Let's give another example:

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Th 5:5-9) If I will not be assured that I am one of the sons of light and the sons of day and also that God did not appoint me for wrath but for the receiving of salvation, then on what ground will I be watchful and sober? that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.1 Th 2:12 In what way can these exhortations of the Apostle relate to me if I am not called by God into His own Kingdom and glory? For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10) How will I do good works in Christ if I am not related to those who "by grace are saved through faith?" For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Eph 5:8) If I am not "light in the Lord", then how can I "walk as a [child] of light?" Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; (2 Pe 1:10) If I am not elected nor called, then how can I make sure my call and election? Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, (1 Pe 1:22-23) If I am not regenerate, then how can I love as one who has been born again?

We can also recall the words of the Lord, those already mentioned when we spoke of Redemption: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. —I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (Jn 15:4-5) A person can bear the kind of fruit that is pleasing to God only by already abiding in Christ. The Apostle writes: That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. (2 Ti 1:14) This command can only be fulfilled by the one who knows and is assured that the Holy Spirit lives in him. The Apostle also connects the necessity of fleeing from sin with assurance of our abiding in Christ: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor. 3:16) Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! (1 Cor. 6:15) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?(1 Cor. 6:19)

"Do you not know," cries the Apostle, "that you are temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you" and "that your bodies are members of Christ?" Not only can we know, we must and are obliged to know here the Apostle allows for no ambiguities on this issue. In 1 Cor. 12:11-28, the Apostle constructs his exhortations on the fact that we are now members of Christ and for this reason are called to conduct ourselves accordingly. Upon this very basis the Apostle instructs [us] to flee from lies:

Therefore, putting away lying, —Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.Eph 4:25 The duty to bear witness of Christ is also connected with [one's] assurance of salvation. For example, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;1 Pe 2:9

If we are not "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people", then the command to "proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" also does not apply to us. The Lord instructs us to pray, "Our Father, Which are in heaven" (Matt. 6:9); however, we cannot fulfill this command if we are not assured that in Christ we are truly adopted by God. Of course, this prayer is constantly lifted up by the Church "Our Father", but notice that it is not "My Father" for in praying such words a person confesses his own belonging to those who are adopted by God. In other words, for the him [that is, the one who is not assured of his adoption in Christ], it would be proper to pray using the words "Their Father." Lacking assuring of salvation, the Christian inevitably finds himself in a conflicting, or one could even say, a nonsensical position for he is attempting to: serve God (not knowing whether he is accepted for service), to grow in Christ (not knowing whether he is accepted by Christ), testify of the faith of the Church (not knowing whether he really belongs to Christ's Church). It is important to again mention that the Good News finds a person not in some kind of neutral position from which he could begin an ascension to the summit of god-likeness1, but in a state of fallenness. Fallen man, as we have already stated, is deeply alienated from God due to his man's own sin (ex: Deut. 32:5, Isaiah 59:2). Likewise, fallen man abides under God's righteous condemnation (Rom. 3:19), wrath (Eph. 2:3) and curse (Deut. 11:28, Gal. 3:10). Until man will be freed from this miserable state and 1 An excellent point AGAINST the common Eastern Orth odox teaching of theo sis-salvation. until he will be forgiven and accepted by God, there is no kind of service to God, no kind of spiritual growth, and moreover, no kind of co-laboring with God possible. If we have confidence to speak of some kind of service to God, some kind of [spiritual] growth or some kind of bearing of fruit pleasing to God, then by these very things we already confess that God that God in Christ has accepted us (Rom. 15:7), called us His own (Rom. 14:8), and has engrafted us in Himself (John 15:4). Thus, the apostle understands as the foundation for a holy, pious life and service to God the assurance of our belonging to Christ. To deny a man assurance [of salvation] means to deprive him of this foundation. [In the next chapter] we will find still another foundation for assurance of salvation in the sacraments of the Church.