How do you know if you're saved? Christ saved the elect (assuming only the elect are saved by the work of Christ) by dying on the cross in payment for sins - but how do you know if you're elect?
We are saved by faith in Christ given to us as a gift through grace. I've heard that phrase and thought the gift was Christ, not faith, now, with further reading and study, I do still believe that Christ was a gift but the "gift" referred to in this particular statement is the faith - God grants people faith as a free gift. Faith in the work He's already done, through Christ. (In essence, our faith is a gift, and that faith is in Christ Jesus.)
Faith is the gift, Jesus Christ was the means by which it is given because it allowed God to grant grace. So, if Christ died for the elect and the elect are granted faith because of God's grace, is having faith our assurance for salvation?
Faith is a type of assurance; if I may use an analogy, faith assures me in the same way that a mirror assures me of my appearance. The mirror is a means of assurance, but not assurance per se.
ReplyDeleteWhenever we speak of assurance, either we are referring to a psychological state or to something that is a proof of assurance. If I should say, “I’m absolutely sure that she loves me,” then I am referring to my psychological state. I may refer to evidences to bolster my feeling, but the assurance itself is something within me. It is not something “out there.”
In contrast to the psychological state, there is proof of assurance. If I say, “I know he’ll pay me,” my proof may be a legally enforceable contract someone has signed. I may still have a feeling of certainly, but it resides in the proof. Moreover, the proof is not assurance per se. It’s a means to certainty. (“If he doesn’t pay, I’ll sue him for I have a signed contract.”)
Depending on how you are using the word faith, you may be referring to a psychological state (the sense of assurance that the Spirit gives us) or you may be referring to some sort of proof (for Christians it would be the promises in the Bible). Both of these seem to align perfectly with the illustrations I gave earlier. The former faith is a psychological state of certainty, and the latter is a proof of certainty. The proof of certainty is also the means to certainty. The assurance is not the promises in Scripture, but the substance of the promises per se.
The Bible states that faith that is the size of a mustard seed is sufficient. As long as I have any faith in the promises of the Lord, then I, in turn, can have assurance (assuming he keeps his promises). My faith in the promises are not my assurance; they are the means to assurance which is the promise giver. The bottom line is that any assurance always resides in the promise giver.
Many children lose faith (or trust) in their earthly father because he doesn’t keep his promises. People lose faith in their employers because they don’t keep their word.
Assurance of any promise always resides in the promise giver. If I trust the promise giver, then I will have assurance. That assurance can be merely psychological or I can point to proofs. As stated, these proofs with the Lord are in His Word.
Specifically your questions was: is having faith our assurance for salvation? No, any assurance is never greater than the promise giver. Faith is the means by which I can believe and put trust in the promise giver.