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Is Grace Expensive?

Explore the importance of assurance in spiritual growth, standing against the devil, and overcoming fear. Learn about the dangers of apostasy, limited atonement, and temporary faith, and how they can hinder assurance. Discover the true meaning of assurance and how to find certainty in your salvation.

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Is Grace Expensive?

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Is Grace Expensive? The Doctrine of Assurance

  2. What’s it all about anyway? • The Importance of Assurance • The Need • The Death of Assurance • A Warning • The Hope of Assurance • The Promises

  3. The Importance of Assurance: The Need • If you don’t have assurance… • …you’re spiritual growth will be stunted • …you cannot hope to stand against the devil • …you will live in perpetual fear of hell

  4. The Need To Belong

  5. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

  6. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Apostasy • Limited Atonement • Temporary Faith

  7. What Is Apostasy? • Apostasy is the idea that a true believer can somehow by way of sin manage to lose the salvation that they once had in Christ Jesus • This view is particularly held by Arminians (followers of the theology of Jacobus Arminius) • Most will cite passages such as Gal. 5:4, Heb. 6:4-6, Heb. 10:26-31

  8. What Is Limited Atonement? • Limited Atonement is the idea that a there is fixed number of “elect” and they are predestined from before time. • This number of elect is fixed and cannot be changed either by man or God. Essentially Jesus did not die or atone for all men. • This position generally belongs to “Calvinists” and they usually cite passages such as John 10:14-15, 28 and Matt. 7:13-14

  9. What Is Temporary faith? • Temporary faith is something that is directly related to the Puritan doctrine of limited atonement. Because there is only a certain number of elect consequently there is a certain number of unsaved, these are called reprobates • This doctrine teaches that a man can have exactly the same experiences that a real Christian does yet fall short of true conversion, thus proving that they were a reprobate from before time (chosen by God, otherwise called double predestination)

  10. What Is Temporary faith? • The famous American preacher Jonathan Edwards makes a distinction between saving and common operations of the Holy Spirit. Common operations of the Spirit “may sober, arrest and convict men, and may even bring them to the what at first appears to be repentance and faith, yet these influences fall short of inward saving renewal.” Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography [Carlisle, Pa.: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1987], p. 255 • This idea is most closely associated with Calvinism as well.

  11. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • These views can be summed up under to umbrellas of theology: Arminianism and Calvinism. • Similarities • Both undermine assurance and poisons the Christians security in Christ • For the Arminian will always be unsure of the continuance of their salvation • For the Calvinist will always be unsure of the reality of their salvation

  12. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • For Arminian the question is “Am I still saved?” • For the Calvinist the question is “Am I trulysaved? • Both questions rob the Christian of their security and causes them to focus on themselves and their performance • Both attach a necessity of good works

  13. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • For the Arminian good works are necessary to attain salvation • For the Calvinist good works are necessary to prove salvation • Both leave the Christian to wonder if they belong to God or not

  14. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Arminian view • If I laid my son down to bed at night and said “Son, I love you but if tomorrow you screw up bad enough then I will disown you and you will not be a part of my family anymore.” • Calvinist view • If I laid my son down to bed at night and said “Son, I love you but if tomorrow you screw up bad enough then you will prove that you were never truly my son and you have never been a part of my family.”

  15. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Surely this cannot be the “good news” of the New Testament! • The men who held such doctrines were frightened on their death beds! • The 19th Century preacher Asahel Nettleton said “The most I have ventured to say respecting myself is, that I think it possible that I might get to heaven.” • Does this sound like assurance?

  16. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • A well known American pastor and theologian said this of himself, “There are people in this world who are not saved, but who are convinced that they are. The presence of such people causes genuine Christians to doubt their salvation. After all, we wonder, suppose I am in that category? Suppose I am mistaken about my salvation and am really going to hell? How can I know that I am a real Christian? •    A while back I had one of those moments of acute self-awareness that we have from time to time, and suddenly the question hit me: "R.C., what if you are not one of the redeemed? What if your destiny is not heaven after all, but hell?" Let me tell you that I was flooded in my body with a chill that went from my head to the bottom of my spine. I was terrified.

  17. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • I tried to grab hold of myself. I thought, "Well, it's a good sign that I'm worried about this. Only true Christians really care about salvation." But then I began to take stock of my life, and I looked at my performance. My sins came pouring into my mind, and the more I looked at myself, the worse I felt. I thought, "Maybe it's really true. Maybe I'm not saved after all." •    I went to my room and began to read the Bible. On my knees I said, "Well, here I am. I can't point to my obedience. There's nothing I can offer. I can only rely on Your atonement for my sins. I can only throw myself on Your mercy." Even then I knew that some people only flee to the Cross to escape hell, not out of a real turning to God. I could not be sure about my own heart and motivation.

  18. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Then I remembered John 6:68. Jesus had been giving out hard teaching, and many of His former followers had left Him. When He asked Peter if he was also going to leave, Peter said, "Where else can I go? Only You have the words of eternal life." In other words, Peter was also uncomfortable, but he realized that being uncomfortable with Jesus was better than any other option!” • Does this sound like assurance?!?!?

  19. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Nettleton’s statement of himself reflects the end result of these the type of theology that places a high emphasis on good works in the role of salvation. • It does not bring peace, it unsettles the soul, it utterly destroys the possibility of assurance because our lives will always be imperfect. We will continually find fault in ourselves. We must not look to ourselves to prove anything, this is called introspection which always, always, always produces more questions then answers

  20. The Death of Assurance: A Warning • Where does the grace of God fall into all of this?????? • To Be Continued…..

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