THOMAS: The Westminster Confession in its chapter on assurance,
and I think the chapter on assurance is probably the most theologically thought out chapter
in the Westminster Confession because it was something that troubled
the seventeenth century greatly and they thought a great deal about it. But clearly, the Puritans
believed that it was possible to experience doubt. "Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief!"
It seems clear to me that the Apostle John was writing perhaps late in the first century
in the face of fairly severe persecution, living now in the second and maybe third generation of
Christians who had never seen with their physical eyes the Lord Jesus and they are facing what is
the second century with all of its opposition against the Christian church. And clearly, John
is writing in order that they might believe facing perhaps a wave of doubt for a variety of reasons.
That doubt can come from the devil, doubt can come from physical and mental disease,
doubt can come because we've taken our eyes off Jesus,
doubt can come because we're not walking steadfastly in the faith, we are not
reading the Scriptures, we are not listening to Jesus as He speaks to us in the Scriptures. And
so, there is a whole variety of reasons why people may experience doubt, but the experience of doubt
in and of itself is not evidence that we are not converted. What it demonstrates is that we need
to run to Christ and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us that assurance that we once had.
PARSONS: There's a passage in Hebrews 12. What you just said,
Derek, reminded me of it in looking to Christ. In Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, the author of Hebrews
encourages these Christians, you know, in their struggle against sin and dealing with sin,
you know, take off every weight, everything that entangles itself around us, the old version of the
sin that so easily besets us, just take it off, get rid of it, lay it aside. Too often,
I think, the reason that we can fall into doubt, especially when we are younger Christians,
we fall into doubting our salvation because we fall into doubting ourselves because of our sin.
I think what happens is that we get fixated on the sin and we just get focused on the sin
and we just sort of wallow in the filth and the mire of the guilt and the shame of our sin.
And what's amazing about that passage is that the author of Hebrews is acknowledging the reality
of the sin that they need to lay aside, that sin which clings so closely. It's like a vine,
a weed kind of entangling itself around our ankles and feet to try and trip us up and make us fall.
But in that passage he doesn't say, "Focus on the sin." He says to focus on Christ. Get
your eyes fixed on Jesus, because the only way that we can mortify sin in the flesh
is by resting on the knowledge, the truth, not our feelings. Feelings within our hearts,
they can deceive us, they can lie to us. Feelings are real. Feelings are genuine.
God gives us feelings. The Spirit gives us feelings. We shouldn't ignore our feelings,
but we shouldn't listen to them when they're lying to us against what we know to be true.
And so, we have to, in those times and in those doubts, because some of us,
some of you, and some of us, we wrestle, we wrestle with our sins. We wonder, "How is it that
I can really be loved by God? How is it that I can really be saved being such a miserable wretch?
How can I really be a child of God?" Because when you read the Bible and you feel just
scrutinized and examined by it and convicted by it, you can come away sometimes saying,
"Am I really a believer? Do I really know Jesus?" Also, I think, it's important to differentiate
sin and true repentance that comes when we're convicted by that sin by the Spirit of God in
our lives. Because true repentance means not only being broken over it, not only being contrite over
it, being humbled by that sin, but also confessing that sin. And also, it means sort of striving to
live in a different way, to consecrate ourselves to a different way of living, a different pattern.
That's true repentance. It's not just feeling sorry for our sin. I think sometimes we think
if we just beat ourselves up enough about our sin, then that is sort of our penance,
but true repentance looks like contrition, confession, and consecration to a new way of life.
What John deals with in his first epistle is the practice of sin. It's sort of the walking
in sin. It's the sort of unbroken pattern of practicing sin without true repentance. And so,
there are times when we come across folks, and I've met them many times over the years,
who have come into our congregation, where they really do struggle with their salvation.
That's why we're, I think, so concerned about clarifying the question, because, dearly beloved,
there are people who really do struggle with their salvation because they're really struggling in
their sin. They're not actually repenting over their sin. They're not really confessing their
sin. They're not striving into a new way of life in dealing with their sin. They're not really,
actually mortifying sin in the flesh. And the truth of the matter is, I'm not going to rush
to give them assurance of their salvation if those things are not true in their lives,
if there is not real conviction, real brokenness, real confession, and real consecration.
And so, I think we need a word of warning when it comes to assurance that we don't just
sort of dole it out to anyone who says, "I am wrestling. I am struggling." Well, there
might be a reason you're struggling. It might be because you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ.