The Agonizing Problem of the Assurance of Salvation

Guoxiong mentioned this topic to us the other day at HQ, 'cos the Catholic Students Society of NUS was having an exhibition about this. Very interesting and thought-provoking - seems that the Catholics believe that we are justified by faith in Christ PLUS works, whereas the Protestants believe that we are justified by faith ALONE.

It's a tough question, because there are verses in the Bible that seem to support BOTH positions - seemingly contradictory. So what gives? Assuming that the Bible is 100% true and contains no errors, then what really does the Bible say about salvation?

I read this article, "The Agonizing Problem of the Assurance of Salvation", by John Piper, and while it's pretty theoretical, I think I get the gist of what he's saying.

So I wrote this post to try and understand better what it really means to be saved. Not like this:

So my thesis wasn't saved after all...

Agonizing Assurance (so much for Blessed Assurance...)
Piper begins with a very relevant intro, writing,

The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the objective facts of Christianity are true (God exists, Christ is God, Christ died for sinners, Christ rose from the dead, Christ saves forever all who believe, etc.). Those facts are the utterly crucial bedrock of our faith. But the really agonizing problem of assurance is whether I personally am saved by those facts.

Think the part that I bolded is very true. I remember I heard the Gospel before, when I was very young, but even though I prayed the sinner's prayer on my own, I had no assurance that I was truly saved. And it's really important that we know whether we are truly saved.

Because the Lord Himself said in Matthew 7,

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'

Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Scared Stiff
That scared me stiff when I read it the first time around. Felt quite insecure about my salvation when I first believed in Christ.

Just like what Piper wrote,

So the agonizing question for some is: do I really have saving faith? Is my faith real? Am I self-deceived? Some well-intentioned people try to lessen the problem by making faith a mere decision to affirm certain truths, like the truth: Jesus is God, and he died for my sins. Some also try to assist assurance by denying that any kind of life-change is really necessary to demonstrate the reality of faith. So they find a way to make James 2:17 mean something other than what is seems to mean: "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead." But these strategies to help assurance backfire. They deny some Scripture; and even the minimal faith they preserve can be agonized over and doubted by the tormented soul. They don't solve the problem, and they lose truth. And, perhaps worst of all, they sometimes give assurance to people who should not have it.

I think the issues that he addressed are very valid. So how can I know whether I'm truly saved or not?

Death Row - Pardon Me?
Then, I recall the criminal on the cross next to Jesus, saying:

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

The criminal on death row could do nothing to save himself (and he'd probably done something really wrong to get crucifixion as the death penalty), nor could he do any good works even if he wanted to - his two hands were literally nailed to the cross. And yet, Jesus granted him eternal pardon, even as ironically, both of them hung dying.

Think my understanding then is that God really looks at our hearts, and not what we have done. What we do simply reflects the state of our hearts. You could be a priest, and be totally atheist, and you could be a serial killer on death row, and be truly repentant - and the way you lived would show what your heart truly is made of.

Adrift, Redux
We are totally helpless to save ourselves from the consequences of our sins by any means. Even though we may be totally sincere about wanting to be saved from our sins, and truly sincere in repenting of our sins - the problem is that we, like the six people in "Adrift", cannot get back onto the boat on our own. It is IMPOSSIBLE. And the problem is, it's not a yacht we're trying to get back on. It's an ocean liner. Too tall, too impossible. Just like what the Bible says: "For all have sinned and fall short of God's righteous standards." We have fallen from the ship and can't get back on-board.

But God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus. Jesus is the Ladder by which we can climb back onto the ship, the Lifeline by which we can be saved.

So where does good works come into this picture? It's NOT building our own ladder or rope. In the movie "Adrift", the people tried using their own rope made from their swimwear, but the rope of rags snapped - it was far too weak to hold even one of them. Wow, just like what the Bible says: "All our righteous acts are like ... rags."

Rather, it's staying on the reliable Ladder that was given to us. That's our responsibility - keep climbing the right ladder and don't stray off. That's all. The more we climb the ladder, the more we become transformed into the right kind of people that God meant us to be all along. If we, for some reason or another, start thinking that it's getting too tiring to stay on the ladder, or decide to try climbing up another way, we're falling back into lostness again.

So, the morally weakest person on the strong God-given ladder is far, far, far safer than the strongest person on the weak man-made rope.

For God's sake, there's SHARKS in the water!
The problem is, not everyone trusts in the solid Ladder that has been given to them, and yet others ignore the Ladder, and yet others try to find another ladder, and yet others try making their own ropes. It's useless staying in the water and saying that "there's a Ladder, so I'll be ok, so I'll just keep swimming merrily around in this water." For God's sake, there's SHARKS in the water and you're all gonna be shark's food if you don't hurry and start climbing the Ladder now!

So, I think the best understanding that I've arrived at so far is that, as long as you trust in Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour, you are saved, just like a hapless swimmer clambering up a ladder, away from the hungry sharks lurking below. That's the heart attitude, which we know that we are truly saved from eternal death. Our choosing to get out of the water and grab onto the Ladder - that's our heart attitude. And as long as you're out of the water, you're equally safe from the sharks below, whether you're 1 metre or 100 metres above the water.

Just like what Jesus said, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Then the works part is our starting to climb the Ladder - and choosing not to let go, no matter how tired we may feel. I think it's reasonable to assume that anyone who is higher up the ladder can feel much safer from the sharks below. :) Of course, as I've just written, as long as you're out of the water, you're equally safe from the sharks below, whether you're 1 metre or 100 metres above the water. But you do have greater assurance that you're safe from the sharks if you're higher from the water. (What if one of the sharks decides to execute a flying leap? :P)

Sidenote: Incidentally, I think this analogy helps us put whatever good works that we've done into a proper perspective - it's nothing glamourous or scoring points with God - it's simply just like walking safely on a cleared path through a minefield. To do good works is to walk safely on the path given to us. That's all. Nothing glam about that. We didn't even clear the path at all. We are merely ragged refugees, fleeing from death. No room for pride at all. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Conclusion
Think I've written a very long post on this. What do you think? Any disagreements or better understanding or any corrections, pls do rebutt or feedback here... thanks! :)