Some Thoughts about Assurance of Justification

June 25, 2024Posted inFaith, Justification by Faith
I have occasionally heard the phrase “consciousness of justification” or “consciousness of salvation.” I do not like that phrase. I would say that assurance, confidence and certainty are synonyms and belong to faith. Knowledge also is good; it’s prominent in John: …that you may know that you have eternal life (1 Jn 5:13) for just…

Faith has an Object

June 20, 2024Posted inFaith
Jesus said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. It may seem that Jesus here guarantees that he will give us anything we ask for, as long as we believe. If I…

Faith is Not a Work

June 11, 2024Posted inFaith
The Arminian notion that faith is a product of man’s free will and our contribution to the work of salvation implies that faith is a work, and that we are saved because of faith—language that the Scriptures never use—rather than by or through faith. This is simply a subtle form of Semi-Pelagianism, which teaches that…

Faith is Knowledge

June 4, 2024Posted inFaith
The Heidelberg Catechism is a confession of Reformed churches of Dutch and German extraction. It defines faith as not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also a hearty trust which the Holy Ghost works in me by the Gospel, that not…