Westminster Conference 2017

I'll be off to the Westminster Conference bright and early tomorrow morning. Early anyway.

I'm due to give a paper on A Child of Light Walking in Darkness: The Felt Presence of God. The Child of Light... bit in the title refers to a work by the Puritan Thomas Goodwin. It's essentially a series of sermons on Isaiah 50:10, with some extra 'box set' material thrown in for good measure.

My brief is to reflect on what Goodwin has to say on knowing, losing and then recovering a felt sense of God's presence and favour. Also interacting with the views of Goodwin's old pal, John Owen.

Getting hold of Owen's stuff is easy enough. Banner of Truth published his 16 Volume Works decades ago and they are still in print today. I purchased my set when a student at the London Seminary (1988-90).

Goodwin ain't so easy to obtain. Banner has only published Volume 8 of his Works. Odd titles are available as e-books, but not A Child of Light Walking in Darkness. Only realised that after I'd agreed to speak at the conference. Something of a problem. 

Handily, my old church history lecturer at the seminary, Robert Oliver lives nearby.  He is also a member of our local Ministers' Fraternal. Robert kindly lent me Volume 3 of Goodwin's Works, which includes A Child of Light...

Goodwin's piece isn't too long. Owen on Psalm 130 takes up most of Volume 6 of his Works. Took a while to wade through. But, as ever with Owen, was worth the effort. 

I was a bit unwell towards the end of September and into October, which slowed me down when it came to writing up the paper, but I got there in the end. 

I'm looking forward to hearing the other speakers (see here for the programme) and also to meeting up with some old friends at the conference. 

Thomas Goodwin's perspective on assurance of salvation

Thomas Goodwin's teaching on assurance of salvation might be helpfully to analysed using John Frame's tri-perspectival approach to theology. For Goodwin, there are three aspects to assurance of salvation: 1) Faith in the promise of the gospel. 2) The testimony of grace- transformed life. 3) The direct witness of the Spirit.

The first point corresponds to John Frame's normative perspective. Saving faith places its trust in the authoritative promise of God found in Scripture, the 'norming norm'. The second point is in the realm of the situational perspective. With grace in his heart, the believer seeks to practice the gospel in every given situation. The third point brings in the existential perspective. It is about the believer's experience of the direct and personal witness of the Spirit, assuring him that he is a child of God.

Now, as Frame insists, while his three perspectives may be distinguished, they should not be divided. So with assurance, a profession of faith alone, apart from a changed life is no basis for assurance. Faith without works is dead. On the other hand, to focus on searching for grace in the heart, while loosing sight of the objective promise of salvation in Christ, is introspective and dangerous. We must also say that the Spirit will not give experiential assurance to those without genuine faith that works by love. All three perspectives must therefore be brought into play when seeking assurance of salvation, the normative - faith in Christ. The situational - the evidence of new life. And the existential - the witness of the Spirit. Yet, as assurance is about Christian experience, the most vital aspect is the direct witness of the Spirit, Romans 8:15-16.

Westminster Confession of Faith XVIII:II

"This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope;but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made,the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption."

For more on Goodwin and assurance see my Thomas Goodwin: His Life, Times, and Quest for Assurance, under Articles About Goodwin, here.

Ten things on assurance of salvation

1. Every believer should aim for full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22).
2. Assurance is not of the essence of saving faith. One may truly believe and yet lack assurance.
3. True Christians may sometimes doubt the truth of the gospel. Genuine believers may question whether they are truly saved.
4. The objective basis of assurance is that God accepts believers as righteous on the basis of the obedience, blood, resurrection and intercession of Christ. "It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?" (Romans 8:33 & 34).
5. We know that we are the children of God because we love him and keep his commandments. If we love God, we will love his people as our brothers and sisters. (1 John 2:3, 5:2 & 3). We must, therefore examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith.
6. The Holy Spirit gives believers assurance of salvation by enabling us to cry to God, "Abba Father". He makes us consciously aware of our adoption into God's family by pouring his love into our hearts. (Galatians 4:6, Romans 5:5).
7. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16). In "our spirits" we may believe in Christ and be persuaded of the truth. We may be able to detect evidences of a transformed life as we reflect on our love for God and his people. Above the witness of our spirits, the Holy Spirit himself testifies that we are God's children. This direct witness of the Spirit gives assurance at its fullest and deepest.
8. Assurance of salvation will bring forth great delight and gladness in the heart of the believer so that we rejoice in Christ with inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8).
9. By sinful attitudes and actions, we grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we were sealed until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). This may lead to a loss of the witness of the Spirit and undermine the believer's assurance. When this happens, we should ask God to forgive us for Christ's sake and seek him until we know his fatherly smile again.
10. All Christians should pursue full assurance of salvation and be content with nothing less. The Puritan Thomas Goodwin boldly urged believers to "sue God for the witness of the Spirit". For more on this Puritan see my Thomas Goodwin, His Life, Times and Quest for Assurance here.