Tom Nettles on the Doctrine of Assurance

Godly assurance of salvation rests upon the Doctrines of Grace. The certainty of unconditional election bequeaths great security to the one who truly discerns the movement of God’s grace in his life; the rigorous demands of the doctrine of perseverance eliminate false hopes built on an inadequate foundation; the intensely convicting doctrine of total depravity destroys all rest based on personal merit; the power of the doctrine of effectual call prompts earnest efforts to walk in the Spirit; and the completeness of the doctrine of particular redemption holds out the certainty of a reconciled God to one who truly credits the faithful saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Perhaps the most succinct yet sensitive treatment of the doctrine of assurance was constructed by the divines of the Westminster Assembly in chapter 18 of the confession they produced. Following their lead virtually word for word, seventeenth-century English Baptists and eighteenth-century American Baptists approved the same view by adopting the Second London Confession and Philadelphia Confession respectively. Although full exposition of the doctrine of assurance is distilled into one chapter, its important place—indeed, its pervasive and strategic connections—appears eloquently if only subtly in virtually all the soteriological chapters.

In effectual calling (Chapter X of the Second London Confession), a man is “enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the Grace offered and conveyed in it” (X.2). In justification, though God continues to forgive sin, justified persons may fall under God’s fatherly displeasure; however, through humbling themselves, confessing sin, begging pardon, and renewing faith and repentance, the “light of his Countenance [may be] restored unto them” (XI.5). In adoption, those who are justified “are enabled to cry ‘Abba Father’ ” (XII). In sanctification, the lusts of the body of sin are more and more weakened so that the saints grow in grace, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an heavenly life” (XIII.3). Although saving faith, “whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls” may be weak or strong, it is different in kind from the faith of temporary believers, and it may grow up in many to the “attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is both the Author and Finisher of our Faith” (XIV.1, 3). Good works, actions done in obedience to God’s commandments, not only evidence a true and living faith, demonstrate the believer’s thankfulness, and edify the brethren, they also strengthen the assurance of the believer (XVI.2). Even the section elucidating the decrees of God reflects on the concept of assurance: “The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination, is to be handled with special prudence, and care; that men attending the will of God revealed in his word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election” (111.7).

Although the doctrine of assurance is present in piecemeal fashion throughout the Second London Confession, one welcomes its clear and systematic presentation in chapter XVIII, which treats four major aspects of assurance in its four paragraphs. If they were titled according to subject matter, the paragraphs might well bear the following headings: (1) The Reality of Assurance, (2) The Foundations of Assurance, (3) The Duty to Seek Assurance, and (4) The Temporary Loss of Assurance.

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Tom Nettles on Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

1. “Created in Christ Jesus” – It is both in Christ Jesus and for Christ Jesus that the creation wrought by the new birth finds its power and is sustained for its ultimate goal. The Spirit may be sent into our hearts, for Christ has removed from us the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13; 4:4-6; Romans 5:1, 5). He sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts through the reconciliation of Christ and continues his operations throughout our lives to conform us spiritually to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Review also Ephesians 1:23 and look forward to Ephesians 3:16, 17, 21).

2. “For Good works” – Good works always are those works that are expressly contained in the moral law of God or by consequence of scriptural application derived from it. In short, God moves us by his Spirit to love him with all our heart, mind soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Ways in which that is done both in the church and in the world are indicated throughout the New Testament (cf. Titus 3:14; 1 Timothy 5:9, 10; 6:17-19; Hebrews 13:20, 21; James 3:13-18; 1 John 4:7-12).

3. “Which God prepared beforehand” – The movement of all things in the world in their fitting relationship with all other things has been established by God as a matter of his wisdom in creation. Even so, the perfect conformity of the human spirit, the imago dei, with the holiness of God and in love toward all other image bearers is the guiding principle by which God had beforehand prepared good works. But also, specifically he calls each of his people within the sphere of their gifts and labor to do what they do “as unto the Lord.” By his sovereignty, he distributes gifts among men; and in his effectual providence and internal promptings he moves us to good works. We should be able to testify with Paul, in his efforts to “present everyone mature in Christ,” “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:28, 29).

4. “That we should walk in them.” – Following the good works that God himself has prepared for us should be the manner of our life. Ordering our steps according to his law, in respect of his providence, and with a conscientious view of his glory is our goal and his purpose.

Adapted from God’s Work and Workmanship by Tom Nettles

Tom Nettles on Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

By grace. The unmerited favor of God is the source, established before the foundation of the world (1:4, 6) of every part of God’s restitution of sinners and fitting them for heaven.

1. “You have been saved.” Since he uses here a perfect passive form, he means that this event has occurred and has abiding results. We could say that salvation is initiated experientially in forgiveness of sins and justification. That already has taken place in the life of the Christian and he/she is freed from condemnation and granted the merits by which eternal life is granted.

2. “through Faith”. That aspect of God’s favor towards us is received on our part by our seeing the worthiness of Christ and his work and placing our full trust in him for acceptance before God. We rely on him alone and turn away from any possibility of acceptance through personal merit. No performance of ours escapes the verdict of condemnation but is cast aside as dung when we see the excellence of Christ (Philippians 3:7-9).

3. “And that not of yourselves” – The neuter demonstrative pronoun, “that” refers to the entire process of the grant of all that is involved in forgiveness and justification as well as the granting of faith. The merits are of Christ and the faith is from the power of the Holy Spirit granted to us in the moment of regeneration. While we are dead in trespasses and sins he raises us up to a new spiritual life, the immediate reflex of which is the response of faith toward the working of God and by the working of God. Compare Colossians 2:12, 13.

4. “It is the gift of God.” Literally, “of God, the gift.” No simpler or more absolute way could it be expressed. The fullness of the gift in its every part originates in the mind of God, is prepared by the power of God, and is granted by the grace of God. Its freeness in every part conforms to the trinitarian reality with every person operating to complement, undergird, and sustain the work of each other divine person so that in salvation God is all and in all. In eternal covenant, incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, and the sending of the Spirit, Scripture gives evidence of a fitting engagement of Father, Son, and Spirit in each step.

5. “Not of Works” – This reiterates the insistence on grace as the all-encompassing reality of salvation. By “works” is meant our conformity to the law of God. We have broken his law in both tables and in all of its distinct parts and are under its curse. Should we be judged according to works, condemnation would be the result, for, as previously stated, we are “by nature children of wrath.”

6. “So that no one may boast.” At the cross of Christ, none will boast in themselves. Each will say, “Marvelous grace of our loving Lord; grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt; yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.”

Adapted from God’s Work and Workmanship by Tom Nettles

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