Assurance of Adoption

A New Paradigm for Assurance of Salvation

Chun Tse

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781725280144
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

This book presents a new paradigm for assurance of salvation. It argues that an adoption-centric understanding of salvation, based on union with Christ, enables one to appreciate salvation in its fullest splendor. Seeing assurance from historical, exegetical, and theological perspectives, it contends that assurance of adoption is assurance of salvation.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Assurance of salvation is a subject at least as old as Christianity itself. It is a topic pregnant with immense theological as well as pastoral and personal significance. How can believers be sure whether they are children of God? What, exactly, is assurance of salvation? How should one understand and interpret assurance? How is it related to justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification? This chapter sheds some light on these questions by analyzing assurance from a theological perspective.

A. What is the Assurance of Salvation?

A person’s understanding of assurance of salvation is a function of that person’s theological tradition. To those who do not believe in the perseverance of the saints, assurance, if it exists, is only restricted to present salvation. They cannot extrapolate that confidence into the future because, as far as they know, salvation can be revoked, perhaps due to some grave sins that might be committed later in their lives for which they may not repent. They may enlist passages like Heb 6:4–8 as their support. Even those who believe a person’s salvation, both now and in the future, is eternally secured in Christ may still lack personal assurance, especially when they ponder the discrepancy between how they live and how they ought to live. They may cite a passage like Rom 7:14–25 to justify their doubt. Others believe it is altogether impossible to obtain assurance as it is privileged and classified information only God possesses. Their proof text is Deut 29:29.

A person’s understanding of both redemption and salvation also shapes that person’s understanding of assurance.1 From a divine perspective, redemption, rooted in the historia salutis,2 is purposed by the Father before creation, accomplished by Christ in his death and resurrection, applied by the Spirit to believers, and will be consummated by the Triune God at the end of the eschatological age.3 From the perspective of the redeemed, salvation, with its manifold riches reflected in the ordo salutis,4 is actualized within the overarching framework of union with Christ.5 Believers can only participate in the redemptive benefits accomplished by Christ through union with him by Spirit-wrought faith alone. It follows that assurance, being one of the spiritual blessings of salvation, necessarily flows from union with Christ.

A more fundamental question remains, however, regarding the intrinsic meaning of assurance of salvation. What is assurance of salvation? The simplicity of the question masks its complexity. If one views salvation in light of election, then assurance is being sure one is among the elect.6 If one regards salvation as chiefly justification, then assurance is tantamount to believing in one’s sins having been forgiven.7 If one considers salvation’s main thrust as regeneration8 or sanctification,9 then assurance is being sure one has been born again and has evidenced the fruit of the Spirit. If one understands salvation as adoption, then assurance implies a certainty of one’s status as a child of God.10 If one links salvation to perseverance,11 then assurance entails confidence that God will preserve the Christian who will, in turn, endure to the end.12 If one views salvation from the vantage point of death and glorification, then assurance is trusting that one will go to heaven upon death and will receive glorification when Christ returns.13 While each perspective above is valid and can find scriptural support, this study argues that an ad...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Assurance of Adoption Is Assurance of Salvation
• Chapter 3: Assurance in History
• Chapter 4: Assurance in Reformed Catechisms and Confessions
• Chapter 5: Assurance in Romans 8:12–17
• Chapter 6: Assurance in 1 John
• Chapter 7: Assurance and Union with Christ
• Chapter 8: Assurance and the Ordo Salutis, the Sacraments, and Pentecost
• Chapter 9: Pastoral Implications
• Conclusion
• Bibliography