Is Assurance of Salvation Possible, and Who Can Have It?

We continue our study of the doctrine of assurance as it is presented in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, chapter 18. The first paragraph reads:Temporary believers and other unregenerate men may deceive themselves in vain with false hopes and fleshly presumptions that they have God’s favor and salvation, but their hope will perish. Yet those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him sincerely, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may be certainly assured in this life that they are in a state of grace. They may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and this hope will never make them ashamed.This first paragraph presents us with a very careful balance. It begins with a concession, followed by a positive assertion. The concession is that there are temporary believers and other unregenerate people who may presume to have assurance when they should not. But that warning to false believers is balanced by encouragement and comfort to sincere believers.It is…