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The Reign of the Servant Kings By Joseph C. Dillow A Review-Summary-Outline
Chapter 12—Faith and Assurance
In the previous chapter the relationship between faith and assurance from Calvin to Westminster was described. The complete departure from Calvin’s simple idea that faith is located in the mind and is basically “belief” and assurance was noted. Now our attention will be turned to the biblical and theological issues. While historical theology yields interesting perspective, the final issue is “what the Bible teaches, and not what others teach.”
Faith
It is somewhat perplexing how this simple, universally understood, and commonly used term has been so freighted with additional meanings. Notions like obedience, yieldedness, repentance, and a myriad of other terms are continually read into this word in order to make it serve the purpose of some particular theological system. It is perplexing because the lexical authorities are virtually unanimous in their assertion that faith (Gk. pistis) means belief, confidence, or persuasion. The verbal forms all mean the same—to believe something, to give assent, to have confidence in, or to be persuaded of.
A study of various passages within the New Testament confirms that the deeper sense of the word is “that of firm, trustful reliance. In regards to the doctrine of soteriology “to believe” is a technical term to express reliance upon Christ for one’s salvation. It certainly does not include within its compass the very thing it is contrasted with—obedience!
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds (works) of the law. . . But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (Romans 3:28; 4:5)
If faith is the opposite of works of obedience (law) and is the opposite of work, by what mental alchemy can men seriously argue that, while faith is apart from works of obedience, faith itself includes works of obedience? If faith plus works does not save, then it is illegitimate to include obedience as a part of faith and then say faith alone saves when one means that faith plus works saves!
It is true that faith includes the idea of repentance, but repentance does not mean “turn from sin” but “to change one’s perspective.” [Reviewer’s comment: This takes place when “by faith” a person turns from every other confidence to Jesus Christ alone for his personal salvation. In other words, the “act of faith alone in Christ” is the execution of “biblical repentance.”] When the writer of Hebrews says, “The just shall live by faith,” he means that the modus operandi of life of the regenerate man is faith. He does not mean that we must believe (= obey) for the rest of our lives to become or prove that we already are Christians. It is true that we are only partakers of Christ if we hold firm to the end, but being a partaker and being a Christian are different things (see the discussion in chapter 5 under Hebrews 3:14). The work that God will complete in the lives of the Philippians is not sanctification but their participation in the gospel with Him, which will continue up to the Lord’s return. Paul expected the Lord to return in his lifetime.
The Reformed faith has commonly held that the sanctification of the believer involves the work of God and of man. With this the writer agrees. But the only works of obedience that God performs related to our justification are imputed to us and not worked in us. These works are known as the active obedience of Christ, his perfect obedience to the requirements of the law on our behalf. These merits are reckoned to our account in the act of justification (Romans 10:4; 5:19; Colossians 2:10). However, the conclusion of the Reformation was that justification is a forensic act of God in which He declares us righteous.
The Role of the Will in Faith
Actions of will arise from faith, but the will itself does not seem to be involved in the production of faith. This may seem surprising to some, but a moment’s reflection will substantiate the commonly understood notion that faith is located in the mind and is persuasion or belief. It is something that “happens” to us as a result of reflection upon sufficient evidence. We can no more will faith than we can will feelings of love. That faith is a passive thing, and not active, is evident when Paul says: “. . . Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of (with) faith? (Galatians 3:2) Reviewer’s comment: The author then explains how the word “hearing,” in contrast to the word “obeying,” indicates that faith is a passive reception and is the equivalent of the Lord’s usage of “looking” (John 3:14, 15) and “tasting” (John 4:14; 7:37, 38), also, according to the author, terms that assign a passive, receptive function to faith. This reviewer, while agreeing that faith involves mental acumen (understanding and enlightenment of the gospel message), which is a function of the Holy Spirit’s operation and which indeed cannot be generated by man, is not efficacious (effective) unless by the “free agency” of the person involved it is exercised by a decision of the will directed toward Jesus Christ. To understand it otherwise is to consent to the Calvinistic concept that man is unable to resist (turn down) God in the matter of eternal salvation and in effect, at least in this issue, to deny man’s free agency (choice) by making him no more than a mindless robot. This reviewer believes that the “exercise of faith” toward Christ is not a work but a non-meritorious act of receiving the free grace-gift of God, which is eternal salvation. Although the author of this book appears to exclude the will in “saving faith,” he later within this chapter makes the following statement, “Since faith is located primarily in the mind and is received as a gift of God, there are no necessary actions of the will (other than the “act” of reliant-trust) or good works required to verify its presence,” which statement appears to confirm that the “will” is necessary in the apprehension of eternal salvation.
Saving faith is reliance upon God for salvation. It does not include within its compass the determination of the will to obey, nor does it include a commitment to a life of works. To believe is to be persuaded and be reliant and includes nothing else. Reviewer’s comment: In regards to this paragraph, and in harmony with the prior reviewer’s comment, the phrase, “to be persuaded” may be interpreted as “enlightenment and conviction by the Holy Spirit,” while the phase, “be reliant” may be understood as the exercise of this enlightened conviction with a decision of the will directed toward Christ in the non-meritorious reception of the free gift of eternal salvation. It is possible that the reviewer and the author of this book are in agreement. The first words in the paragraph following the subtitle “The Role of the Will in Faith,” state, “Actions of will arise from faith.” Possibly the author means by this that when one becomes convinced of the gospel message, he then may exercise will either to apply the faith or to leave it dormant, i.e., leave it inactive.
If anything is clear in the New Testament, whatever belief is, it is the opposite of works:
Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of (with) faith? (Galatians 3:5)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. . . . He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-16, 18)
If, indeed, faith is a mental and not a volitional thing, then two problems immediately come to mind. First, if the will is not involved in faith, then why is it that faith is everywhere presented in Scripture as something for which men are responsible? Second, how can such a view of faith be distinguished from mere intellectual assent? Certainly Satan assents mentally to the proposition that Jesus is God. Does this mean that he has faith?
Something more is needed to produce faith. Faith is not a mechanical result of the presentation of evidence. Good evidence can be refused because of the subjective nature or condition of the mind to which it is addressed. This is the ground of responsibility for belief or faith: “it is not merely a question of evidence but of subjectivity; and subjectivity is the other name for personality.” [Reviewer’s comment: Sounds like the will is involved. Both intellect (mind) and will, which may also be a function contained in the mind, are part of the “soul” of man.]
The biblical solution, however, is to admit that for the natural man faith is impossible and to attribute it to the gift of God. This gift is not communicated mechanically. Rather, it is given through the creation of a capacity for faith on the basis of the evidence submitted. It starts with illumination, softening of the heart, and a quickening of the will. As a result, a man freely believes on the basis of the evidence submitted to him in the Gospels. This creation of capacity precedes regeneration. The biblical evidence that faith itself is a gift is impressive and has often been repeated. It comes not of one’s own strength or virtue but only to those who are chosen of God for its reception (1 Thessalonians 2:13); hence, it is a gift (Ephesians 6:23; cf. 2:8, 9; Philippians 1:29). It comes through Christ (Acts 3:16; 1 Peter 1:21), by means of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:13; Galatians 5:5), and by means of the preached Word (Romans 10:17; Galatians 3:2, 5). Because it is thus obtained from God (2 Peter 1:1; Jude 3), thanks are to be returned to God for it (Colossians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:3).
Therefore, it may be concluded that, when the Bible teaches that we are responsible for believing (e.g., Acts 16:31), the meaning is plain. We are responsible for directing our sight to Christ and to an openness to consider the evidence. [Reviewer’s comment: Sounds like an exercise of the “will.”] The evidence for faith is good—the revelation of God in the Bible—and to reject it is a moral, not an intellectual, problem. The refusal of man to do this precludes the possibility that he will come to faith. It is in this that the responsibility for faith lies. In this way we can see that faith itself is not a volitional but a mental act, as it is everywhere described.
Faith and Knowledge
But if faith is merely a mental act, a persuasion based upon evidence, how is it distinguished from mere knowledge, which the demons possess? Are we to say that saving faith is simply the acceptance of a set of propositions about the deity of Christ and the atonement?
There are two things that differentiate saving faith from mere knowledge (intellectual assent), as follows:
Faith and Profession
Closely related to the question of faith and knowledge is the question, “How is a saved man to be distinguished from one who professes to be saved but in fact is not?” Or, “How is a false profession of faith in Christ to be distinguished from a true one? If the preceding train of thought is granted, then it is clear how we do not discern a false profession. We do not discern this by an examination of fruits or an assessment of grief over sin or a measurement of desire to have fellowship with God. Rather, the presence of a false profession is to be discerned by asking questions that will reveal whether or not a person understands the gospel and has Christ as the conscious object of faith. We ask questions that will reveal whether or not a person is trusting in Christ for salvation and whether or not he or she has accepted the gospel offer. While such an examination can never yield the certainty that the Experimental Predestinarian seems to desire, it should be realized that his examination of fruit yields no certainty at all. Indeed, the whole quest for certainty is ill-founded. Paul warned us to judge no man before the time.
Only the individual can know if he has believed. We cannot externally know this for him. Certainly the lack of fruit in a person’s life raises the question, “Does he possess the Spirit at all, or if he does, has he quenched Him?” But just as the presence of fruit cannot prove a man is a Christian, neither can its absence deny it.
Faith and Assurance
Since faith is located primarily in the mind and is received as a gift of God, there are no necessary actions of the will (other than the “act” of reliant-trust) or good works required to verify its presence. Reviewer’s comment: See initial comment above. A man knows he has faith in the same way he knows he loves his wife and children. And if he has faith, then he has justification and assurance. He does not have to wait until the will “kicks in” weeks or months later to produce a few evidences of regeneration. Rather, he can accept the gospel promise that “whosoever believes in Him will not perish” and assume at the instant he believes that his eternal security is definite. Yes, all that is necessary is to “believe at a point in time.” Reviewer’s comment: At this point in the chapter the author presents the views of several different notable individuals—biblical scholars and such—regarding the subject. The reader is referred to the book for these discussions.
Assurance Is of the Essence of Faith
Finally, the Bible explicitly and implicitly affirms that assurance is part of saving faith. The writer to the Hebrews unambiguously declares this to be true when he says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).
But in addition, the scores of passages that tell us that “whoever believes has eternal life” surely imply that a person who has believed has eternal life. If he is not assured of that fact, how is it possible that he has believed the promise? Belief and assurance are so obviously inseparable that only the interest of preserving the Experimental Predestinarian doctrine of perseverance can justify their division. Reviewer’s comment: The reviewer takes issue with the conclusion of this paragraph, particularly in the light, which this book has advanced so far, that a true believer can fall back into a carnal state. The carnal state can rob an individual of such assurance, as well as other evidences of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
But if assurance is in fact part of true faith, why then does the Bible ask us to examine ourselves to see we are truly Christians. Surely, if assurance is part of true faith, such examinations would be unnecessary. This will be the subject of the next chapter.
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