Assurance of salvation

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In Protestant Christianity, certainty of salvation denotes the certainty of the believer that God, the judge, will acquit him before the Last Judgment . This certainty is based on the fact that Jesus Christ, in his death on the cross, bore the guilt of the whole world on behalf of the whole world and appropriates the forgiveness created by him to those who rely on him:

“So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that all who believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life” ( Jn 3:16  ESV ).

This assurance of salvation is understood either as the "inalienability of salvation" ("persistence in grace") or as a current state of being saved, which does not exclude future negative decisions of man - possibly respected by God.

Basis of assurance of salvation

In Reformation theology, certainty of salvation ( certitudo ) is distinguished from security of salvation ( securitas ). Securitas denotes a blindness that does not come from God, which lulls people into a false certainty with the result that the person concerned leans back confidently because he thinks, as he is, he can stand before God. The Certitudo, on the other hand, is considered to have been worked by God's Holy Spirit on the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 8 16). It lifts the temptation that the thought of the Last Judgment evokes, but does not work against it and saves from despair.

history

Assurance of salvation is a specifically Protestant term, since other denominations and religions generally assume that man can himself contribute to his salvation through good works. Since one's own works remain a constant factor of uncertainty, no absolute certainty of salvation can arise from them. In contrast, Lutheranism emphasizes , “that man is justified without the works of the law, solely through faith” ( Rom 3:28  LUT ). Good works are the fruit and consequence of faith in Jesus Christ, but they cannot bring about “righteousness”, that is, acquittal before God's judgment.

In the history of the Church, Paul, Augustine and Martin Luther in particular have dealt with the issue of the certainty of salvation (see also Gospel (faith) , baptism and Lord's Supper or Eucharist ).

The Catholic doctrine of grace attaches less importance to the individual certainty of salvation and does not include the distinction between securitas and certitudo . She points to the words of Christ and the Apostles that proclaim the final judgment after the works, and sees them as the indispensable corrective to a purely inner-psychological concept of faith.

Calvinism and Arminianism

Calvin's doctrine of "perseverance in grace" was countered by his pupil Arminius, and in particular his successor, with the doctrine that a believer can also lose his salvation . Arminians base their view on Bible passages such as Heb 6,4–8  LUT or Heb 10,26–31  LUT . These passages are interpreted differently by representatives of the “inalienability of salvation”.

The Calvinist position summarized:

  • All who have become believers cannot lose their salvation.
  • All who have believed will, by the grace of God, persevere in a life of good works until the last hour.
  • This persistence is a work of God with which the believer cooperates.
  • If a believer falls into sin , it will only be for a limited time, and he will always repent as a result .

The Arminian position summarized:

  • Every believer can lose his salvation.
  • Believers who do not persevere in a life of good works are lost.
  • Every believer has a duty to live holy , but to do so is their own choice and responsibility.
  • If a believer falls into sin, it is their responsibility to repent while they are still alive.

Theological justification of the assurance of salvation

The theological justification of the certainty of salvation is that faith itself is God's work in man, namely being filled with the Holy Spirit, and no human accomplishment of any kind. Faith is centered on the word of God as it was originally proclaimed through Jesus Christ and should be passed on through the church. In this word, God promises man something that cannot be recognized with mere reason, namely God's presence and unconditional love. To believe in Jesus as the Son of God means that on the basis of his word one can be certain that he is received in the eternal love of God for God, in the love of the Father for the Son, which as the Holy Spirit is God himself (= meaning the Trinity of God). Only in this way is communion with God (= salvation) possible, and no power in the world comes against it. For God's love for man is not measured in man or in anything created, but in the Son. Therefore it can be relied upon by faith, with a certainty that surpasses all else. This understanding is also based on the doctrine of justification , according to which one can only have fellowship with God through faith in the Word of God and in the Holy Spirit, i.e. through grace, because no created quality is sufficient, and applies to all Christians across denominations.

literature

  • Heinrich Willkomm: The certainty of salvation and its significance for the Christian life. Evangelical Publishing House, Berlin 1955.
  • Jacob G. Fijnvandraat: Can Believers Get Lost? Christian publication, Hückeswagen 1986.
  • Erich Mauerhofer : Biblical dogmatics. Revised lectures . VTR, Nuremberg and RVB, Hamburg 2011, 2 volumes, pp. 330–347 (on the losability of salvation).
  • Klaus Ritter (Ed.): Can a Christian be lost? A biblical pastoral question and its effects in practical Christian life. Schwengeler, Berneck 1986, ISBN 3-85666-128-X .
  • Michael Beintker (Ed.): Certitudo salutis. The existence of belief between certainty and doubt. Symposium on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Hans Helmut Esser. Lit, Münster 1996, ISBN 3-8258-3137-X .
  • J. Matthew Pinson (Ed.): Four Views on Eternal Security. Zondervan, Grand Rapids (Michigan) 2002, ISBN 978-0-310-23439-5 .
  • Thomas Zimmermanns: Inalienability of salvation - what does the Bible say about it? Lichtzeichen-Verlag, Lage 2008, ISBN 978-3-936850-80-2 .
  • Erwin W. Lutzer: How do I know that I'm going to heaven? Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-89436-693-3 .
  • Johannes Pflaum : Really saved? The question of the certainty of salvation. Christian Media Service, Hünfeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-939833-33-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Burkhardt considers this to be a distortion of the doctrine of the certainty of salvation ( Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation , Vol. 2, p. 883).
  2. ^ A b Charles C. Ryrie : Understanding the Bible , Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 4 2007, pp. 371–377.
  3. ↑ Joseph C. Dillow: The Reign of the Servant Kings. A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man , Schoettle, Hayesville (North Carolina) 1992, p. 19.
  4. ^ Peter Knauer: Doctrine of Justification. Retrieved November 18, 2018 .