Covenant and Assurance⤒🔗

In this article we turn to the question how through the aspect of personal appropriation we come to the assurance of faith. This is an element in the personal realm, just as faith itself is. After all, assurance is particular and personal. You look not for certainty regarding another person’s salvation but for certainty regarding your own salvation.

Here, too, many questions have come forward in recent discussions. On the one hand, some suggest that we are much too self-assured about our salvation and that we even come across that way. On the other hand, there are those who struggle with assurance. They say: I know I am in the covenant and so on, but does that really give you certainty? What about the role of faith? What if faith is weak, and struggling? Can you be sure of the love of God? Can you be sure you are a child of God? Is there not a danger that we are taking our role as adopted children for granted?

Lift your Hearts!←⤒🔗

The way to true certainty and assurance follows the line charted in the first article: we must look not to ourselves but to Christ! Everything hinges on the fellowship with Christ. We may begin with looking into ourselves, but we must end up turning to Christ! Faith means: seeking your salvation outside of yourself in Jesus Christ. And even though this faith may be so buffeted as to be near buried by the weight of sin and temptation, it remains the first step in finding reconciliation and hope in God.¹

This is not an automatic process, as some assert or suggest. One must certainly confront the fact that God is angry with our sins, and that his wrath goes out against sins every day (Psalm 7:11). One who looks to himself cannot but condemn himself before God’s throne. But assurance comes to our consciences when we hold to the conviction that God’s mercy triumphs over his wrath in the life of the believer who genuinely condemns himself and looks to Christ.² The believer must rise in his heart to the wonderful exchange which God has effected on his behalf.³ 

This does not mean that we must first tremble before an angry God before we can have a hint of the mercy and grace of God. In fact, as Calvin notes, true reverence before God is born out of the recognition of God’s mercy.⁴ Repentance is not born out of a confrontation with the law, but out of faith in Jesus Christ. And the goal of repentance is the renewal of life. This renewal of life incorporates within it the principle of keeping a clear conscience (1 Timothy 1:19). Therefore it is impossible for those who are grafted into Christ by a true faith not to bring forth fruits of true thankfulness (Lord’s Day 32). And while those fruits themselves contribute to greater assurance in faith, the ultimate ground of assurance is not to be found in us or in our works, but outside of ourselves in Jesus Christ. In Calvin’s approach, “the free mercy of God is the irreducible foundation of the assurance of faith.”⁵

The faith which is founded on the free mercy of Christ is at the same time directed solely to union with Christ. The highest goal in our life is not our salvation or our fruits, but our union with Christ through which God is glorified. Christ is here the beginning and end of our salvation, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Ultimately our assurance rests in our free adoption in Christ sealed in holy baptism. Also for assurance we consistently look outside of ourselves and only to Christ.

A Covenantal Gift←⤒🔗

Once we recognize this, we can see at the same time that this is a covenantal gift first of all. For all Christ’s blessings are given in the context of the covenant community. Not only faith but assurance too is imparted to the entire church through the means of grace. So we read in the Form for the Baptism of Infants: “And if we sometimes through weakness fall into sins, we must not despair of God’s mercy, nor continue in sin, for baptism is a seal and trustworthy testimony that we have an eternal covenant with God.” And the Form for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper says:

Therefore we may be heartily assured that no sin or weakness which still remains in us against our will can prevent us from being received by God in grace and from being made worthy partakers of this heavenly food and drink.

This does not mean that we treat everyone the same and let the matter rest. The congregation is the covenant community, and legally all have equal status in the covenant. But the confession also recognizes the various differences that can and do exist among individual members. And because appropriation is personal, these differences can and should be brought out in the preaching as well.

What do the Creeds Say?←⤒🔗

Let us give a few examples. In the Canons of Dort I/12 we read:

'The elect in due time, though in various stages and in different measure, are made certain of their eternal and unchangeable election to salvation.'

And in I/16 it says:

'Some do not yet clearly discern in themselves a living faith in Christ, an assured confidence of heart, peace of conscience, a zeal for childlike obedience, and a glorying in God through Christ ... Others seriously desire to be converted to God, to please Him only, and to be delivered from the body of death. Yet they cannot reach that point on the way of godliness of faith which they would like.'

And in Chapter V/11 the Canons of Dort state that,

'believers in this life have to struggle with various doubts of the flesh, and placed under severe temptation, do not always feel this full assurance of faith and certainty of perseverance.'

All these references point to different stages in the lives of saints in the church, and different levels of assurance.

Spiritual Growth←⤒🔗

The confessions also recognize that we are involved in a process of spiritual growth. So it is normal to expect that we will be at different stages in spiritual growth. Again, precisely because appropriation is personal, the preaching may bring this out. One progresses from one stage to the next, not by leaps and bounds, or even by climbing steps, but by a steady and growing spiritual maturity and a deeper rooting in faith and conduct. It stands to reason that we are not all at the same place, even though we are all involved in the same process. Lord’s Day 31 speaks of the way of receiving the Word, the way of appropriation, as a process: “...the kingdom of heaven is opened when it is proclaimed and publicly testified to each and every believer that God has really forgiven all their sins for the sake of Christ’s merits, as often as they by a true faith accept the promise of the gospel (emphasis added).” Lord’s Day 33 asks what the dying of the old nature is: it is to “grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it, (emphasis added).” And in Lord’s Day 44 the life to a new obedience is prefixed with the same phrase: “to be renewed more and more after God’s image.” Article 29 Belgic Confession says that although great weaknesses remain in the saints “they fight against them all the days of their life.”⁶

The same truth is reflected in our liturgical forms for the use of the sacraments. In the Form for the Baptism of Infants we pray that the child “following Him day by day” may joyfully bear his cross. And we pray that the Lord may so be with the child that he will “grow and increase in the Lord Jesus Christ.” So also in the prayer for the Lord’s Supper we ask that the Lord work in us though His Holy Spirit so that we might “more and more entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ (emphasis added).” And in the thanksgiving prayer we read:

Cause us to show in our whole life our heartfelt love toward Thee and toward each other (emphasis added).

You will find this same line in Romans 5:3ff and in 2 Peter 1:5-7. Both of these passages highlight the patterns of spiritual growth in the Christian life, and how we not only move in stages, but may find ourselves at various stages in the Christian life. There is every reason to be aware of this and to highlight it in the preaching. In that sense the preaching is truly barren if it does not include personal admonitions and exhortations. Just as they are found in the apostolic letters, so they must be found in the communication of the apostolic message to the church today.

The Communal Aspect←⤒🔗

At the same time, as we discovered above, the personal aspect cannot be divorced from its communal setting. In fact, the hallmark of the passages is that assurance also is communal. Here, too, the same rule applies. Appropriation is personal, but the personal aspect is not the aspect with the most priority. From the personal aspect you come to the communal, and so discover the personal aspect’s framework. That applies to faith, but the same applies to assurance. I do not mean to say that we suddenly become sure about each other, but we do believe that the assurance of faith is also experienced in a communal way. Is that not beautifully expressed in the prayer before communion as found in our Form for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper?:

Let us so truly be partakers of the new and everlasting testament, the covenant of grace, that we do not doubt that Thou wilt forever be our gracious Father, nevermore imputing to us our sins...(emphasis added).

Perhaps two elements can be brought out here. First, there is a personal dimension in assurance in this sense that in giving assurance the Lord ensures that you are not leaning on another but are finding your assurance solely in Christ. Second, He also ensures that when you receive and find personal assurance, you at the same time find this in consort with fellow believers. In personal struggle and temptation you find the fellowship! And the fellowship is central! That is what it is all about! It will then be no surprise to you that the Canons of Dort, even in the section on perseverance, retain the plural form: the believers are assured in their faith as the elect people, as a body, a covenant community, and not as a loose collection of individuals (see Canons V/9-13).

The Dangers←⤒🔗

One of the more pronounced dangers of modern pietism and evangelicalism is that the focus falls on the personal aspect of faith at the expense of its communal elements. The result is a manifestation of false certainty over and above the promises of God coupled with a corresponding and perhaps more prevalent uncertainty regarding our actual state. For example, false certainty arises whenever one rather easily divides people into the categories of “saved” and “unsaved.” But with this false certainty comes a looming uncertainty as well, for who can be sure he will remain in the category in which he has placed himself? For whenever one tries to reach for more than what is given, he or she ends up short-changed, having less than what can be received in true faith. One must stay in the room of the covenant, and find his assurance through the use of the means provided there.

Covenant and Election←⤒🔗

In conclusion, a few remarks about the relationship between covenant and election. Like faith and assurance, election is personal and particular. Paul calls each believer to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12,13). And Peter calls the believer to confirm his call and election “for if you do this you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). Each believer must do this, and as he does so, God takes his own specific journey with each person in His covenant. The knowledge of one’s election is the primary mark of assurance. So one moves from faith to assurance to the confirmation of election, all in the measure and time that God grants.

The chief element of assurance, the assurance of one’s election, also comes only by looking outside of oneself to Jesus Christ. Here the one who willingly condemns himself because of his sins can only look to Jesus Christ, in whom he sees as in a mirror the image of the mercy of the Father. And in the very image of the mercy of the Father one finds the image or mirror of his election. All this comes in the way of faith consistently holding to the Word. This knowledge comes not by human ingenuity but divine call. The knowledge of one’s election is really the seal of the Holy Spirit upon the call of the gospel which the Spirit himself works quite personally and individually in the heart of each believer. Yet, to hold to Calvin’s line, the real seal of election is not to be found in our life of holiness or our good conscience. “The call remains the fundamental testimony that assures our conscience of our election.”⁷

From Christ to Fellowship!←⤒🔗

Here, too, the personal application only leads you back to the communal aspect with which you began your journey of faith. We all begin in the context of the covenant and its promises. But as we apply Scripture’s injunctions to ourselves, we begin to walk a personal journey among God’s people. However, we walk this road in the context of fellowship, and as we proceed we consistently find others walking the same road with us. We may all be at different stations on the road, but we are on the same path!

This makes clear that the covenant and election can neither be identified nor severed. To identify them is fatal; to sever them is equally so. We say the covenant is the means through which God realizes His election. He gathers the people of His choice through the means He has appointed. We must leave to God what belongs to Him, and work with what He has revealed.

It is true that the fulfilment of the blessings of the covenant apply essentially only to the elect. The reprobate are hardened according to the just punishment of God. But the final number of the elect is known only to God. We each must take our place around the means of grace He has instituted – word and sacrament – and exploit these means each in our office to their fullest potential. Then, in the way of the covenant, we are made sure of our election.

The covenant is communal, election is personal. But in the school of faith and in the avenue of faith that which is personal becomes consciously communal, and the covenant becomes a living reality in the faith-life of the church. For in both covenant and election God’s rule applies: appropriation is personal, but the gift appropriated is communal, and when you share that, you share in fellowship with the whole church. Prof. Van Genderen says it this way:

In the discussion of the covenant and election, as well as the address, contents, and realization of the covenant promise, one generally thinks in terms of the individual person. Yet the personal and individual element is not the only factor. One could even say on biblical grounds that it is not the primary consideration.⁸

Prof. Van Genderen then goes on to treat a number of biblical passages in which the plural dominates in the address of God’s people. This does not rule out the singular references, but puts them in a specific framework.

Here the same truth applies. The communal aspect: that is the goal of faith! That remains the framework in which personal faith works itself out! That is what we live and die for! This does not cancel out personal faith. However, in the aspect of communion and fellowship our personal faith comes to its highest expression. In the end, we are never alone. We believe as members of Christ’s body, and therefore take our place among the members in order to work for the smooth functioning of the whole. In this way, when every part is working properly, the whole body is built up in love. This is the rich gift that carries over through the grace of God from our world to the world to come.