Genuine assurance and perseverance are sorely lacking among Christians today. The fruits of assurance and per­severance – diligent use of the means of grace, heartfelt obedience to God’s will, desire for fellowship with Him, yearning for His glory and heaven, love for the church, and intercession for revival – all appear to be waning. We desperately need rich, doctrinal thinking about assurance and perseverance coupled with vibrant, sanctified living.

What is “assurance of faith” and what is “perseverance of the saints” and how do we obtain them? How do assur­ance and perseverance assist each other in the Christian life?

Assurance of Faith⤒🔗

Assurance of faith is the conviction that, by God’s grace, I belong to Christ, have received full pardon for all sins, and will inherit eternal life. If I have true assurance, I not only believe in Christ for salvation but also know that I believe.

Such assurance includes freedom from guilt, joy in God, and a sense of belonging to the family of God. Assur­ance is also dynamic, varying according to conditions, capable of growing in force and fruitfulness.

As James W. Alexander said, assurance,

carries with it the idea of fullness, such as of a tree laden with fruit, or of a vessel’s sails when stretched by a favouring gale.

Assurance is obtained

1. by clinging to the promises of God,
2. by the Spirit’s confirmation of the marks and fruits of grace within us,
3. by the direct testimony of the Spirit witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God, and
4. by resting in God’s outstanding track record of faithfulness toward us (Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF], Ch. XVIII, Sec. 2; Canons of Dort [CD], Fifth Head, Art. 10).

Perseverance of the Saints←⤒🔗

We first must ask, who are the saints? Many would extend “eternal security” to all baptized persons, or to all who have made decisions for Christ at evangelistic meetings. Scripture and the Reformed Confessions speak only of the perseverance of saints, defined as those “whom God calls, according to his purpose, to the communion of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by the Holy Spirit” (CD, Fifth Head, Art. 1); and “they whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit” (WCF, Ch. XVII, Sec. I). By the preserving work of the triune God (1 Cor. 1:8-9), such people will persevere in true faith and in the works that proceed from faith, so long as they continue in the world.

Some theologians want to speak of the preservation of the saints, rather than perseverance. These two notions are closely related, but not the same. The preserving activity of God undergirds the saints’ perseverance. He keeps them in the faith, preserves them from straying, and ultimately perfects them (1 Pet. 1:5; Jude 24). We may be confident that God will finish the work of grace He has begun in us (Ps. 138:8; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 12:2). Believers are preserved through Christ’s intercession (Luke 22:32; John 17:5) and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; 1 John 2:27).

Perseverance itself, however, is the saints’ lifelong activity: confessing Christ as Savior (Rom. 10:9), bringing forth the fruits of grace (John 15:16), enduring to the end (Matt. 10:22; Heb. 10:28, 29). True believers persevere in the “things that accompany salvation” (Heb. 6:9). God does not deal with them “as unaccountable automatons, but as moral agents,” says A. W. Pink; believers are active in sanctification (Phil. 2:12). They keep themselves from sin (1 John 5:18). They keep themselves in the love of God (Jude 21). They run with patience the race that is set before them (Heb. 12:1). That is how they persevere, and they are aided in this by the Holy Spirit.

The Relationship of Assurance and Perseverance←⤒🔗

Assurance helps the believer persevere, first, by encouraging him to rest on God’s grace in Christ and His promises in the gospel; and second, by presenting these as a powerful motive for Christian living. The Puritan Thomas Goodwin said that assurance “makes a man work for God ten times more than before.”

Perseverance opens the way for assurance. If a man does not believe in the perseverance of the saints, he cannot be sure he is going to heaven. He may know he is in a state of grace, but he has no way of knowing whether or not he will continue in that state. Thus assurance is wedded to the doctrine of perseverance. Perseverance serves to confirm and increase assurance. Those who persist in doing the works that spring from faith will usually attain high levels of assurance over a period of time.

Assurance and perseverance are two sides of one coin. You cannot persevere in grace without growing in assur­ance, and you cannot grow in assurance of faith without perseverance.