Wesleyan Theology and the Doctrine of Salvation — Unit 7: Assurance and the Witness of the Spirit

Key Verse

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:16, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Define assurance and explain why it matters for the believer and for the pastor.

2. Explain the witness of the Spirit and the witness of our own spirit, using Romans 8 and the First Letter of John.

3. Describe Wesley's teaching that assurance is the privilege of every child of God, and explain how he later distinguished it from the essence of saving faith.

4. State fairly the Reformed, Roman Catholic and "enthusiasm" objections to the Wesleyan teaching, and give the Wesleyan answer to each.

5. Describe how a pastor helps a doubting believer and a presumptuous one.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition for Wesleyan students. It is theologically conservative: the Bible is the inspired and final authority, and God is one God in three persons. When we say "we," we mean the evangelical Wesleyan-Holiness and Methodist churches. Other Christians see these matters differently. We state their views fairly and then give our answer, as Scripture teaches: "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The history of Wesley's own search for assurance, including Aldersgate in 1738, was told in Course 1, Unit 3, and we do not repeat it.

Why Assurance Matters

A person who has repented, believed in Christ, and been born again may still ask a quiet question: "Am I really saved?" Some believers ask it every week. Others never ask it because they have never looked honestly at their own hearts.

Both conditions are dangerous. The doubting believer may be robbed of joy and strength, and may even give up. The careless professor may think himself safe when he has not truly turned to God. Wesleyan teaching on assurance guards against both. It teaches that God wants His children to know that they are His, and it teaches that this knowing is not a matter of guessing, pride, or feelings alone.

This unit stands between the new birth (Unit 6) and the way of salvation as a whole (Unit 8). It also prepares for Unit 9, because what a believer knows about his present standing must be kept distinct from what Scripture says about falling away.

What the Bible Says

Several passages teach that believers may know God as their Father.

Paul writes, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:15-16). To Galatians he says, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6).

John writes, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). Notice the purpose: that you may know. Notice also the second purpose: that you may continue to believe. Assurance is not a license to stop trusting.

The writer to the Hebrews urges believers to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). These passages show that the early Christians expected to know the Lord, and that the Spirit was the One who gave them this knowledge.

The Two Witnesses

John Wesley preached on this subject many times. His sermons "The Witness of the Spirit" (in two parts) and "The Witness of Our Own Spirit" are the best places to read his teaching. Out of Romans 8:16 he drew a pattern of two witnesses that Wesleyans still use.

The witness of the Spirit. This is the direct inward testimony of the Holy Spirit that we are God's children. Wesley described it as an impression on the soul by which the Spirit of God bears witness to a person's spirit that he is forgiven and accepted. It is not a voice from outside or a vision. It is a quiet and certain awareness, given by God and not produced by us. It rests on the Word of God and points to the promises of Christ.

The witness of our own spirit. This is the testimony of our conscience, renewed by grace, that we are living as children of God. It looks at the fruit. Do we love God and our neighbor? Do we keep His commandments? Is there evidence in our lives of "love, joy, peace" (Galatians 5:22)? John gives such tests: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14).

Wesley held that the two belong together. The Spirit's witness without the fruit of the Spirit is suspect, since anyone can imagine he is saved. The fruit without the Spirit's witness may leave a person anxious and uncertain, since our hearts can accuse us. The two together give a sound and humble confidence. Because the Spirit's testimony comes first in God's order, we place the fruit second, as the confirmation. In the language of the New Testament, we know that we have received the Spirit, and we see that He is at work.

Assurance and Faith: How Wesley's Teaching Developed

Here the historians' debate begins, and the lesson must be careful. In the early years of the Methodist revival, Wesley strongly stressed that a person who has no assurance of pardon is not yet a Christian in the full sense. He had in mind people who were religious and moral but who had never come to a settled trust in Christ. Later in his long life he gave a more careful teaching. He still taught that every child of God may and should have the Spirit's witness. But he also said that some who truly fear God and work righteousness, and who trust in Christ as far as they know Him, may lack the full witness for a time. He spoke of the "faith of a servant" and the "faith of a son." The servant honors God and has a real, though weak, faith. The son has received the Spirit of adoption and cries "Abba, Father."

Historians differ about how much Wesley changed and when. Some see a real shift from the early to the later Wesley. Others hold that he was always concerned for the same thing and only clarified it, because his earlier statements were meant for particular persons and times. We need not settle that debate. The teaching Wesleyans have received can be stated simply.

1. Assurance is the privilege of every child of God. We are not to be content without it.

2. Assurance is not the same thing as the first act of saving faith. A sincere believer who trusts Christ but has not yet received a clear witness is not necessarily lost.

3. Assurance has degrees. Wesley spoke of "full assurance of faith." But a believer can pass through seasons of darkness, heaviness and doubt. He wrote about this in sermons such as "The Wilderness State" and "Heaviness through Manifold Temptations."

4. Assurance is for now. It tells us about our present relation to God. It is kept by continuing in faith and obedience, and it can be lost by sin that grieves the Spirit. We return to this in Unit 9.

The Danger of False Assurance

The Wesleyan teaching on assurance does not mean that every confident person is saved. Jesus warned of many who would say "Lord, Lord" and be turned away (Matthew 7:21-23). A person may be sure of himself without being sure of Christ. Wesley's tests were therefore always joined: Is there the testimony of the Spirit? Is there the fruit of the Spirit? Does the testimony agree with the Word of God? A feeling that leads to pride, to love of the world, or to contempt for others is not the Spirit's witness.

Objection 1: The Reformed and Puritan View

Our Reformed brothers value assurance highly, and many Puritan writers wrote at length about it. The Reformed tradition is not of one mind. Some followed John Calvin in teaching that assurance belongs to the nature of faith itself. Others, such as the Westminster Confession (1646), taught that assurance is not of the essence of faith, that a true believer may wait long for it, and that it comes through the promises of God, the evidence of grace in the life, and the testimony of the Spirit. The Reformed also connect assurance to the perseverance of the saints. A believer may be sure that God will keep him to the end.

Our answer. On much of this we agree. We rejoice in the Puritan stress on self-examination and on the fruit of faith, and we honor the Reformed teaching that assurance may grow through time. We differ in two ways. First, Wesleyans stress that the Spirit's witness is direct and immediate, not only an inference drawn from the believer's own conduct. Romans 8:16 speaks of the Spirit witnessing to our spirit. Second, we do not teach assurance of unconditional final salvation. Our assurance is that we are God's children now, in a living relationship that we are to keep by abiding in Christ (John 15:4-6). Unit 9 states the Reformed teaching on perseverance fairly and answers it.

Objection 2: The Roman Catholic View

The Roman Catholic Church, at the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, taught that a believer cannot know with the certainty of faith that he has obtained grace. The concern behind this is real. It is the danger of presumption: a person may think himself safe, stop striving, and grow proud. Catholic teaching also stresses humility before God.

Our answer. We agree that presumption is a danger, and our teaching on the tests of the fruit and the Word is meant to guard against it. But the New Testament is plain that believers may know. John says, "that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Paul says that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit (Romans 8:16). This knowing is not trust in ourselves. It rests on Christ's promises and the Spirit's testimony, and it leads to thanksgiving and not to pride. Humility and assurance belong together, since a person who knows he is saved by grace alone has no ground for boasting.

Objection 3: "Enthusiasm" and Subjective Feeling

In Wesley's day, many leaders of the Church of England accused the Methodists of "enthusiasm." By this they meant claims to direct inspiration or to private revelations that cannot be tested. Today a similar objection comes from those who think that talk of an inward witness reduces religion to emotion, or that it makes personal experience higher than Scripture.

Our answer. The warning is serious, and Wesley took it seriously. He wrote a sermon on "The Nature of Enthusiasm" to separate true from false claims. The Spirit's witness does not add to Scripture or contradict it. It bears witness to what the Word already says, that we are children of God by faith in Christ. It is tested by the fruit of the Spirit and by agreement with the Bible. Where a claimed experience produces pride, division or sin, it is not from the Spirit. We do not make feelings the foundation of faith. The foundation is Christ and His promise, and the Spirit applies this promise to the heart.

Pastoral Application

A young man in the church was converted a year ago. Lately he has lost his temper at work and said words he regrets. He comes to his pastor and says, "I thought I was saved, but a saved man would not act this way. Maybe I never was."

The pastor first listens and does not argue. He asks whether the young man still hates what he did, and whether he wishes to please God. A heart that grieves over sin shows that the Spirit has not left. Next he points him to 1 John 1:9 and 5:13 and to Romans 8:15-16, and reminds him that the Spirit's witness rests on Christ's promise and not on a perfect record. He then asks about the fruit: Does he still love God and want to pray? He helps the young man confess his sin to the Lord and to those he offended, and he tells him that assurance grows as he continues in the Word, in prayer and in fellowship. He also warns him gently that willful sin, if it continues, will cloud assurance and could lead away from Christ altogether. The pastor prays with him and promises to meet each week for a time.

Summary

Assurance is the knowledge that we are God's children. Scripture teaches that believers may know this (Romans 8:15-16, Galatians 4:6, 1 John 5:13). Wesley taught two witnesses: the direct witness of the Holy Spirit and the witness of our own spirit seen in the fruit of a changed life. The two belong together. He taught that assurance is the privilege of all God's children, and in his later teaching he distinguished it from the first act of faith, since a sincere "servant" may not yet have the full witness of a "son." Historians debate how much his teaching changed. Assurance has degrees, may be darkened by trials, and is kept by abiding in Christ. The Reformed link assurance to unconditional perseverance, and we answer that our assurance concerns our present standing and calls for continued faith. Roman Catholics fear presumption, and we answer that Scripture teaches that believers may know and that humility and assurance go together. Critics who charge enthusiasm are answered by testing every claim by the Word and by the fruit of the Spirit.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, sermons "The Witness of the Spirit" (two discourses) and "The Witness of Our Own Spirit," primary sources.

• John Wesley, sermons "The Nature of Enthusiasm," "The Wilderness State," and "Heaviness through Manifold Temptations," primary sources.

• John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Romans 8 and 1 John 5, a primary source.

• Charles Wesley, hymns of assurance, such as "And Can It Be, That I Should Gain," primary sources.

• Course 1, Unit 3 (Aldersgate); Course 2, Unit 6 (the new birth) and Unit 9 (perseverance).

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