D.A. Carson (theologian) gives a clear and compelling case for the grounds of our assurance in Christ. Watch this short video clip:
Carson’s point needs no further elaboration. We can trust that we are justified not by the quality of our resolve but by the finished work of Christ. I suspect that most of us have no quarrel with that truth. Instead, where the average Christian’s faith seems to falter most is in the area of sanctification–trusting God through the here-and-now perils we encounter on the pilgrimage.
The problem is this: we believe that God holds our eternal destiny in His hands, but we question His wisdom and authority in the present, earthly race. The accuser cannot easily sway us to disbelieve God’s promise of salvation, but when He promises to work all things together for our good and His glory, we lead with our doubts. Instead of responding to trials, “Yes, I believe; Lord, help my unbelief,” our first inclination is to judge God’s competencies. “Are you there?” “Are you listening?” “Do you not care?” In a multitude of ways we seek to determine by our own flawed faculties whether or not our suffering can ever possibly be called “good.” It’s as if the stark incongruity we perceive between the promise (“good”) and the trial casts from our minds the crucial fact that it was God who said it. Just as God said, “No one can snatch you out of my hand,” and we do not seek to make any further human sense of it (e.g. “Yeah, ok, I hear ya’ God but… how can I really be sure?”), but simply take Him at His Word, so also we should lean not on our own understanding in His ability to bring His work in us to completion.
Believe the words He has spoken to you concerning your anxiety, pain, bondage, need, and sorrow. As D.A. Carson put it, don’t be like the Jew at the first Passover who walks around fearful of what is going to happen next! He has already told you what will happen next: He will grant you grace for your unbelief, mercy for your sin, purpose in your pain, and the imprinting of Christ’s likeness on your life. The clarity with which you understand His ways does not correlate with those promised outcomes any more than your understanding of the ordo salutis contributes to your salvation. Whether you can or cannot imagine how He will use your sorrow for good, does not lessen the certainty of its fulfillment by one degree.
He has called you His sons and daughters! You are no longer slaves to your sinful ways but walk freely in step with Him. Today, if you endure a difficult trial, call it “good” because the Lord said so. Train yourself to do this daily and watch how it changes your perspective.
Your brother,
Ryan
1 Purgatory, 9. “All round this little island at the base, where the waves pound against the mountain’s shore, reeds grow in the soft mud. No other plants that break out into leaf or stand upright with stiffened trunk can long survive the place, but yield to all the battering of the waves.”