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Rom. 4:20,21; 8:16; Eph. 1:13; I John 4:13; 5:10. Roman Catholics find the ultimate ground of
faith in the Church; Rationalists acknowledge only reason as such; Schleiermacher seeks it in
Christian experience; and Kant, Ritschl, and many modern liberals place it in the moral needs of
human nature.
G. FAITH AND ASSURANCE.
A very important question arises here, namely, whether assurance belongs to the essence of
faith, or is something additional that is not included in faith. Because the expression “assurance
of faith” is not always used in the same sense, it is necessary to discriminate carefully. There is a
twofold assurance, namely, (1) The objective assurance of faith, which is “the certain and
undoubting conviction that Christ is all He professes to be, and will do all He promises.” It is
generally agreed that this assurance is of the essence of faith. (2) The subjective assurance of
faith, or the assurance of grace and salvation, which consists in a sense of security and safety,
rising in many instances to the height of an “assured conviction that the individual believer has
had his sins pardoned and his soul saved.” As to the relation of this assurance to the essence of
faith opinions differ.
1. The Roman Catholic Church denies, not only that personal assurance belongs to the essence
of faith, but even that this is an actus reflexus or fruit of faith. It teaches that believers cannot
be sure of their salvation, except in those rare cases in which assurance is given by special
revelation. This is a natural result of the Semi-Pelagianism and of the confessional system of
Rome. The early Arminians, who shared the Semi-Pelagian position of Rome, took a very similar
stand. Their view was condemned by the Synod of Dort.
2. The Reformers reacted against the unsound and pernicious position of the Church of Rome.
In their protest they occasionally stressed assurance one-sidedly as the most important
element of faith. They sometimes spoke as if one who lacks the assurance of salvation, the
positive conviction that his sins are forgiven, did not possess true faith. The fiducia of faith was
sometimes represented by them as the assured trust of the sinner that all his sins are pardoned
for the sake of Christ. Yet it is quite evident from their writings, (a) that they did not mean to
teach that this fiducia did not include other elements; and (b) that they did not intend to deny
that true children of God must frequently struggle with all kinds of doubts and uncertainties.[Cf.
my The Assurance of Faith, pp. 23 f.]
3. The Reformed confessional standards vary somewhat. The Heidelberg Catechism teaches,
also in reaction to Rome, that the fiducia of faith consists in the assurance of the forgiveness of
sins. It places itself entirely on the standpoint of the Reformers, and conceives of the assurance
of salvation as belonging to the essence of faith. The Canons of Dort take the position that this