Westminster Larger Catechism # 80
Commentary by Dr. Chuck Baynard
Q80. Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and
that they shall persevere therein unto salvation?
Answer: Such as truly believe in Christ, and endeavor to walk in all good conscience
before him, may, without extraordinary revelation, by faith grounded upon the truth of
God’s promises, and by the Spirit enabling them to discern in themselves those graces
to which the promises of life are made, and bearing witness with their spirits that they
are the children of God, be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and
shall persevere therein unto salvation.
References: 1 John 2:3; 1 Cor. 2:12; 1 John 3:14,18-19,21,24; 1 John 4:13,16; Heb.
6:11-12; Rom. 8:16; 1 John 5:13.
Harmony of the Standards: COF 18.1; 18.3.
It is difficult to address this question without taking into consideration the issues
covered in question 81. However in an attempt to hold the length of commentary on each
question to the desired size, I will attempt to treat each separately.
This is an important area that all should understand. In my ministry I deal with issues
concerning the assurance of faith more often than any other single issue. When we consider
that one of the distinctives of the Reformed faith is the fifth petal and Perseverance of
the saints, this should come as no surprise. Much of the Christian world lives with the
guilt of the past, and trying to assure their place within the estate of grace is secure.
I like the terminology of the Divines here in "estate of grace." Romans 5:2
speaks of our having access to this grace wherein we stand. Grace can then be seen as a
place or estate (we discussed this word earlier). This then is our inherited
"position" in the kingdom. It is ours by birthright. Who then can forcibly take
it from us? The words of our Lord stating that you cannot enter the strongman’s house
to rob him, unless you first bind the strongman should give us great comfort then. For we
are not the defender of our position, but the Holy Spirit who is given to each of us is
(Rom. 5:5). Therefore perhaps we can better grasp the words greater is He who is in us
than who is in the world and begin to rest in Christ as is God’s intent for us.
What comfort then we have in the fifth petal as we see the "power" of this
petal settle around us, and provide that protection from the evil one we cannot provide
for ourselves. This makes this question of the utmost importance to us all, in that our
peace in this life will depend greatly upon our ability to see ourselves standing in this
place, as living within the "estate of grace."
John says that he wrote his first epistle for just this purpose, that we can know that
we believe in the Son of and believe in the Son of God. This isn’t some sort of
ancient double speak, but saying that as we know, and grow in the knowledge of the place
wherein we stand, it will become more manifest to us, and our position will become
stronger. Not that our place before God has changed, but as the Divines state it here, we
can be "infallibly assured" of our place in the estate of grace.
I hesitate to accept the next portion of the answer because it can be misunderstood so
that it might appear that we in some way make our position in grace more solid or sure by
works. Yet it is a truth that those of the household of faith will live like it, and that
they will strive to have a clear conscience before God. When working with those who are
struggling with their assurance of faith and seeking some way whereby they may know they
are going to be listed in the Lamb’s book of life, I often point out the fact that if
they were not already listed in that great book, they would not worry about it. That in
seeking to please God, they have the evidence in their own heart they are God’s; for
none come unto the Lord unless the Father draw them, and those who love the Lord will obey
His commands. Thus the statement stands as the Divines have presented it, but let us make
sure we understand that it isn’t what we do that holds us in this position, but the
promise of God and His infallible word.
Can we then know that we are children of God and stand in this estate of Grace? I think
the answer is a resounding yes. The next question deals with when will this knowledge be
manifest to us, and how it can be diminished but not completely removed to the point of
utter despair. Nonetheless, God’s word says we can know we are His children. Therein
we have the infallible proof, for God’s word cannot lie, nor change. The foundation
of our faith then rests solidly upon the word of God, and nothing else. Thus we see that
it is of grace through faith that we are saved, and that not of ourselves.
Though they may seem hard to understand and the wording difficult, how beautifully the
Divines have laid out these great truths of the Bible for us, that all may by ordinary
means understand this great reformed faith of ours. Over the years different men have
attempted to better present these great truths, and to find a way to express them in a
more contemporary way. We don’t need new creeds, but enough Bible knowledge to
understand the beautiful creeds passed to us by our fathers of the reformation. Then we
will see that the Divines have woven a beautiful tapestry, not of the words of men, but
the very words of God, that reveal the complex doctrines of the Bible in a fashion our
youngest children can learn and apply them.
Though it is obvious that not every petal of our Reformed TULIP will leap from every
statement made by the Divines, it is no effort to see the beauty of one or more petals
rising toward the sun in all of its glory before God in each and every statement that came
from the pens of the Divines. I hope by now that I have shown that it really doesn’t
matter which of the five classic points you begin, that the whole will flow of a necessity
both of reason and Scripture from any petal. Here we see the fifth petal so established
before the throne of God I dare say none but a fool could deny the purity of this
doctrine. Here is enough light that even the blind can see the beauty and glory of the
promise of God to His chosen children. Here we can rest then not in our strength, but upon
the very word of God, surrounded by the heavenly host, that our rest be sure and
undisturbed.
Dr. Chuck Baynard -- September 1998
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