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{{summary | text__NOTOC__==Synopsis=='''Assurance''' is a primarily [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[doctrine]] which states that the inner witness of the [[Holy Spirit]] allows the [[Justification|justified]] disciple to know that they are saved. Based on the writings of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine of Hippo]], ''assurance'' is a very important doctrine in [[Methodism]], [[Lutheranism]], and [[Calvinism]].}}
{{overview}}Assurance is a primarily [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[doctrine]] which states that the inner witness of the [[Holy Spirit]] allows the [[Justification|justified]] disciple to know that they are saved. Based on the writings of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine of Hippo]], ''assurance'' is a very important doctrine in [[Methodism]], [[Lutheranism]], and [[Calvinism]]. ==Contents==
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==Main article==
Assurance is a primarily [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[doctrine]] which states that the inner witness of the [[Holy Spirit]] allows the [[Justification|justified]] disciple to know that they are saved. Based on the writings of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine of Hippo]], ''assurance'' is a very important doctrine in [[Methodism]], [[Lutheranism]], and [[Calvinism]].
== St. Augustine ==
==== Resources ====
=== Lutheranism ===
==== Resources ====
=== Calvinism ===
==== Resources ====
* ''Blessed Assurance: A Defense of the Doctrine of Eternal Security'' by Steven Waterhouse (ISBN 097024181X)
* ''Calvin and Scottish Theology: The Doctrine of Assurance'' by M. Charles Bell (ISBN 0905312473)
=== Wesley & Methodism ===
[[John Wesley]] believed that all Christians have a faith which implies an ''assurance'' of God's forgiving love, and that one would feel that ''assurance'', or the "witness of the Spirit". This understanding is grounded in Paul's affirmation, "...ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The same Spirit beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God..." (Romans 8:15-16, ''Wesley's translation''). This experience was mirrored for Wesley in his Aldersgate experience wherein he "knew" he was loved by God and that his sins were forgiven.
:"I felt my heart ''strangely warmed''. I felt I ''did'' trust in Christ, Christ ''alone'' for salvation, and an ''assurance'' was given me that He had taken my sin, ''even mine''." - ''from Wesley's Journal''
Early in his ministry Wesley had to defend his understanding of ''assurance''. In 1738 Rev. Arthur Bedford had published a sermon in which he misquoted Wesley's teachings. Bedford had understood Wesley as saying that a Christian could be assured of persevering in a state of salvation, the Calvinist view.
In a letter dated September 28, 1738 Wesley wrote, "The ''assurance'' of which I alone speak I should not choose to call an ''assurance'' of salvation, but rather (with the Scriptures), the ''assurance'' of faith. . . . [This] is not the essence of faith, but a distinct gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby God shines upon his own work, and shows us that we are justified through faith in Christ...The 'full assurance of faith' (Heb 10.22) is 'neither more nor less than hope; or a conviction, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, that we have a measure of the true faith in Christ..'"<sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn_1|1]]</sup>
====Resources====
* ''The Absurdity of Eternal Security Doctrine'' by Fidelis Nwaka (ISBN 1413404529)
* ''Bad Fruit: The Result of Once Saved Always Saved'' by Timothy Williams (ISBN 1579215564)
* ''The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted'' by Daniel Corner (ISBN 0963907689)
* ''The Myth of Eternal Security'' by Daniel Corner (ISBN 0963907662)
* ''Once Saved, Always?: The False Doctrine Of Eternal Security'' by Benny Prince (ISBN 1418498556)
==Links==
* [http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/21-25/23-12.htm Questions of Clarification for Wesley's Doctrine of Assurance] by Michael E. Lodahl
* [http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/26-30/28-3.htm The Relationship of Assurance to Justification and Regeneration in the Thought of John Wesley] by Scott Kisker
* [http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-010.stm Sermon #10: "The Witness of the Spirit, Part 1"] by [[John Wesley]]
* [http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-011.stm Sermon #11: "The Witness of the Spirit, Part 2"] by [[John Wesley]]
* [http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-012.stm Sermon #12: "The Witness of Our Own Spirit"] by [[John Wesley]]
{{returnto}} [[Salvation]]
==Footnotes==
<cite id="fn_1">[[#fn_1_back|Note 1:]] </cite> The discussion of Wesley's understanding of ''assurance'' is a revision of information presented on the website "Days of Wesley", copyright 2004, Days of Wesley, Conrad Archer, [http://www.gbgm-umc.org/sonorafirst/handa.html#assurance Entry on Assurance].
