Let us begin with a
church history exam question. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a
figure not to be taken lightly. He was Pope Clement VIII’s personal theologian and one of the
most able figures in the Counter-Reformation movement within sixteenth-century
Roman Catholicism. On one occasion, he wrote: “The greatest of all Protestant
heresies is _______ .” Complete, explain, and discuss
Bellarmine’s statement.
How would you answer? What is the greatest of all
Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone,
or one of the other Reformation watchwords?
Those answers make logical sense. But none of them
completes Bellarmine’s sentence. What he wrote was: “The greatest of all
Protestant heresies is assurance.”
A moment’s reflection explains why. If
justification is not by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone — if faith
needs to be completed by works; if Christ’s work is somehow repeated; if grace
is not free and sovereign, then something always needs to be done, to be
“added” for final justification to be ours. That is exactly the problem. If
final justification is dependent on something we have to complete it is not
possible to enjoy assurance of salvation. For then, theologically, final
justification is contingent and uncertain, and it is impossible for anyone
(apart from special revelation, Rome conceded) to be sure of salvation. But if
Christ has done everything, if justification is by grace, without contributory works;
it is received by faith’s empty hands — then assurance, even “full assurance”
is possible for every believer.
No wonder Bellarmine thought full, free,
unfettered grace was dangerous! No wonder the Reformers loved the letter to
the Hebrews!
This is why, as the author of Hebrews pauses for
breath at the climax of his exposition of Christ’s work (Heb. 10:18), he continues his argument with a
Paul-like “therefore” (Heb. 10:19). He then urges
us to “draw near … in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). We do not need to re-read the whole
letter to see the logical power of his “therefore.” Christ is our High Priest;
our hearts have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience just as our bodies
have been washed with pure water (v.22).
Christ has once-for-all become the sacrifice for
our sins, and has been raised and vindicated in the power of an indestructible
life as our representative priest. By faith in Him, we are as righteous before
the throne of God as He is righteous. For we are justified in His
righteousness, His justification alone is ours! And we can no more lose this
justification than He can fall from heaven. Thus our justification does not
need to be completed any more than does Christ’s!
With this in view, the author says, “by one
offering He has perfected for all time those who come to God by him” (Heb. 10:14). The reason we can stand before God
in full assurance is because we now experience our “hearts sprinkled clean from
an evil conscience and … bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22).
“Ah,” retorted Cardinal Bellarmine’s Rome, “teach this and
those who believe it will live in license and antinomianism.” But listen
instead to the logic of Hebrews. Enjoying this assurance leads to four things:
First, an unwavering faithfulness to our confession of faith in Jesus Christ
alone as our hope (v.23); second, a careful consideration of how we can
encourage each other to “love and good works” (v.24); third, an ongoing
communion with other Christians in worship and every aspect of our fellowship
(v.25a); fourth, a life in which we exhort one another to keep looking to
Christ and to be faithful to him, as the time of his return draws ever
nearer (25b).
It is the good tree that produces good fruit, not
the other way round. We are not saved by works; we are saved for works. In fact
we are God’s workmanship at work (Eph. 2:9–10)! Thus, rather than lead to a life
of moral and spiritual indifference, the once-for-all work of Jesus Christ and
the full-assurance faith it produces, provides believers with the most powerful
impetus to live for God’s glory and pleasure. Furthermore, this full assurance
is rooted in the fact that God Himself has done all this for us. He has
revealed His heart to us in Christ. The Father does not require the death of
Christ to persuade Him to love us. Christ died because the Father loves us (John 3:16). He does not lurk behind His Son with
sinister intent wishing He could do us ill — were it not for the sacrifice his
Son had made! No, a thousand times no! — the Father Himself loves us in the
love of the Son and the love of the Spirit.
Those who enjoy such assurance do not go to the
saints or to Mary. Those who look only to Jesus need look nowhere else. In Him
we enjoy full assurance of salvation. The greatest of all heresies? If heresy,
let me enjoy this most blessed of “heresies”! For it is God’s own truth
and grace!
This article by Sinclair Ferguson posted Feb
11, 2013 at http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-greatest-all-protestant-heresies/
This post was originally published
in Tabletalk magazine.
