John Piper's Agonizing Problem with Assurance of Salvation

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John Piper from "Desiring God" writes,

"The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the objective facts of Christianity are true (God exists, Christ is God, Christ died for sinners, Christ rose from the dead, Christ saves forever all who believe, etc.). Those facts are the utterly crucial bedrock of our faith. But the really agonizing problem of assurance is whether I personally am saved by those facts. This boils down to whether I have saving faith. What makes this agonizing - for many in the history of the church and today - is that there are people who think they have saving faith but don't ... So the agonizing question for some is: do I really have saving faith? Is my faith real? Am I self-deceived?" ("The Agonizing Problem of the Assurance of Salvation")


This is absurd. It's like saying that people standing in the light would have an "agonizing problem" because some other people -- in darkness -- thought they were in the light.

RC Sproul from "Ligonier Ministries" agrees with Piper and writes,

"What complicates our quest for the assurance of salvation is we see that there are two categories of people here who are sure that they are in a state of salvation. The only problem is that one of them is, in fact, not in a state of salvation. And so those that are in a state of salvation now have to ask the question, "How can I be sure that my assurance is not like the false assurance of those who think they're being saved but are not?" (Lecture, "False Assurance")

Again, this is ridiculous. So what if a bunch of five year olds thought they were mathematical geniuses after conquering kindergarten maths? Does that mean that a Newton or a Leibniz should doubt they are geniuses because a bunch of naive kids had a false assurance that they were? Does the false assurance and false confidence of the kids pose an "agonizing problem" for the Newtons and Leibnizs of this world? Of course not.

So why do Sproul and Piper say that believers -- who CAN see -- have an "agonizing problem" because some unbelievers (who are blind) think they can see?

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[dreiher2]

@LadyNemesis2007 I am 100% sure I have everlasting life. What else does John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 11:26 mean? It says whoever believes in Him, that is, persuaded of His promise, has eternal life. You either believe with 100% assurance or you do not. You either believe George Washington was the 1st president or you do not. That is the same kind of "belief" that saves. You either believe His promise of everlasting life or you don't. It is that simple in John 3 16.

[MsHannelore]

If he talks any faster my head would spin.

[roxykattx]

This is actually pretty clever, but not convincing. For example, trying to know what is truly in your own heart is most definitely not as easy as deciding whether somebody "looks English" or not.

[hemet92544]

ps this dude talking needs to stay away from starbucks, its crack

[hemet92544]

My dislike was number 66

[candiceevans1]

he is talking about people in general ,,,people doubt their salvation because its such a huge matter ,,,most people will go through a time in their life when they wonder if they are really saved,,,because there are so many people arguing over doctrine,,,it seems like arminians try to attack calvinists just because they are calvinists,,,,im tired of it personally,,,i dont see calvinists all over the place defaming the character of Arminians but I do see the later engaging in slander of calvinists

[LadyNemesis2007]

I think that no one can be 100 percent sure that they are saved---- and that makes for continued faith. We should not be obsessing about our salvation anyway. It totally self-absorbed.

Trusting that we are saved is the essence of salvation. You can have 100 percent hard eveidence when you function in trust.

[UnrealHelix]

Man....what was the point? I'm glad I didn't waste time watching the whole video...

[Domodeath]

1st John 1 is the test...