Cecil:<br><br>You wrote, quite correctly and to the point, in my opinion:<br><br>"My point is that while belief in the tenets of Sola Scriptura may be an act of faith, we can see that it certainly was not a believing unto salvation for those to whom Jesus was speaking!"<br><br>The scriptures repeatedly speak of faith that saves and faith that does not and to ignore this is foolish. Thus the question is "what is real saving faith and how can I know I have it".<br><br>The following quote from an article by J. Beeke gives part of Calvins take on the answer. He believed it was found in the nature of the subjective or inward evidence of salvation verses external evidence and the Holy Spirit's part in this process:<br><br><br>"Thus, Calvin's line of reasoning proceeds like this: (1) The purpose of election embraces salvation. (2) The elect are not chosen for anything in themselves, but only in Christ. (3) Since the elect are in Christ, the assurance of their election and salvation can never be found in themselves apart from Christ, nor in the Father apart from Christ. (4) Rather, their assurance is to be had in Christ; hence vital communion with Him is the basis of assurance.47 But the questions remain: how do the elect achieve this vital communion? How does such communion impart assurance? <br><br>Calvin's answer is pneumatological: the Holy Spirit applies Christ and His benefits to the hearts and lives of guilty, elect sinners, through which they are assured that Christ belongs to them and they to Him by saving faith.48 The Spirit especially confirms within them the reliability of God's promises in Christ. <br><br>Calvin advocates a cardinal and pervasive role for the Holy Spirit in the application of redemption. As personal comforter, seal, earnest, testimony, security, and anointing, the Holy Spirit bears witness to the believer's gracious adoption.49 To distinguish the reprobate from the elect, the Holy Spirit must subjectively seal an objective reliance upon God's promises as the primary ground for assurance. The reprobate may claim God's promises without experiencing the "feeling" (sensus) or "consciousness" of those promises.50 <br><br>When distinguishing the elect from the reprobate, Calvin feels compelled to speak more about what the Spirit does in us than what Christ does for us, for in the subjective aspect the line of demarcation is sharper. He speaks much of inward experience, of feeling, of enlightenment, of perception, even of "violent emotion."51 Though aware of the dangers of excessive introspection and subjectivity, Calvin also recognizes that the promises of God are sufficient for the believer only when the Spirit brings them within the scope and experience of faith.52 <br><br>By insisting that the Spirit's primary mode of bringing assurance is to direct the believer to embrace the promises of God in Christ, Calvin rejects any confidence being placed in the believer as he is in himself. Nevertheless, Calvin does not deny that a subordinate means to bolster assurance is through the Spirit as He works within the believer to bear fruit in good works and various marks of grace. Specifically, the Holy Spirit may assure the believer that he is not a reprobate ortemporary believer by revealing to him that he possesses "signs which are sure attestations"53 of faith, such as "divine calling, illumination by Christ's Spirit, communion with Christ, receiving Christ by faith, the embracing of Christ, perseverance of the faith, the avoidance of self-confidence, and fear."54 Though never foundational, this secondary support is highly beneficial for the "further establishment" of assurance.55 <br><br>Thus, Calvin does not present a denial of the practical syllogism so much as "a warning against its misuse and misinterpretation."56 The real issue at stake in the practical syllogism is not its presence in the thought of Calvin and the Calvinists, but the form it takes within their systems and the message it implies for both doctrine and life. For Calvin the practical syllogism must be in the context of great hallmarks of the Reformation: Scripture alone,57 faith alone, Christ alone, and the glory of God alone. Break one of these principles in teaching the practical syllogism, and the whole concept becomes a curse instead of a blessing. At best, works serve as an adjunct to faith in Christ. The practical syllogism may never replace the promises of God as the primary ground of assurance; it must always retain a secondary confirming role." <br><br>The whole article, entitled; "Does Assurance Belong to the Essence of Faith?" can be found at:<br><br>http://www.geocities.com/reformedchristian/BeekeAssurance.htm<br><br>This article explains how those who came after Calvin modified his teaching on the nature of assurance of faith to put an undue emphasis on the external rather than the internal work of the spirit and how this has become the prevailing view these days. <br><br>I believe this is the essence of the discussion here and addresses your quote above and brings some light to why some are satisfied with only and "objective" faith, and why such a faith does not "endure", though as Calvin points out elsewhere in the article, it may appear to be a saving faith, especially to those who wish to "speak peace to their own soul" and to those who have never been taught otherwise, in short, to those who exhault the bare letter over:<br><br> "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; 1Thes 1:5"<br><br>And many like passages such as: "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life".<br><br><br>An interesting article.<br><br><br>Gerry <br>
