Introduction

John Jefferson Davis, in his article entitled “The

Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine,” contends

that one of the primary issues surrounding the history of the

debate on the nature of perseverance and assurance is “the degree

to which a believer can be sure of his or her election.”1 Few

issues, if any, are more important to the believer than those

pertaining to the outcome of her eternal destiny, and her ability

to know what it shall be. The need for assurance of election in

the life of the believer seems to be great, but can it be

attained? If so, how, and to what degree? Clearly on the one

hand, the point of Christ’s coming was so that persons might

place their faith in Him in order that they might be reconciled

to God and have eternal life. The Apostle John described his

purpose in recording the acts and teachings of Christ (John

20:31) by saying, “these have been written so that you may

1

? John Jefferson Davis, “The Perseverance of the Saints: A Historyof the Doctrine,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34 (June 1991): 227.

believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that

believing you may have life in His name.”2 John also told

believers in 1 John 5:13, “I have written to you who

believe . . . so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Yet other passages of Scripture seem to give the impression that

assurance of election may not be within the believer’s grasp. In

Phil 2:12 Paul encouraged the Christians at Philippi to “work out

your salvation with fear and trembling.” Peter stressed to

believers the importance of being “all the more diligent to make

certain about His calling and choosing you” in 2 Pet 1:10. Davis’

article traced the history of the doctrine of perseverance, that

is, the security of salvation, and he showed that Christians have

not always agreed on whether or not it is possible to attain

assurance of election.

The purpose of this study is neither to give an

historical account of this doctrine, nor to tackle the issue of

the possibility of attaining personal assurance of election. It

will instead focus on the English Puritan view of the attainment

2

? Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture citations will be rendered in the New American Standard Version of the Bible.

2

of assurance, particularly the views taught and preached by John

Owen (1616–1683) and Thomas Watson (ca. 1620–ca. 1690). The

thesis being presented is that John Owen, as one of the most

important Puritan3 theologians, and Thomas Watson, as one of the

most prolific Puritan writers and preachers, showed that

assurance is indeed attainable to the believer, and in doing so,

they represent the Puritan view of the attainment of assurance.

Owen and Watson taught that the witness of the Holy Spirit and

the immutability of the promises of God are the divine comforts

moving the Christian to the attainment of assurance. Moreover,

they held that careful self examination and diligent striving for

perseverance are the human contacts with this attainment.

The first section of the study will briefly introduce

the Puritan view of the doctrine of assurance. It is important

for the reader to become oriented to the general Puritan view, in

3

? Henceforth, when the term “Puritan” is used, it will refer to those associated with English Puritanism who thrived from roughly 1558 (the beginning of Elizabeth I’s reign) to 1702 (the end of the reign of William andMary). John Rogers, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Goodwin, William Ames, and Thomas Brooks are a few other Puritans concurring with the views taught by Owen and Watson. John Goodwin is the only Puritan encountered by this writer who taughtthat assurance is not possible for the believer. Owen offered his work The Doctrine of the Saints’ Perseverance Explained and Confirmed as a thoroughgoing refutation of John Goodwin’s work entitled Redemption Redeemed.

3

order to place Owen and Watson within their historical and

theological context. The second and third sections will present

Owen’s views on the attainment of assurance from a theologian’s

perspective and Watson’s from that of a preacher. Both Owen and

Watson place heavy emphasis on the promises of God and self

examination in personal assurance. The study will conclude with a

statement on the practical relevance of Owen’s and Watson’s

teachings on assurance for contemporary Christians.

The Puritans and Their View of Assurance

J. I. Packer presented a remarkably helpful work on the

Puritans in his book entitled, Among God’s Giants: The Puritan Vision of the

Christian Life. In this book, Packer compared the Puritans to the

great Redwood trees of California. Just as the Redwoods have

endured the great stresses of the ages, the Puritans of sixteenth

and seventeenth century England stood the tests of persecution

and intense trial during their own time, and have secured their

place of high honor among the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb

12:1) over the centuries. Packer wrote, “As Redwoods attract the

eye, because they overtop other trees, so the mature holiness and

4

seasoned fortitude of the great Puritans shine before us as a

kind of beacon light. . . .”4 Indeed, Packer contended that the

distinguishing mark of the Puritans was their spiritual maturity,

which he defined as “a compound of wisdom, goodwill, resilience,

and creativity.”5 A careful consideration of the Puritans should

expose the great immaturity of Western Christians in their

affluence and habitual refusal to accept suffering of any kind or

duration, according to Packer. He stated,

The Puritans exemplified maturity; we don’t. We are spiritual dwarfs. A much-travelled leader, a native American(be it said), has declared that he finds North American

Protestantism, man-centered, manipulative, success-oriented,self-indulgent and sentimental, as it blatantly is, to be 3,000 miles wide and half an inch deep. The Puritans, by contrast, asa body were giants.6

Packer’s statements present the Puritans in a way that

current day Americans are not accustomed to thinking about them.

It is customary today to associate the Puritans and Puritanism

with narrow-minded Pharisaism, witch hunting, and pessimistic

high Calvinism. The much-used term “puritanical” is not 4

? J. I. Packer, Among God’s Giants: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1993), 11.5

? Ibid., 24.6

? Ibid.

5

complimentary, but one used to condemn someone for being

judgmental and overtly dogmatic. The real Puritans, however, were

ardent lovers of God who had a profound desire to make England a

nation of saints, as Packer put it, “[t]hrough the preaching and

teaching of the gospel, and the sanctifying of all arts,

sciences, and skills. . . .”7 Through their writings, teachings,

and godly example, the Puritan goal for England was that it would

be Christ’s vehicle to bless the world with the grace and

knowledge of Him.8 In the 150-year pursuit of this goal, Packer

stated that “[t]he Puritans lost, more or less, every public

battle they fought.”9 During the period of the Restoration after

1660, the Puritans experienced systematic persecution. Those that

came to New England to establish colonies, Packer stated, “barely

survived. They hung on by the skin of their teeth.”10 Still,

because of their patient endurance, trust in God’s provision and

protection, and godly example witnessed by generations of

7

? Ibid., 32.8

? Ibid.9

? Ibid., 25.10

? Ibid.

6

Christians, the Puritans won great spiritual, if not political,

victories.

The profound maturity of the Puritans causes the

thoughtful Christian to take seriously their views on the

doctrines of the faith. Their diligent and tribulation-tested

study of the Scriptures yielded a view of assurance of election

that encouraged the believer that it was indeed attainable. The

basis for the attainment of assurance of one’s election was found

in the fact that salvation was not of man, but of God. John von

Rohr represented the Puritan view in this way: “Salvation is not

based upon almsgiving, fasting or chastity. Rather, it is a sheer

gift of God, and as such it can be known.”11

It is appropriate at this point to clarify some terms,

specifically, “assurance,” “salvation,” and “election.” When the

Puritans, especially Owen and Watson, discussed the attainability

of assurance, they did so on the grounds of God’s unconditional

election of His children. God’s electing of individuals prior to

the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) results in those

11

? Charley Hardwick and James O. Duke, eds., American Academy of ReligionStudies in Religion, vol. 45, The Covenant of Grace in Puritan Thought, by John von Rohr (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986), 156.

7

individuals’ salvation. Von Rohr made the important point from

the Puritans’ perspective that “[e]lection is God’s act, an

objective occurrence in divine, and ultimately, human history.

Assurance is a psychological state, a subjective awareness of

that which relates to human experience and destiny.”12

Furthermore, “the Puritan preachers did use the term ‘assurance’

a good deal and a primary concern of their pastoral ministry was

the generation of confidence in the mind of the believer.”13

Thus, for the Puritans, the attainment of assurance is tightly

woven into the notion of the Reformed view of election, namely,

that God elects some prior to the creation of the world to

salvation. Because salvation is purely the outcome of God’s

sovereign and free choice, assurance can be had by the believer.

Of course, not all Christians have come to view

salvation in this way. Thus, other traditions have held different

positions on the attainment of assurance. The Roman Catholic

tradition holds that assurance is not possible for the believer,

except in cases of special revelation given to individuals.14 The12

? Ibid., 155.13

? Ibid.14

8

sixth session of the Council of Trent stated in chapter thirteen

“Let no one feel assured of this gift with an absolute certitude,

although all ought to have most secure hope in God.”15

John Wesley, in rejecting the Reformed notion of

unconditional election, also rejected the notion of final

perseverance of the saints. Wesley adopted James Arminius’ view

that predestination was based upon God’s foreknowledge of the

action of the human will pertaining to faith in Christ. Because

of this, Wesley concluded that final perseverance was not

guaranteed, because the human will cannot generally be counted

upon to cooperate with God’s grace. Therefore, for Wesley, the

attainment of assurance is possible for some believers. He wrote,

“perhaps one might say, by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, I

mean, an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God

immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a

child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given Himself

for me; that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am ? Ibid., 156.

15

? The Church Teaches: Documents of the Church in English Translations (St. Louis: Herder, 1955), 238; quoted in John Jefferson Davis, “The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34 (June 1991): 219.

9

reconciled to God.”16 However, Wesley was unwilling to affirm the

possibility of assurance for every believer. Davis described

Wesley’s views, saying, “such an assurance does not prove that

every believer will persevere or that every believer enjoys such

assurance. Based on his reading of . . . NT texts, Wesley is

persuaded that a true believer can make shipwreck of his faith

and perish everlastingly.”17 To sum up, while Roman Catholics and

Wesleyans place little or provisional confidence in the

attainability of assurance given their view of salvation, the

Puritan confidence is rooted in their understanding of salvation,

that is, it is the free and sovereign choice of God, absent of

human involvement.

Still, while the Puritans did accept that assurance was

available to all believers, certainty of election (full

assurance) was a rare gift. For most believers, there exists a

range of degrees of assurance. New converts, for instance, were

not expected to start out in their faith having supreme

confidence in the fact of their election, and if so, they were

16 ? Robert W. Burtner and Robert E. Chiles, John Wesley’s Theology: A Collection from His Works, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1982), 95.17

? Davis, “The Perseverance of the Saints,” 224.

10

viewed by the Puritans with suspicion on the grounds of Jesus’

parable of the sower.18 Assurance is something to be sought

after, a goal for which to strive. The Puritans, according to

Packer, believed that “[a]ssurance is not normally enjoyed except

by those who have first laboured for it and sought it, and served

God faithfully and patiently for some time without it.”19

For the Puritans, assurance came by the exercise of

faith. Here an important distinction between assurance and

adherence must be made. A true child of God may have faith but

lack assurance, so assurance is not prerequisite to salvation.

Thus, a believer’s subjective awareness of her election does not

touch upon her objective status as a child of God, or rather, her

adherence to Christ. However, if this child of God consistently

lacks assurance, then it is probably because she has not been

diligent in seeking it.20 As stated previously, for the Puritans,

assurance is individual perception of an actuality, namely, God’s

election. It is because salvation is a work of God alone that

18

? Packer, Among God’s Giants, 238.19

? Ibid.20

? Von Rohr, The Covenant of Grace, 156.

11

assurance is possible for the believer. Furthermore, the believer

is motivated to seek assurance because, as Packer stated, “the

believer hopes, loves, serves and rejoices because he believes

that God has had mercy on him.”21

John Owen and Thomas Watson approached the issue of the

attainability of assurance from different perspectives, but the

positions of the Puritans presented above are consistent with

their teachings. Owen as a theologian and Watson as a preacher

are therefore representative of the Puritans in their views of

the attainment of assurance.

John Owen on the Attainment of Assurance

John Owen is widely viewed as the most important

Puritan theologian. Packer wrote of him, “For solidity,

profundity, massiveness and majesty in exhibiting from Scripture

God’s ways with sinful mankind there is no one to touch him. On

every topic . . . he stands in the centre of the Puritan main

stream, totally in line with the Westminster standards and the

developed ideal of godliness.”22 His writings are available today

21

? Packer, Among God’s Giants, 237.22

12

in twenty-five volumes, and he often wrote in order to respond to

the challenges of the day. Owen was of Welsh nobility and was

sent to Oxford at the age of twelve to commence his studies as a

theologian.23 He had an impressive career. At various times in

his life, he served as Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain, preacher to

Parliament, and Chancellor of Oxford University. Carl Trueman

wrote, “He was immensely learned; even a cursory reading of

Owen’s works reveals a mind steeped in patristic, medieval, and

Reformation theology, and phenomenally well-versed in

contemporary theological literature, Protestant, Catholic, and

even heretical.”24 Owen’s writings treat an extensive range of

theological issues, including, but not limited to, election, sin

and grace, temptation, the Sabbath, faith, the Trinity, the

Scriptures, the person and work of Christ, communion with God,

and worship. He also wrote expositions on Psalm 130 and the book

of Hebrews.

? Ibid., 107.23

? Erroll Hulse, Who Are the Puritans? (Auburn, MA: Evangelical Press, 2000), 97.24

? Carl Trueman, The Claims of Truth: John Owen’s Trinitarian Theology, (Cumbria, UK: Paternoster, 1998), 1.

13

For Owen, the issue of assurance was one that had much

personal importance. His treatment of the doctrine of

perseverance and the attainment of assurance is thorough and

expository. Owen’s work on Psalm 130 entitled The Forgiveness of Sins

Illustrated in an Exposition Upon Psalm 130 is, according to Joel Beeke,

“his most exhaustive treatment of assurance.”25 Owen experienced

a crisis of confidence in his own salvation, a crisis which vexed

him for five years. Finally, in the winter of 1642–43, Owen went

to hear the famous preacher Edmund Calamy, but was disappointed

to find that Calamy was not present. Another preacher, whose

identity is unknown, preached a sermon in Calamy’s place from

Matt 8:26 that shattered Owen’s uncertainty. When Owen wrote on

Psalm 130 over twenty-five years later, this profound experience

of attaining assurance still heavily influenced him. Beeke

commented that “some writers have suggested that the entire

exposition was largely an account of Owen’s spiritual

development.”26

25

? Joel R. Beeke, The Quest for Full Assurance: The Legacy of Calvin and His Successors, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 189.26

? Ibid., 190.

14

Owen on the Attainability of Assurance

The Puritans did not view passages such as Phil 2:12

and 2 Pet 1:10 as a threat to the attainment of assurance.

Rather, these verses along with others were central to their

teaching that assurance is available to all believers. In his

Exposition Upon Psalm 130, Owen pointed to Heb 3:14 and 10:22 to

instruct his readers that assurance was not only attainable to

the believer, it is the believer’s duty to seek after assurance.

He wrote, “It is the duty of every believer to seek assurance of

personal forgiveness. The apostle exhorts us all to it, ‘Let us

draw near, in full assurance of faith,’ Heb. 10:22, that is, of

our acceptance with God, through forgiveness in the blood of

Jesus. And this principle of our faith and confidence he would

have us hold fast unto the end, chap. 3:14.”27 Thus, for Owen,

the Scripture itself encourages the believer to lay hold of

assurance because of the finished work of Christ. If a Christian

were not to seek for assurance, it would be a sign of ingratitude

for and negligence of the great gift given to us in Christ. Owen

27

? John Owen, The Forgiveness of Sins Illustrated in an Exposition Upon Psalm 130, (New York: American Tract Society, 1840), 107.

15

stated, “to read of these things in the Gospel, not experiencing

them in our own hearts, and yet to sit down quietly without

continual pressing after them, is to despise the blood of Christ,

the Spirit of grace, and the whole work of God’s love.”28

Certainly for Owen, a lack of assurance in the mind and spirit of

a believer could be the result of God’s chastening in order to

establish humility. There could be other reasons why God would

withhold His peace from one of His own. He is sovereign to do as

He wills. Still, he strongly affirmed that one can and should

strive to know the peaceful assurance of election. Owen wrote,

“considering what promises are made to us, what encouragements

are given us, what love and tenderness there is in God to receive

us, I cannot but conclude that ordinarily our own neglect is the

cause of our coming short of this assurance.”29

While Owen taught that believers have the duty to

strive for assurance, he conceded that full assurance was rare.

Owen concurred with the Westminster Confession, which affirmed

that Christians experience various degrees of assurance. For

28

? Ibid.29

? Ibid., 108.

16

example, all believers enjoy a certain degree of assurance. Owen

could also support the general notion that it is possible for all

believers to attain full assurance at specific times of special

intimacy with Christ. However, for most Christians full

assurance, that is, total confidence and peace that remains with

the believer to strengthen and comfort consistently is possible

with great diligence, but is most uncommon.30 Owen stated, “This

discovery of forgiveness in God is great, holy, and mysterious,

and which very few on gospel grounds do attain unto. . . . Even

one experimental embracement of it [i.e., the full assurance of

personal interest in divine forgiveness], even at the hour of

death, doth well deserve the waiting and obedience of the whole

course of a man’s life. . . .”31

The quest for full assurance, strenuous though it may

be, is still incumbent upon every Christian, according to Owen,

30

? Beeke, Quest for Full Assurance, 195. Beeke provided the reader with ahelpful chart on Owen’s teachings regarding what he called the “normativity ofassurance.”31

? The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 6, Exposition of Psalm130 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1967), 386, 431, 598; quoted in Joel R.Beeke, The Quest for Full Assurance: The Legacy of Calvin and His Successors, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 192.

17

because it involves the exercising of faith as well as bearing of

the fruit of obedience. Assurance occurs when the believer places

his faith in the power and love of Christ. As the believer grows

in the exercise of faith, specifically, placing herself

completely in the hands of Christ by trusting Him to save her,

the personal assurance of her election will also grow. According

to Beeke, for Owen it is the “personal application of forgiveness

which alone gives rise to full assurance.”32 Thus, the exercise

of faith and the attainability of assurance are closely related

for Owen.

Regarding the relationship between assurance and the

bearing of fruit, Owen held that the fruit of obedience was

impossible apart from some degree of assurance. As stated above,

assurance is the product of the exercise of faith, and the fruit

of obedience is the result of the application of that faith. Owen

wrote, “Not only our comfort but our obedience also depends upon

it [i.e. assurance]. The more true faith, the more obedience. For

all our obedience is the obedience of faith. The fruits of this

assurance are the choicest actings of our souls towards God; as

32 ? Beeke, Quest for Full Assurance, 191.

18

love, delight, rejoicing in the Lord, peace, joy, and readiness

to do, or suffer.”33 So it follows then, that the believer’s

continual striving for assurance brings comfort and peace in

increasing degrees, but it also strengthens and confirms faith

while producing the fruit of obedience.

To summarize Owen’s position on the attainability of

assurance, one can say that for him, assurance of election and

therefore salvation is possible because salvation is the work and

gift of God. While full assurance, the consistent certainty of

peace with God, is the exception the goal of every believer

should still be to strive for it because Scripture encourages

this. If a believer lacks assurance, it is most likely because

she has not been diligent in its attainment. Assurance is not

automatic for the believer, but comes about as a result of the

exercise of faith in God’s power to forgive sin by the blood of

Christ’s cross. As the believer exercises her faith, however, her

subjective knowledge of her unchanging status as a child of God

will increase, as will the fruit of obedience that personal

assurance nourishes.

33

? Owen, Exposition of Psalm 130, 108.

19

Owen on the Role of God’s Promises in the Attainment of Assurance

Since the attainment of assurance is so closely linked

to the exercise of faith, the question then becomes, in what does

the believer place her faith? Generally speaking, she places her

faith in God. Strictly speaking, she places her faith in the

promises of God made and fulfilled in Christ. The source of the

strength of God’s promises is Jesus Christ—indeed, Owen stated

the Christ Himself is the promise. By this he meant that Christ

is that which was promised to us by the Father in Scripture, and

all the promises of the gospel find their meaning in Christ. Owen

wrote, “He is the great original matter, and subject of the

promises, and the giving of him

doubtless of free grace and mercy: so John iii. 16 . . . and Rom.

v. 8.”34 It is only through Christ that the promises of God are

known and appropriated because Christ alone is “the great

messenger of the covenant” and “because God hath confirmed and

ratified [the promises] all in Him.”35 Furthermore, Owen wrote, 34

? The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 11, The Doctrine of the Saints’ Perseverance Explained and Confirmed (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1997), 228. 35

? Ibid., 230.

20

“In him, and by his mediation, they all have their confirmation,

establishment, and unchangeableness unto us.”36 These are

powerful statements, but they are consistent with the message of

Scripture regarding the person and work of Christ. Consider for

example 2 Cor 1:20, “For as many as are the promises of God, in

Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the

glory of God through us.”

Trueman made an important observation on this point.

Owen distinguishes between the decrees of God and the revelation,

or promises, of God using the concepts of the principium essendi (the

principle of being) and the principium cognoscendi (the principle of

knowing). The principium essendi is a concept referring to God and

His purposes and decrees. The principium cognoscendi refers to the

promises of God made known to us through special revelation.37

The relationship and relevance of these two concepts to the

notion of the centrality of Christ in God’s promises is that

God’s promises are inextricably bound up in His character.

Trueman said, “God’s promises derive their efficacy and their

36

? Ibid.37

? Trueman, Claims of Truth, 143.

21

reliability from the fact that they are based upon God himself,

and upon the agreements between the persons of the Godhead about

the matter of salvation.”38 Thus, for Owen, God is the immutable

principium essendi conferring immutability upon the promises He makes

through His revelation in Christ and His word.39

How does Owen understand and define the term “promises

of God”? He placed the promises into two categories: gospel

promises and promises of the law. When Owen referred to gospel

promises, he referred to those promises that have Christ as their

subject. These are the promises in which the believer may find

assurance, because it is these promises that reflect the

immutable purposes of God to elect and to save. The promises of

the law were conditional, and ultimately were fulfilled in

Christ. Thus, Owen described gospel promises in this way:

Gospel promises, then, are, 1. The free and gracious dispensations, and, 2. discoveries of God’s good-will and love,to, 3. sinners, 4. through Christ, 5. in a covenant of grace; 6.

wherein, upon his truth and faithfulness, he engageth himself to be their God, to give his Son unto them and for them, and his Holy Spirit to abide with them, with all things

that are either required in them or are necessary for them

38

? Ibid.39

? Ibid.

22

to make them accepted before him, and to bring them to an enjoyment of him.40

Furthermore, by virtue of the fact that gospel promises have

Christ as their subject and are rooted in the unchanging decrees

and character of God, Owen saw them as being unified. Gospel

promises possess the same “design, aim and good” and so “all the

promises of the gospel are but one, and every one of them

comprehends and tenders the same love, the same Christ, the same

Spirit, which are in them all.”41

One further point needs to be made regarding Owen’s

view of the role of God’s promises in the attainment of

assurance. God’s act of sealing His promises to the Christian was

an important notion for Owen. This act of sealing, accomplished

through the Spirit, hearkens back to the Puritan distinction

between assurance and adherence. Because the Christian is chosen

by God for salvation, He gives His promises in order that she may

enjoy the comfort of being persuaded of her status in Him. In

other words, the assurance given to the Christian through the

40

? Doctrine of the Saints’ Perseverance, 227.41

? Ibid.

23

Spirit’s seal confirms the fact of her adherence to God as a

member of His family. The message of Rom 8:16 applies well here:

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are

children of God.” Owen discussed this sealing of the promises in

the believer by the Spirit in his work On Communion with God.

Sinclair Ferguson summarized Owen’s teaching saying, “[t]he

promises of God—the promises of grace in salvation—are sealed to

us and we, correspondingly, enter into the enjoyment of him. The

objective produces the subjective.”42

To sum up Owen’s view of the God’s promises in the

attainment of assurance: the gospel promises found throughout the

Scriptures are sealed by the Spirit in the believer, providing

her with the subjective comfort of the objective reality of her

election by God. The gospel promises are intricately tied up in

the person of Christ, who is the messenger of the covenant and

the One who gives the promises meaning. Because the promises, the

principium cognoscendi are rooted in God Himself, the principium essendi,

they share in the immutable character of God. Henry Knapp 42

? Sinclair Ferguson, “John Owen and the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” in John Owen—the Man and His Theology: Papers Read at the Conference of the John Owen Centre of Theological Study, September 2000, ed. Robert W. Oliver (Darlington, England:Evangelical Press, 2002), 122.

24

summarized this teaching of Owen well: “The salvation of God’s

elect is sure because it is linked ultimately to the unchangeable

nature of God himself.”43 For these reasons, the promises of God

are to serve as the foundation for the faith of the believer.

Seeking after assurance means learning to trust in those

promises, which will then result in the attainment of the comfort

of assurance, the further strengthening of faith, and the bearing

of the fruit of obedience.

Owen on the Centrality of Communion with God in the Attainment ofAssurance

Clearly Owen taught that assurance of election was not

only attainable, but that it was the duty of every believer to

attain to assurance through faith in the promises of God. As the

believer sought this assurance, not only would the confidence in

her election grow, but her faith would be strengthened and her

obedience would continue to bear fruit. But Owen taught that none

of these things would be possible without the believer’s

communion with the Triune God. It is through communion with each

43

? Henry M. Knapp, “Augustine and Owen on Perseverance,” Westminster Theological Journal 62 (Spring 2000): 71.

25

Person of the Godhead, particularly the Holy Spirit Owen said,

that personal assurance is attained and established.

According to Owen, each of the three Persons of the

Triune God have distinct roles regarding the doctrine of

assurance. Beeke summarized Owen’s view well, stating that the

Father serves as the Initiator of salvation, electing those who

would be saved. Christ serves as the Mediator between God and

man, and reconciles them one to another through His death and

resurrection. But it is the Holy Spirit who conveys assurance to

the elect, cleansing their consciences, uniting them with Christ,

giving degrees of assurance, witnessing with their spirits and

bringing God’s promises to their remembrance.44

As stated above, Owen taught that the Holy Spirit

sealed God’s promises to the believer. Another way to put this is

that the Spirit Himself is the seal of God in order that the

believer might be made into a new creature. The ground of

assurance is found in the Spirit’s sealing believers with Him. In

his Discourse on the Holy Spirit as Comforter, Owen wrote, “[a]ll things

which are usually assigned as those wherein this sealing doth

44

? Beeke, Quest for Full Assurance, 173.

26

consist are acts or effects of the Holy Ghost upon us whereby he

seals us, whereas it is not said that the Holy Spirit seals us, but

that we are sealed with him; he is God’s seal unto us.”45 The end

result of this sealing with the Spirit is that the Christian is

brought into a new relationship with God, enabled to live to His

glory, and assured of her having been reconciled with Him. Owen

asserted that “[h]ereby [the Father] gives his testimony unto

them that they are his, owned by him, accepted with him, his sons

or children—which is his seal; for if they were not so, he would

never have given his Holy Spirit unto them.”46 Ferguson made an

important point of clarification when commenting on Owen’s view

of the Spirit as seal. He said, “the sealing of the Spirit is not

to be thought of as a specific act of the Spirit, so much as the

act of communication of the Spirit to us.”47 Therefore, the

Spirit indwells the believer, testifies to the believer that she

45

? The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 4, Discourse on the Holy Spirit as Comforter (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1997), 401.

46 ? Ibid., 404.47

? Ferguson, “John Owen and the Doctrine of the Person of Christ,” 123.

27

is a child of God, and thus assures the believer of her being at

peace with God.

Another distinct role of the Spirit is that of

reminding believers of the promises of Christ. Christ Himself

told the disciples in the Upper Room Discourse found in John 14–

1748 that the Spirit would come and fulfill this role. Owen wrote

of this in his work Of Communion with the Holy Ghost. He affirmed

Jesus’ teaching on the Spirit in this regard, that He would

comfort believers with that which was given to them by Christ.

Owen stated, “this is his work to the end of the world, to bring

the promises of Christ to our minds and hearts, to give us the

comfort of them, the joy and sweetness of them, much beyond that

which the disciples found in them, when Christ in person spake

them to them.”49 So as the believer communes with God in the

Spirit, He brings the promises and teachings of Christ to her

mind, in order that she may be comforted with this assurance.

48

? “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).49

? The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold, vol. 2, Of Communion with the Holy Ghost (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1997), 237.

28

One further element in Owen’s teaching on the role of

communion with God, specifically the Holy Spirit, must be

presented. Owen taught that the Spirit cleanses the guilty

conscience by conveying assurance to it. Owen pointed directly to

Paul’s teaching of Rom 8:16 when speaking of this. Owen spoke of

the conscience being put on trial, with Satan standing by as the

accuser. The Spirit comes alongside and gives the believer

assurance of her election and salvation, so that Satan’s

accusations fall flat. Owen wrote,

In the midst of the trial, a person of known and approved integrity comes into the court, and gives testimony fully and directly on the behalf of the claimer; which stops the

mouths of all his adversaries, and fills the man that pleaded with joy and satisfaction. So is it in this case. The soul, by the power of its own conscience, is brought before the law of God. There a man puts in his plea, that he is a child of God, that he belongs to God’s family; and for this end produceth all his evidences everything whereby faith gives him

an interest in God. Satan, in the meantime, opposeth with all his might; sin and law assist him; many flaws are found in his evidences; the truth of them all is questioned; and the

soul hangs in suspense as to the issue. In the midst of the plea and contest the Comforter comes, and, by a word of promise or otherwise, overpowers the heart with a comfortable

persuasion (and bears down all objections) that his plea is good, and that he is a child of God . . . When our spirits are pleading their right and title, he comes in and bears witness onour side; at the same time enabling us to put forth acts of

29

filial obedience, kind and child-like; which is called “crying,Abba, Father,” Gal. iv. 6.50

Based on these teachings, it is clear that Owen saw the

believer’s communion with God as central in the attainment of

assurance. By faith the believer experiences the sealing with the

Holy Spirit, who conveys to her the true testimony of God’s

promises and cleanses her guilty conscience. As Ferguson stated,

“the Spirit is himself the seal . . . The testimony of the

Spirit, to put it in these terms, is an effect of the presence of

the Spirit as seal and activates the believer’s sense of

assurance.”51

Owen’s teaching on the attainment of assurance—the

possibility of attainment, the role of God’s promises in

attainment, and the centrality of communion with God in

attainment—exalt the person and work of the Triune God as well as

the trustworthiness of His revelation to man in the form of the

Scriptures and Christ. He also placed heavy emphasis on the role

of the believer in attaining assurance, stressing the duty of the

50 ? Ibid., 241.51

? Ferguson, “John Owen and the Doctrine of the Person of Christ,” 123.

30

diligent striving for it by the exercise of faith. As a

theologian, Owen often dealt with the concept of attaining

assurance on an abstract and academic level. Thomas Watson, as a

preacher, dealt with the attainability of assurance on a much

more practical level.

Thomas Watson on the Attainment of Assurance

Not a great deal is known about Thomas Watson, except

that his writing and preaching revealed a depth to his

spirituality that few have come to enjoy. His dates of birth and

death are not certain, but historians generally agree that he was

born around 1620. He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge

in 1639 with a Bachelor’s degree, and in 1642 with a Master’s

degree. He became the rector of St. Stephen’s in the ward of

Walbrook, London in 1646 and served there until the Great

Ejection of 1662. He continued to preach throughout the period of

the Restoration in barns, houses, backrooms and woods.52 Then in

1672, upon the Indulgence, he and Rev. Stephen Charnock became

joint pastors of a congregation meeting at the great hall of

Crosby House, owned by Sir John Langham. Charnock died in 1680, 52 ? Hulse, Who Were the Puritans?, 95–96.

31

and after this, Watson went to Essex where he died, supposedly

while in prayer, around 1689 or 1690.53 Charles Spurgeon said of

him, “comparatively little is known of him—even the dates of his

birth and death are unknown. His writings are his best memorial;

perhaps he needed no other, and therefore providence forbade the

superfluity.”54

When Watson preached and taught on the attainment of

assurance, he did so basing his teachings on two principles. The

first of these was the act of striving and self examination.

Watson urged his listeners to be sure that they were among the

elect, and to avoid the sin of presuming upon God and that which

was His work alone. Second, Watson pointed to the promises and

ordinances of God as providing the real basis for assurance. As

the believer carefully examines herself and strives to trust in

and follow the promises of God, assurance was within reach and

would provide the peace, comfort, and joy that come from knowing

Christ in relationship.

53

? Charles Spurgeon, “Brief Memoir of Thomas Watson,” in A Body of Divinity, Thomas Watson (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), x–xi. 54

? Ibid., vii.

32

Watson on Self Examination and Striving for Assurance

As stated above, the Puritans were not discouraged by

passages such as Phil 2:12 and 2 Pet 1:10. They viewed these

passages as central to the teaching of the attainability of

assurance, and at the same time they affirmed that these passages

stressed that assurance was the product of diligent striving.

Watson was no exception. Watson’s sermon from Phil 2:12, “The One

Thing Necessary,” used 2 Pet 1:10 as a central supporting verse

in his exposition. He viewed this verse as a closely related one

to Phil 2:12. Watson said, “There is a parallel Scripture to

[Phil 2:12] in II Pet. 1:10, ‘give diligence to make your calling and

election sure.’ When estate, friends, or life cannot be made sure,

let this be made sure.”55 The believer’s act of making sure of

his election was integrally connected with the act of the working

out of salvation. Both of these actions demanded a denial of

spiritual laziness and gave a clarion call to diligence and

seriousness in matters of salvation. Watson spoke of “shaking off

spiritual sloth” and the “rallying together of all the powers of

55

? Thomas Watson, “The One Thing Necessary,” in The Puritans on Conversion, ed. Don Kistler (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1990), 170.

33

our souls that we may attend the business of salvation.”56 As the

title of the sermon implies, there is very little that can

compare to the urgency of doing what one can to make certain of

salvation.

Watson stressed to believers the importance of avoiding

the sin of presumption as they considered their election. He

warned against the common notion that salvation was easy. The

sinner may say, “God is merciful, and if worst comes to worst, we

need only to repent.”57 Watson’s reply was, “Only repent? It is

such an ‘only’ that we cannot hit unless God directs our

arrow.”58 His point was that salvation was a gift of God alone,

decreed by Him through His gracious choice before the foundation

of the world. Presumption came from a wrong-headed view of

salvation, that it could be man’s work. Watson said, “Tell me, oh

sinner, is it easy for a dead man to live and walk? You are

spiritually dead. . . . Salvation is not per saltum. It is not a

56

? Ibid.57

? Ibid., 204.58

? Ibid.

34

walk through the forest. Thousands have gone to hell upon this

mistake.”59

The best remedy against presumption is fear—not the

fear coming from doubting one’s salvation, but fear resulting in

diligence. Watson pointed to Heb 4:1 in his discussion on fear.

He said, “Fear causes circumspection. He that walks in fear

treads warily.”60 It is this kind of fear that Watson said is

referred to in Phil 2:12. This kind of fear will help the

believer in her striving for assurance. It will motivate her to

live according to her calling, thereby making her election sure.

As this godly fear should cause the believer to walk

circumspectly, the changes wrought by God in His creating the

believer anew will become apparent. This will help the believer

attain assurance of her election. In his work All Things for Good,

Watson wrote that one of the evidences of effectual calling was

visible change from the pre-conversion life to the new life in

Christ. This change was three-fold. It was seen in the

understanding, will, and conduct. To the believer who has not

59

? Ibid.60

? Ibid., 207.

35

assurance, Watson’s prescription was for her to examine her life

to see if these changes have actually taken place. He wrote,

“Question. But how shall I know I am effectually called? Answer. He

who is savingly called is called out of himself. . . . He who is

effectually called has a visible change wrought. Not a change of

the faculties, but of the qualities.”61

Thus, the believer should examine herself, put herself

upon trial to see whether or not she is a believer. He said, “Put

yourselves upon the trial: do you have this blessed hope of

Christ’s appearing, and of your appearing with Him in glory?”62

Watson preached that hope and faith were to be distinguished from

one another, but were inseparable. Hope would strengthen faith,

and if a person had this kind of hope, he had reason to be

cheerful. Elsewhere Watson urged, “Now let us examine. Have we

given subjection to Christ Jesus? Do we submit to His blessed

laws? Does Christ sit and rule in our hearts as a priest upon His

throne? Then all is well.”63 The peace of Christ—assurance—comes 61

? Thomas Watson, All Things for Good, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1998), 115.62

? Thomas Watson, “The Sacred Anchor,” in A Plea for the Godly and Other Sermons by Thomas Watson (Pittsburgh, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1993), 135.63

36

to the believer who examines herself carefully and finds affinity

with God.

The personal assurance of salvation was profoundly

important in Watson’s preaching. His sermons are fraught with

urgency whenever he preached on this issue. In one book, Watson

urged, “[l]et us use all means for perseverance. Strive for a

real work of grace in your soul. Grace is the best fortification:

‘it is a good thing that the heart be stablished with grace’ (Heb

13:9).”64 Elsewhere he exhorted, “Oh, let us get the interest

cleared between God and our own souls! Oh, if here is an interest

worth looking after, it is an interest between God and the soul .

. . But he whose faith flourishes into assurance, who can say,

like Paul, ‘I know in whom I have believed’ (2 Timothy 1:12),

that man has enough to give his heart contentment.”65 Clearly, to

Watson the labor and striving for assurance required a deep

commitment and demanding labor, but the worth of such labor was

? Thomas Watson, “The Peace of Christ,” in The Duty of Self-Denial and 10 Other Sermons (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1996), 57.64

? Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture (Carlisle, PA: Banner of TruthTrust, 1999), 212.65

? Thomas Watson, The Art of Divine Contentment, ed. Don Kistler (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 2001), 113.

37

inestimable. The cost of honest self examination would not be

negligible, but the priceless reward would be personal assurance

of election for the believer.

It is important to note in this consideration of

Watson’s emphasis on the role of self examination and striving

for assurance that he was not affirming that salvation comes by

works. Even a cursory look at Watson’s writings will show his

commitment to the work of salvation being a work of God alone.

Assurance is not building on a foundation of meritorious works,

but focuses on the gift of God through the completed salvation in

Christ. Watson stressed in his sermon on Phil 2:12, “[t]hough we

are not saved without working, yet we are not saved for our

working. Still look up to Christ’s merit. It is not your sweat

but His blood that saves.”66 But for the sake of attaining

assurance of salvation, for making one’s calling and election

sure, it is necessary for the believer to work by carefully

examining her life and seeking out the peace and hope given to

all true Christians.

66

? Watson, “The One Thing Necessary,” 192–93.

38

Did Watson teach that assurance was normative for all

believers? He affirmed that the fruit of sanctification was

assurance, and that all believers have it to a certain degree.

Just as other Puritans affirmed a difference between assurance

and adherence, Watson believed that assurance was not required

for adherence to Christ. It is possible that God withholds a

sense of assurance from a believer in order to bring humility

about in her life, or to chastise her for sin.67 Still, Watson

wrote that “[s]anctification is the seed, assurance is the flower

which grows out of it; assurance is a consequent of

sanctification.”68

So Watson taught that assurance is attainable to the

believer. Assurance is, as Owen affirmed, a subjective awareness

of an objective reality, that is, election resulting in

salvation. Assurance is not easy to attain and careful self

examination and striving are required in order to find it. The

labor required for it is well worth the effort, because the peace

and joy that come with knowing that all accounts with God are 67

? Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 250.68

? Ibid.

39

cleared is incalculable. While salvation is purely a work of God,

assurance is the fruit of sanctification, and all believers enjoy

it to some degree. Therefore, from the human perspective, careful

self examination and striving for perseverance are the human

contacts with the attainment of assurance.

Watson on the Promises and Ordinances of God in the Attainment of

Assurance

The subjective awareness of assurance is attained by

the believer through striving and self examination, but this

subjective awareness is of something that is eternal and

unchanging, established in the promises of God for all time.

Watson taught that the immutability of the promises and purposes

of God are the divine comforts that move the believer toward the

attainment of personal assurance of election.

According to Watson, Christ gives the promise of peace

to the believer and conveys this peace through the Holy Spirit.

While preaching on Christ’s peace, Watson said, “This spiritual

peace the Lord Jesus procures by His blood, conveys by His

Spirit, and maintains by His intercession.”69 The guilty

69

? Watson, “The Peace of Christ,” 53.

40

conscience, vexed by the condemnation of sin, is changed by

Christ through forgiveness as the believer repents. Watson wrote,

“Sin in Scripture is compared to a cloud (Is. 44:22). No sooner

is this cloud scattered by repentance than pardoning love shines

forth.”70 Thus, “Conscience is turned into a paradise, and there

a Christian sweetly solaces himself and plucks the flowers of joy

(2 Cor. 1:12).”71

The Holy Spirit, as the Comforter of John 14:16, gives

comfort by revealing to the believer the state in which he

abides, namely, the state of grace. He helps the believer

understand what he cannot see or experience with his senses.72 He

also enables the conscience to be at ease. Watson asserted that

“[t]he Spirit opens the mouth of conscience, and helps it to

speak and witness to a man that his state is good, whereupon he

begins to receive comfort: ‘conscience also bearing me witness in

70

? Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 97.71

? Ibid., 98.72

? Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture, 71.

41

the Holy Ghost’ (Rom. 9:1). Conscience draws up a certificate for

a man, then the Holy Ghost comes and signs the certificate.”73

Another aspect to the attainment of assurance is the

role of the believer’s faith in God’s promises. Earlier in the

study, Watson’s view of the value of fear was considered. Recall

that Watson was not referring to a fear of doubting, but of a

fear that resulted in circumspection and careful living. The

faith of the believer casts out all fear that causes a believer

to doubt. Watson wrote that faith “fixes the heart upon God. As a

star is fixed in its orb, so a believer’s soul is fixed on God.

Faith makes the heart cleave to God as a needle cleaves to the

magnet.”74 Faith in the promises of God brings assurance to the

believer in a natural and genuine way.

To Watson, what human needs do God’s promises meet for

believers? First and foremost, God gives His people the promises

to bring them assurance of peace and forgiveness. This is cause

for great comfort according to Watson, especially for those who

73

? Ibid.74

? Thomas Watson, “His Heart is Fixed,” in The Duty of Self-Denial and 10 Other Sermons (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1996), 99.

42

are dying. He stated, “the true penitent may look on death with

comfort. His life has been a life of tears, and now at death all

tears shall be wiped away. Thus you see what great comfort

remains for repenting sinners.”75 The promises are also given for

the purpose of meeting other human needs, such as sanctifying

grace, healing, corroborating grace, strength, and earthly and

heavenly provision.76 God’s promises are meant to grant believers

assurance, and they have great power inherent in them to do so.

Watson described the promises “as cork to the net, to bear up the

heart from sinking in the deep waters of distress.”77

What are the eternal purposes of God’s promises, and

how do they relate to the attainment of assurance? Watson looked

to Rom 11:2978 in answering this question. Watson said,

God does not, as many friends do, love one day, and hate another. . . . This is the blessedness of a saint; his condition admits of no alteration. God’s call is founded upon

His decree, and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out His people’s sins, but not

75 ? Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance, 98.76

? Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1–12 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1980), 249. 77

? Watson, All Things for Good, 17.78

? “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

43

their names. Let the world ring changes every hour, a believer’s condition is fixed and unalterable.79

God’s purpose in electing some to salvation was based on the

premise that election was rooted in His immutable character. For

Watson, this merits great joy in the believer, because it shows

that assurance is indeed within reach. Watson also looked to 2

Tim 2:1980 to show that “they who are built upon this rock of

God’s eternal purpose, need not fear falling away; neither the

power of man, nor the violence of temptation, shall ever be able

to overturn them.”81 Thus, the believer may attain to personal

assurance of election because the promises of God regarding the

unchanging nature of election will result in the subjective

awareness of this fact in her mind and heart. The immutability of

God’s purposes in election is reflected in the immutability of

His promises to His own, and they may take infinite comfort in

knowing this.

79

? Watson, All Things for Good, 111.80

? “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’. . . .”81

? Watson, All Things for Good, 127.

44

But for Watson, the promises of God are not the only

divine comfort toward the attainment of assurance. The

ordinances, especially the preaching of the word and the Lord’s

Supper, also provided solid ground for the believer’s assurance.

The Holy Spirit conveys assurance to the believer using the

promises of Scripture and the ordinances. Watson said, “The word

preached is a means of health, a chariot of salvation. It is an

ingrafting and a transforming word; it is a word with unction,

anointing their eyes to see that light.”82 In other words, God

uses the preaching of the word to bring understanding to

believers, including the understanding that they are among the

elect and therefore secure in the grace of Christ.

Regarding the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, Watson

said, “[i]n the word preached the saints hear Christ’s voice; in

the sacrament they have his kiss. The Lord’s Supper is to the

saints ‘a feast of fat things.’ It is an healing and a sealing

ordinance.”83 Furthermore, “[i]t quickens their affections,

strengthens their faith, mortifies their sin, revives their

82

? Watson, The Beatitudes, 251.83

? Ibid.

45

hopes, increases their joy. It gives a pre-libation and foretaste

of heaven.”84 Watson’s teachings on the efficacy of the

ordinances related to the attainment of assurance are interesting

and unique. They have the mark of a preacher who understands the

purpose and the role of the ordinances. The ordinances ought to

be the culmination of worship, and Watson’s point here is that

through the ordinances, believers enter into a special intimacy

with God, one that opens up their understanding and edifies their

faith in the trustworthiness of God.

Watson’s views on the attainment of assurance for the

believer are anything but ambiguous. He taught that assurance was

attainable for all believers, while the Holy Spirit superintended

the degrees to which individuals attained to it based on His

purposes in their lives. He taught that, from the human

perspective, assurance was something to be strived for and that

called for careful self examination, in order to make one’s

calling and election sure. He urged believers within range of his

voice and pen to consider assurance to be something of infinite

worth, an asset worth gaining at any price. From the divine

84

? Ibid.

46

perspective, he taught that the promises and purposes of God were

the fundamental bases for assurance of election. Because the

promises and purposes of God revealed through Christ and in the

Scriptures were grounded in the immutable character of God, they

could be trusted, and they could serve as an adequate source for

assurance. Furthermore, the ordinances were established by God in

order to illumine the minds of believers and give them a

foretaste of their eternal destiny. Thus, the believer finds in

the ordinances of preaching and the Lord’s Supper firm grounds

for assurance, along with the promises God gave in His word.

Conclusion

This study has shown that John Owen and Thomas Watson

taught and preached that the personal assurance of election, and

ultimately, salvation, was indeed within the believer’s grasp.

They based this conviction upon the promises of God, the work of

the Holy Spirit and the careful self examination of the believer

to make certain of her election. Both affirmed that assurance

existed in all believers to varying degrees and that full

assurance was rare. But both also believed that assurance was

47

something to be sought and strived for, and both measured the

worth of assurance in infinite terms. The stylistic differences

between Owen and Watson are obvious: one was an academe and a

theologian, the other was a preacher to laymen. However, the

similarities in their teachings are remarkable, and they are

representative of the English Puritan views of the attainment of

assurance.

So what practical relevance can be found in the three

hundred year old teachings of Owen and Watson? What can

contemporary believers living in Western culture learn from them?

There are likely hundreds of lessons that can be learned, but a

few are worth mentioning here. First, both Owen and Watson warned

against the sin of presumption when Christians considered their

status with God. A contemporary term for this might be “easy

believism.” Closely related to this is their stress on the

importance of self examination and diligent striving for

assurance. Recall that the issue is not presented by Owen and

Watson as striving for salvation through the accumulation of

meritorious works. Rather, it is the striving to exercise faith

in the promises of God, and the striving to search the depths of

48

oneself in order to repent of deeply held sin. They taught

Christians to strive to live circumspectly in order that the

evidence of election could be clearly seen. These warnings and

exhortations should be recounted to contemporary believers, so

that they might avoid presumption, and perhaps even avoid hell.

A second great lesson taught by Owen and Watson is that

God’s promises are worthy of trust because they are rooted in His

eternal and immutable purposes. His promises are inextricably

bound up in His character. They are a reflection of His

character, and they are therefore trustworthy, just as He is

trustworthy. The act of pleading the credibility of God to people

cannot be overemphasized. Owen and Watson were, to use a rather

tired expression, God-centered in their theology and their

teaching. They truly counted on God to be faithful. They staked

everything upon their belief in God’s trustworthiness. Their

example to contemporary believers is invaluable because our

culture is steeped in (to use another tired expression) man-

centeredness.

Packer was right in his characterization of Western

Christianity as being 3,000 miles wide and half an inch deep. He

49

was right to say that most of Western Christianity showcases

enormous spiritual immaturity, despite the fact that God’s word

is more accessible today than ever in human history. Owen and

Watson exuded maturity in their writings and teachings. They

thought deeply about the things of God, and they were rewarded by

God with the knowledge of His deep secrets. It is safe to say

that Owen’s and Watson’s attention spans were a bit longer than

fifteen minutes because they did not lack the patience under

suffering and tribulation that Western Christians lack. Their

example of spiritual maturity then is another important lesson to

be learned by contemporary believers.

The relevance of the issue of the attainment of

assurance is timeless. Many Christians in many contexts from

various traditions have spoken on the subject, and some of them

are worth hearing. But the Puritans, with their depth of

understanding and their commitment to holy living and right

doctrine, are certainly worth the considerable effort it takes to

study them. Certainly John Owen and Thomas Watson must be

considered faithful servants of Christ as they carried His word

50

into the world to equip the saints and build up the body of

Christ (Eph 4:12).

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