Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 02:2 (Autumn 1989)
Article: A Voice from the Past: Assurance Of Faith And Possession Of Salvation
Author: César Malan

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JOTGES 2:2 (Autumn 89) p. 35

A Voice from the Past:
Assurance Of Faith
And Possession Of Salvation

César Malan1

What we need to possess, above every other good, is peace of mind, contentment of heart.

In whatever condition man may be, from the monarch to the peasant, he seeks this happiness, and as long as he is deprived of it he is not at rest.

And yet man never attains it as long as he believes that contentment of heart is the result of any earthly good, of the satisfaction gained by worldly success, prosperity or renown, or by wealth and its luxuries.

Hence everywhere—in the palace as well as in the cottage—complaints are heard of the insufficiency, the emptiness, and the deceitfulness of what once had been considered as able to satisfy the soul; until by God’s mercy the heart sees and feels that indeed, as the Scripture^̆ says, “the world is vanity; that it is passing away with its lusts; that it is a vapor;

JOTGES 2:2 (Autumn 89) p. 36

that riches take to themselves wings; that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses; and that he will be forever miserable if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul.”

But when a man is so happy as to see and feel this—when he looks to God, and no longer to the world for true happiness—immediately everything is changed in his view. This life and its concerns appear in their true light—subordinate, finite, and transient, while the unseen life—a future, infinite, eternal existence—is to him the true good, sure and perfect.

This peace of mind and contentment of heart everyone knows and possesses who receives them from God by the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of truth, and who finds them by faith in the treasure of treasures: “in Him whose name is above every name—in Jesus Christ, the well-beloved Son of the Father, the Prince of peace, Eternal Life.”

So that to be truly “a disciple of Jesus Christ,” or a Christian,” is to know and possess this peace of mind, which he justly values more than every other good.

But however sure may be this new life imparted to everyone whom the Holy Spirit unites to Jesus by faith, and however real the peace of mind resulting from it, this should always be perfect, never mingled with doubt, discouragement, or fear.

Yet it is not uncommon to meet Christians who, while professing to believe in perfect justification and peace imparted by faith in the Son of God, are not sure of their own salvation, and who even regard such assurance a...

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