Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 30:1 (NA 2025)
Article: Assurance Of Salvation
Author: Jonathan R. Pratt

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 153

Assurance Of Salvation

Jon Pratt1

As Paul closes out 2 Corinthians, he makes a rather startling command: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor 13:5). This command jolts us because we assume that the Corinthians are already believers. After all, Paul started the church (Acts 18:1–18), baptized some of its members (1 Cor 1:14–16), and wrote at least three letters to them (a previous letter [1 Cor 5:9], 1 Corinthians itself, and a painful letter [2 Cor 2:3–4; 7:8–12).2 He also confirmed that they were standing firm in the faith (2 Cor 1:24), that he had perfect confidence in their obedience to his apostolic authority (2 Cor 7:16), and that they excelled in faith, speech, knowledge and earnestness (2 Cor 8:7). So why would Paul (implicitly) suggest that the Corinthians question their salvation? Perhaps he did so because some of their actions indicated that they may not truly be Christian (2 Cor 11:19–20; 12:20; 13:2).

Or consider 2 Peter 1:10: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.” Believers appreciate a sense of certainty about their future in heaven, but texts like these in 2 Corinthians and 2 Peter only add fuel to the fire of their uncertainty. They long to be assured in their own hearts that heaven and Jesus and glory are all theirs. Many would like to hold a passport to heaven that guarantees entrance. But such a scenario does not exist, and this lack of concrete, black-and-white assurance causes some Christians to struggle throughout their earthly lives often wondering whether or not they belong to Christ.3

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 154

My purpose in this essay is to consider the doctrine of salvation as it relates to a foundational question, “How do I know if I am a born-again Christian?” I am writing about the doctrine of assurance, and those who are reading may fall into two extremes regarding the...