Hymns: Blessed Assurance

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.

Today’s song is Blessed Assurance

The hymn was composed in 1873 by Fanny J. Crosby. Despite being blind from infancy, Crosby wrote over 8,000 hymns and is known for her strong expressions of faith. Someone played a tune for her and asked her what the tune said and she replied; “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!” and then recited the first stanza on the spot.

So what is meant by assurance? I was brought up a Roman Catholic, and we knew little of assurance. My expectation was that I’d probably end up in Purgatory. Heaven was a possibility if I became a saint or something, and Hell loomed large too, anytime I felt guilty about doing wrong. Then, in my teens, I heard about Martin Luther, who said that we are saved by our faith alone. Jesus paid for our sins, and salvation is a free gift.

It wasn’t just his opinion. Many scripture verses teach assurance. But you do get some verses that can make you feel uneasy, though they tend to be directed towards people who abandon the Christian faith or see assurance as a license to live extremely careless, ungodly lives. Here are a few key points about assurance:

• Assurance rests not on personal merit but on what Jesus has already accomplished through His death and resurrection. Salvation is secure because Christ’s work is complete, sufficient, and cannot be undone.
• Assurance comes primarily from repenting of our sin, including thinking that we can earn salvation on our own merits, and believing God’s promise, not from feelings or performance, though they play a part.
• The Holy Spirit gives believers an internal sense of belonging to God. For some, this is usually dramatic, but for most, it’s more like a steady, Spirit‑produced assurance.
• A a changed life confirms a changed heart. This doesn’t mean that we need to be perfect or near perfect to feel a sense of assurance. But we’re going in the right direction with respect to loving God and loving others. We’re keen to learn – to be disciples.
• Perseverance in faith also enhances assurance. People can go through periods of doubt, but if they abandon the faith altogether, it raises the question of whether they truly believed or if something else was at work. For example, some people join churches just to network and find people who might be useful to them. They might be disappointed when someone offends or upsets them and abandon the faith along with the church. But did they ever truly trust in God?

You get a lot of debates, even within evangelicalism, on the grounds of assurance, particularly with respect to holy living. Some emphasize holy living so much that they tend to dismiss the notion of “every Tom, Dick and Harry” thinking that they’re going to heaven just because they “accepted Christ” at a Billy Graham meeting or whatever.

I can understand that point of view, but I’m uneasy with having judgmental attitudes towards others and focusing too much on personal holiness as a ground of assurance. It tends to lead to self-righteous people, who, like the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, verbally give the credit to God, but at the same time, clearly think too highly of themselves and look down on others. And then, you get others who are so disappointed with their progress in the faith that they wonder if they really are Christians, which can lead to them to discouragement and a reluctance to engage with God and other believers.

Holiness is important, but ultimately, we look to Christ and walk with him. Our assurance is based on His promises and the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And we rejoice if we feel we are making some progress, but our failures just show how much we need the Saviour and how thankful we should be that heaven isn’t a matter of merit but is a gift from God.

Here are some of my favourite verses on assurance:

John 5:24
 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

John 10:28-29
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Roman 8:16
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Romans 8:38-39
³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Here are some other interesting versions of the song: