Letters of Samuel Rutherford IV: Assurance of Faith
This week we continue reading from the prison letters of Samuel Rutherford. Though he was suffering under house arrest, Rutherford never lost his pastoral concern for his people.
Many in his day had been baptized into the national church and considered themselves to be Christians. Yet Rutherford recognized that outward identification did not necessarily mean true conversion. Many were left either with false assurance or deep uncertainty, and they turned to him for help.
In this letter, Rutherford offers careful and tender counsel on the nature of assurance. Drawing from 1 John, he points to evidences of grace within the believer, including a growing awareness of sin and a genuine grief over it. Importantly, he shows that such grief is not a sign of spiritual death, but may in fact be evidence of spiritual life.
At the same time, Rutherford is careful to direct the believer away from resting in these inward evidences. Our assurance is not grounded in the strength of our faith, the depth of our repentance, or the intensity of our feelings. It rests ultimately in Christ himself—his life, his death, and his resurrection on behalf of sinners.
This episode is both searching and comforting, reminding us to take sin seriously while fixing our eyes firmly on Christ.
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Show Notes
Samuel Rutherford and His Friends by Faith Cook
Listen to The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App.