Letters of Thomas Charles III: Where Does Assurance Rest?
In this episode of The Whole Counsel, Dr. John Snyder continues the series on Thomas Charles’s pastoral letters, focusing on a letter he wrote to his newlywed wife, Sally. She was still struggling with doubts about her spiritual condition and assurance of salvation. Charles responds with tenderness but also with strengthening words. He urges her not to give her doubts “any quarter,” arguing that prolonged uncertainty can paralyze Christian growth, weaken faith, and hinder a believer’s walk with God. He also distinguishes between godly sorrow over sin and doubts about whether one belongs to Christ.
A major theme of the episode is the relationship between objective assurance in Christ and the evidence of God’s work within us. Charles distinguishes the believer’s primary act of faith, looking away from self to Christ, from the “reflexive” work of faith, in which we examine the evidence of God’s grace in our own lives.
Sanctification can provide genuine evidence of spiritual life, but it must never become the foundation of our hope. Justification and Christ's finished work remain the foundation. Charles encourages Christians, tempted to despair over their weakness and slow growth, to recognize the work of grace within them while continually looking outside themselves to Christ.
SHOW NOTES
📖 Thomas Charles’s Spiritual Counsels: Banner of Truth
📝 “Thomas Charles,” by Jonathan Thomas (Evangelical Magazine, May/June 2020, page 12)
🎥 Welsh Awakenings: The Story of God’s Work in Wales, by Dan Pugh
📖 John Elias: Life, Letters, and Essays, published by Banner of Truth
▶︎ 🔴 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for weekly updates.