Faith is vital in the matter of assurance - indeed all other
marks are worthless without it
by Matthew Vogan
William Guthrie is most famous for the valuable little book that he wrote
called The Christian's Great Interest. This book has gone through numerous
editions (currently it is available from the Banner of Truth Trust) and
been translated into various languages. It was first published in 1658,
shortly before the restoration of Charles II. The subject of the book
is
assurance of salvation. It gives various tests by which someone may know
that he is a Christian and in doing so also sets out very clearly the
way
of salvation. It has been greatly valued by many. On one occasion the
great
Puritan theologian John Owen was speaking with a minister of the Church
of
Scotland. Having been asked if he knew of William Guthrie, Owen drew a
little gilded copy of Guthrie's treatise from his pocket saying, "That
author I take to have been one of the greatest divines that ever wrote;
it
is my Vademecum (a handbook or aid carried about so that it can be of
immediate use) and I carry it and the Sedan New Testament, still about
with
me. I have written several folios, but there is more divinity in it than
in
them all".
"The best book I ever read"
Thomas Chalmers, the leader of the Free Church of Scotland at the time
of
the Disruption once wrote concerning it, "I am on the eve of finishing
Guthrie which I think is the best book I ever read". He went on to
speak of
its character and popularity: "It has long been the favourite work
of our
peasantry in Scotland. One admirable property of this work is that, while
it guides, it purifies".
The best author for such a book
It seems that William Guthrie was eminently suited to writing such a
book.
He was by nature introspective or as James Stirling put it' "William
Guthrie was a great melancholian". He had, however, overcome the
extremes
and potential dangers of this aspect of his character over the years.
Samuel Rutherford once said that "If a man's melancholy temperament
is
sanctified, it becomes to him a seat of sound mortification and of humble
walking". This was Guthrie's experience and he was the better able
to be a
faithful minister for it. Guthrie was helped to overcome that melancholy
temperament by a vigorous sense of humour. No doubt he could feel that
this
was a dangerous tendency too: "My merriment!" he confessed to
one who had
rebuked him for it, "I know all you would say, and my merriment costs
me
many a salt tear in secret".
Yet he was not unfitted for spiritual things by it. One instance that
demonstrates this was a time when Guthrie and fellow minister James Durham
were at dinner in a gentleman's house and Guthrie was keeping the company
entertained. Durham, characteristically solemn, laughed and laughed. Family
worship was taken immediately after dinner and William Guthrie was called
upon to lead in prayer. The prayer was so heavenly and full of earnest
spirituality that all gathered were affected by it. "0 Will",
exclaimed
Durham afterwards, "you are a happy man! If I had been so daft, I
could not
have been in any frame [to pray] for eight-and-forty hours". As Robert
Wodrow notes, "It was often observed that, let Mr Guthrie be never
so
merry, he was presently in a frame for the most spiritual duty, and the
only account I can give of it is that he acted from spiritual principles
in
all he did, and even in his relaxations".
Guthrie enjoyed fishing as a way of lawful relaxation and physical exercise
in order to help his poor health. No doubt it also gave him food for
spiritual meditation. The story is told of a visit that Guthrie paid to
an
older man in Haddington (a long distance away) whose spiritual life had
been marked by certain extraordinary experiences. He was writing The
Christian's Great Interest at the time and the visit was helpful to him
for
that purpose. Guthrie listened carefully all that night and all the next
day and could not tear himself away from the conversation of the man and
his wife. Then suddenly his face brightened up as he remembered a
delightful trout stream he had passed on his way to town. He asked the
man
if he had a fishing rod he might borrow. The man was pleased to think
that
such a minister as Guthrie might use his old fishing rod, but his wife
expressed her shock at this indulgence in things earthly.
The purpose of the book
The word "interest" in the title of Guthrie's book does not
just mean that
the book deals with the matter of greatest importance to a Christian.
It
also has a legal sense in which to have an interest means to have a valid
stake or share in something to our benefit. Guthrie's book deals with
how
the Christian may know that he has a legal claim within the Will and
Testament or Covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ graciously makes with
His
people. Guthrie helps us to put ourselves in a courtroom trial where we
are
under Scripture as a judge to determine whether or not our claim is a
true
one.
Guthrie opens the book with a concern that there are many "pretending,
without ground, to a special interest in Christ". On the other hand
many
others "who have good ground of a claim to Christ are not established
in
the confidence of His favour, but remain in the dark without comfort,
hesitating concerning the reality of godliness in themselves". This
state
of affairs prompts two questions: 1. How can someone know if they are
in
Christ and whether or not he may lay genuine claim to God's favour and
salvation? 2. What should we do if we cannot find in ourselves the marks
of
a saving interest?
How can someone know whether they are in Christ?
It is important to be clear that assurance is possible, and more easily
attained than many realise. It is of the utmost importance to be "savingly
in covenant with God". Scripture must be the rule by which we are
able to
judge whether or not this is so. Only a few, however, seem to reach this
assurance. There are many different reasons for this. Far too many are
ignorant of the different ways in which God works. Others deal deceitfully
with God and their own conscience in holding on to sin. There is also
a
lazy apathy that resists the effort of examining ourselves, but it is
"a
work and business which cannot be done sleeping". Assurance must
be
laboured after, it is not something that falls effortlessly into our laps.
Many are ignorant concerning what evidence will satisfy the quest for
assurance, despite the fact that it is clear in Scripture. Some are looking
for entirely the wrong evidences such as attaining sinlessness or
continuous rapturous prayer. Many that are struggling to attain assurance
can make the following mistakes: (a) they think that all who are in Christ
know that they are; (b) they think that all who have assurance have the
same degree of certainty; (c) they think that this persuasion should be
continuous; (d) they think that a person must be able to answer every
objection against their assurance. The sin against the Holy Ghost can
be a
great stumbling block to those who believe they have put themselves beyond
pardon and this is carefully and helpfully defined from the Scriptures,
very importantly, Guthrie is able to tell us what it is not.
Guthrie speaks of the different ways in which people are drawn to Christ.
Some indeed may be drawn lovingly or called suddenly in a very direct
way.
The "ordinary" way involves being humbled by conviction during
which the
conscience is awakened till the soul is full of concern about salvation
and
driven from resting in anything of themselves, to casting their all on
Christ for salvation. This is carefully distinguished from the temporary
convictions of those that fall away.
Faith and the New Birth as Evidence
The first evidence that Guthrie calls for in this trial is faith. Faith
is
vital in the matter of assurance - indeed all other marks are worthless
without it. Yet it can be mistaken. It is not as difficult or mysterious
as
some men think. Scripture speaks of it as a simple trusting, resting,
and
looking. It can be found in various marks of submissive obedience and
devotion to Christ. "If men but have an appetite, they have it; for
they
are blessed that hunger after righteousness". Thus Guthrie identifies
the
marks of true faith, but also distinguishes it from false faith. The second
set of evidence called upon relates to regeneration. There is a total
renewal when a man comes to saving faith in Christ. In mind, heart and
will
he is changed from being self-oriented and self-serving to serving and
glorifying God. Attitudes to all aspects of life are renewed whether it
is
work or worship, or relationships, or recreation or eating and drinking.
There is a respect to all of God's commandments, and a submission to and
valuing of Christ alone that hypocrites never have despite their outward
similarities with believers.
Getting Assurance
The great question in the minds of many, however, is why some believers
doubt. Guthrie opens this up in considerable depth dealing with God's
sovereignty and our own responsibility in these matters. He speaks of
twelve areas where different levels of experience may be enjoyed and where
assurance may be obtained. Part Two of the book proceeds to deal with
the
second question raised: what should we do if we cannot find in ourselves
the marks of a saving interest? Many may believe that they have closed
in
with Christ in the gospel very few, however, really have. Yet there is
a
duty that lies on all under the terms of the covenant of Grace as it is
preached to all. There must be a "coming" on our part. "God
excludes none
it they do not exclude themselves". "It is a coming on our part,
and yet a
drawing on His part". what is it to close with God's offer of salvation
in
the preached covenant? It means to recognise the full guilt of sin, our
need of salvation and the impossibility of any salvation without God's
appointment in Christ. We must "quit and renounce all thoughts of
help or
salvation by our own righteousness". Faith is humble though resolute,
hearty rather than mere mental assent though it must depend upon knowledge.
Personal Covenanting
The covenanters and Puritans found great benefit in personal covenanting
with God. usually this involved explicitly accepting of Christ and
confessing sin and expressing satisfaction with the gospel way of
salvation. The covenant was often renewed at communion seasons and times
of
difficulty or desertion. Guthrie counsels those who lack assurance to
make
a covenant explicitly with God, writing down and speaking their acceptance
in order that they may return to it in times of doubting. The author
patiently removes any obstacles or objections that readers may have about
covenanting; showing that it has clear scriptural warrant. The covenant
was
to be no mere decision card that was signed off unthinkingly. It was a
solemn holy vow before God in dealing with our never-dying souls, and
to be
taken with due meditation and consideration. Guthrie compares the covenant
to marriage vows between the soul and Christ, as a way of formally
confessing with the mouth the same covenant that the believer makes in
the
heart.
A Precious Book
Fellow minister John Livingstone gave the following opinion of Guthrie:
"In
doctrine he was as full and free as any man in Scotland had ever been
...
he was a man of most ready wit, fruitful invention, and apposite
comparisons, qualified both to awaken and pacify the conscience, straight
and zealous for the cause of Christ". Let us hear Thomas Chalmers
once
again on the book: "I still think it the best composition I ever
read
relating to a subject in which we are all deeply interested, and about
which it is my earnest prayer that we may all be found on the right side
of
the question". Most suggestive of all, though, is the sublime crescendo
with which Guthrie closes this short but full little book:
"O blessed bargain of the new covenant, and thrice blessed Mediator
of the
same! Let Him ride prosperously and subdue nations and languages, and
gather in all His jewels, that honourable company of the firstborn, that
stately troop of kings and priests, whose glory it shall be to have washed
their garments in the blood of that spotless Lamb, and whose happiness
shall continually flourish in following Him whithersoever He goes, and
in being in the immediate company of the Ancient of days, one sight of
whose face shall make them in a manner forget that ever they were on the
earth. Oh, if I could persuade men to believe that these things are not
yea
and nay, and to make haste towards Him, who hasteth to judge the world,
and
to call men to an account, especially concerning their improvement of
this
gospel. 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus"'.
MATTHEW VOGAN
Free Church Witness April 2003
