Erosion of the Holy Spirit's gift of faith and assurance : Samuel Rutherford's departure from the Reformation

Abstract

A variety of studies describe and explain the development of the ways in which the relationship between faith and assurance is viewed within the Reformed tradition. Attempts have been made to try to lessen the severity of the Reformers’ position on the inseparability of faith and assurance, to defend the segregation in time and sequence of the different aspects of faith, to argue that differing contexts warranted a change in emphasis, or to blame orthodox theology on God’s sovereignty for a perceived lack of assurance.

Our approach is different as we identify opposing pneumatological views as the underlying cause for the epistemological separation of faith and assurance so common among later Reformed theologians.

First, we demonstrate that most Reformers believe that an initial measure of subjective assurance is an integral part of the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, imparted at regeneration, through the Spirit’s immediate witness. It is for this reason that the dominant Reformation position is that personal assurance is of the essence of saving faith.

Second, we show that the Puritan and Covenanter Samuel Rutherford departs in substance from most Reformers in several ways. Crucially, Rutherford rejects the Spirit’s direct testimony as determinative in the gaining of assurance. In Rutherford’s theology, the Holy Spirit gifts the ability to believe rather than gifting fiducial faith. Contrary to most Reformers, Rutherford makes the distinction between objective and subjective assurance, thereby still allowing the assertion that (objective) assurance is of the essence of saving faith.

Consequently, Rutherford departs from most Reformers by employing works to gain assurance rather than to confirm assurance. In other words, Rutherford exhorts people to pursue the personal experience of salvation by good works from a position of uncertainty, rather than encouraging people to do good works from a position of personal assurance.