The Westminster Larger Catechism is pastorally honest about a common Christian experience: real faith does not always come packaged with the feeling of assurance. Some of the Lord’s truest saints walk through long seasons where salvation feels distant, prayers feel unanswered, and their own hearts feel unreliable. The catechism asks, “Are all true believers at all times assured of their present being in the estate of grace, and that they shall be saved?” And it answers: “Assurance of grace...

In the previous question, the catechism considered God’s promise that true believers cannot totally or finally fall away, because God keeps them to the end. That immediately raises a personal follow-up: can I know that I am truly in that estate of grace, that I am genuinely saved? Question 80 addresses not only the security God provides but also the assurance believers may enjoy. It asks, “Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are and will remain in a state of grace, persevering...

There are few questions more pastorally necessary than question 79 of the Westminster Larger Catechism. If we are honest, we recognize our failings. We feel the pressure of temptation. We grieve the reality of sins that sometimes overtake us. So the catechism asks what many believers whisper to themselves: “Can true believers fall away from the state of grace because of their imperfections and the many temptations and sins they are overtaken with?” The answer gives us hope and assurance:...