Problems of Assurance of Salvation in Scottish Highland Christianity

The search for assurance of one’s personal salvation has long been a feature of Highland Protestantism. It is important to note that the assurance sought for was not the kind of assurance that is given to a new convert at an evangelistic meeting, when he is told that because he has believed in Christ he is eternally saved. Nor is it the type of assurance that can be deduced from a change of life after believing the gospel.

According to John Macinnes, full assurance in Highland Presbyterianism was understood in a twofold sense: an objective assurance ‘which is the persuasion of the truth of the thing believed’; a subjective assurance, which is not of the essence of faith, but for which the Christian must strive to obtain.

Some comments can be made on this form of Christian living.

First, this emphasis on seeking assurance can give the impression that the believer misunderstands the nature of salvation. But it also can indicate concern that the believer has about the possibility of false confidence. John Noble, in his book Religious Life in Ross-shire, relates the comment of one man who was seeking for Christ despite having been a professing Christian for a long time: ‘Well, if I have got him, I am now going to see if it is the true Christ I have. I do not wish to be deceived in this all important matter.’ John Kennedy of Dingwall defended such as the above by noting that Highland Christians had been taught to distinguish between doubting the truth of the Bible and doubting the safety of their state. In this distinction he parallels the two emphases of the witness of the Spirit that marked the Puritans. Kennedy also made a distinction between a believer being conscious of a trust in Christ and yet not possessing assurance. The believer could suspect the genuineness of his faith without being guilty of unbelief. This is a biblical emphasis. Paul exhorts believers to examine themselves to see if they be in the faith.

Secondly, there was a reason for this strong focus on the subjective aspect of assurance. The evangelical church in the Highlands has not generally been troubled by unorthodoxy, resulting in there not being the necessity of defending the truths of the faith in its own community. The case seems to have been that Highland ministers could be relied upon to defend orthodoxy at the General Assemblies of the different denominations. For a long period of time the opposition, in ecclesiastical terms, was Moderatism which did not usually deny orthodox opinions but did not place a strong emphasis on personal experience of God. Inevitably, the evangelicals had to emphasise the necessity of such personal experiences.

A third reason why there was an emphasis on subjective assurance is that it was common for believers to experience deep and profound visits of God to their souls. The length of time that the experience lasted varied as did the depth of feeling that was aroused. Kennedy explains this manner of assurance as God making ‘known to His people what is not directly revealed in His word; although He does not do so except by means of what is written.’ This assurance was given in response to prayer, and could include applying Bible promises to a particular situation.

A fourth reason for the emphasis on subjective assurance was the constant stress in preaching regarding the distinction between the regenerate and the unregenerate. This resulted in close self-examination by true believers, and the need for this was strengthened by questions concerning self-examination being a regular feature at the fellowship meetings (meetings at communion seasons at which laymen discussed aspects of personal salvation). This practice did contain possible abuse. The inner life could be analysed to such an extent that doubts about the presence of spiritual life were inevitable. A quotation from a Highland catechist may clarify the danger in this emphasis. ‘We have been hearing a great deal today about saving faith, its actings, and its fruits; and it will be well for us to give good heed to what has been said, and to seek more of the faith we have been hearing of. But is not there a risk lest, in thinking so much about precious faith, we lose sight of its great Object. This only would I say to you, Was faith crucified for you? or were ye baptised in the name of your faith.’

Fifthly, it needs also to be remembered that Highland evangelicalism did not limit the work of the Spirit to that of providing spiritual comfort. This was not only the case with regard to his convicting the unregenerate of sin but also concerning his work in those converted. Writing to his son, who was already a believer but who was passing through a period of spiritual distress, a Highland evangelical minister says: ‘The Lord in mercy is probing your wounds and bruises and putrifying sores to the bottom, to make you not only humbly willing but ardently desirous to employ the Great Physician to effect a cure of what would be incurable in any hands but His own. It would be wrong in me to conceal from you that I am persuaded that the Spirit of God is convincing you of sin in order to make Christ precious to you.... And I trust that the same omnipotent Agent who now works as a spirit of bondage will soon work as Spirit of adoption.’

I describe the above as the positive aspects of the search for assurance. But there some negative outworkings as well.

First, there is the tendency to devalue what may be described as the everyday workings of faith. The search for special assurance becomes the most important aspect of a person’s Christian life. A side effect of this is that activities such as evangelism and corporate worship become secondary and the person fails to realise the benefits that come from shared experiences with other believers. The Christian life becomes an individual affair with little emphasis on participating in the communal life of the church. An important aspect of this is communal life is the Lord’s Supper, which leads me on to the next negative outworking – the failure to obey the Saviour’s command to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

This situation has existed for a long time. It may be that one reason for this failure is due to the infrequency of the event (usually twice a year) which can have the opposite effects of causing one person to regard it as unimportant since it is only held occasionally, or another to regard it as very important, with its infrequency being evidence of its superiority to other Christian activities. The response of the latter can be to assume it would be presumptuous to participate until he or she is in a more appropriate spiritual frame and it is not difficult to see a parallel between this concern for a spiritual frame and the search for assurance described previously. It is common for those seeking this higher spirituality to refer to themselves as lacking assurance.

Third, there is the reluctance to address God as ‘Father’. This is particularly obvious in prayer meetings in which several prayers are said, in which it is not common for God to be addressed as ‘Father’ and also for the petitions to give the impression that person praying is not converted. There does not seem to be an awareness of the Spirit of adoption or of the gathered people being a family of God.

Fourth, there is a preoccupation with the sovereignty of God. The gospel offer of salvation is not enough to convince those seeking assurance. They are aware that election is a reality which cannot be changed. But since they are seeking assurance, they want to know in a supernatural way that they are among the elect.

Fifthly, there is a strong emphasis on the spirituality of the psalms, with some denominations using them alone in singing in public worship. I don’t intend to comment here on the validity or otherwise of this practice, merely to point out that to interpret the psalms literally, and not in the light of the fuller revelation of the New Testament, carries the real danger of reverting to the outlook of those under the Mosaic covenant, which Paul says was one of fear.

Sixthly, there is the tendency to look on assurance with suspicion. Donald Macleod’s description of believers lacking assurance is also a description of Highland believers: ‘They regard it as wrong or presumptuous. They equate it with shallowness. To have known the depths of melancholy in self-questioning is to be deemed a mature Christian and in innumerable subtle ways this experience is commended as the norm for others. A situation is soon reached where doubt itself is deemed a mark of grace – indeed the mark of grace.’