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Sometimes DeYoung’s statement is offered up to me as a sort of theological Gordian Knot. “How are you going to explain this pastor?” I think they imagine DeYoung’s comment represents some irreconcilable dilemma. A bombshell observation. Of course, this discussion (the one underneath the quote) is not new. The relationship between justification and sanctification has been puzzling Protestants for fifteen hundred years. It’s part of who we are.

A quote by Sinclair Ferguson on how we have been improperly taught to read the Bible. The following paragraphs were taken from "A Preacher's Decalogue" under point three, "Don’t Lose Sight of Christ."

It seems unnatural to separate how we feel with what we know as it relates to our assurance of salvation. For many, the pursuit of assurance has been primarily a task of evaluating feelings, actions, and emotions. While this method seems sufficient and natural, it will inevitably demonstrate itself ineffective against the overwhelming faithlessness that we are so prone to have. But, as we will see below, making the separation between the grounds for our salvation (the objective reality) and the evidence of our salvation (the subjective reality) is the only way a Christian can find true peace.

At the core of this discussion, the intended use of 1 John, is confusion over the means vs. evidence of salvation. Many pastors, by prefacing the fact that they are focusing on the evidence of salvation and not the means, free themselves to speak in must-do terms. A standard is quickly brought forth for every believer to stand against. It would seem that this means vs. evidence is the loophole of Christianity. It is through this gap that pastors can mandate reformed lives, better practices, and godly living. Therefore, the believer is given a set of tasks to complete in order to confirm true repentance.

If evangelicalism needs the Republican Party to remain successful, then it has been nothing more than a religious special interest group. If someone believes losing a cultural war, or having a president appoint a liberal justice to the Supreme Court, or a shake up in the GOP somehow signals the end of Christianity in the US, then they have lost their way.

You will attract people with gnarled and rancorous dispositions. Brawlers. Sword drawn zealots ready to throw themselves on an edge over the smallest disagreement. Often, it’s not us but those who come behind us and take our opinions to the next level who do the most damage.

Hope is conspicuous in captivity. There’s no place for it in prison because hope forbids a person to accept their condition. And, you must come to terms with your condition to survive captivity. Strangely, in prison, hope leads to despair because hope has nowhere to focus and gets stuck in a loop. The sooner one gives up and stops trying to escape, the quicker despair will give way to meaninglessness. Only then will a prisoner accept their condition. Only the hopeless make good prisoners.

So goes the standard explanation of John’s First Epistle. I've heard it explained this way so often over the years I've assumed (without a question) that it’s the only possible explanation, or valid angle on the letter. The epistle is put forward as a sort of salvific “disc assessment.” It’s an assurance quiz applied to John’s audience. Score high and you can have assurance. Score poorly and you've no basis for it. Some would go so far as to say the letter is specifically designed to create doubt in the lives of false believers within the church

The real struggle of the Christian life is the struggle to keep His faithfulness “in our eye” instead of ours. To believe that I am in His favor by grace through faith despite who I am, or how I might fail, or what I have done, or what others have done to me. “For I am convinced that neither…”

We are born in sin. To doubt the good will of God is an inborn suspicion of God with all of us. Besides, the devil, our adversary, goeth about seeking to devour us by roaring: “God is angry at you and is going to destroy you forever.”