Calvinism's Doctrine of Total Inability (to give Assurance of Salvation)

Frank Turk, AKA the centuri0n, recently posted this article:

Salvation vs Calculus

The introduction to the article seems like he was prompted to write it in consideration of the discussion of the refinements in Free Grace Theoglogy that I have been blogging about recently.

Read his article. In it you will find an illustatrion of the total inability of any Calvinist to have assurance of his salvation. After you read, return and read my comments (which he may end up deleting) here.

Hey Cent,

I believe that your position irepairably damages assurance. I am sure that you would stipulate that there are different degrees of growth in true Christians. If I were to ask you what the range was, you may answer very slow to rapid. Quite the range. In fact, if we were to suppose that growth can be very slow, the perception of that growth could be infinitesimal, even regarded as non-growth.

Question #1: In this case, how is one to be certain that he indeed has the right kind of faith?

Question #2: If he deems that he does not have the true kind of faith, in other words, it is spurious or insufficient or defective in some way, how is it that he can exercise the right kind of faith?

Take for instance your illustration. Your child has an orthodox and correct understanding at his level. Couldn't we have determined him 'mathmatically saved' at this point? You state that he has a "completely correct view of arithmatic" albeit incomplete!

In reality we cannot!

Why?

Because the possibility remains, that although he currently has what appears to be the right type of mathmatical astuteness, he may, years later exercise "a knowledge which refuses to grow, refuses to receive more"; one that is "willful[ly] ignoran[t]."

Question #3: How can anyone have assurance of salvation if at any time, there is a possibility of a stunted growth that betrays an insufficient, spurious faith? How can anyone have any assurance until persevering in this growth until death?

John MacArthur states quite sternly, "You may be a spiritual defector who hasn't defected yet!" (transcription from GTY radio program)

In closing, let us look at the tragic position of what you actually advocate, illustrated by Robert L. Dabney:

“There is a spurious as well as a genuine faith. Every man, when he thinks he believes, is conscious of exercising what he thinks is faith. Such is the correct statement of these facts of consciousness. Now suppose the faith, of which the man is conscious, turns out a spurious faith, must not his be a spurious consciousness? And he, being without the illumination of the Spirit, will be in the dark as to its hollowness.”

The kind of theology Dabney and Calvinism represent strips believers of their grounds of assurance and dangles them over an abyss of despair.

Antonio da Rosa