Does Salvation Require Affection for Jesus? R.C. Sproul

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:06][music] >> Hi, I'm Bob Wilkin with Grace Evangelical Society and I have some good news for you today.

[00:00:13]I was recently looking at a video from someone who calls himself the wise disciple. His name is Nate Salen.

[00:00:24]And he was commenting on another video, one by the famous Calvinist theologian and scholar R.C.

[00:00:35]Sproul.

[00:00:37]And he was more or less agreeing with Sproul but wanting to kind of tweak Sproul's view on assurance of everlasting life. And so since Nate Salen was talking about assurance of everlasting life and talking about R.C.

[00:00:55]Sproul's uh view of assurance of everlasting life, I thought it would be well worth our time to take a look at what both R.C. Sproul said and Nate Salen's response. So, let's go ahead and look at a very short clip from R.C. Sproul.

[00:01:18]And there's where your theology comes home to roost.

[00:01:21]If I can say yes, I know that I don't love them the way I should love them, that I don't love them perfectly, but I know in whom I have believed, I know that I have some real affection for Christ in my heart and in my soul. Then if my theology is sound, then I ask the question, how could that possibly be?

[00:01:38]Because I know an unregenerate person has no affection for Jesus and can't possibly have any affection for Jesus.

[00:01:45]So, if I have any affection for Jesus, that tells me I'm regenerate.

[00:01:50]So, notice what Sproul says.

[00:01:52]He says that the unregenerate person has no affection for Jesus, cannot have any affection for Jesus. And so he said, "If you have affection for Jesus, >> [sighs] >> well, then you are a regenerate person."

[00:02:11]But if you look at all that R.C. Sproul said in this uh video and all he said in many other videos and books and articles, he clearly doesn't believe that anybody can be sure of their eternal destiny because according to Calvinists, you must persevere to the end of your life in order to get into the kingdom.

[00:02:37]And according to Calvinists and scripture, nobody can be sure they're going to persevere in faith and good works until the end of their lives. Look at 1 Corinthians 9:27.

[00:02:50]So when Sproul says, "Do you have any affection for Jesus?"

[00:02:54]he's trying to hold out some sort of hope maybe that uh a person has some degree of confidence that maybe I'm going to persevere.

[00:03:08]But the bottom line for R.C. Sproul and the Calvinists is if you don't persevere, you're going to the lake of fire and you can't know if you're going to persevere until you die.

[00:03:22]Now, the wise disciple basically or Nate Sallin basically agrees with R.C. Sproul, but he wants to sharpen uh the point here. So we've got a couple of short clips from him. Let's play the uh first clip from Nate Sallin.

[00:03:42]These are not random descriptors. They are the specific character traits that reveal the kind of heart that knows God intimately.

[00:03:50]So notice what he said in that clip. He said the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says in Matthew 5 3 through 12 that a series of blessings, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

[00:04:10]Uh and there's all these blessings.

[00:04:13]Blessed are you if men persecute you and revile you and say all kinds of evil falsely on account of me.

[00:04:22]And what he says is the Beatitudes are the character traits of someone who knows God intimately.

[00:04:33]And so, according to Nate Sallin, the basis of assurance is more than I've got some affection for Jesus, but I know him intimately. I have a very close walk with Jesus.

[00:04:51]Of course, since no one is perfect and no one has a perfectly intimate walk with Christ or knowledge of Christ, Nate Sallin's view doesn't give certainty of eternal life either, but that's not where he's going. He's not looking for certainty. He's looking for some degree of confidence. And he's saying it's more than just a feeling of affection for Jesus, it's knowing him intimately. And there's uh another clip we're going to play a a very another very short clip in which he discusses the real question we should be asking.

[00:05:34]So, let's go ahead and take a look at that clip.

[00:05:38]The real question you should be asking if you're thinking about assurance is, do you know Jesus intimately?

[00:05:45]And does he know you?

[00:05:47]Well, what he says. He says, "The real question you should be asking if you're thinking about assurance is this: Do you know Jesus intimately, and does he know you?"

[00:06:02]Now, according to Nate Solon, and of course the same thing is true with R.C. Sproul, believing in Jesus is not enough. In fact, if you watch the whole video of what R.C. Sproul is saying, he specifically says believing in Jesus is not enough.

[00:06:24]And uh they will say that that's, you know, intellectual ascent or that is head faith, but what you need is heart faith. What you need is some sort of response to Jesus that involves, in Sproul's case, affection for him, >> [sighs] >> or in Solon's case, it is that I have an intimate knowledge of him.

[00:06:53]And there's one other clip we're going to play from Nate Solon in which he goes on and flips and says something a little bit different. So, let's play that other clip.

[00:07:10]Now, you might be thinking, "Nate, you know, I have repented of my sin and I believe Jesus died for me and rose from the dead, and I do desire what you're saying, and I'm trying to live this way.

[00:07:19]I'm just doing it imperfectly." Well, praise the Lord, you know, you just described me.

[00:07:25]Right? That's just what it means to be a Christian.

[00:07:29]You just described it. Notice here he's saying that it's possible for a person to repent and to believe in the resurrection and to have have to do God's will, but yet struggle to do so. And he says, "Well, that's the Christian experience, of course, is struggling.

[00:07:50]Um but, if we struggle too much, well, then we are not born again." And so, our assurance is based on us doing pretty well in our struggle in the Christian life. And notice here, he's bringing out the element of repentance.

[00:08:09]So, now it's not enough to have an intimate relationship with Jesus, but I've got to be a repentant person. I've got to believe in the resurrection. I've got to have an ongoing desire to do God's will, and I've got to be victorious in my struggles.

[00:08:27]Overall, uh both R.C. Sproul and Nate Solon offer no way in which a person can be assured of his or her eternal destiny.

[00:08:41]What they're basically saying is look within yourself and hope to see the kind of affection for Jesus, the love for Jesus, the intimacy see with Jesus, that's going to lead you to believe that you are going to persevere to the end of your life.

[00:09:01]The true answer should be take your eyes off of yourself and look to Jesus.

[00:09:07]He's the author and perfecter of our faith. He's the one that guarantees everlasting life to all who believe in him, John 3:16.

[00:09:16]Believe in him. Don't believe in yourself. Don't believe in your own affection for Jesus, your own intimacy with Jesus, your own turning from sins.

[00:09:26]Just believe in him. He says, "He who believes in me has everlasting life."

[00:09:32]John 6:47. It's really that simple. If I believe in him for what he promises, which is everlasting life, then I have that promise. In John chapter 4 and verse 10, he called everlasting life the gift of God. It's free. We can't buy it. We don't earn it by being affectionate towards Jesus, for intimate with Jesus, for turning from our sins, by obeying him, and notice that N.T. Wright talked about a desire to do his will. It's all about believing in him, and if so, we have everlasting life. If you have doubts about your salvation, please read the Gospel of John prayerfully and carefully, and pray and ask the Lord, is it really as simple as just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for what he promises, everlasting life?

[00:10:33]Is that really true?

[00:10:35]And uh read a chapter a day, and in 3 weeks, you'll read through the Gospel of John, and the Lord will give you assurance, because your assurance isn't based on your feelings, your affections, your works, your desires. It's based on what you believe. Do you believe Jesus is telling the truth when he says, "He who believes in me has everlasting life?"

[00:11:00]That the one who believes in him will never hunger, will never thirst, will never die spiritually, will never be cast out, will never perish.

[00:11:11]If you are convinced of that, then you know that you have eternal life, and you are secure forever. If you like what you heard today, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel, and remember, keep grace in focus.

[00:11:27]I love you guys.

[00:11:30]>> Ooh.

[00:11:31]>> [music]