In our day there have been lots of arguments over whether or not it was taught by Calvin, with his strong emphasis on the promises of God received by faith. He does teach it, of course. He is too biblical not to teach it, but he doesn't emphasize it as the ground of assurance in his Institutes . They believe that to say such a thing betrays salvation by grace and justification by faith. And we should not dismiss their argument, which must be dismissed, without at least seeing the danger in the practical syllogism, important and biblical as it is.
All true doctrines are dangerous.
All are liable to misunderstanding and misuse by hearts as sinfully subtle as ours. And we are always inclined to take our salvation back into our own hands. We will talk next time about the importance of keeping the practical syllogism in its place. Third, assurance comes from the witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul says that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.