153. Chapter 7: Assurance.

Chapter 7

Assurance.

I. The Doctrine.

1. Meaning of Assurance.—We mean by assurance the persuasion or confidence of a believer in Christ that he is a child of God. As the atonement is the ground of the gracious affiliation, so the assurance of its attainment, specially in its Christian form, is the privilege only of believers in Christ. The matter of assurance is definitely that of sonship. There is a doctrine of assurance which allies itself with that of absolute election to salvation, and means a certainty of future blessedness. The view is this: The attainment of a gracious state is conclusive of election; and election is conclusive of both final perseverance and future blessedness. We are not here concerned with this view, and, without further notice of it, proceed with our own doctrine. The assurance we maintain respects simply a present state of grace. As before observed, the state is definitely that of sonship. This is specially true as it respects the assurance received from the witness of the Holy Spirit. Here are the evidences: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6). These are the classical texts on the witness of the Spirit, and are in themselves entirely sufficient for the present point. Justification and regeneration are so closely related to this sonship that we easily think them included with it in the matter to which the Spirit witnesses; but the Scriptures do not so include them. It is true that we attain an assurance of both, but not by the direct witness of the Spirit, as in the case of sonship. They come to be facts of assurance through the witness of our own spirit—which will hereafter be set forth. By a limitation of assurance through the witness of the Spirit to the definite fact of sonship, as the Scriptures limit it, we shall secure for his witnessing a clearness of interpretation not otherwise attainable. As a mental state or fact of consciousness, assurance is like faith; yet not so much the definite act of faith as the resulting persuasion of truth in what we have believed. Consciousness readily distinguishes between the definite act of faith and the consequent persuasion of truth in the matter believed. Of course the distinction is the clearer and fuller as the matter involved the more deeply concerns us. If it be something of profound interest for our future, then the abiding confidence in its truth will be as real and clear in our consciousness as was the definite act of faith wherein we first believed it true. The assurance of a gracious sonship is such a form of confidence. There is reason for so characterizing it. So far as derived from the witness of our own spirit, it springs from appropriate testimony, and therefore must partake of the nature of faith. And, while the witness of the Spirit is given in an entirely different mode, yet the assurance which it produces is not different in kind, nor distinct in fact, from the assurance received through the witness of our own spirit.

2. Truth of Assurance.—The truth or reality of assurance will receive its clearest and fullest presentation in the treatment of the witness of the Spirit and the witness of our own spirit. Preparatory to that presentation we may notice a few facts which combine in the proof of such a privilege. As already shown, the matter of assurance is that of a state of salvation which is attained through Justification and the new birth. We thus enter into God’s favor and become his children and heirs. These privileges are possible through the wonderful provisions of his redeeming love. To this end he sent forth his Son “to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (Galatians 4:4-5; 1 John 3:1). Such is the actual and only ground of this sonship. And we attain it only through a gracious act of God toward us in the forgiveness of our sins, and a mighty work of God within us whereby we become his children. It is not consistent with any reasonable view of either that it should be hidden from us.

If God freely forgives our sins he will in some way assure us of the fact. If an officer of government should pardon a criminal the fact would surely be made known to him. How then shall God hide from us the forgiveness of our sins? To one and another Christ said, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” In every such instance there were two distinct facts: one, the act of pardon—an act purely within the mind of Christ; the other, a making known the act to the subject of the forgiveness. The act of pardon was complete in itself, and would have been none the less complete without the making it known; but how naturally the latter fact goes with the former! In view of the character of Christ we could not reasonably think of him as withholding the assurance of forgiveness in any such instance. God is not less merciful in the forgiveness of our sins. Nor are we less in need of the information than were those who went to Christ in their sin and sorrow. And no more reasonably could we think of God as hiding from us his gracious act of forgiveness. The new birth is a mighty change wrought within us. Such we found it to be in our treatment of regeneration. We are therein born of God, born into the kingdom of God, and so become his children and heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The life is new. The love of God replaces the enmity of the carnal mind. Instead of condemnation there is peace with God. The fruits of the Spirit replace the works of the flesh. Surely it is not in the nature of so mighty a change wrought within us, nor consistent with the greatness of the privileges into which it brings us, that we should be left without any assurance of either.

There is for us a new life; a Christian life; a life of Christian duty. There are many duties. They require the faithful service of Christ, piety toward God, and charity toward men. The fulfillment of these duties is possible only with the activity of our moral and religious affections. They must be purposely and consciously performed. Such performance requires the proper motives of piety and charity. Such a life cannot be hidden from the personal consciousness. We must be capable of knowing whether our life is such; of knowing when it is such. It is, therefore, in the very nature of such a life to make itself known in our personal consciousness, and hence to give us assurance of its possession.

3. Sources of Assurance.—It has already appeared that there are two sources of assurance: the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the witness of our own spirit. The fact of a witness of our own spirit will be sufficiently shown in the treatment of its nature; therefore it need not be separately considered. Not a few deny the witness of the Holy Spirit. Yet the fact has sure ground in the Scriptures. There is sufficient proof in a single text: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). On a denial of the meaning which we claim for this text all reference to the Holy Spirit as a personal agent must be denied to this chapter (Romans 8). Such denial is worse than groundless. In proof of this we glance at a few of the references I “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Here the Spirit must mean, not the gracious freedom attained, but the personal agent who achieves it. “If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” This indwelling of the Spirit cannot mean simply a spiritual state or pious disposition. In a far deeper sense of Scripture, Christians are “the temple of the Holy Ghost,” and the “habitation of God through the Spirit.” These facts must mean a personal presence or indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “But ye have received the Spirit of adoption. “ Here the Spirit of adoption must mean, not the filial disposition of an adopted child, but the divine Spirit through whose agency we become the children of adoption. This meaning is thoroughly scriptural. So the words respecting the witness of the Spirit to our sonship, as above cited, cannot be interpreted in the sense of a filial disposition which assures us of adoption, but must mean a distinct and direct witness of the Spirit himself. The fact of such a witness of the Spirit will further appear in the treatment of his testimony.

If this were a solitary instance of the personal agency of the Spirit, or even a rare instance, we might feel less confident of our position; but it is not even rare: the Scriptures are replete with such instances. In our discussion of the personality and divinity of the Spirit we found many in the works of creation and providence, in the dispensations of religion, and notably in the economy of redemption. Through his personal agency we are born into the kingdom of God and constituted his children. So the witness of the Spirit to our sonship is an instance of his personal agency in perfect accord with his manifold offices in the work of our salvation. This fact confirms the truth of his personal witnessing to our adoption.

II. Witness Of The Spirit.

1. A Distinct Witness.—Two or more witnesses may jointly testify to the same thing, but each is a distinct witness. Such a witness is the Holy Spirit to our sonship. The fact is in the meaning of these words: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). The original word here used for witnessing—συμμαρτυρέω—means two or more witnesses jointly, yet distinctly, testifying to the same thing. As two are here designated, the word in this instance means no more. It cannot mean less. Such is the force of σύν in composition with μαρτυρέω. Many authorities might easily be cited for this interpretation.

It was in view of the original word that Mr. Wesley said: “It is manifest, here are two witnesses mentioned, who together testify the same thing: the Spirit of God, and our own spirit.”^[794] “The apostle’s term, συμμαρτυρέω, ‘beareth witness with,’ is the very term which was used in the Greek language to denote a concurrence of testimony, where more than one witness testified to the same thing.” “I have never found the word used in a different sense by any writer in any one instance.”^[795] This testimony is given after much research, and numerous authorities are cited in its support. We add other testimonies: “The words in the original evidently imply the sense which our translators follow. . . . Συμμαρτυρείν signifies to be a fellow-witness, or to witness the same thing that another does ; and so the word constantly signifies in Scripture, and is never used but where there is a concurrent evidence of two witnesses.”^[796] “For the concurrence of the two witnesses the critical testimony is overwhelming.”^[797] Many authorities, both classical and ecclesiastical, are given in confirmation of this meaning.

^[794]Sermons, vol. i, p. 95.

^[795]Walton:Witness of the Spirit, pp. 84, 222.

^[796]Bishop Sherlock: Works, vol. i, pp. 154, 155.

^[797]Young:Witness of the Spirit, Fernley Lecture, 1882, p. 86.

If such be the meaning of this text, as surely it is, the Holy Spirit must be a distinct witness to our sonship. If the sense of two witnesses be disputed, or even disproved, what must follow? Not that the text does not mean a distinct witness of the Spirit, but that it does not mean a witness of our own spirit. On a denial of two witnesses the rendering must be: “The Spirit itself beareth witness to our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Such a rendering is entirely consistent with the form of words in the phrase τώ πνζύματϊ ήμών; and if the true one, the meaning must be that our own spirit is simply recipient of the testimony of the Spirit; and in no other form of words could a distinct personal Avitnessing of the Spirit to our sonship be more clearly or definitely expressed. With such a result it would still remain true that there is a witness of our own spirit to our sonship, though the proof of it could no longer be found in this text. On either view, therefore, a distinct witnessing of the Holy Spirit must be accepted as a truth of the Scriptures. We add a single text in confirmation: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). These words cannot be interpreted on the ground of a merely filial disposition of the children of God as the witness to our adoption, but must mean the testimony of the Spirit himself. Hence the text proves a distinct witnessing of the Spirit to our sonship.

2. A Direct Witness.—If the Holy Spirit is a distinct witness to our adoption he must be a direct witness. Any other interpretation must merge his testimony into that of our own spirit; and thus we should have only one witness and one testimony instead of two witnesses and a distinct testimony of each. The error of such an interpretation is not rare. We here give an instance: “The part that the Spirit of God hath had in this matter is, that he both graves upon us the lineaments of a living epistle of Jesus Christ, and tells us in the epistle of a written revelation what these lineaments are. The part which our own spirit has is, that, with the eye of consciousness, we read what is in ourselves; and, with the eye of the understanding, we read what is in the book of God’s testimony: and upon our perceiving that such as the marks of grace which we find to be within, so are the marks of grace which we observe in the description of that word without that the Spirit hath indited, we arrive at the conclusion that we are born of God.”^[798] In this view there are two works of the Spirit, as concerned in our assurance of a state of grace: one, a work of inspiration whereby he describes, in a written revelation, the distinctive characteristics of a child of God; the other, a work of regeneration whereby these characteristics are wrought in us. But in all this there is no direct witness of the Spirit to our sonship; indeed, no proper witnessing in any form. The citation is a very accurate statement of the witness of our own spirit, but of that only; and the formal manner in which it is made not only omits all witness of the Spirit, but really excludes it. In this it is openly contrary to the Scriptures, in the clearest sense of which, as we have seen, the Holy Spirit is not only an actual witness, but a distinct and direct witness, to our sonship.

^[798]Chalmers:Lectures on Romans, p. 275.

Another instance may be given in order to set forth the more clearly this error of interpretation. “The power to do good comes from the influence of the Holy Spirit; and therefore the good we do is such an evidence of our being the sons of God as we stand obliged to the Spirit of God for. . . . The great privileges mentioned in this chapter (Romans 8), such as being made free from the law of sin and death, of walking, not after the flesh, but the Spirit, being such as we receive from the Spirit of God, are therefore evidences of the Spirit for our regeneration.”^[799] In this view the witness of the Spirit is given simply and solely through the fruits of his gracious work within us. As we consciously possess the fruits of this work, so are we assured that we are the children of God. This, however, is simply the witness of our own spirit, and all proper witnessing of the Spirit is excluded. Thus the learned bishop, after clearly showing us that the Spirit is a distinct witness, wholly excludes him by a wrong interpretation of his testimony.

^[799]Bishop Sherlock: Works, vol. i, pp. 157, 158. The witness of the Spirit is given neither through his work of regeneration whereby we become the children of God, nor through the fruits of the new spiritual life, but by an immediate operation within our consciousness in a manner to assure us of the gracious sonship. The state of sonship is prior to this testimony. “The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” It is thus manifest that the witness of the Spirit is to a sonship already existing. Therefore his testimony cannot be given through the work of regeneration whereby the sonship is constituted, but must be given directly within the consciousness of believers in Christ.

There is an argument much in use for the proof of a direct witness of the Spirit, which we think of doubtful validity, and also of doubtful propriety: of doubtful validity, because it proceeds upon a mistaken view of facts; and of doubtful propriety, because it may easily lead to a merging of the witness of the Spirit into that of our own spirit. Yet it is an argument much in favor with the best Wesleyan writers on this subject, including Mr. Wesley himself. ^[800]We are not unmindful of the respect due to such authors.

^[800]Wesley:Sermons, vol. i, p. 88; Watson:Sermons, vol. ii, pp. 347, 348; Walton:Witness of the Spirit, pp. 42-47; Prest:The Witness of the Spirit, pp. 140-142; Young: The Witness of the Spirit, p. 61. The argument assumes a priority of the witness of the Spirit, as compared with that of our own spirit; assumes it as the necessary ground of the fruits of grace through which our own spirit witnesses. If the facts be such, or if the experiences through which our spirit witnesses have their immediate and only source in the witness of the Holy Spirit to our sonship, then must he be a direct witness. Such is the argument. We here give an instance of its construction: “But is it not obvious to you, that love to God directly implies the knowledge of his love to us, as our reconciled Father? God’s love to us is the cause of our love to him, and must therefore be known by us before we can love him. So, too, as to peace. Can we have this before we know whether we are at peace with God, before we know that his anger is turned away from us? What is the cause of the distress of that penitent mourner in sin? He tells you, and he tells you truly, that it is because God is angry with him. Now, how do you propose to calm his agitation? You tell him that he is to examine himself, whether he has peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and that, if he has, he may then infer that God’s anger is turned away from him; that is, he feels he has not either peace or joy, and you tell him that, in order that he may obtain them, he is to construct an argument whose basis is that both peace and joy are already in his possession. Brethren, love, and peace, and joy are all fruits of the Spirit, ‘given unto us,’ on our ‘being justified by faith,’ as the Spirit of adoption. The graces which the apostle enumerates constitute ‘the fruit of the Spirit;’ but his very first work, on our believing, and that by which this fruit is produced, is to bear witness to our adoption into God’s family, and thus to enable us to call God our Father. The fruits of the Spirit flow from the witness of the Spirit.”^{[801] [801]} Watson:Sermons, vol. ii p. 348. The argument mistakes the source of the experiences through which our own spirit witnesses to our sonship. It attributes them to the witness of the Holy Spirit, whereas they spring in fact from his work of regeneration. The witness of the Spirit cannot produce them, because it is not in itself renewing or sanctifying. Without the inner change wrought by regeneration no assurance of adoption could yield the spiritual fruits of peace, and love, and joy. With their source in regeneration, the assurance of sonship through the witness of the Spirit may give them a deeper and richer tone, but it cannot be their original source. Regeneration is a mighty work which at once reveals itself in the consciousness of the soul, even in peace, and love, and joy. Therein the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, and instantly flows back in love to God. And the Spirit’s ‘‘very first work, on our believing, and that by which this fruit is produced, is,” not “ to bear witness to our adoption,” but to renew us in the image of God ; not to assure us that we are the children of God, but to constitute us his children through the work of regeneration. An appeal is made to the case of the penitent, full of fear and trembling; “You tell him that he is to examine himself, whether he has peace and joy,” that he may be assured of the divine favor. No, we would not so direct him; nor would the Holy Spirit witness to his adoption, and so assure him of the loving favor of God. The one thing for such a penitent to do is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whereon he shall receive forgiveness and be born of God. Through this mighty change, whence the fruits of the Spirit so promptly spring, he becomes a child of God; and his own spirit will be instant with the Holy Spirit in witnessing to his adoption. The groundless assumption that the experiences through which our own spirit witnesses to our sonship are the immediate fruit of the Spirit’s witnessing, and are else impossible, leaves this argument without validity. The argument is objectionable in other points. There is too much detail in the matter to which the Spirit is held to witness. There is thus included a direct assurance of forgiveness, of the love of God therein, and of an heirship to eternal life. Now, while the Scriptures are specially definite respecting sonship as the matter of assurance, so much addition by detail must be of questionable propriety. It is true that, with the assurance of sonship, we receive the assurance of these other blessings, but not without the witness of our own spirit. Further, if, as this argument maintains, peace, and love, and joy, with many other gracious experiences, are the immediate fruit of the Spirit’s witnessing to our sonship, it is but a short and easy step to the conclusion that his witness is given simply and only through these fruits. But we should thus merge his witnessing into that of our own spirit, and hence lose the direct witness of the Spirit in the very argument so much relied upon for its proof.

3. Manner of the Witnessing.—It is easier to state the result of the Spirit’s witnessing than to explain the mode of his agency. The result is the assurance of a gracious son within the ship. The assurance is produced by an immediate operation of the Spirit within the mind of a believer in Christ. This, however, is merely the statement of a fact, not any explanation of its mode. There is no manifestation of the Spirit apart from the assurance which he produces. There is neither outer nor inner voice whereby he reveals himself, nor any direct communication to our intelligence, but simply an operation within the mind whereby he produces the assurance of adoption. In this respect the mode of the operation is the same as in the work of conviction. There is such a work of the Spirit; and it is one of the offices which he is ever fulfilling (John 16:8-11). The fact of sin is thus brought home to the heart and conscience of men. There may be instances in which some truth or providence is used as a means; but there is no limitation to such instrumentality. When no awakening truth is present to the mind; when no event elicits serious reflection; when all the surroundings lead the mind far away from the thought of sin—even at such a time the Holy Spirit directly touches the springs of moral feeling, quickens the conscience, and instantly there is the deep sense of sin and peril. So, by an operation equally immediate, he produces in the mind of a believer in Christ the persuasion or confidence of sonship. Such is the witness of the Spirit. The mode of the Spirit in this witnessing remains a mystery; yet the resulting assurance of sonship is none the less real or precious. This is not the only instance of mystery in the work of the Spirit. His work of inspiration is equally such, but without any detriment to the truths of religion thus given to the world. Such too is his work of regeneration; but the new spiritual life and the sonship into which we are born are none the less real or blessed. There is for us an utter mystery in the perceptions of the ear and the eye; but sounds are just as sweet and scenes are just as beautiful as if we understood their mode. So it is respecting the assurance of sonship through the witness of the Spirit.

III. Witness Of Our Own Spirit.

1. Nature of the Testimony.—In this case the witnessing is indirect or mediate, and proceeds on a comparison of certain facts of religious experience and life with the relative facts of Scripture. The Scriptures clearly note the distinctive and determining facts of this gracious sonship. We find such facts in our own experience and life. When, therefore, on a proper comparison, we discover an exact or, at least, real accordance between these facts within us and those within the Scriptures, we receive the witness of our spirit that we are the children of God. It is true that this witnessing comes to us in the form of an inference, but it is a thoroughly warranted inference, and therefore truly assuring. These statements may here suffice, as the nature of this witnessing will more clearly appear in the illustrations which immediately follow.

2. Illustrations of the Witnessing.—Sonship is a state of peace with God. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1). On the one side is condemnation; on the other, peace. The difference between these states, as they enter into our religious experience, is very real; so real that we can readily determine which is our own state. If we find in ourselves the sense of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, that peace witnesses to our sonship (1 John 3:19-21). The children of God love him: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). It is true that brotherly love is foremost in this text, but clearly it also means that those who are born of God love him. We thereby test ourselves. We read in the Scriptures: “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7); and we are sure that such is not the state of our own mind. We read again: “Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God;” and we are sure that such is our own experience. We thus have the witness of our own spirit that we are born of God, and therefore are his children.

It is characteristic of the children of God that they love one another. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 3:14; 1 John 4:12). It is easy to apply this test. And if we find in ourselves this love, love for the children of God because they are his children, then shall we have the witness of our own spirit to the truth of our sonship. A truly filial spirit is the spirit of obedience to God. Such is the spirit of all who are in a truly regenerate state. On the other hand, the possession of such a spirit is the proof of such a state. “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him” (1 John 2:29). If we have the consciousness of such a filial disposition as a ruling force in our life, then have we the sure evidence of a truly regenerate state, and the witness of our own spirit that we are the children of God. The children of God are led by the Holy Spirit: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The life of any one so led must be in the fruits of the Spirit, not in the works of the flesh (Romans 8:4-10). Each of these lives is such in its facts that it must reveal itself in the personal consciousness. Further, the two are in such wide contrast that we may readily determine which we are living. This is manifestly the case in view of their characterization and distinction in the Scriptures (Galatians 5:16-25). Now everyone whose life is in the fruits of the Spirit is led by the Spirit of God, and therefore must be a child of God. Hence every one whose life is consciously such must have the witness of his own spirit that he is a child of God. Such is the witness of our own spirit to this sonship.

3. Process of the Witnessing.—There is really a logical process. This is manifest in the nature of the witnessing, as previously stated, and also in the several illustrations which we have given. However, it does not follow that this process must be formally conducted before our own spirit can give its assuring testimony. Even in its reasoning the mind often moves with great rapidity, and reaches the result almost instantly; so that the process is scarcely appreciable in time, or even observable in consciousness. Such is the case here. The peace and joy received in conversion are anticipated, and therefore bear instant testimony to our adoption. Such is the case in many instances. There are exceptions. Instances are not wanting in which there is a gradual manifestation of the gracious change. Here there must be a gradual witnessing of our own spirit. In such instances the witness of the Holy Spirit is in a like gradual manner. This is entirely consistent with his part in the work of assurance. His testimony need not be instantly full because it is immediate. In the Christian life the witness of our own spirit may be promptly given. Here, however, much depends upon the depth of experience and the fullness of consecration. If the religious life is low and the evidences of a gracious state correspondingly feeble, we need the more of them, and hence must institute a wider comparison of our experience and life with the Scripture notes of this state, in order to an assuring witness of our own spirit. The same course may be necessary in seasons of temptation or trial, wherein the soul is brought into heaviness or doubt. Usually, however, with a living experience and a true consecration, the witness of our own spirit is so promptly given that we scarcely observe any process, and seemingly our assurance is an abiding state of mind.

IV. The Assurance Given.

1. Subjectively One.—While assurance is the result of a twofold witnessing, yet as a mental state it is single, not double. It is such notwithstanding the profound difference between the witnesses and the modes of their witnessing. There is not one form of assurance from the witness of the Spirit and another from that of our own spirit, but a single, simple state of confidence springing from the joint witnessing of the two. There is nothing really singular in this. Through many and widely diverse evidences we may reach the certainty of some truth which deeply concerns us; the evidences are multiform, but in the eye of consciousness the assurance attained is purely unitary. So the assurance of sonship received from the joint testimony of the two witnesses is subjectively one.

We are thus prepared even easily to dispose of what has been regarded as a very serious difficulty respecting the witness of the Spirit. It is a fact that some men of an intense Christian experience, and thoroughly observant of all the facts of their religious consciousness, deny a direct witness of the Spirit. We may instance Dr. Chalmers: “I could not, without making my own doctrine outstrip my own experience, vouch for any other intimation of the Spirit of God than that which he gives in the act of making the word of God clear unto you, and the state of your own heart clear unto you.”^[802] He thus limits assurance, just as in a passage previously cited from him, to the witness of our own spirit, and also denies to his own experience all recognition of a direct witness of the Holy Spirit. How then can we reconcile this denial with the fact of such a witness, and a witness surely possessed by the great and good Chalmers himself? Very easily on our own interpretation of the doctrine. We have seen that in the work of assurance the Spirit makes no direct communication to the intelligence, nor in any way reveals himself, but simply by an immediate operation within the consciousness produces the assurance of a gracious sonship. We have also seen that the two witnessings coalesce in a purely unitary state of assurance, wherein consciousness observes no distinction between the two. Therefore the assurance of Dr. Chalmers was subjectively the very same that it would have been with his fullest belief in the fact of a direct witness of the Spirit. Hence there was nothing in his experience in the least contrariety to the reality of such a witness.

^[802]Lectures on Romans, p. 276.

2. Variable in Degree.—Assurance admits of degrees; and there are many reasons for its actual variations. In the instance of regeneration, whereby we are born into this sonship, many things may vary the strength of its manifestation in our consciousness. Prior habits of life are very different. Temperaments widely differ. Some are gentle in their emotional nature; others, very intense. There are wide differences in the intensity of conviction and contrition. All these facts must have a determining influence upon the strength of our assurance of the new birth. The results of such facts must enter into the experiences of our Christian life, with a like determining influence therein. This is specially true of our personal temperament. Some are timid, doubting, hesitant, respecting their own spiritual good; others are joyous, hopeful, confident. These differences must greatly vary the strength of assurance.

Then there are wide differences in the actual Christian life, differences in the depths of experience and the measure of spiritual consecration. The assurance of sonship must vary accordingly. The witness of our own spirit cannot be as strongly assuring where the experience and consecration are but slight as where they are deep and full. Further, the witness of the Holy Spirit must usually correspond in the degree of its strength with that of our own spirit. A full assurance from his witnessing where the actual Christian life is in a low state would not only be false to the truth, but would also be a very serious peril to the soul. Yet, with all these reasons of variation, the comfortable assurance of a gracious sonship is a common Christian privilege.

3. Thoroughly Valid.—The Holy Spirit is surely a thoroughly competent and trustworthy witness. Through his own agency are we born into this sonship, and he must have perfect knowledge of the result of his own work. When, therefore, by an immediate operation within our religious consciousness he assures us of this sonship, there can be no error in his witnessing. As by immediate inspiration, and in a manner entirely apart from the usual modes of knowledge, he gave to prophets and apostles the highest forms of divine truth, and the knowledge of events both past and future; as by direct action upon the moral feelings he produces the deep sense of sin and peril; so in a like mode of his agency he can and does produce in our religious consciousness the assurance that we are the children of God. In this gracious work neither mistake nor deception is possible with the Holy Spirit; and the assurance which he gives is thoroughly valid.

We have already explained the witness of our own spirit, and here present it simply in the light of its validity. The Scripture notes of this sonship are surely true; and they are so clearly and fully given that we may surely know them. Then all that we further require is such a knowledge of like facts in our own experience that we may know their agreement with those Scripture notes. Can we have such knowledge of these facts? Surely we can; and for the reason that they are facts of experience. In the very nature of them they must be such. Only through a very great change do we enter into this sonship. There is a transition from darkness into light; from death into life; from the bondage of sin into the liberty of the Gospel; from condemnation into peace with God; from the unrest and trouble of sin into a reposing trust in his love. Such a transition must clearly manifest itself in our deepest consciousness. These new experiences abide with us in our Christian life, and daily manifest themselves in our consciousness. When therefore we institute a comparison of these surely known facts of experience with the Scripture notes of this gracious sonship, and find their close agreement clearly open to our view, then the witness of our own spirit that we are the children of God must be thoroughly trustworthy. With the joint testimony of two such witnesses assurance itself is thoroughly valid.

Wesley: Sermons, x-xii; Chalmers: On Romans, lect. liv; Sherlock: Works, vol. i, Discourse viii; Walton:Witness of the Spirit; Watson: Sermons, civ; Prest: The Witness of the Spirit; Davies: Treatise on Justification, lect. x; Young: The Witness of the Spirit, Fernley Lecture, 1882; Bishop Merrill: Aspects of Christian Experience, chap. x.