Witness of the Spirit
WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
My friends, how may a person know that he is saved? Is it possible for one to know that he is a Christian and has the promise of eternal life? These questions concern the destiny of your soul. Are you saved? Are you sure? How do you know?
Listen to these words of inspiration, Romans 8:14-16 : "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, where-by we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
In verse 16 of this text Paul declared, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
From this divine truth we are given a basis for the con-clusion, "that we are children of God." The exclusive basis for this conclusion, revealed by the apostle, must be the fact that the "Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit ," confirming the fact that one is a child of God, which is witnessed by his spirit of obedience to God.
Beloved, there are thousands and thousands of sincere people in this world holding to a false hope that they are saved, a false sense of security, as a result of resting their hope on the basis of an improper witness to their spirit. They say, and sincerely so, "I feel like I am saved. I am perfectly satisfied that God has saved me from sin. I know I am saved."
I would not doubt the honesty and sincerity of peoplemaking such claims, but don't you know, my friends, hon-esty and sincerity alone are not evidences of salvation? Don't you know that anyone can be honestly mistaken?
Right or Wrong? Who is there in our great audience of possibly hundreds of thousands of people, who has not had the experience of being 100 % wrong about the matter; yet, all the while, was honestly and sincerely convinced that he was right, beyond question, until he learned that his spirit had borne witness to a false spirit; that his feelings and convictions were based on false information.
Don't you know, my friends, that a person can be just as honestly and sincerely wrong about a matter as one can be honestly and sincerely right about a thing? Honesty and sincerity are true virtues of a disciple. A dishonest and insincere person could not please God, but the honest and sincere spirit of an individual must bear witness with an authoritative spirit of truth, if the assurance of salva-tion is to be enjoyed.
The apostle Paul gave his own testimony concerning his zeal, honesty and integrity; yet, he declared he was a "chief of sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15). Hear Him!
"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city as the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are in this day" (Acts 22:3).
"And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day" (Acts 23:1).
Surely we would not deny the honesty and sincerity of the spirit of the heathen mother who feeds her own child to the crocodiles to please her "god." But her honest and sincere spirit is wrong and the God of Heaven is displeased with such inhuman and ungodly acts. An honest and sin-cere spirit, but based on totally false, ungodlike information!
Hear me, ladies and gentlemen! Are you listening? The honest and sincere belief of a falsehood will produce the same effect upon a man, as the honest and sincere belief of truth. Just because you "feel like" you are saved is no definite and conclusive evidence that you are saved.
Yes, one may know when he is saved, but such knowledge must not depend on feelings and convictions alone. Our knowledge, our feelings and convictions, must be predicat-ed upon unimpeachable evidence. Only the truth can pro-duce convictions with the full assurance of salvation. Jesus said, "Ye' shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).
The apostle did not say that the Holy Spirit bears wit-ness to our spirit. If this were true, then our spirit would be a judge and not a witness at all. Unfortunately, it seems many people prefer to submit their spirit, or their feelings, as evidence of salvation and expect the Holy Spirit to bear witness to their feelings and experiences. This is a most serious mistake. We must recognize the divine witness, the Holy Spirit, as the authoritative witness. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit; not to our spirit!
Truth, Witness of Spirit The question now for consideration is, what is the witness of the Spirit? Let us appeal to the divine testimony and evidence in God's word. In 1 John 5:6 the apostle declared, ". . . and it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is the truth."
Paul, the inspired apostle, declared that the Holy Spirit, must bear witness that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). John announced that the Spirit, obviously the Holy Spirit , which beareth witness, is the truth (1 John 5:6). The truth is the Spirit; the Spirit is the witness: therefore , the witness, attesting to the salvation of man's soul, from sin, must be the truth, the word of God.
The apostle declared, "the Spirit is the truth." May we inquire, in what sense is the Spirit the truth?
In the prayer of our Lord which He prayed for His disciples, He said, "Sanctify them in truth; thy word is truth" (John 17:17). According to John 6:63, Jesus declared, ". . . the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
From these scriptural texts it must be concluded that the Spirit, that beareth witness, is the truth (1 John 5:6); the truth is the word of God (John 17:17) and the word of God is the seed of the Kingdom (Luke 8:11). The word of God spoken by the Lord, therefore, is spirit and life (John 6:63).
When we plant the seed of a beautiful flower in a rose garden, we do so knowing that God gave life to that seed , something that no man on earth shall ever do, and because of the life that God put in the flower seed we expect it to come forth in its array of beauty, revealing the handiwork of Almighty God.
I say to you, beloved, the Spirit to the word of God is the same thing that life is to flower seed. Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." The Holy Spirit gives life to the word of God, which is the seed of the kingdom of God.
Condemned Without Witness
Either, the seed, the word of God, through which the Holy Spirit bears witness with man's spirit, has been re-ceived in your heart, or it has not. Regardless of your feelings in the matter, if the Holy Spirit, through the word of God, the truth, the gospel of Christ, does not bear witness with your spirit you are not a child of God, and if not a child of God you are lost! Oh, what a terrible calamity for your soul! You need now to search the truth, the word of God, to see if your faith and practice have been directed by the Spirit of God, through His word; or, if your feelings and convictions have been born of the spirit of error, the traditions of parents, or the doctrines and commandments of men. Only if our faith and practice are in harmony with the teachings of Christ, the gospel of Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit, can it be said that we are children of God, because; "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
If the word of God does not teach what you have been practicing in religion, regardless of how honest and sincere you may have been, you are not a Christian, my friends. What a terrible thought! Spend a lifetime on earth, honestly endeavoring to serve God, but lost for eternity because you have really never obeyed the commandments of the Lord. If the Spirit of God through His word, does not bear witness with your spirit, as evidenced by your faith and practice, your spirit is not one of obedience and devo-tion to the Lord. The Lord of heaven said, while He was upon this earth, "not every one that saith unto me, Lord , Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
Oh, my friends, hear the Lord as He continues His warning! Are you listening? "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23).
Again Jesus said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).
Regardless of how sincere you may be; regardless of how devoutly religious you may be; regardless of all the good works you do, you must obey the will of God in a loving spirit of obedience, as a faithful son obeys his father, whom he loves; or, in the judgment day hear the Lord say, "De-part from me . . . I never knew you."
The Spirit of God, through the word of God, must bear witness with our spirit, if indeed we are children of God and expect to be saved. The simple question is, as we search our spirit, can we honestly say that we have obeyed the commandments of the Lord, in the true spirit of an obedient child?
Jesus commanded, John 8:24, "Except that ye believe that I am he ye shall die in your sins." Faith is absolutely essential to salvation! (Hebrews 11:6) Do you believe?
Not only does the Christ require faith in Him, but He commands, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3; Luke 13:5). Repent or perish, is the Lord's solemn declaration! Is your spirit in harmony with God's Spirit at this point? Have you really repented?
We further appeal to the witness of the Spirit through the word of God. Hear the Lord in Mark 16:15-16 when he said, "Go ye into all the world and .preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved , but he that believeth not shall be damned."
My friends, honestly, does this divine witness bear wit-ness with your spirit? Have you been baptized into Christ? For what purpose were you baptized? Remember, the divine witness declared, "He that believeth and is bap-tized shall be saved." Does your spirit testify that you were saved when you believed, then you were baptized after you were saved? If so, the Spirit of God does not bear wit-ness with your spirit and you have no assurance of being a child of God.
Testimony of Spirit The testimony that counts is the divine testimony of the Spirit. The one hope of salvation must be predicated upon the faith of the gospel, the unity of the Spirit, the unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:3-7). If our Spirit is not dictated and directed by the Holy Spirit through the word of God, as the divine witness, then there just isn't any evidence that we are children of God.
One may know, by his spirit, that he is a child of God through the word of God, which is by faith. The Holy Spirit speaks, testifies, through the word of God, which produces faith. "But they have not all obeyed the gospel: for Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:16-17).
Again the apostle said: "This only would I learn of you, Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2-3).
Before Jesus left this world to return to the Father and send the Spirit, He made known the conditions whereby He, the Father, and the Spirit would give full assurance of salvation. Hear his testimony! Are you listening?
"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him , and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:21-23).
The secret of the rich experience of having the Spirit bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God is disclosed by the following divine testimony: "But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him; he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:5-6).
The apostle concluded, "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father and this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life" (1 John 2:24-25). The three who bear witness to this testi-mony in heaven are: the Father, the Son (Word), and the Holy Spirit: "And these three are one" (1 John 5:7).
Are you sure that you are a child of God?
QUESTIONS FOR MEDITATION 1. Does the Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit, or does our spirit bear witness to the Holy Spirit?
2. How does the Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit?
3. May a person's own spirit be deceived?
4. What is the testimony of divine witness that assures salvation?
5. What are the conditions of eternal life, according to the witness of the Spirit?