Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Gal. 3:2-3
DURING one of my daily devotions this week, the verse above popped up and made me smile, reminding me of it’s precious truth once learned and again brought to mind. …Just felt the need to include it in today’s opening comment.
WELL, we took a divergent path in the last couple comments, so today we’ll get right back on track with our consideration in the Principle of Position (The Complete Green Letters Part 2, Foundations for Spiritual Growth). Continuing in the second chapter, Justification and Assurance, our author Miles Stanford takes us to the right place for the ground of our assurance, the foundation of the very word of God. So, without further delay, let’s get right to it.
In the wondrous blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa. 30:15 & Job 2:10
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Justification and Assurance continued….
The Witness of the Spirit
“The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16, Amp.). It is a temptation for many to hanker after something more tangible than the positional testimony of the Word, in order to be more sure of their assurance. But it is at this point that the faithful Spirit would teach us total reliance upon the Word, nothing added. “…Receive with meekness the engrafted word…” (James 1:21).
There may be other ground for assurance of our salvation, such as, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (I John 3:14), but this is secondary, not foundational. Besides, there will be times when our love for some brethren may falter, and then what of our assurance?
The witness of the Spirit is His witness to the Word wherein lies God’s revelation of our eternal position. And in that Word He testifies concerning the Lord Jesus, who is our position before God. Although the Holy Spirit abides within and witnesses to our spirit, we must remember that the human spirit lies beyond the range of consciousness. Therefore, assurance of salvation is not gained through the senses. As we rest in our position by faith in the scriptural facts, the Spirit of truth gives us a deep, inexplicable assurance that cannot be altered. We not only believe, we know; our knowledge is established in the eternal, Spirit-ministered Scriptures. “…For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12).
All seems so simple and solved during the infant stage of our Christian life. But the Lord must take us on from milk to meat, to become responsible, spiritually intelligent, adult believers. We must not only become firmly and clearly established in the deeper truths ourselves, but we must be qualified to share them effectively with others. Once we are sure and sound, the Lord can establish others through us. But, “if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8).
