Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Our Walk with Him
The Spirit's witness is a fact grounded in God's promise, not a mood to be chased. He testifies with our spirit that we are God's children; we hold that testimony by faith in what God has said, not by the shifting temperature of our feelings. Feelings are real, but the Word is the anchor.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/spirits-witness-or-my-own-feelings · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Romans 8:1-17
As you read: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God: the witness, and no more bondage to fear.
1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
4that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
15For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
17and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
Galatians 4:4-7
As you read: Because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba, Father!'
4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
5that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
6And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
7So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
As you read: God has sealed us and given us the Spirit as the down payment: assurance rooted in His doing, not our feeling.
18But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
20For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
22who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
1 John 3:19-24
As you read: The honest cases: when our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.
19And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,
20because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
21Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;
22and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
23This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
24He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
Hebrews 10:19-25
As you read: The invitation: draw near with a true heart, fully assured, because of what Christ has done.
19Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21and having a great priest over God’s house,
22let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,
23let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.
24Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
25not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
Paul does not tell the Romans to check their emotional weather: he tells them 'the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.' It is an ongoing testimony, anchored in God's own doing. God has sealed us and given us the Spirit as the down payment of our inheritance: a pledge, not a pulse.
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;”Romans 8:16
“who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.”2 Corinthians 1:22
“in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.”Ephesians 1:13-14
The Spirit's presence is what marks you as Christ's: 'if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.' And the Spirit you have received is not a spirit of slavery leading back into fear, but the Spirit of adoption, by whom you cry, 'Abba, Father!' The question is not how full of feeling you are right now, but whose child you are.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”Romans 8:9
“For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””Romans 8:15
“And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!””Galatians 4:6
John assumes believers sometimes feel condemned: 'if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things' and when our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness toward God. Your feelings about yourself are not the final word, because God's knowledge of you is truer than your feelings about you. Paul's test is objective: test whether Christ is in you, by the reality of faith and the Spirit, not by the strength of an emotion.
“And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”1 John 3:19-20
“Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”2 Corinthians 13:5
“Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;”1 John 3:21
John ties the testimony to belief: 'He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.' The way to hold the Spirit's witness when feelings dip is not to manufacture a feeling but to believe what God has promised. God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and we draw near to Him with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
“He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.”1 John 5:10
“and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”Romans 5:5
“let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,”Hebrews 10:22
John says perfect love casts out fear, and that God's love gives us boldness on the day of judgment; and he writes so that we may know we have eternal life, for he who has the Son has the life. Certainty, not guesswork: the Spirit's witness does not make you conceited; it makes you safe. When the heart grows loud, the Word is louder.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.”1 John 4:18
“In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.”1 John 4:17
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”1 John 5:13
“He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.”1 John 5:12