THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT, PREPARING US FOR GLORY:
4) Part 1 - Assuring us of our salvation. Romans 8v16-21
"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: and if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8v16-18
This is the ultimate assurance of our salvation, the inner witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit, speaking to us at the very core of our being. At the point of our conversion to Christ, He sealed us as the sons of God into the position of adoption. He caused us to inwardly cry to God as father, cementing our position as the sons of God, and practically bringing us near to God. In 1st John 5v10 this is confirmed "he that believeth on the son of God has the testimony in himself." The same writer continues in verse 11 "and this is the testimony that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son." This is the work of the Holy Spirit testifying with our spirit that we are truly the sons of God. This is obviously a very important work, because as time goes by, and as events take place, the tendency is for doubts and fears to come in. The Christian life is therefore a progressive assurance of our standing with God, and this is very necessary if we are to function for God in this world. Lack of assurance betrays a condition of unbelief in the word of God but because we are susceptible to it, the Holy Spirit constantly infuses into our spirit the knowledge that we are the children of God. Some want to make a difference between the terms "children of God" and "sons of God" but in reality there is no difference. You might want to think the "children of God" as spiritual infants growing up and the "sons of God" as fully mature, but beyond that there is no difference.
This business of assurance is the subject matter of the 1st epistle of John, and it is important that readers familiarise themselves with the contents of that epistle. Briefly, it is all about certainty in the Christian life; where there is no certainty we have doubt and fear and agnosticism which will result in apologetic testimony. The mention of our position as the "children of God" leads Paul to the subject of inheritance. This is something we all know about in life and it is no different in the spiritual realm. As sons of God we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. This is a marvellous thought and almost sounds like a fairy story, but it is gloriously true. As the sons of God we will share in everything that divine beings have and will have and in all that they do.
It is in this context that Paul reveals the unalterable principle of suffering before glory. The glory has already been stated, we will share the inheritance; but we will first share the suffering in this life just as Christ suffered so will we His children suffer. It is a fact that God is the most maligned and the most abused and the most hated and the most misunderstood being in the universe and it will be no surprise if His sons suffer in the same way. If you are experiencing any of this kind of suffering, this in itself is an evidence that you are truly the child of God. Paul ends the section with this glorious statement (and we should remember that no Christian will suffer any more than Paul did) ; "for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." We should view our suffering with Jesus Christ now as INSIGNIFICANT in light of the glory that is to follow. It is through the long pathway of suffering that the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are the sons of God. It is a big subject but suffering is used by God to wean our hearts away from this world and cause us to long for the next.
Tomorrow d.v. we will consider part 2 of this subject under the heading of "The manifestation of the sons of God."
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