“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His Glory.”
Romans 8:15-17
“”To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Rev. 2:17). I suspect that this passage refers to the same mark of the Spirit, the same blessed token of special favor, that in other places in Scripture is called the seal of the Spirit.
The confusion about this comes from the fact that people have misunderstood the meaning of the word “witness.” They assume that it is a sort of internal verbal suggestion, rather than an ongoing work of the Spirit within our hearts. They think that God speaks to us mentally, conveying in some sort of secret voice the message that we are His children. In the New Testament, however, the term “witness” often has a deeper meaning than merely a declaration or an assertion that a thing is true. We think of “witness” in these terms, but the New Testament sees it to mean the actual proof of something, the living demonstration of the truth, rather than a mere statement of the truth.” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, Barbour Publishing, pp. 117-118)
Jonathan Edwards has many helpful things to say to us about the Christian life. It would be hard to choose one of his books as being his best. Each one advances our understanding of the Christian life. This is most clearly seen in the work that Edwards does exploring the nature of revival. I would urge every Christian to spend the time learning from Edwards. My favorite book written by Edwards is The Religious Affections because it leads us into a deep understanding of what genuine Christian experience is all about. One morning as I was reading the section where Edwards explores the sealing of the Spirit I came across the gem that is quoted above. Here we are brought to understand what the witness must be. Edwards points out that we can never base our assurance of salvation on anything which is subjective. We can be so easily deceived by our inner feelings. The assurance of salvation must be the witness of the reality of God’s Holy Spirit is doing within us to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be concrete and real. It is the development of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, a committed walking with Christ in a world that is hostile to all that we stand for. It is shown in our loving our enemies. We see it when we, in love, lay our lives down in service to people that don’t care for us simply because that is what our Lord did for us. “For God demonstrates His love for us in this that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Edwards tells us that as we begin to experience this reality in our lives, then we have unmistakable evidence that the Lord has saved us.
This is a far different standard than that which we often appeal to today. I have a feeling however that the days may be coming when we will need that real, deeper assurance that Edwards describes. It is the only thing that will see us through when life gets really difficult, as sooner or later it does for all of us. comes from the fact that people have misunderstood the meaning of the word “witness.” They assume that it is a sort of internal verbal suggestion, rather than an ongoing work of the Spirit within our hearts. They think that God speaks to us mentally, conveying in some sort of secret voice the message that we are His children. In the New Testament, however, the term “witness” often has a deeper meaning than merely a declaration or an assertion that a thing is true. We think of “witness” in these terms, but the New Testament sees it to mean the actual proof of something, the living demontration of the truth, rather than a mere statement of the truth.” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, pp. 117-118)