“What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood; he has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life…”
The higher the stakes, the greater the need for assurance. Imagine that you are at the Skydeck on the 103rdfloor of the Willis Tower in Chicago. The Skydeck is a glass floor that protrudes out 1,353 feet above street level. Before you step on to that glass, you would want to be certain that it is going to hold you.
If you have a little girl, how certain will you need to be about that glass before letting her do this? Please put the picture on the screen. You will need to be assured that, that glass will hold.
How certain would you need to be about that glass before taking this picture with your cell phone? Please put the next picture on the screen. I would need to know that, that glass would hold before putting my family on it. I wouldn’t need as much assurance if we were two feet in the air. I would need plenty of assurance that, that glass would hold to do that 1,353 feet in the air. The higher the stakes, the greater the need for assurance.
Now you might not have a fear of heights so you might not need too many assurances before walking out on that glass. Those stakes aren’t very high in your mind. There are some stakes that you find quite high. Maybe you find it hard to risk emotional intimacy and you need multiple assurances that the other person is safe. Maybe you are nervous about surgeries and you need to multiple assurances that the doctor is competent. Maybe you are putting your entire life on the line based on promises and you want assurances.
If you are a Christian, that last example is your situation. You are putting your entire life on the line because God has made promises. It is natural to want assurances. If you see no need for assurances for God’s promises, I wonder how much of your life you are putting on the line. If your faith doesn’t require God to keep specific promises, that isn’t faith at all.
The higher the stakes, the greater your need for assurance and there is no higher stake than life itself. If you are a Christian, you have put your very life on the line. “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” Since you are giving your life to Jesus, you want assurances that he will be a faithful Savior. He knows that and he gives you assurance.
He gives you his Spirit. The Holy Spirit assures you that you belong to Jesus and that all Jesus’ promises are good. That is the claim of this sermon: the Holy Spirit assures you that you belong to Jesus and that all Jesus’ promises are good.
We will study this in two points. First: who and what. Second: how. First, we will look at the who and the what of the clause, “because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life.” Second, we will see how the Holy Spirit gives this assurance of eternal life.
First: who and what. Christians who enjoy assurance are very happy Christians, but assurance is not well understood. In fact, too little of what the Catechism lays out in this clause is well understood. The Catechism reads, “Christ, by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life.” The Holy Spirit is not well understood. Assurance is not well understood. Eternal life is not well understood.
This is a bewildering situation. I would imagine that we would all agree that God Himself living within us is an important reality. I would imagine that we would all agree that knowing how you know that Christianity is true is important business. I would imagine that we would all agree that if understanding life is important, then understanding the ins and outs of eternal life is important. Yet there is this strange tendency to be content with minimal knowledge of the Holy Spirit, assurance, and eternal life. This robs our faith of a good deal of vigor and joy.
We don’t have time to consider why it is so easy to settle for such little information on these matters. The burden of this point is to remedy the situation.
We will start with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit assures you of eternal life. The Holy Spirit is often thought of as a mere force rather than as a person. Popular teachings about the Spirit make Him seem about as personal as electricity – powerful, but not personal. He is thought of as a force to be wielded and used. That dishonors God. It would dishonor you if someone talked about you like an object.
The Holy Spirit is a person. You can grieve Him similar to the way you can grieve you mother. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” wrote Paul. You can’t grieve electricity.
The Holy Spirit helps, and He instructs like a teacher. Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” A mere force doesn’t teach or help.
The Holy Spirit makes decisions. The apostles told the Gentile converts, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements.”
The Holy Spirit can be outraged. He can be blasphemed. He forbids certain actions. He commands other actions. He speaks to people. He has at least as much of a personality as any of us.
He is a person and He assures those who belong to Jesus of eternal life. If you have an impoverished appreciation for the Holy Spirit, it should come as no surprise that you will have an impoverished experience of what He offers.
The Spirit offers a good deal. Jesus thought that the Spirit’s presence among us would be so profitable for us that it would be better than him remaining. He told them, “truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
If you are largely oblivious of the work of the Spirit, you are spiritually needy. Wouldn’t you say that anyone who is largely obvious of Jesus is spiritually needy? Wouldn’t you say that anyone who is largely obvious of God the Father is spiritually needy? It follows as the night follows the day that if you are largely oblivious of the Holy Spirit, then you are spiritually needy. Get to know the Holy Spirit. Get to know Jesus. Get to know the Father.
The Holy Spirit assures you that what God has promised is true. This assurance is not well understood. Some traditions so misunderstand assurance that they inadvertently rob genuine believers of the joy of salvation. Other traditions so neglect assurance that they give false assurance to false believers.
Assurance is the confidence that you belong body and soul, in life and in death, to your faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
There is a difference between the man who knows that being born again is necessary to enter the kingdom and the man who knows that he has been born again and will enter the kingdom. There is a difference between the man who knows that Jesus’ blood forgives sins and the man who knows that his sins are forgiven through Jesus’ blood. The Catechism talks about this assurance saying that it is the confidence that, “not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted assurance.”
John Wesley described assurance saying, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
Do you know that what Christ offers is not only true but that it is true for you? If you grew up in a tradition that taught that you needed to be certain that you were one of the elect before having assurance, listen to M’Cheyne, “No one ever came to Christ because they knew themselves to be of the elect. It is quite true that God has of his mere good pleasure elected some to everlasting life, but they never knew it until they came to Christ. Christ nowhere invites the elect to come to Him. [He invites sinners to come to him.] The question for you is not, “am I one of the elect?” But, “am I a sinner?” Christ died to save sinners.’
Are you a sinner who has come to Jesus Christ? Do you love him? Do you want to live for him? Then what Christ offers is true for you whether or not you have a sufficient sense that reality. [He invites sinners to come to him.]
That is just the barest outline of assurance. Now let’s turn to the final reality in this clause—eternal life—“Christ, by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life.”
At first blush, eternal life seems pretty straightforward. What we call eternal life is life after death and it is never-ending. We quickly acknowledge that there is much that is not part of eternal life. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away,” as the apostle John wrote.
There is much truth in what I’ve just said but it is also insufficient. You can have absolutely no allegiance to Jesus and affirm everything that was just said about eternal life. Most religions view eternal life as continuing forever and I can’t imagine anyone with any conception of heaven imagining that it is filled with mourning, crying, or pain.
The fact that you want to believe that there is life after death and that the life to come will be better than this life in and of itself doesn’t make you a Christian any more than thinking it is a good thing to be kind is enough to make you a Christian.
The question of Christianity is do you want the eternal life that Jesus has in mind. “This is eternal life,” said Jesus, “that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Eternal life is life with God. If you can imagine eternal life without Jesus, that is not the new creation. If your view of eternal life is just an eternal vacation, then don’t expect assurance of it. Eternal life is about intimacy with God.
Now if you don’t desire intimacy with God, I think it is fair to say that you should examine whether you have eternal life. There is only one kind of eternal life – and that is the one Jesus spoke of. You need to hear that whatever you hope from eternal life pales in comparison with Jesus’ offer of intimacy with God. As Paul put it, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
I am sure that you can imagine some pretty desirable experiences about the new creation. God can do better. An eternal vacation might sound great. Eternal intimacy with a God who explains Himself as love is better. Pursue that and you get all the rest of eternal life thrown in with it.
If you’ve been thinking about Jesus’ definition of eternal life, you might have come to recognize that it starts not after death but rather at conversion. “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” You don’t need to wait for that. If you belong to Jesus, you enjoy that now. It will just get better in the next life.
If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit assures you that you will enjoy, “what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived.” We see how He assures you in our second point.
Now we don’t have time to study every means by which the Spirit assures those who belong to Jesus of eternal life. We only have time for three. First, the Holy Spirit assures by acting as a guarantee for all God’s promises.
The presence and work of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of eternal life just like the D-Day soldiers in World War Two were a guarantee of victory over Germany. Those soldiers were the first wave of the incoming army. The Holy Spirit is the first wave of God’s new creation work.
No one in France doubted that the Allies were serious about victory after D-Day. The Allies had put boots on the ground. The Holy Spirit brings the boots on the ground to make all things new. He is the guarantee that more is to come. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Take the presence and work of the Spirit as a guarantee that every promise of God is on its way – including eternal life. When you see a soul transferred from death to life by the work of the Spirit, that is a guarantee of eternal life. When you see a man or woman use the gifts which the Spirit gives, that is a guarantee of eternal life. When you recognize that Scripture isn’t merely the words of men, but the living and active word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit, that is a guarantee of eternal life. Any genuine work of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of eternal life just like any valid check is a guarantee that those funds are yours.
First, the Spirit assures you of eternal life as a guarantee. Second, the Spirit assures you of eternal life through sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which you become more like Christ.
If you are trying to become more like Jesus by your own ability, you have fallen into a terrible legalism. If you are trying to become more like Jesus by your own will-power, you will recognize that it is hopeless. Sanctification is the work of the Spirit within you to do what you alone can’t do. That’s why Paul said, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”
When you see sanctification, you know the Spirit is changing you and that he will make you perfect on the day of Christ. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ.” Is the Spirit sanctifying you? Are you producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? That fruit only comes by the Spirit just like pears only grow on pear trees. Take your sanctification as assurance of your salvation.
Peter told early church, “make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” What things? What things must you do for that assurance of eternal life? “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” Peter wasn’t telling them to save themselves by those virtues. He was telling them to find assurance by growing in those virtues.
First, the Spirit assures us of eternal life by acting as a guarantee. Second, the Spirit assures us of eternal life through sanctification. Third, the Spirit assures of eternal life by His testimony.
Paul explained this means of assurance to the Romans. Paul imagined a man divided within himself. This man wanted to follow God, but he found himself still sinning at times. How could he know that He was a child of God?
Paul directed that man to the work of the Spirit. He told the Romans, ‘The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption as a son. And by [the Holy Spirit] we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’
The Holy Spirit testifies to your spirit that God is not what you fear Him to be. God is not heavy-handed. God is not domineering. God is not dictatorial. In short, the Holy Spirit does not tell you that you are a slave. He tells you that you are adopted as a beloved son. He testifies to your spirit that God is loving father. As Paul put it, by [the Holy Spirit] we cry, “Abba, Father.” You are a child of God and He will bring you home to eternal life.
A couple of years ago a friend and his wife adopted a young boy. That boy had a hard time trusting. My friend would have given anything to do for that boy what the Holy Spirit does for us adopted children of God. He would have given anything to put his own spirit in that boy to convince that boy that he was loved and that he was now home. He would have given anything to speak to that boy’s spirit in such a way that, that boy ran up to him saying, ‘daddy, father.’ That’s what the Holy Spirit does for Christians. He assures us that we are beloved children forever. He speaks to us at our deepest points so that when we see God we run to Him saying, “daddy, Father.”
This is a process just like my friend convincing his adopted son of his love was a process and is still a process, but the presence of a process is an assurance that something is real. You can be assured that the Father loves you and wants closeness with you because He put His Spirit in you to work to confirm that truth.
If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is working for your assurance, but you have work to do too. You need to trust this assurance. You need to trust His work as a guarantee of all God’s promises. You need to trust His work in sanctification. You need to trust His testimony. That is how you overflow with assurance. Paul told the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Overflowing with hope, with certainty of what God will do, comes to those who trust in the God of hope. To overflow with assurance, you must trust.
The stakes are high. Jesus asks you to belong to him. “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit will assure you that Jesus is faithful to save, but to enjoy such assurance you must trust.
I imagine there are three types of listeners in this sanctuary. The first type enjoys this assurance. You know that you belong to Jesus. Sometimes you enjoy more assurance of salvation than at others, but your spirit does agree with the Holy Spirit that you are a child of God and you will enjoy eternal life.
The second type of listener belongs to Jesus but enjoys very little, if any, assurance. If this is you, you might be morbidly introspective about matters of salvation. You might think it is pretentious to say that you are a child of God. You believe in Jesus, but for some reason you don’t accept the Holy Spirit’s offers of assurance.
The third type of listener has had no idea what I’ve been talking about. You don’t think of faith as a relationship with God. You might have no idea why you are here this morning. If this is you, you need to consider that Paul may have been talking about you when he said, “The man without the Holy Spirit does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
In whatever category you find yourself, you need the Holy Spirit. If you are indeed in the third category and don’t have the Spirit, you need to be born of the Spirit. If you are in the second category and lack assurance, you need to listen to the Spirit. If you are in the first category, you need to stay in step with the Spirit. In which category are you? The stakes are far higher than standing on that glass floor 103 stories up in the Willis Tower, but the assurnace that the Spirit gives you is much greater than any trust you could put in that glass. No one can give greater assurances than God and that is what He has down. Put your weight on them. Amen.
You will need to be assured that glass will hold.
How certain would you need to be about that glass before taking this picture with your cell phone?
I would need to know that, that glass would hold before putting my family on it. I wouldn’t need as much assurance if we were two feet in the air. The higher the stakes, the greater the need for assurance.
Now you might not have a fear of heights so you might not need too many assurances before walking out on that glass. Those stakes aren’t very high in your mind. There are some stakes that you find quite high. Maybe you find it hard to risk emotional intimacy and you need multiple assurances that the other person is safe. Maybe you are nervous about surgeries and you need to multiple assurances that the doctor is competent. Maybe you are putting your entire life on the line based on promises and you want assurances.
If you are a Christian, that last example is no hypothetical. You are putting your entire life on the line because God has made promises. It is natural to want assurances. If you see no need for assurances from God, I question whether you are putting your life on the line. If your faith doesn’t require God to keep specific promises, it is no faith at all.
The higher the stakes, the greater your need for assurance and there is no higher stake than life itself. If you are a Christian, you have put your very life on the line. “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” You need assurances that Jesus Christ is a faithful Savior. He knows that and he gives them.
He gives you his Spirit to assure you that he will deliver on his promises. The Holy Spirit assures you that you belong to Jesus and therefore all that Jesus has promised will be done. That is the claim of this sermon: the Holy Spirit assures you that you belong to Jesus and therefore all that Jesus has promised will be done.
We see this in two points. First: who and what. Second: how. First, we will look at the who and the what of the clause, “because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life.” Second, we will see how the Holy Spirit gives this assurance of eternal life.
First: who and what. Christians who enjoy assurance are very happy Christians, but assurance is not well understood. In fact, little of what the Catechism lays out in this clause is well understood. The Catechism reads, “Christ, by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life.” The Holy Spirit is not well understood. Assurance is not well understood. Eternal life is not well understood.
This is a bewildering situation. I would imagine that we would all agree that God Himself living within us is an important reality. I would imagine that we would all agree that knowing how you know that Christianity is true is an important business. I would imagine that we would all agree that if understanding life is important, then understanding the ins and outs of eternal life is even more important. Yet there is this strange tendency to be content with minimal knowledge of the Holy Spirit, assurance, and eternal life. This robs our faith of a good deal of vigor and joy.
We don’t have time to consider why it is so easy to settle for such little information on these matters. The burden of this point is to remedy the situation.
We will start with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit assures you of eternal life. The Holy Spirit is often thought of as a mere force rather than as a person. Popular teachings about the Spirit make Him seem about as personal as electricity. He is a force to be wielded. That dishonors God. It would dishonor you if someone talked about you like an object.
The Holy Spirit is a person. You can grieve Him similar to the way you can grieve you mother. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” wrote Paul. You can’t grieve electricity.
The Holy Spirit helps, and He instructs like a teacher. Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” A mere force doesn’t teach or help.
The Holy Spirit makes decisions. The apostles told the Gentile converts, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements.”
The Holy Spirit can be outraged. He can be blasphemed just like any other member of Trinity. He forbids certain actions. He commands other actions. He speaks to people. He certainly does not have less of a personality than any of us.
He is a person and He assures those who belong to Jesus of eternal life. If you have an impoverished appreciation for the Holy Spirit, it should come as no surprise that you will have an impoverished experience of what He offers.
He offers a good deal. Jesus thought that the Spirit’s presence among us would be so profitable for us that it would be better than him remaining. As Jesus was talking to his disciples about his death, he told them, “truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
If you are largely oblivious of the work of the Spirit, you are spiritually needy. Wouldn’t you say that anyone who is largely obvious of Jesus is spiritually needy? Wouldn’t you say that anyone who is largely obvious of God the Father is spiritually needy? It follows as the night follows the day that if you are largely obvious of God living inside His people then you are spiritually needy. Get to know the Holy Spirit. Get to know Jesus. Get to know the Father.
The Holy Spirit assures you that what God has promised is true. Assurance is not well understood. Some traditions so misunderstand assurance that they inadvertently rob genuine believers of the joy of salvation. Other traditions so neglect assurance that they give false assurance to false believers.
Assurance is the confidence that God is who He says He is. Assurance is the confidence that you are who God says you are. Assurance is your first-hand experience verifying that what the Scriptures say is true.
There is a difference between the man who knows that being born again is necessary to enter the kingdom and the man who knows that he has been born again. There is a difference between the man who knows Jesus’ blood forgives sins and the man who knows that his sins are forgiven. The Catechism talks about this assurance saying that it is the confidence that, “not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted assurance.”
John Wesley described the experience saying, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
Do you know that what Christ offers is not only true but that it is true for you? Now there are some profoundly unhelpful metrics that churches have used to answer that question. If you grew up thinking that you needed to be certain that you were one of the elect before knowing any assurance, listen to M’Cheyne, “No one ever came to Christ because they knew themselves to be of the elect. It is quite true that God has of his mere good pleasure elected some to everlasting life, but they never knew it until they came to Christ. Christ nowhere invites the elect to come to Him. [He invites sinners to come to him.] The question for you is not, “am I one of the elect?” But, “am I a sinner?” Christ died to save sinners.’
Are you a sinner who has come to Jesus Christ? Do you love him? Do you want to live for him? Then what Christ offers is true for you whether or not you have a sufficient sense that reality.
That is just the barest outline of assurance. Now let’s turn to the final reality in this clause—eternal life—“Christ, by his Holy Spirit assures me of eternal life.”
At first blush, eternal life seems pretty straightforward. What we call eternal life is life after death and it is never-ending. We quickly acknowledge what is not part of eternal life. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away,” as John wrote.
There is much truth in what I’ve just said but it is also insufficient. You can have absolutely no allegiance to Jesus and affirm everything that was just said about eternal life. Most religions view eternal life as continuing forever and I can’t imagine anyone with any conception of heaven imagining that it is filled with mourning, crying, or pain.
The fact that you want to believe that there is life after death and that the life to come will be better than this life in and of itself doesn’t make you a Christian any more than thinking it is a good thing to be kind is enough to make you a Christian.
The question of Christianity is do you want the eternal life that Jesus has in mind. “This is eternal life,” said Jesus, “that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Eternal life is life with God. If you can imagine eternal life without Jesus, that is not eternal life. If your view of eternal life is just an eternal vacation, then don’t expect much assurance of eternal life. Eternal life is about intimacy with God.
Now if you don’t desire intimacy with God, I think it is fair to say that you have no reason to expect that you will inherit eternal life. You need to hear that whatever you hope out of eternal life pales in comparison to intimacy with God. As Paul put it, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love Him.”
I am sure that you can imagine some pretty desirable experiences for eternal life. God can do far better. An eternal vacation might sound great. Eternal intimacy with a God who explains Himself as love is even better. Pursue that and you get all the rest of eternal life thrown in with it.
If you’ve been thinking about Jesus’ definition of eternal life, you might have come to recognize that it starts not after death but rather at conversion. “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” You don’t need to wait for that. If you belong to Jesus, you enjoy that now. It will just get better in the next life.
If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit assures you that you will enjoy, “what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived.” We see how in our second point.
Now we don’t have time to study every means by which the Spirit assures those who belong to Jesus of eternal life. We only have time three. First, the Holy Spirit assures by acting as a guarantee for all God’s promises.
The presence and work of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee just like the D-Day soldiers in World War Two were a guarantee. They were the first wave of the incoming army. The Holy Spirit is the first wave of God’s new creation work.
No one in France doubted that the Allies were serious about victory after D-Day. The Allies had put boots on the ground. The Holy Spirit brings the boots on the ground of the new creation. He is the guarantee that more is to come. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Paul said the same about Jesus. He recognized that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are a guarantee that God will keep all His promises. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
You can say the same about the Holy Spirit. God who gave us His Spirit, how will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things. Take the presence and work of the Spirit as a guarantee of every promise of God. When you see a soul transferred from death to life by the work of the Spirit, that is a guarantee of eternal life. When you see a man or woman use the gifts which the Spirit gives, that is a guarantee of eternal life. When you recognize that Scripture isn’t merely the words of men, but the living and active word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit, that is a guarantee of eternal life. Any genuine work of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of eternal life just like any valid check is a guarantee that those funds are yours.
First, the Spirit assures you of eternal life as a guarantee. Second, the Spirit assures you of eternal life through sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which you become more like Christ.
If you are trying to become more like Jesus by your own ability, you have fallen into a terrible legalism. If you are trying to become more like Jesus by your own will-power, you will recognize that it is hopeless. Sanctification is the work of the Spirit working in you. It is the good news that you can change, and it is the good news that God is making that change happen. That’s why Paul said, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”
Inspect yourself for Christ-likeness. Are you producing what his life produced? Are you producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? That fruit only comes by the Spirit just like pears only grow on pear trees. Take your sanctification as assurance of your salvation.
Peter told early church, “make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” What things? What things must you do for that assurance? “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” Peter wasn’t telling them to save themselves by those virtues. He was telling them to find assurance by growing in those virtues.
First, the Spirit assures us of eternal life by acting as a guarantee. Second, the Spirit assures us of eternal life through sanctification. Third, the Spirit assures of eternal life by His testimony.
Paul explained this means assurance to the Romans. Paul imagined a man divided within himself. He wanted to follow God, but he found himself still sinning at times. How could he know that He was a child of God?
Paul directed that man to the work of the Spirit. He said, ‘The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption as a son. And by [the Holy Spirit] we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’
The Holy Spirit testifies to your spirit that God is not what you fear Him to be. God is not heavy-handed. God is not domineering. God is not dictatorial. In short, the Holy Spirit does not tell you that you are a slave. He tells you that you are adopted as a beloved son. He testifies to your spirit that God is loving father. As Paul put it, by [the Holy Spirit] we cry, “Abba, Father.”
A couple of years ago a friend and his wife adopted a young boy. That boy had a hard time trusting. My friend would have given anything to do for that boy what the Holy Spirit does for God’s adopted children. He would have given anything to put His own spirit in that boy to convince that boy that he was loved. He would have given anything to speak to that boy’s spirit in such a way that, that boy ran up to him saying, ‘daddy, father.’ That’s what the Holy Spirit does for Christians. He assures us that we are beloved children. He speaks to us at our deepest points so that when we see God as we run to Him saying, “daddy, Father.”
This is a process just like my friend convincing his adopted son of his love was a process and is still a process, but a process is an assurance that something is real. You can be assured that the Father loves you and wants closeness with you because He put His Spirit in you to work to confirm that truth.
If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is working for your assurance, but you have work to do too. You need to trust this assurance. You need to trust His work as a guarantee of all God’s promises. You need to trust His work in sanctification. You need to trust His testimony. That is how you overflow with assurance. Paul told the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Overflowing with hope, with certainty of what God will do, comes to those who trust in the God of hope. To overflow with assurance, you must trust.
The stakes are high. Jesus asks you to belong to him. “I am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit will assure you that Jesus is faithful to save, but to enjoy such assurance you must trust.
I imagine there are three types of listeners in this sanctuary. The first enjoy this assurance. You know that you belong to Jesus. Sometimes you enjoy more assurance of salvation than at other times, but your spirit does agree with the Holy Spirit that God loves you.
The second type of listener belongs to Jesus but enjoys very little assurance. If this is you, you are morbidly introspective about matters of salvation. You might think it is pretentious to say that you are a child of God. You believe in Jesus, but for some reason you don’t accept the Holy Spirit’s offers of assurance.
The third type of listener has had no idea what I’ve been talking about. If this is you, you need to consider that Paul may have been talking about you when he said, “The man without the Holy Spirit does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
In whatever category you find yourself, you need the Holy Spirit. If you are indeed in the third category and don’t have the Spirit, you need to be born of the Spirit. If you are in the second category, you need to listen to the Spirit. If you are in the first category, you need to stay in step with the Spirit. In which category are you? Amen.