A Three-Fold Witness to Assurance of Salvation (Rom 8:1-17)

How important is your personal assurance of salvation? As you search the Scriptures you will find that you cannot live a life of gratitude to God without it, you cannot worship aright without it, you will not be eager to obey and put off sinning without it. Because of these reasons Scripture makes Christian assurance a duty (2 Peter 1:10). Where true faith exists, it will long for assurance just as much as you long to know where you stand with your best friend. Scripture is not stingy in extending solid promises of assurance to those who are truly born again. See 1 John 5:11, 12. This is certainly then an important question: How may we know for sure that we “have the Son?” In many quarters of Christianity one might hear in answer to this question, “Just trust your decision that you made and do not doubt it.” But the more I search Scripture, the more convinced I am that this advice is a little bare of biblical support. Evidence for assurance of salvation in Scripture is far more “3-D” and comprehensive. Our topic deals with this very issue. God has given us a THREE-FOLD WITNESS TO ASSURANCE in order that we may know for certain that we possess salvation. This three-fold witness makes a complete testimony of the true believer’s salvation - it is the biblical foundation for assurance of salvation. The three we will be discovering together are: 1.) The witness of saving faith in the Gospel. 2.) The witness of a changed life. 3.) The witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart (of the believe). 1.) The Witness of Saving Faith in the Gospel (vv. 1-4). In this section, the Apostle expands upon the believer’s assurance and hope. (This section resumes the theme of assurance and hope set forth in 5:1-11. Paul wants the glory of our salvation to fill our minds and hearts – filling our consciousness that we are accepted in Christ to the glory of God.) The law couldn’t nullify sin’s power – the law was impotent to deliver us, Christ alone accomplished our liberation (2 Cor 5:21). In our nature, Jesus blotted out sin’s guilt, he condemned it, He overthrew its power, He brought us nigh to God. This could only be done in human flesh! He took on the battle in the same human nature that had sinned – the same flesh that had become the seat and agent of sin. In the crucifixion, the Son of God was judged and condemned in our place so that the claims of sin on a believer become invalid. That means at the cross, the judgment and condemnation of sin has resulted in power to the believer to live free of sin’s dominion. As those set free from the tyranny of sin and death (and free from the sentence and punishment of being wrong with God), we begin our new life of overcoming. The law is fulfilled in us (yes by Christ’s obedience in our place) but also in a normative fashion in our walk – by the Holy Spirit’s directing, enabling power. (The grace of God in Christ translates the righteous requirement of the law into action – the Spirit loves God’s will. QUESTIONS: Do you love the way God saved you (i.e. by the Gospel of Jesus Christ)? Do you take great delight in God’s way of salvation? Do you see God’s holiness, kindness, love, and wisdom in His plan to send His only begotten Son for sinners? Do you find now that the Law of God is written on your heart so that you desire to fulfill it and please God? Has the Gospel reconciled you to God so that you are no longer His enemy and so that you no longer walk according to the flesh and the world? Can you attest that the only possible solution to your dilemma of guilt, enslavement to sin, and love of the world was for Christ to die in your place? Is it your testimony that before faith in Christ, you were helpless and hostile to God? 2.) The Witness of a Changed Life (vv. 5-13). There are two different kinds of persons described here, one, a natural man, the second, a regenerated man. The two are described in terms of their settled mindsets. One is under the influence of the flesh, and the other is under the influence of Christ and His Spirit. For Paul there is a strict correspondence between what a person’s interests are and who he is in his essential being. The man whose thoughts are according to the flesh operates in such a way that his affections, interests, thought life and will are one unified complex. His natural reason advises him to choose what he thinks is best for himself, not what the Word of God commands. The inner man here is not just the thought life, it is your interests, affections, direction.Therefore to “live after the flesh” is to be governed by that fleshly complex of reason, will and feeling. And what is Paul’s conclusion? For those who are in the flesh (unregenerate), it is morally and psychologically impossible for them to do anything well-pleasing in God’s sight. This is the doctrine of man’s total depravity and inability. It presents a graphic picture of man’s plight – his desperate need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. When self is supreme, the uncontested “lord” of one’s life, that person will regard God as an enemy. The unregenerate man is hostile toward God. At the moment of the new birth, the Holy Spirit planted a new principle in the believer with new affections, new desires, and a new bias toward sin. As a new creature, now we are mindful of the things of the Spirit. Now there is the powerful evidence of a changed life. “The old things have passed away.” The former pattern has been displaced by the new – the new man is governed by the rule of Christ’s Spirit. The indwelling Spirit is the believer’s antidote to the flesh. At regeneration, the benefits and fruits of Christ’s redemptive power and mission are applied to the believer. The believer is renewed and regenerated -- but remember, this is unto a new relationship. It is because of the Spirit’s indwelling presence that the believer experiences (realizes) the fullness of Christ. The assuring ministry of the Spirit is basic to our mortification of sin. As the Holy Spirit communicates the confidence to us that we are the Father’s adopted child, we are emboldened to fight sin. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are secure in Christ’s love –the result is a confidence that we are equipped with infinite resources to fight sin. We are under obligation to put sin to death. We are not to allow what remains of the lower nature to set the standard for our behavior. The Holy Spirit stirs us to put to death selfish actions. The very activity of the believer putting off sin is evidence of the Spirit. QUESTIONS: Do you find that you have a whole new principle operating in you with new affections for the Lord, His Word, and the things of God? Do you have a new bias and power against sin? Can you honestly say that because of Christ you are a “new creature?” Can you say that formerly you were opposed to God’s Law, but now through the Spirit you are able to obey it? Has your relationship to the Bible changed so that it is no longer a “closed,” often mysterious book, but now you can understand it and it is your daily food? Do your thoughts now frequently turn toward God and all that He is toward you in Christ? Does your gratitude for salvation motivate you to please God and to daily fight indwelling sin (by the power of the Holy Spirit)? Do you have a solid, well-grounded hope that Christ will receive you favorably into His eternal kingdom? 3.) The Witness of the Spirit in the Heart of the Believer (vv. 14-17). Walking in the way of holiness is described as the “leading of the Spirit.” This holy walk of putting to death sin and communing with God is the specific mark of the true child of God. (Adoption and leading go together – the Holy Spirit does not leave us orphans. As those justified, freed from condemnation, set free from the power of sin, taken into the family of God, the Spirit desires that we be PERSUADED by Him that we belong there. The Spirit’s leading is persuasion, not force, fear and bondage. He guides into truth and holiness (obedience). Sonship is the glorious goal and triumph of God’s grace. The Spirit imparts the assurance of sonship. As sons of God we have the right to cry “Abba” because we share sonship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Sonship guarantees eternal life itself. The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are the sons of God. This internal testimony or witness is the assured awareness of our sonship. He produces in us the posture and life of a son. He seals to our hearts that the promises of Scripture belong to us – they are ours. He instills a supernatural hope that we may build our very life and future upon – namely that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ. He assures us of our Father’s love.  QUESTIONS: Do you have peace with God so that you know your standing before God? Do you know for certain that He has forgiven you? Do you bring your hopes, fears, requests, and sins to your Heavenly Father? Does the Holy Spirit continually produce in you the consciousness that you are God’s beloved child? Has the Holy Spirit testified to your spirit that you belong to God? Do you consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ socially, and if necessary in other ways? Is God’s Spirit leading you into greater holiness and into the habit of putting your sin to death? Do you count it your greatest treasure to be an heir of God? CONCLUSION: When the true believer comes to Romans 8, his doubts come to a full stop. (His fears, agitations, wanderings – lay down of their own accord as he enters Romans 8 because this is his identity and his experience in personally knowing God.) He says, “This is my spiritual experience! These are the changes God has produced in me! These are the truths He has written on my heart!” These are the spiritual realities that fill the mind and heart of the Christian. This is his “home turf” so to speak – these are his spiritual surroundings. His hopes and affections are thrilled by the consciousness that his spiritual life is described so beautifully in this chapter.

Bible Study on True Repentance

Bible Study on True Repentance I. The Definition of Repentance. REPENTANCE: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” (Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly Question 87). “Repentance . . . is the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of Him; and it consists in the mortification of our flesh and of the old man, and in the vivification of the Spirit.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3:3:5). II. Repentance in the Old Testament. A. Read the following passages; Is. 58:5; Neh. 9:1; Joel 2:13. Which deeds are outward and which are inward? B. Read the following passages and describe in your own words evidences of repentance found in each. Is. 30:15 Jer. 34:15 Jer. 26:3, 36:3 C. Read Ez. 18. Summarize the elements of true repentance you find in this chapter. Repentance in the New Testament. A. Greek words: Metanoia - a change of mind, (to change one’s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.) Luke 10:13.  Epistrophei - to turn to, to cause to return, to bring back, to turn one’s self about, conversion. Acts9:35. B. Read Luke 15:11-24. Does the prodigal’s repentance involve regret only? Which aspects of the Prodigal’s repentance coincide with the Greek words above? C. Read Eph. 5:8-14. What evidences of true repentance described in this passage would be absent in false repentance? Why? IV. The Nature of Repentance. A. Evangelical repentance always involves a true sense of sin. Read Ps. 51 and write down the verses which communicate a true sense of sin.  B. Repentance is turning from sin with grief and hatred for it. The following attitudes can be involved: loathing, mourning, sorrowing, indignation against sin, regretting and disgrace. Explain why repentance ought to make a true believer open to exhortation with a willingness to humbly receive correction (see Prov 9:8; 10:8; 27:6; 28:23; Ps 141:5).. C. Repentance means that a person sees his sin for what it really is; defilement, ill desert, guilt -- and that his sin is against God. This is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 1:32, 3:20). Is it possible to have a fear of punishment without a true knowledge of sin? Would that be false repentance? Why or why not? D. Not only is a true sense of sin a root of all true repentance, but also the apprehension of mercy is vital to true repentance. Read Ps. 130 and Luke 15:17-20 and locate the words and phrases which hold out hope of mercy to the penitent. E. God’s offers of mercy always accompany His calls to repentance. T or F  (See Joel 2:12, 13; Jer. 3:12-14; Is 55:7). F. Why would each of the following attitudes fall short of true repentance: 1.) A deep sense of sin without a sense of mercy and forgiveness in Christ. 2.) A sense of mercy while suppressing feelings of conviction about sin. G. (see Luke 15:11-32) Not only was the prodigal son convinced of the misery of his sin, but he also arose and went to his father, (back to his father’s mercy, ways and rules). Feeling convinced of sin only, falls short of a true repentance. A person must turn to God in His mercy, His ways, and His worship. T or F H. Read Prov. 28:13 and identify two or more of the elements found in true repentance. I. True repentance is an inward act, a spiritual turning and change which has external affects. Select one of the following three examples of a false, external repentance and explain why it falls short of true repentance: The repentance of; 1.) King Saul, (1 Sam 24: 16-22); 2.) the repentance of King Ahab, (1 Kings21:25-29); 3.) the repentance of Judas, (Matt 27:3-5); note that the “sorrow of the world” bears a close relationship to false repentance (2 Cor. 7:8-11). J. Repentance is not only a turning from sin but a movement of the soul to God. Read Ps. 51and locate two or more verses which demonstrate a CHANGE IN PURPOSE. (The turning is a disposition to seek pardon and cleansing and attachment to God.) K. The fruits of repentance include a new bias against sin. This heart attitude is not passive but active. Daily choices are made to steer away from all sinful influences. Read Col. 3:1-11. What mental dispositions are described which show the new sin bias in action? L. Read Rom. 13:14. Think of life situations that involve a provision for the flesh. How could these provisions be avoided before they are entered into?  M. Read 2 Cor. 7:8-11. Read verse eleven carefully. Explain how each of the action words describes the penitent’s new relationship toward sin. V. The Recipients of Repentance. A. According to Scripture which of the following are indispensable marks of salvation which must accompany true conversion in every case? 1.) tears; 2.) a total change in lifestyle; 3.) a crisis experience; 4.) an extended workof conviction by God’s law; 5.) immediate and sudden joy; 6.) knowing the exact day you were saved; 7.) none of the above. B. Repentance is not a natural fear produced on fallen human nature by the law. It is a gift and demand of gospel grace. T or F C. Is it possible for an individual to be a truly penitent unbeliever or to be an impenitent true believer? Why or why not? D. Repentance is a gift of God’s grace. It is a plant that grows ONLY in the renewed soil of the regenerate heart. T or F (See Acts 5:31, 11-18; 2 Tim 2:15) VI. The Relationship of Faith to Repentance. A. Repentance is a fruit of faith which itself is a fruit of regeneration. T or F B. In faith and repentance we see the new nature beginning to assert itself. T or F C. No man can repent unless he hates sin and loves holiness and that is impossible apart from SAVING FAITH. T or F D. Without faith one cannot please God. Does that mean that the kind of repentance that is prior to faith does not please God? Yes or No  (See Heb. 11:6; Jn. 15:5; Rom. 14:23). E. Repentance prior to faith is an attempt to find a way to the Father apart from Christ. T or F (SeeJn. 14:6). F. The awakened conscience of a sinner can only be appeased by the justice of God at Calvary (Heb 9:14). Until the person and sacrifice of Christ are the object of trust, true repentance will not take place. T or F G. Apart from the mercy found in the cross, the prospect of repenting of sin is hopeless. Which of the following phrases describe the impossible task of repenting outside of Christ. 1.) indifference will stupefy; 2.) remorse will torment; 3.) dread and fear will drive away; 4.) guilt will move to legal efforts of reformation. How does the mercy found in the cross give us the courage and desire to repent? (See Acts 20:21; Jn. 3:16; Acts 26:18). H. The roots of true repentance - True repentance is nourished by, and grows out of, two great convictions in a soul. Read the following verses before each question then fill in the blanks. 1.) Repentance involves a true sense of the guilt and wretchedness of ____________. Acts 2:37-38; Luke 15:21; Ps. 51:1-6. 2.) The second root of repentance involves the apprehension of God’s ____________ which is found in Christ Jesus. Mark 1:5; Joel 2:12-13; Jer. 3:22; Is. 55:7; Acts 9:35; 11:21. I. Faith and repentance are joined. Read Zech. 12:10. Then write out some insights on why faith and repentance cannot be separated. J. Repentance is permeated with trust in God and His Word. Read the following verses about turning from sin. Ezek. 18:30; Luke 15:18; Ps. 119:128. Now read the verses about turning to God. Acts 26:20; 1 Thess. 1:9; Ps. 110:59; Luke 15:20. 1.) In false repentance a man attempts to turn from sin but does not turn to God. T or F 2.) In false repentance the sinner is yet alive to the world and dead to ________. Read Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Jn. 2:15-17. K. One of the fruits of true repentance is extreme watchfulness about falling into sin. T or F L. Though sometimes it is difficult to discern true repentance from false, in both types of repentance, the following will always be found: a passion and delight in spiritual things, joy in the promises of God, attraction to God’s holy nature. T or F M. The false repenter is blind to the moral majesty (holiness) of God. T or F N. The love of God STARTS with our affections perceiving the excellence of God’s nature. In the false repenter, self interest will always be primary. T or F O. True believers are actually described as “partakers of the divine nature.” They have the Spirit of God forever united to their soul, literally communicating His holy nature in the saint. T or F (see 2 Pet 1:3, 4) P. Once we’ve repented of sin, we never need to repent of sin again. T or F Q. Ongoing repentance is absolutely necessary in the life of the true child of God. We could accurately define ongoing repentance as follows; it is the ongoing action of conforming and adjusting our affections and our will to the Word of God. T or F  R. False repentance takes pride in temporary “victory” over one sin. True repentance is God-ward, therefore true repentance is _________________, covering every area of the believer’s life. S. False repentance is ultimately the sinner’s attempt to “manage” an accusing conscience. By contrast, true repentance is connected with taking delight in God’s nature, therefore true repentance is inseparable from loving God. Read Jude 21, then explain what it means to “keep yourselves in the love of God.” T. The false repenter keeps his heart’s affections for self. He or she is primarily concerned about “outward” sins. Read Isaiah 6:3-5. Concerning true repentance, comment as to why there is trauma in knowing the God of holiness. Read Psalm 139:23, 24. In true repentance, we know God’s holiness by Scripture AND secondarily by experience -- describe the Psalmist’s willingness to have God’s holiness intrude upon his heart (Ps 139:23, 24). Why is the Psalmist’s attitude a mark of true repentance?