Romans 8:16 NIV
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
1 John 3:14a, 23-24 NIV
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other… 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
N.T. Wright points out that we “wouldn’t even be experiencing this inner condemnation unless there was the work of God’s Spirit (v.24), stirring us up to glimpse the life of love, even if that glimpse shows us how far we have fallen short.” We know that we are his children by the Spirit that lives in us. (Wright, N.T., The Letters of John, 2012)
Prayer: Lord, we praise you for this wonderful assurance of salvation that is not based on how we feel but upon the Spirit who lives inside of us, marking us as children of God. With confidence, we pray for our churches to display Christ’s sacrificial love for one another through the power of the Spirit that enables us to love like him.
Let’s worship the Lord in song with “By the grace of God” by Bethel (click here).
– MR
