Salvation Assurances 4

Chuckle: A Texas cowboy bought a Dachshund when someone told him to "get a long little dogie!"

Good Quote: "Three things we can all do today; Pause a moment to pray, Be a friend both tried and true, And find some good thing we can do." --William A. Ward

DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE WITHIN ME?

"And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. . . . All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God" (I John 4:13 NLT).

To this point, we have seen some indicators that give us assurance of our salvation. They include (1) obeying God's commands (I John 1:3), (2) not having a desire to sin (I John 3:6), and (3) loving one another as Christ loves us (I John 3:14). Today, we see a fourth indicator that our salvation is certain -- the Holy Spirit within us. Jesus told his disciples, and us, that the Holy Spirit "lives with you and later will be in you" (John 14:17 NLT). Those in Christ know they live in God and He lives in them because of this gift. We are the ones who bear witness that God sent Jesus Christ as the world's Savior and who confess that Jesus is the Son of God.

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live 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" (I John 3:23-24 NIV).

The apostle Paul sheds some more light on the subject of the Spirit within us. "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9 NIV). Paul is very blunt. If we don't have the Holy Spirit, we do not know Christ as Savior.

If you continue to worry about whether or not you have really been saved and are a Christian, but you can answer "yes" to the following question, you can put your mind at ease. Have you sincerely trusted Jesus Christ for your salvation and acknowledged him as the Lord of your life? If you can say "yes," then the Holy Spirit lives within you and your belong to God and your salvation is assured. It is the presence of God's Spirit that gives you the strength to obey his commands, to avoid yielding to sin, and to love your brothers and sisters as Jesus loves you. The Holy Spirit within you helps you to act and think as a fully devoted follower of Christ should. The Holy Spirit seals your eternal relationship with God.

"The trucking industry has an interesting illustration of the sealing of the Spirit. For certain types of loads, when a truck is fully loaded and ready for its run, a plastic seal is put around the lock on the door. This seal cannot be broken before the truck reaches its destination without the penalty of loss of one's job. This is similar to the sealing of the Spirit. The seal of the Spirit cannot be broken before the Christian reaches his or her heavenly destination. It is our guarantee of reaching God's destination for us."

Love, Jerry & Dotse