Read: I John 3:18-22
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God (I John 3:21).
The Witness Of Sincerity
The assurance of full salvation is like a river with four tributary streams flowing into it: (1) the witness of our own honesty before God, (2) the witness of God’s promises, (3) the witness of the Holy Spirit, and (4) the testimony of a changed life.
The first source of assurance arises in our own spirits as we complete our consecration. A young man testified: “At that moment there came the peace of God that passeth all understanding. Quiet, but, oh, how sweet! I knew in my heart that I had said the last yes to all of God’s will.”
It is this experience — I knew in my heart that I had said the last yes” — that may be called the witness of sincerity. In this moment we have the witness of our hearts that every condition of consecration has been met. It is a long step toward assurance when with utter sincerity we can say, “I have met God’s requirements.”
An ignorant sincerity is not enough to fully satisfy God, but sincere obedience to the divine will is pleasing to Him. John tells us, “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” This certainty within our own spirits is a prelude to and joins with the witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul declares, “And when we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is this Spirit testifying along with our own spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16, Moffatt). When we are fully consecrated we can sing with Fanny Crosby:
Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Saviour am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.