WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. The direct testimony of the Holy Spirit to true believers as to
their acceptance with God and their adoption into the divine household.
Scriptural. The two classic passages upon which this doctrine is especially based are
Rom. 8:16; Gal. 4:6. It is, however, argued that just as Christ in His visible ministry not only
forgave sins but also announced to penitent sinners their forgiveness, so it is one of the
offices of the Holy Spirit still to proclaim directly to those who are pardoned the fact of their
pardon. Also this view is confirmed by other representations than those named in the
Scriptures of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit (see Rom. 8:1–2; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph.
1:13; 4:30). The Holy Spirit is “the spirit of adoption.” It is because He speaks within us that
we are able to cry, “Abba! Father,” are consciously free from condemnation, and are “sealed”
in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Rom. 8:15; Eph. 1:13).
Theological Suggestions. The fact to which the witness of the Spirit particularly relates is
that of the gracious change in the relation of the pardoned sinner to God. He is no longer
guilty and “an alien” but forgiven, and by adoption a child of God. The one point upon which
the Scriptures lay emphasis is that the Spirit’s witness is to the fact of adoption, connected, of
course, with justification and regeneration.
The witness of our own spirit is to be distinguished from the witness of the Holy Spirit. In
Rom. 8:16 the word used is summartureō, which means two or more witnesses jointly, yet
distinctly, giving testimony to the same fact. And two witnesses are mentioned here, the spirit
of the man himself and the Spirit of God.
The witness of our own spirit is indirect in the sense
that it is based upon a comparison of the facts of our spiritual life and experiences with the
representations and requirements of the Scriptures. We know whether or not we have truly
repented and believed in Christ and whether we have peace and joy and love and the spirit of
obedience (see 5:1; 8:1–14; 1 John 2:29; 3:14, 19, 21; 4:7).
But the witness of the Spirit is
beyond this, though associated with it. As Wesley says, “The testimony of the Spirit is an
inward impression on the souls of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to
their spirit that they are ‘children of God,’” and further, “There is in every believer both the
testimony of God’s Spirit and the testimony of his own that he is a child of God.” This direct
and distinct witness of the Spirit is frequently merged into and confused with the witness of
our own spirit, as notably by Chalmers (Lectures on Rom., p. 202), where he reduces the
work of the Spirit to the engraving upon us the lineaments of a living epistle of Jesus Christ,
and tells us in the epistle of a written revelation what these lineaments are.
But this is in
opposition to a fair exegesis of Rom. 8:16, where the idea of two joint yet distinct testimonies
appear.
The witness of the Spirit is to be regarded as a sequence to or reward of saving faith and
not the basis of such faith or a necessary element therein. Wesleyan writers, and Wesley
himself, have not always been sufficiently clear upon this point. At times Wesley
distinguishes most clearly between “justifying faith and a sense of pardon,” and adds, “How
can a sense of pardon be the condition of our receiving it?” (Works, 12:109–10).
But
elsewhere (Sermons, 10:8–9) he argues that “we cannot love God till we know he loves us;
and we cannot know his pardoning love to us till his Spirit witnesses to our spirit.”
He is
seeking to prove here that the witness of the Spirit must precede the witness of our own spirit.
But in seeking this he goes too far, making the witness of the Spirit the basis of our faith and an essential element therein. It is of the greatest importance to understand that saving faith is
simply complete reliance of the penitent soul upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ, as
offered in His Word, and that the witness of the Spirit comes in God’s own time and way to
those who do thus truly repent and believe.
The Spirit’s witness is a great boon offered to all
believers, and none should rest without it. But there are ways of directly seeking it that
involve not faith but unbelief and disparagement of the sure promises of God as contained in
His Holy Word.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. W. Hodge, Princeton Theological Review 11 (1913): 41–84; B. L. Ramm,
The Witness of the Spirit (1960).
I hope this is readable, if not let me know...for those who are struggling with this question.
their acceptance with God and their adoption into the divine household.
Scriptural. The two classic passages upon which this doctrine is especially based are
Rom. 8:16; Gal. 4:6. It is, however, argued that just as Christ in His visible ministry not only
forgave sins but also announced to penitent sinners their forgiveness, so it is one of the
offices of the Holy Spirit still to proclaim directly to those who are pardoned the fact of their
pardon. Also this view is confirmed by other representations than those named in the
Scriptures of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit (see Rom. 8:1–2; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph.
1:13; 4:30). The Holy Spirit is “the spirit of adoption.” It is because He speaks within us that
we are able to cry, “Abba! Father,” are consciously free from condemnation, and are “sealed”
in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Rom. 8:15; Eph. 1:13).
Theological Suggestions. The fact to which the witness of the Spirit particularly relates is
that of the gracious change in the relation of the pardoned sinner to God. He is no longer
guilty and “an alien” but forgiven, and by adoption a child of God. The one point upon which
the Scriptures lay emphasis is that the Spirit’s witness is to the fact of adoption, connected, of
course, with justification and regeneration.
The witness of our own spirit is to be distinguished from the witness of the Holy Spirit. In
Rom. 8:16 the word used is summartureō, which means two or more witnesses jointly, yet
distinctly, giving testimony to the same fact. And two witnesses are mentioned here, the spirit
of the man himself and the Spirit of God.
The witness of our own spirit is indirect in the sense
that it is based upon a comparison of the facts of our spiritual life and experiences with the
representations and requirements of the Scriptures. We know whether or not we have truly
repented and believed in Christ and whether we have peace and joy and love and the spirit of
obedience (see 5:1; 8:1–14; 1 John 2:29; 3:14, 19, 21; 4:7).
But the witness of the Spirit is
beyond this, though associated with it. As Wesley says, “The testimony of the Spirit is an
inward impression on the souls of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to
their spirit that they are ‘children of God,’” and further, “There is in every believer both the
testimony of God’s Spirit and the testimony of his own that he is a child of God.” This direct
and distinct witness of the Spirit is frequently merged into and confused with the witness of
our own spirit, as notably by Chalmers (Lectures on Rom., p. 202), where he reduces the
work of the Spirit to the engraving upon us the lineaments of a living epistle of Jesus Christ,
and tells us in the epistle of a written revelation what these lineaments are.
But this is in
opposition to a fair exegesis of Rom. 8:16, where the idea of two joint yet distinct testimonies
appear.
The witness of the Spirit is to be regarded as a sequence to or reward of saving faith and
not the basis of such faith or a necessary element therein. Wesleyan writers, and Wesley
himself, have not always been sufficiently clear upon this point. At times Wesley
distinguishes most clearly between “justifying faith and a sense of pardon,” and adds, “How
can a sense of pardon be the condition of our receiving it?” (Works, 12:109–10).
But
elsewhere (Sermons, 10:8–9) he argues that “we cannot love God till we know he loves us;
and we cannot know his pardoning love to us till his Spirit witnesses to our spirit.”
He is
seeking to prove here that the witness of the Spirit must precede the witness of our own spirit.
But in seeking this he goes too far, making the witness of the Spirit the basis of our faith and an essential element therein. It is of the greatest importance to understand that saving faith is
simply complete reliance of the penitent soul upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ, as
offered in His Word, and that the witness of the Spirit comes in God’s own time and way to
those who do thus truly repent and believe.
The Spirit’s witness is a great boon offered to all
believers, and none should rest without it. But there are ways of directly seeking it that
involve not faith but unbelief and disparagement of the sure promises of God as contained in
His Holy Word.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. W. Hodge, Princeton Theological Review 11 (1913): 41–84; B. L. Ramm,
The Witness of the Spirit (1960).
I hope this is readable, if not let me know...for those who are struggling with this question.
