1 John 3:18-21, My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. NKJV
In Jeremiah, the Lord tells us that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and in Proverbs, we're instructed to place our trust in the Lord, lean not unto our own understanding, but acknowledge Him in all our ways. As Christians, we must be careful not to listen to our hearts, especially when it tells us to do something that is contrary to the Word of God. The Bible is our moral and spiritual compass and thermometer. Even though we have the Bible to go to in times of trouble, temptation, and testing, we must also rely upon the Holy Spirit to direct our paths.
Without the witness of the Holy Spirit to direct us with the Word of God, we would have to resort to listening to and depending upon our own hearts which can lead us down a wrong path. One of the ways I see that Christians must learn to listen and depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit is with their salvation. You've probably seen people who regularly answer the altar call for sinners as if they had never been saved before. When you ask them if they have ever prayed the prayer of repentance, most of the time, they will answer, "Yes, many times, but I'm just not sure I'm saved."
The Apostle John gives us the reason why this occurs in the hearts of Christians. We must obey the Word of God in action and not in word only. If we love the Word of God by keeping it in our daily lives, and we still doubt our soul's salvation, it's only our hearts condemning us, and we must, through faith, overcome our hearts. Paul tells us, in Romans 8, that the Holy Spirit will bear witness with our spirit that we are a child of God. We're not instructed to listen to what our hearts tell us or how our emotions make us feel, but, by faith, we are to trust the voice of God within us.
If what I am writing describes your personal struggles with faith... in believing that you're a child of God... then just do what John tells us: Obey the Word in our life and look unto God who is greater than the condemnation of our own hearts. He knows all things, and we are to place complete trust in Him and not in ourselves. Only believe, and you will be free from the fear or doubt of whether you're really saved or not.
By Grace through Faith I'm Saved,
Pastor Asa
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