The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God

(Romans 8:16, NKJV).

 

I recently posted this quote on my Facebook page: “The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without Jesus.” I had quite a few responses, all positive except one. A man I don’t know responded that though he had once been a monk and had read the Bible through countless times, he did not believe that anyone could know for certain that God existed or that He cares for us.

That was one of the saddest statements I’ve ever heard, though he’s certainly not the first to voice it. But the minute I read it I began to pray that the Lord would give this man “ears to hear” and a heart to respond to the still, small voice of God, wooing and calling him to the Father’s heart. The most recent post from this man was that he would stop speaking and just listen to see if what I said about God is true. Of course, I’m believing that our faithful Lord will show him that it is.

Isn’t it an amazing thing that someone who once read the Scriptures regularly and had seemingly devoted his life to serving God could come away from that experience not knowing if God even exists? And yet the Bible is clear that without the Spirit of God living inside us it is impossible to know God intimately or to understand anything He says.

That’s why this verse in Romans 8 is so important. Once we have received Christ as Savior and His Spirit has come to dwell in us, how can we ever doubt His existence or His love for us? He lives inside of us, and He continually assures us that we belong to Him. We are His children, and He will never leave or abandon us. Regardless of what goes on around us, what difficulties we encounter or sufferings we endure, we KNOW that we KNOW that we KNOW that God is real, He loves us, and we belong to Him—forever. There is nothing anyone can say or do to convince us otherwise.

But just as surely as we know these things to be true, those who do not have the Spirit of God living in them cannot know or understand them. We can’t arm wrestle or argue anyone into the Kingdom, but we can pray that God will reveal Himself to them so they too can invite God’s Spirit to come and dwell inside them. When they do, all doubt will be gone, washed away by the blessed assurance that they belong to Him—forever and always.

Pray with me for Konrad and so many others like him, will you? Only God’s Spirit can bring the peace and assurance they need to know beyond doubt that they will never again experience the greatest tragedy of all—life without Jesus.