The Witness of the Spirit

I’d like to explain something called the witness of the Spirit. It’s very important that every disciple have this witness, so I want you to be clear what it is and how to have it.

The apostle Paul wrote, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” (Rom 8:16, MKJV)

The Spirit of God actually testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. But let’s not forget what the Scripture says in the next verse:

“And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.” (Rom 8:17, MKJV)

If the Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God, then you should expect to suffer with Christ. The Word says, “IF” we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.

Thank the Lord for the witness of the Holy Spirit! This is the blessed assurance that Fanny Crosby wrote about in her famous hymn by that title, describing it as “echoes of mercy, whispers of love.” It’s when you know that Jesus is yours and you are His. You know that you’ve been born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Therefore you are praising your Savior all the day long, perfectly submitted to Him and perfectly delighted to be so.  All is at rest between you and your Savior, and you’re happy and blessed. You are filled with His goodness and caught up in His love.  You spend your time watching and waiting for His return, looking above for that glorious day when He will come with power and great glory with all His holy angels with Him.

When some people are asked if they know where they would go if they would die today, they say they hope they would go to heaven. But when asked why they think so, they often say it’s because they are a good person who helps people. We cannot get to heaven by our own good works. (Eph 2:8-9).  Of course, we must do good works once we are saved, because we were created for this purpose. However, it’s by grace we are saved through faith, not by works. Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Only then can we do the good works we were created to do. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10).  But we don’t trust in our own good works to save us. We trust only in His blood, only in His cross, only in His mercy to save us.

Nevertheless, there are many ways you can know you are saved. I believe these are all part of the witness of the Spirit. John wrote about some of them:

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” (1Jn 3:14)

“But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;” (1Jn 3:17-21)

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1Jn 2:3)

“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1Jn 3:24)

“But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:” (1Jn 2:5)

“By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1Jn 4:13)

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.” (1Jn 5:2)

Putting it All Together
To summarize what John said, we can know we are children of God that abide in Christ and are in the truth if we love the brethren in deed and truth. That’s how we know we have passed out of death into life. We know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. We know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. We know that we will be glorified with Christ, if we suffer with Him. We know we abide in Him, because He has given us of His Spirit. That’s how you can have the blessed assurance, the witness of the Spirit. That’s how the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.  "Receiving the Spirit" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Main Directory for this blog, such as Baptized with the Spirit, Holy Fire Baptism, The Holy Spirit Speaks, The Holy Trinity, and The Spirit without Limit. I also recommend Faith Works!, Practicing Your Righteousness, Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, The Law of Christ, and Law of Love in the New Testament. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit -- What's the Difference?

We know from Scripture that there are nine gifts of the Spirit, which initially began to be given to the church on the day of Pentecost, and are initially given in the life of a believer when he or she is baptized in the Holy Spirit. We also know that there are nine fruit of the Spirit that are found in the life of a disciple who walks in the Spirit.  But what is the difference between the fruit and the gifts?

Gifts of the Spirit
The spiritual gifts are manifestations (1 Cor 12:7).  The Greek word for manifestations is phanerosis, which means a shining forth or showing forth. The Greek word for gift is charisma, which means a free gift, miraculous faculty, or divinely conferred endowment. Therefore, as the spiritual gifts are manifested, these divinely conferred, supernatural faculties are instantaneously shown forth in the believer's life like a flash of light.

The gifts are given for the common good (1 Cor 12:7). They can be divided into three types, which include: the speaking gifts (tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy), the knowing gifts (word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits) and the power gifts (faith, healing, miracles).  I'm not just listing these as if I only knew about them from a textbook, but I've been blessed to have seen them all in operation over the past three decades. And to anyone who thinks that the gifts ceased after the first century, I've got news for you, my friend.  They are still genuinely in operation today, just as they were in the early church.

The spiritual gifts are the work of one Spirit and He gives them as He determines (1 Cor 12:11). Depending on which part of the body we are, we each have different gifts (1 Cor 12:27).  These include apostles, prophets, teachers, workers of miracles, those with gifts of healing, those who help others, those with gifts of administration, those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

Some gifts are greater than others (1 Cor 12:31), so they are not all equal.  Prophecy builds up the church (1 Cor 14:3). Tongues will build up the person speaking in tongues (1 Cor 14:4). You need to build yourself up, especially during your personal prayer time with the Lord. But you should also fervently desire the greater gifts, so that you can build others up (1 Co 12:31).

The spiritual gifts are signs, which the Lord performs on the earth (Acts 2:17-19). They are evidence that the Holy Spirit has come upon us and given us power to be His witnesses (Ac 1:8). They are evidence that we have been filled with the Spirit (Ac 2:4).

And the gifts are not revoked once they are given (Rom 11:29). Once the Lord gives you a gift, he doesn’t take it back.  But the Word tells us that the spiritual gifts are only temporary in that they will one day all cease and be stilled (1 Cor 13:8-12). This is not true of the fruit, which we’ll examine next.

Culinary fruit. Picture by Bill Ebbesen

Fruit of the Spirit
First of all, the fruit of the Spirit are the Holy Spirit’s fruit found in the life of the believer.  They are not our own fruit or they would be called the "fruit of the disciple" instead of "fruit of the Spirit." 

We can do nothing without the Lord, and it is only as we remain in Him that we bear any fruit (Jn 15:5). The fruit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22,23).

The Greek word for fruit is karpos, which literally means the produce of a tree, plant; or animal (i.e., offspring or young). In a figurative sense it also means production or that which is produced, as in conduct or actions. That is the sense in which the word karpos is used by the apostle Paul in Galatians 5. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit are qualities that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives, which may be observed in our conduct, actions, words, attitudes, and demeanor.

If you’d like a way to summarize the fruit of the Spirit, here is how.  They are summed up in love, which sums up the whole law and the prophets (Gal 5:14). Love is the most excellent way (1 Cor 13:31). Love is proven true by its actions, not by feelings (1 Cor 13:4-7).

Jesus said we would know people by their fruits not their gifts (Mat 7:16-23). People will know we are Jesus’ disciples by our love (Jn 13:35). The fruit are evidence of godly character in a disciple’s life, because they can only grow out of a life that is dead to self and that lives by the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 24, 25).

Someone might mistakenly think that they need to produce the fruit of the Spirit in order to be saved, but that would not be correct.  The Scriptures say we are saved by grace and not by our works (Eph 2:8).  But once we are saved, we should produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Ultimately at the judgment, the test that will determine whether we truly know the Lord will be the fruit found in our lives (Matt 25:31-46).  Those who merely function in the gifts, but do not obey the commands of Jesus Christ, will be eternally separated from God (Mt 7:21-23).  It's the ones who hear the Word of God and act on it that will be able to stand in the judgment.

There is an eternal aspect to the fruit.  It never fades away or fails.  The fruit of faith, hope, and love will remain long after the gifts like prophecy and tongues have ceased (1 Co 13:8, 13). 

Side-by-Side Comparison
Let's take a look at the spiritual gifts and the fruit in a side-by-side comparison to better help us see the similarities and differences between them.

Gifts	Fruit
Non character-related (Mt 7:22-23)	Character-related (Mt 7:21)
Supernatural manifestation and work of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:7, 11)	Result of a godly life that remains connected to Christ, abiding in Him (Jn 15:4-5)
Miraculous faculty, or divinely conferred endowment.	Conduct, actions, words, attitudes, and demeanor that are produced
Distributed by the Spirit to each person as He determines (1 Cor 12:4, 11)	Produced by the Spirit in the life of the believer who has crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:22-24)
Most people don't have them all, but we each have different ones (1 Cor 12:27, 30)	Everyone should have all of them
For the common good (1 Cor 12:7)	For the glory of God (Mt 5:16)
For the purpose of edification, encouragement, and strengthening of others or self (1 Cor 14:3-5)	For the purpose of showing you are Christ's disciple (Jn 13:35; 15:8)
Signs and wonders that follow those who believe in Christ (1 Cor 14:22; Mk 16:17-18; Ac 2:17-19)	Not signs and wonders, but evidence that we are in Christ, that we have come to know Him, that we are disciples of His, that we have passed from death to life, that we have been born of God, that we know God, that we love God, that we belong to the truth. and that the Spirit of God is within us (Jn 13:35; 1 Cor 12:3; 1 Jn 2:2-5; 3:6, 14, 19; 4:7; 5:2-3)
Tools for ministry, not used to identify one as a true disciple	Evidence of your identity in Christ
Must eagerly desire them (1 Cor 14:1, 39)	Must produce them by living in the light, walking by the Spirit and being led by the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 18; 1 Jn 2:10; 2 Pet 1:5-11)
Visible, shining or showing forth (1 Cor 12:7)	Evident and observable (1 Jn 2:8; Mt 5:16)
Gifts "light upon" the believer who is Spirit-filled (Ac 2:3)	Come forth from a pure heart (Jam 3:10-12)
Empowerment received when the Holy Spirit comes upon you (Ac 1:8)	Enablement received when the Holy Spirit works within you
Will cease one day (1 Cor 13:8)	Will last forever (1 Cor 13:13)
Gifts are not revoked (Ro 11:29)	One can become unfruitful, if one does not remain in Christ (Jn 15:5)
One can operate in gifts and still not inherit the kingdom of God but perish (Mt 7:19, 22-23, 26-27; Gal 5:21; 1 Jn 3:6b; 2 Thes 2:9-12; 2 Cor 11:14)	Without the fruit, one cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, but will be cut off and thrown into the fire (Mt 7:21; Jn 15:2, 6; 1 Cor 13:1-3; 1 Jn 1:6; 2:4-6, 9; 3:7-10; 4:7-8, 21)

*Table above does not include ministries from Ephesians 4:8-11 and 1 Corinthians 12:5.

Putting it All Together
The spiritual gifts include: tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, healing, and miracles. Having the gifts manifested in our lives is not the ultimate test of discipleship  (1 Cor 12:31 – 1 Cor 13:1-3). 

So we know that a person has once been filled with the Holy Spirit by the gifts we see manifested in his life. But the way we know if someone is living his life by the Spirit is by observing the fruit in his life.  Those fruit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And while we should eagerly desire the greater gifts, so that we can build up the Body, we should be most concerned that we walk in the love of God.

The gifts are primarily tools that God has given us to stimulate faith in others and to minister to them.  However, in order to live your life in such a way that is pleasing to Him, you must bear fruit.

Without the fruit of love growing out of our hearts, everything else would be worthless. The fruit of faith, hope, and love will remain long after the gifts like prophecy, tongues and word of knowledge have ceased.

I'm thankful for the gifts of the Holy Spirit that He has manifested in my life, but even more thankful for the fruit.

Image credit: Culinary fruit. Picture by Bill Ebbesen. Courtesy Wikimedia.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend reading Fruit in Every Season, as well as the companion poem to that message written by my eighteen year old daughter Charity Lacroix, also called Fruit in Every Season (the poem). You are also invited to read my articles, Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work, The Gift of Speaking in Tongues, Have the Spiritual Gifts Ceased?, The Wardrobe of the Saints, Baptized with the Spirit, Ten Divine Expressions for Spirit Baptism, The River of God, Obedience by the Spirit, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Aim for Perfection, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, Being a Witness for Christ, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, and Covenant Prayer. You may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Main Directory for this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.