3. WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND INNER PEACE

This is best for new convert and the inexperienced, even the spiritually matured believers can’t afford to live without this aspect of the Christian life as well.  It’s by this method, assured by the Word of God we know we have been forgiven and our sins blotted away in the Blood of Jesus Christ.

The Witness of the Holy Spirit and inner peace along with faith in the Word is the basis of our salvation. Hear what the Holy Spirit says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” – Romans 10:9-10.

That’s witness of The Holy Spirit and inner peace with assurance from the Word of God for as many that received Him.  John 1:12 say “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” How do I know I have received Him?  Simply by the witness of His Holy Spirit assuring me I’m now a son or daughter of the most high based on those scriptures.

The Spirit of God is the seal of our salvation and is given to every child of God in some measure at salvation. All children of God have the Holy Spirit inside of them, correcting, rebuking, comforting, directing and equipping each of us for service. If you have not His Spirit, it mean you don’t belong to Him. You are not born again

Romans 8:1; 9 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Notice the last statement in that passage of scripture “If you have not the Spirit of Christ, you are none of His.”

Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit Christians will go into error and unnecessary mistakes. The Psalmist knew this when he prayed in Psalms 51:10-12 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit”

There’s a joy that fill the heart with peace and tranquility that has nothing to do with happenings around you when the Holy Spirit dwell in you giving you assurance of His presence. This can’t be explain but those who have experienced it will understand what I’m saying. The Holy Spirit is your Guide as a believer,  the heart of man,  his mind and intellect are never to be trusted on their own but when under the control of the Holy Spirit, they can help affirm or otherwise His leading on any issue.

The Spirit of Christ in you will work with hearts that are subjected to His rules and commands to approve or condemn actions and thoughts of believers. “…for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed” – 1Sam. 2:3. How will God do this? The Holy Spirit will quicken (condemn or approve) believers actions through their hearts to agree or disagree with them.

1 John 3:20-21 “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”

If your heart condemn or disagree with you on an issue, it simply mean the Holy Spirit is not in support of it and if your heart agree or approve of your action it means the Holy Spirit is in support.  This however is only subject to hearts that are obedient to God and His commands, listening hearts that know the voice of the Good Shepherd. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” – John 10:27

These are hearts that have been tempered and modified by the washing of water of the Word.  

If your heart is not Word saturated and filled with grace, Witness of the Holy Spirit and inner peace cannot be effective for you. The human mind can be very deceptive and cannot be trusted. You can be in the middle of danger and your heart if not under the control of the Holy Spirit may not disapprove of what you are doing or warn you of danger. Even to mature believer, it takes conscious efforts, regular use of spiritual senses (Heb. 5:14) and consistent work with the Holy Spirit to understand His leading here too. Many people heart has deceived them into thinking they are being led by the Holy Spirit while they are not. And many were led but got confused thinking God was not in it.

The heart is very deceptive and erratic, the only way to keep it under control and subjection to the Lord is by deliberate and regular studying of the Word of God and prayers. The Word of God and prayers are the only things that can keep the heart under check, because your life depends on it. Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

You don’t have to dream about everything, you may not even dream at all, you may not have specific verse of scripture given you for a particular issue, others may not confirm it for you but be sure if your way please the Lord and your heart depend on Him truthfully, the Holy Spirit will whisper His approval or otherwise to you and your heart in agreement will give you peace of mind or lack of inner peace when God is not in it. But on issue of marriage, you will need the help of spiritually mature men and women on this method of hearing God or knowing His will.

For example, you may not dream or see vision, but you can simply fall in love with someone at first sight or overtime as friend or after some regular meetings and the Holy Spirit can approve or disprove by the inner peace or otherwise you have each time that person comes into your mind. But please if you go all alone in other issues based on this method, please when it comes to making choices on marriage, and don’t go all alone here. Share your story with other mature Christians who can see things differently than you do. Love can be very blind and blind love can give the heart false assurances or fears only for the eyes to be open when the deed has been done.

How can I be sure the Holy Spirit is leading me, does it mean I’m in the will of God every time I have peace of mind concerning any situation, especially in area of relationship?

This still takes us back to where we started from in part 1 of this topic.

Hebrews 5:14 – “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

If there is peace of mind, likely God is involved but sometimes this is not always the case. The heart of man can rejoice in iniquities at times, and you know God cannot be in iniquity. The heart can give false assurance or false alarm of fear where there is no reason to fear, it all subject to the situation that surround you at the moment in time and your past experiences. If you have been into abusive relationship before, or you witnessed a conflict ridden marriage between your parents or close family members, there is the tendency your heart will raise alarm each time you attempted a new relationship even when there is no immediate sign of dangers.

There is nothing wrong falling in love without direct directive from God through any of the methods we have discussed or any particular method at all and still be in the will of God if convinced through the help of God by the witness of the Holy Spirit you are in the right relationship, your heart bearing witness with you as well. There are examples of such in the Bible, Isaac loved and married Rebecca at first sight, Boaz loved and married Ruth without any dream or vision, they fell in love with each other, and yet God was in it.

First, all this being said,  please as I said earlier if you feel this way, talk to mature believers and compare notes with them, you can do this alone on other issues but not in marriage. Ruth came home and seek the counsel of Naomi, the mother-in-law, who is better place in spiritual experience and she was properly guided. Ruth 3:5-6 says this about Ruth “And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.  And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.”

That should be your story too. There is nothing to gain in being unnecessarily secretive about relationships, there should be some spiritually mature believers in your life you can’t afford to hide things from. Your pastor, if matured, should play key role in this aspect.

Second, ask yourself questions and find answers that will help you be sure Holy Spirit is actually leading you. Find this out from your past experiences with Him, study the pattern He has employ with you in the past and see if the pattern is similar in this case of relationship as well. God cannot be leading you through the witness of the Holy Spirit in a particular pattern before and now in marriage change His method or pattern, no, He’s not the author of confusion. If it’s Holy Spirit, there will be some degree of uniformity. You will only get that from past experience on the use of your spiritual senses.

Third, as already explained, seek counseling and help of mature believers.

Fourth, cross check the position of the Bible on it. Holy Spirit will not agree with you to marry someone you are not spiritually compatible with for example. Your heart may agree because you think you are in love but Holy Spirit will not. So your knowledge of the Word of God will come handy here. Psalms 119:130 “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

Fifth, do compatibility texts on it. Look at things you know you can cope with in marriage and things you can’t cope with, weigh the two and decide. If you are sincere God will show you things that will guide your decision. Don’t fall too much in love and ignore vital signs. They have ways of waiting for one in marriage. Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

Sixth, it is your decision. Whichever way it goes, with the help of God or not, the final decision on whoever you will marry is yours to make. If you adhere to these rules, they can help in great measure to help shape your decision but where they are ignore for any reason, the final outcome is entirely on you to decide.

May the Spirit of Christ guide your heart into His Will in Jesus Name. Amen