The New Life

i
XXXVIII.
ASSURANCE OF FAITH.
" Ivooking unto the promise of God, Abraham wavered not
through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory
to God, and being fully assured that, what He had promised, He
was able also to perform."— Rom. iv. 20, 21.
" My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the
tongue ; but in deed and truth. Hereby shall we know that we
are of the truth, and shall a.ssure our heart before Him."—
John iii. 18, 19.
"And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit
which He gave us."— i John iii. 24.
EVERY
child of God has need of the assurance of
faith : the full certitude of faith that the Lord
has received him and made him His child. The
Holy Scripture always speaks to Christians as those
that know that they are redeemed, that they are now
children of God, and that they have received eternal
life.^ How, pray, can a child love or serve his father,
while he is uncertain whether his father will really
acknowledge him as a child? We have already
spoken on this point in a previous chapter; but
oftentimes by ignorance or distrust a Christian again
comes into darkness : for this reason we will now
deal with it once again of set purpose.
Scripture names three things by which we have our
I Deut. xxvi. 27, 28 ; Isa. xliv. 5 ;
Gal. iv. 7 ; i John v. 12.
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