1Cor 1:2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
A saint is a person who has been called by God and who is now calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. Early in their Christian life, some saints may lose the feeling that they are saved. They may not feel that they have the divine life or the Holy Spirit. When I was young, I also sometimes lost this feeling. Not long after I was saved, I read John Bunyan's book Pilgrim's Progress. At one point, the pilgrim in that book loses his certificate. When I read this, I asked myself where my certificate was. It seemed that I was not able to find it. For several days I was troubled about this, and I was unable to eat well or sleep well. Then I read a book published by Brother Nee, The Assurance of Salvation. In this book Brother Nee says that in the Bible God clearly tells us that as long as we believe in Christ, we are saved. When I read this, I opened my Bible to John 3:16, knelt down, and said, "I want to testify to the heavens and the earth that I believe this verse. According to this verse in the Bible, I know that I have eternal life." Although I still had some doubts after that, eventually the strong feeling returned in me that I was in fact a child of God. This is what I mean by inward confirmation. As believers in Christ, we all have this confirmation. We are confirmed that we are children of God with the divine life and the Holy Spirit. As Paul says, we are not lacking in any gifts. We have seen that this means we possess the initial gifts--the divine life and the Holy Spirit. We all should be clear that we are truly saints. Can you deny the fact that you are a saint? You have been called by God, you are calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, and you have the inner confirmation that you possess the divine life and the Holy Spirit. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 22-23. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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