The Assurance of Salvation or How Do We Know If We Are Born Again 07202022

Contents (1) God Said So; (2) We See the Spiritual Fruit; (3) We Heard God and Know in Our Souls That We Are Saved 1 (1) Objective Assurance in God's Nature and Word (What Fundamentalists Often Emphasize) 1 (2) Observational Knowledge (What Holiness and Piety Churches Emphasizes) 2 (a) "Salvation, Then Fruits"- "Not Works of Fruit, then Salvation as a Reward": 3 (b) The Human Spirit and the Holy Spirit are Two Distinct Entities or Types 3 (c) The False Metaphor of the Scales of Life, Morality, and Salvation 5 (3) The Tertiary Assurance (Hearing the Voice of God) that Many Seek 6 (4) Recap: Conclusion 7 Appendix 9 (1) God Said So; (2) We See the Spiritual Fruit; (3) We Heard God and Know in Our Souls That We Are Saved (1) Objective Assurance in God's Nature and Word (What Fundamentalists Often Emphasize) In a real sense, we know that we (1) are born again or from above, (2) have been reconciled to God and to others, (3) have been washed in the Blood and forgiven, (4) have been adopted as a child of God, and (5) have been granted citizenship in the kingdom of God by simply following the directions or commands of God. If God has prescribed a plan of salvation and a way of receiving salvation, reconciliation, forgiveness, adoption, and citizenship, then we can trust God and declared ourselves saved, reconciled, forgiven, adopted, and naturalized when we do what God has commanded us to do. We know this is true and has happened because God's Word and Promises are true and stand forever. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Num. 23:19). Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed, because we can trust God to do what he promised. (Hebrew 10:23-NCV). (Pink, p. 60) The Bible tells us the What of Salvation and What that Assurance consists of or is based upon-God's Word or Promise. The Bible defines What salvation is. It also tells us How Salvation is obtained; it tells us the means and methods of Salvation (by Christ Alone, through Grace Alone, by Faith Alone). It tells us Who did the What of Salvation and When objectively (what God and Christ have done through Christ's life, death, resurrection, and continuing priestly activities in the heavenly realm as high priest and advocate) and Who and How humans are to respond When and Where subjectively to God's objective gift (What we must do supernaturally aided by the Holy Spirit by Grace to cooperate with God using our free wills, e.g., believe, confess, repent, etc.). And the Bible tells us the Why of Salvation and the Why's, When, Where, and How to use the various offices, gifts, and tools God has given us to grow more like Christ and to live like Christ. Most of the time we concentrate our Bible Study on the What and not on the "when, where, how, why, and who." If we do the what, when, where, how, and with the correct why or motive and attitude that the Bible defines and describes, then we are saved. More on this below. (2) Observational Knowledge (What Holiness and Piety Churches Emphasizes) In another sense, God's salvation, adoption, and reconciliation produces what God says it produces: righteousness and sanctification. Consequently, because of God's word, God has given finite humanity a way of judging--not whether an individual is saved or not saved, but--rather an individual's character demonstrates a level of maturity or fruitfulness in relationship to and in comparison with God's character as revealed in Scriptures, especially what we call the fruit (singular) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Scriptures give us plenty of proofs that God wants us to examine ourselves and each other to discriminate and to judge rightly (or discern) whether someone is living correctly and teaching and preaching correctly. (See for example, Matthew 7:15-27; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; 1 Timothy 1:3-8 and 4:1-8; 2 Peter 1:16-2:3; 2 Peter 3:1-4, 17-18; and 1 John 4:1-6.) Galatians 5:22-23 lays out the visible evidence that someone has been born again. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells will increasingly demonstrate spiritual fruit in their lives as the Holy Spirit continues His sanctifying work within them. When God's people are not characterized by the fruits of His Spirit, the need for revival is unmistakable. A natural result of abiding in Christ is joy (John 15:11). Christians who have no joy must understand that their hearts have wandered from God. Many accounts of revival testify that worship services were previously joyless. However, when God's people are revived, they experience a new and deeper quality of joy. The singing and praying become characterized by irrepressible gladness. Worship songs are composed to express the newfound joy God has brought. A witness of the Welsh Revival observed of those who had been revived "they have enjoyed more happiness in one hour of communion with God, than they had during many years of wasteful life." (Blackaby, et al., p. 62) (a) "Salvation, Adoption, and Citizenship and Then the Fruits"- "Not Works of Fruit, then Salvation as a Reward": The Fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of having the Holy Spirit dwelling within the individual. Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no real (as opposed to false or pseudo) Spiritual fruit.1 The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within individuals as a consequence of individuals receiving the gift of salvation (Matthews 3:11; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-8, 2:37-39) and is the seal and guarantee (Galatians 2:21-22). Those without the Holy Spirit are, therefore, without the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that they cannot manifest human fruits of discipline-patience, mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, etc. It just means that the fruits manifested by such human efforts pale in comparison to the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces. The first is finite, time-bound, and environmentally conditioned while the latter is infinite, timeless, and free because it flows out of God's character. Second, this also does not mean that we all manifest the same level of maturity if we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Some of us are like grape vines that produce grapes after only one season; some of us are like apple trees that bloom and produce fruit after they are three years old; and finally, others of us are like macadamia trees that bloom only after seven years have passed so that they produce mature, harvestable fruit. Just like different species of mammals have different gestation and maturation periods, so too do human individuals have different gestation and maturation periods in the Lord. We are individuals; and as individuals, the Holy Spirit grows us to maturity as the Holy Spirit sees fit. The Holy Spirit knows what types of individuals we are, how best to mature and nurture us, and chooses when and how the fruit of Itself (the fruit of the Holy Spirit) manifests and bloom. This does not mean that we can not stifle our own growth and allow the weeds and thorns of life to choke out the life-giving nutrients, block the Son-light of truth, and reject the gentle grace-filled rains of disciplines. God wants our willing and grateful cooperation in our own growth into Christlikeness. Some of us will have stunted and delayed growth! (b) The Human Spirit and the Holy Spirit are Two Distinct Entities or Types Some people believe that the spirit that the Bible speaks as residing within them before receiving salvation is also divine and, therefore, is also capable of producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. They believe that the divine spark or spirit that resides in all humanity--as the result of being made in the image of God and/or as the result of God breathing into humanity life (or the animating force) --is the same entity as the Holy Spirit. But this is not what the Bible teaches. The meaning of spirit (ruah in Hebrew) must be determined by its usage. There is not one lexical meaning that extends across various contexts, but several meanings. It can mean (a) the "breath" or "animating force" within all living creatures and plants given by God"; (b) the physical breath of animals and humans as they breathe and exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide"; (c) the natural climatological feature known as "wind"; (d) "the emotional and intellectual faculty of humanity"; (e) the essence of the whole Godhead (e.g., Psalm 139:7-10; Isaiah 30:1; John 14:17); and (f) finally simply one of the persons of the Godhead individually: that is, the third person as in "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit". One must determine the usage of ruah, or spirit based on the context to determine if the writer meant (a) or (b) or (c), etc. According to the Strong's Concordance, the Authorized Version (KJV) translates this term in the following ways: "[Divine] Spirit or [animal or human] spirit" 232 times; "wind" 92 times; "breath" 27 times; "side" six times; "mind" five times; "blast" four times; "vain" twice; "air" once; "anger" once; "cool" once; "courage" once; and translated miscellaneously six times.2 Nowhere in Scripture is the spirit that dwells within humanity equated with being the same entity (or even a part of the same entity) as the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. We are like God or god-like in our image, but we are not God. What we receive is a "created spirit" that is given to us and/or created by God and bestowed upon us; this created and bestowed "spirit" is corruptible, sinful, impure, and under our own human control. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is incorruptible, pure, holy, uncreated, infinite, and without sin. The Holy Spirit is a free, volitionally aware entity that cannot be controlled. Consequently, the Holy Spirit is not a thing or object; he is not a divine power to be used or misused or a supernatural force to be manipulated. As part of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit instead controls, directs and rules; it is not ruled, controlled, or directed by us. The Holy Spirit comes to live within or dwell within individuals after they have received salvation as a free gift-not before. Consequently, the Holy Spirit and the billions upon billions of human spirits are different entities and essences: the one is divine, infinite, immortal, and uncreated; the many are non-divine, finite, mortal, and created. We know that human beings are finite and mortal because Adam and Eve were barred from the garden so that they might not eat from the tree of life and live forever, and because, in the new heaven and new earth, the redeemed must eat from the 12 trees of life and drink from the river of life through which God grants immortality. For humans to live eternally, they must partake on a regular basis of the fruit from the trees of life and drink from the river of life. Both the "metaphoric and actual partaking" viewpoints or interpretations lead to the same interpretation, that is there is a finite limitation regarding humanity even in humanity's resurrected state. They must partake of immortality in Revelation's language or put on immortality or be newly clothed with immortality to use Paul's language. In both, immortality is an inherent or genetic potentiality, not an inherent or genetic self-actuality. We aren't immortal without God's continual divine intervention. We may inherently have the potential to live forever, but that potentiality is not realized unless something external to and outside of our power and bodies (we will still have finite bodies) is provided and given to us by the infinite: the waters of life, the fruit from the tree of life, the Holy Spirit dwelling within, the presence of the Godhead, or some combination of these and others. We are finite entities who God has granted the potentiality to live forever in, via, through, by, and with God's Presence and Grace. This is the conclusion no matter how the verses are interpreted-actual and literal or metaphoric and symbolic. (c) The False Metaphor of the Scales of Life, Morality, and Salvation The Bible, Paul, and the Reformers got it right by saying, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "There is none who is righteous, not one" (Romans 3:10). This means that no one can earn salvation or earn righteousness by doing charitable deeds or good works--not you, not me, no one. What is God's punishment for sinning one time in word, deed, action, or thought? It is eternal damnation for "the wages of sin are" death and the second death (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20: 6, 14 and 21:8, 11). Consequently, there is no need for a scale of justice or morality because we have all failed, fallen short, and are condemned. Many people think that salvation is an award for doing the right thing(s); they unconsciously or consciously think that salvation is metaphorically awarded based on some type of moral scale or balance. Such persons think that if they do enough good things, they can gain acceptance and love, and can even earn salvation. If their charitable deeds out weight their bad deeds, then they win and earn salvation. However, the Bible declares that every bad deed automatically consigns that person to the Lake of Fire and condemnation. God has an absolute standard, not a relative one as implied using a scale metaphor. While an absolute standard of righteousness, morality, and holiness is not a measure that humanity may choose for itself, it is, nevertheless, the standard that God chooses. Our standards are relative; God's standard is absolute. (3) The Tertiary Assurance (Hearing the Voice of God) that Many Seek [Jesus said,] I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. So, I sacrifice my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have . . .. They will listen to my voice, and there shall be one folk with one shepherd (John 10:14-16). There is a third way of knowing, but it is tertiary. It is the subjective, personal, and experiential knowing or knowledge of God's acceptance and salvation. This is not a feeling or emotional knowing, but a relational and subjective experience of God's heart and mind. This is based not on how we feel about ourselves, but based on how the "Other," how God, feels about us and communicates His feelings and judgment about us to us in an intimate way. We are the passive recipients of this knowledge, not its active author. It comes from beyond and outside of our hearts but is received and felt and known through our hearts. It is a relational, knowledge, produced by the Holy Spirit through one's interaction and growth in God. People often confuse an emotional feeling with an experiential, relational knowledge borne by the Spirit and the Spirit's sanctifying work. Hence, when their feelings of God's acceptance change, they feel abandoned by God. Or when they lack an emotional intensity or relational intensity with God and God's presence, they question their salvation. They are like "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about" (Eph. 4:14) by their feelings and emotions. This third way of the assurance of salvation is not feelings or emotion based. Individuals should not use their subjective emotional responses or feelings as a guide for their assurance of salvation. To make sure individuals are using this third way and not their subjective feelings or emotions, they should always make this third way of knowing subject primarily to the word of God (i.e., objective assurance) and secondarily to the observational knowledge of assurance. Using the first two ways properly involves learning how to do academic, critical, and scholarly types of Bible Studies: exegetical, thematic, and topical. (The differences between informational Bible Studies (academic and scholarly types of Bible Studies) and relational and contemplative Bible Studies will be discussed below in the appendix.) If our feelings and our subjective knowledge do not align with Scripture and the God (the character of God) revealed in Scripture, then our subjective knowledge must be suspect-we are deceiving ourselves or mistaken. This third way of knowing God and knowing that we have the Assurance of Salvation often involves what is called "Lectio Divina." It involves learning how to meet God in Scripture by reading a text of Scripture, meditating on the same, praying and confessing our sins of omission and commission while also glorifying and thanking God for God's Goodness, Grace, and Forgiveness and praising God for who God is, and then contemplatively waiting on and hearing God speak to us through those Scriptures and prayers. For more on having an orthodox and healthy third form of assurance of salvation, see the following: a. Willard, Dallas. 2012. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. b. Willard, Dallas, and Jan Johnson. 2021. Hearing God Bible Study. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. c. Blackaby, Henry T., Richard Blackaby, and Claude V. King. 2008. Experiencing God. Nashville, TN: B&H Books. d. Wolgemuth DeMoss, Nancy, and Tim Grissom. 2019. Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival. Chicago: Moody Publishers. e. Willard, Dallas. 2007. The Spirit of the Discipline: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. f. Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, g. Galli, and Bell's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Prayer, and h. Piper, John. 2003. Desiring God. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers. i. Johnson, Jan. 2016. Meeting God in Scripture: A Hands-On Guide to Lectio Divina Each of the above will strengthen our ability to hear and respond to God in Scripture, in Life, and in Prayer and to enter a deeper and more satisfying relationship with God. The by-product (as opposed to the end goal or intentional purpose for pursuing a relationship with God) is a subjective experience of God's Heart, Will, and Desire (of God's hearts calling and speaking to our hearts). It is the subjective experience of one's safety and worth and security of salvation being found objectively in God's Heart, Will, and Desire. This third way of knowing the assurance of salvation is to strengthen through the spiritual disciplines that help us develop our spiritual ears to hear the voice of God and to develop the spiritual muscles to do the will of God. The Spiritual Disciplines help us to open the deepest recesses of our heart to hear God's whispers, to see God move around us, and to empower us to respond proactively to His movement and direction. We are to hear, know, and respond to the voice of God like sheep respond to their Good Shepherd. (4) Recap: Conclusion To recap! We know that we are saved because God said so-because God promised that if we follow his Gospel prescription ( that is (1) acknowledging and confessing our guilt (our wrongdoing and sin), (2) asking God for forgiveness for those sins, (3) turning away from our sins and from our self-willed life (repentance), and (4) following God as our Lord (Absolute King, Ruler and Master of our life) now and forever), then God will forgive and save us at that very same moment. This is "objective assurance" or objective trust in God. We also know that after we are saved God requires us to undergo a secondary process called transformation (or sanctification). This sanctification or transformation process is God's way to continually grow our characters into Christ's character or likeness, which serves as our definition of maturity. This transformation is a supernatural gift and a spiritual process made possible by the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside of us and by the gifts of grace and the means of grace listed in the Bible. Transformation and sanctification are a supernatural inside-out maturation process that transforms us into a more Christ-like state. The transformation is not an event or a happening; it does not happen overnight. It is instead a developmental process more like a journey. Being saved and forgiven are momentary and singular events; being transformed (also known as sanctification or perfection) is a lifelong, maturation process. It involves a lifetime of growth. It is visible as the "Fruit" of the Holy Spirit. A person's character is considered mature when it reflects all the characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit as written about in Galatians 5. This is observation knowledge of sanctification and, therefore, salvation. The third and final way includes the gifts of the Spiritual disciplines and involves the direct work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit leads us in the spiritual disciplines (Bible Reading, Meditation, Prayer, Mentorship, Discipleship, Works of Service, Gifting, etc.) to know God more deeply, broadly, and fully. These disciplines and the grace and power worked through us and in us by the Holy Spirit, develop our spiritual eyes to see God move in our lives and in the lives of others. They help us develop more mature spiritual ears to hear God's thundering or God's whispering in noisy, tumultuous places, events, and environments, in quiet devotional times, and in peaceful or deadening silence. These experiences, while they may be the most meaningful, must, however, never be the primary means by which we hear, see, or judge what is the will of God or whether we are saved. Our firsthand experiences must be tertiary. God's Word (the Bible) must be primary and the fruit of one's preaching, action, and behavior, secondary. If either (a) our subjective experiences and personal illuminations from "God" or (b) our thoughts and views and actions and behaviors do not line up with the Word of God, they are suspect and must be abandoned as being a finite, subjective experience rather than the results of the illuminating result of the Holy Spirit. Appendix Someone may ask two different, follow-up questions. These will lead to different Bible Studies and must be addressed differently. (1) The first question is "How do we know that the Bible is authentic-that the text hasn't been corrupted?" This requires individuals to study the following: The Textual and Historical Reliability of the Old and New Testament from an Academic Perspective. Given the number and the ancient copies of the Bible, if any ancient to medieval, historical documents can be authenticated and trusted, the Biblical texts have the greatest text-critical foundation or warrant and the greatest historical and archaeological warrants of any ancient textual artifacts. a. Kitchen, K. A. 2006. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans P. b. Bruce, F. F. 2003. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans P. c. Evans, Craig A. 2014. NT308 The Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts. Logos Mobile Education. Bellingham, WA: Lexham P. d. Wegner, Paul D. 2006. A Student's Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods, and Results. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity P. (2) The second question is "Even if the text is reliable and historically authenticated, how do we know the text is divinely authoritative and inspired?" This is a theological question that goes beyond the text-critical and historical aspects. One must first establish the text-critical and historical reliability of Scripture using the resources above. If the person doesn't really want the above question settled before moving on to this second question, he or she or "they" will most likely cycle back to the text reliability and fail to see that they are mixing up textual and historical reliability of the Scriptures (the first question) with the theological question of the authority and inspiration of Scripture (the second question) and possibly the third question regarding proper exegesis or hermeneutics, that is, interpretation and interpretive methods. (See third question below.) For the second question on the "authority and/or inspiration of Scripture," the following resources will help the students discern with the help of the Holy Spirit and an open mind and heart why Christians consider the Bible as authoritative and "God-breathed." a. Achtemeier, P. J. 1998. Inspiration and Authority: Nature and Function of Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Baker Academic. b. Bruce, F. F. 1988. The Canon of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. c. McDowell, Josh. 2015. God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture. Uhrichsville, OH: Shiloh Run Press. d. Sproul, R. C. 2017. Can I Trust the Bible?, vol.2. The Crucial Questions Series. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust: A Division of Ligonier Ministries. e. McDowell, Josh, and Sean McDowell. 2017. Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World. Nashville: Thomas Nelson P. f. Wright. N.T. 2005. Scripture and the Authority of God. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. g. Bloesch, Donald G. 1994. Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration, and Interpretation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity P. h. Parks, Jimmy. 2021. Messianic Prophecy in the Bible. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife. i. Rydelnik, Michael, and Edwin Blum. 2019. The Moody handbook of Messianic Prophecy. Chicago: Moody Pub. j. Brown, Michael L. 2003. Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Messianic Prophecy Objections-Volume Three. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Pub. (3) The third question is "why are there so many different interpretations and doctrines and how can I know which one is correct?" This must be answered by examining the process and methods of knowing. How do we know that a particular reading or interpretation is the correct one various one of the other readings or interpretations? What underlies this question is the how and why of interpretation. Is there a proper or right way to read and interpret Scripture? The individual may only know of one way to read Scripture. Consciously or unconsciously-explicitly or implicitly, the individual may have been taught a version of "Reader-Response Criticism." That all literature and all interpretations of literature is subjective. They may have been taught that literature only has meaning because each individual reader brings that meaning or interpretation to the text and that, therefore, nobody else's reading has more authority than one's own subjective reading of that literature. They may have been taught to read Scripture as they were taught to read fictional literature. Consequently, the author and the author's own purposes and interpretations are not more important or not more authentic than the reader's own subjective experiences and interpretations. The author's historical and cultural setting and that community's social, historical, and linguistic environment and circumstances are not necessary to have an authentic interpretation of the text; and they are not more important than one's own subjective understanding influenced by one's own historical, and cultural setting and social, historical, and linguistic environment. The disciple must introduce the academic, linguistic, and historical-critical reading of Scripture as opposed to a subjective, personal, or serendipitous reading of Scripture based on such "reader-response" or subjective methods of reading literature. Just as individuals would not privilege all individual readings of medical texts, mechanical, engineering, physics or science texts, or legal texts so too one should not privilege all individual readings of ancient, historical texts of which the Bible is one such text. Just as medical personnel are better at reading medical texts, equipment, and lab results than the average individual when making diagnoses and prescribing medical remediation, and just as lawyers are better at reading legal texts and prescribing legal remediation and remedies than the average individual, and just as mechanics are better at reading mechanical texts, diagnostic equipment, and assessing and remediating mechanical problems, so too are those who are properly trained in reading ancient, foreign, historical documents better at interpreting those documents and texts than the average individual. Fortunately, the average layperson can learn how to properly interpret the Bible if they are willing to learn the method and approach. The first approach is for information: the academic, critical, and scholarly approach to Bible Study. The first approach provides the guardrails for driving our interpretations. They are the Biblical fences that define what is within the pail or bucket of orthodoxy. Exegetical, Expository, and Topical Bible Studies are some of the informational approaches. These are only the beginning of Bible Study; they are not the end goal of Bible Study. They are informational and not relational. Informational Bible Study (i.e., the academic and scholarly approach to Bible study) can be done by the unconverted and the unsaved individual. Informational Bible studies are useful for showing us the cultural and personal limitations of our reading of Scripture. They help to keep our personal views and cultural expectations out of our interpretations of the Bible. They help us to see when we are eisegeting the Scriptures, that is pouring into Scripture our personal experiences and modern or contemporary cultural ideas, expectations, social roles, and perceptual and cognitive categories onto the readers and writers of the ancient foreign texts that we call the Old and New Testament. They show us what social and cultural expectations are historical and appropriate for the time and culture of the readers and writers. The end or goal of Bible Study for Christians, as opposed to non-Christians, is relational and contemplative. We come to and study the Bible to hear God speak to us and to aid us in our prayer or communication with God. We want to know God relationally and experientially through God's own revelation of God acting in and through history as recorded in the Scriptures, especially in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ-Immanuel, God with us. We also want to experientially know, see, hear, and respond to God through our conversation with God (i.e. through prayer) and in our interaction with God as we see, experience, and cooperate with God here and now as we walk step-by-step each day. After learning the first approach to Bible Study (the informational and academic), we must now learn how to read the Bible Relationally and Contemplatively. Some of us learned this relational, contemplative, and devotional approach to Bible Study implicitly as by osmosis and fewer still were explicitly taught how to do so using the resources listed above regarding the assurance of salvation, "(3) The Tertiary Assurance (Hearing the Voice of God)." a. Willard, Dallas. 2012. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. b. Willard, Dallas, and Jan Johnson. 2021. Hearing God Bible Study. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. c. Blackaby, Henry T., Richard Blackaby, and Claude V. King. 2008. Experiencing God. Nashville, TN: B&H Books. d. Wolgemuth DeMoss, Nancy, and Tim Grissom. 2019. Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival. Chicago: Moody Publishers. e. Willard, Dallas. 2007. The Spirit of the Discipline: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Westmont, IL: IVP Books. f. Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, g. Galli, and Bell's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Prayer, and h. Piper, John. 2003. Desiring God. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers. i. Johnson, Jan. 2016. Meeting God in Scripture: A Hands-On Guide to Lectio Divina The second approach includes the blending of informational Bible Study methods (exegetical, topical, thematic, expository, and inductive) with Lectio Divina (relational and contemplative Bible Study) where we allow God to speak to us through the Scripture by God's Grace through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. "Meeting God in Scripture moves us beyond merely understanding what the text meant in its original context to a direct spiritual encounter with Christ" (Jan Johnson, Meeting God in Scripture: A hands-On Guide to Lectio Divina). See the list above for relational and contemplative Bible Study. For Informational Bible Study choose the following: a. Zuck, Roy B. 1991. Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook. b. Bock, Darrell L. 2014. BI100 Learn to Study the Bible. Logos Mobile Education. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. c. Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. 1993. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. d. Water, Mark. 1998. Bible Study Made Easy. Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd. e. Barry, John D. et al., eds. 2014. DIY Bible Study. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. 1 There may be spiritual-like fruit produced by the will through the sheer will power of a human as has been done by Stoics and is currently practiced by Eastern religionists or work-righteous Christian individuals; however, these displays of outward virtues are not the results of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works from the inside-out to conform our hearts and minds to that of Christ and in so doing to transform our outward behaviors. (See Romans 12:1-8.) 2 Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Electronic Ed. (Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996). --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ The Assurance of Salvation or How Do We Know If We Are Born Again: The Evidence By Floyd Knight. Copyright (c) 2012; 2021. All Rights Reserved. 1