“How Can I Know For Sure?”: Romans 8:12-17

Have you ever gone through a period of “insecurity” in your faith, wondering if you really are a Christian? Or you wonder if you have somehow disqualified yourself from Christianity sometime along the journey of life? Or perhaps you have been considering becoming a Christin, but you have a fear of full commitment, not wanting to put your faith in the wrong thing?

Is there a way to know for sure that the faith I have is real? Can I know that Jesus will be reliable if I place my faith in him?

Paul addresses this with Christians in Rome who have been living with an internal dissonance between their old lives before Christ and their new lives in Christ. Paul says that there is no longer any reason to live the old life, that the power of the old life has been broken through Jesus. Paul says that the power of the destructive patterns, the selfishness, and the other sins in the lives of these new Christians has been broken. He also says that they can now live in the freedom of their new lives based on one thing — the power of the Holy Spirit living in them.

Then, Paul moves on from a discussion of the power of God over their sinful nature, to a discussion of their new status in Christ. Paul says all Christians are made daughters and sons of the most high God. They have been adopted into God’s family. While they still might be struggling with their sinful nature, their new identity is given to them as a son or daughter of God.

Finally, Paul says that because of this adoption, the Christian can be assured of their standing with God through an experience with the Holy Spirit. He says, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”

Imagine that! All of us were born as sinners, separated from God. But because of Jesus, our status has changed. This status is based on God’s declaration, not on our actions or feelings.

I know I have had times in life when I thought there was no way God could still love me, but I am thankful that my status in him has nothing to do with how I feel. It has everything to do with God’s promises to us in his word and through an experience with the Holy Spirit.

Are you feeling insecure in your faith these days? I would encourage you to listen to the sermon and to know that for all those who have placed their faith in Jesus, your status in God’s family is assured.