The Evidence of Salvation

Job 30; Psalms 120; Galatians 3-4 

“…Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?...Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”

Galatians 3:2, 3, 5

The evidence of whether we are in Christ as members of God’s family is not based on our Church attendance, or our ability to remember the Ten Commandments. We belong to Christ based on our faith in his finished work of atonement for us on the cross, evidenced through our current, personal experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The repeated proof Paul returns to in this passionate call to the Galatian Church, to reject the law and return to righteousness through faith in Christ, is the evidence of God’s Spirit in our lives in miraculous, fruit-filled ways. 

Let’s stop to consider ourselves, is the Holy Spirit transforming us and revealing Jesus to the world through us?

If we are unable to see this evidence, the answer is not to protest based on our religious behaviors or even our belief systems, but to humbly repent to God for our stubborn independence and self-will and ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. During the first fifteen centuries, the Church had few Bibles and few people could read. The Church relied on the Holy Spirit in their lives, not proof texting.

Will we find the same Holy Spirit presence?

“Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your Spirit and the reality of your love for me, for your glory.”