8. That this _testimony of the Spirit of God_ must needs, in the very nature of things, be antecedent to the _testimony of our own spirit_, may appear from this single consideration. We must be holy of heart and holy in life, before we can be conscious that we are so; before we can have _the testimony of our spirit_, that we are inwardly and outwardly holy. But we must love God, before we can be holy at all; this being the root of all holiness. Now we cannot love God, till we know he loves us. _We love him, because he first loved us._ And we cannot know his pardoning love to us, till his Spirit witnesses it to our spirit. Since therefore this _testimony of his Spirit_ must precede the love of God and all holiness, of consequence it must precede our inward consciousness thereof, or, the _testimony of our spirit_ concerning them.
9. Then, and not till then, when the Spirit of God beareth that witness to our spirit, “God hath loved thee, and given his own Son to be the propitiation for thy sins; the Son of God hath loved thee, and hath washed thee from thy sins in his blood:” _We love God, because he first loved us_, and for his sake we _love our brother also_. And of this we cannot but be conscious to ourselves: we _know the things that are freely given to us of God_. We know that we love God and keep his commandments. And _hereby also we know that we are of God_. This is that testimony of our own spirit; which, so long as we continue to love God and keep his commandments, continues joined with the testimony of God’s Spirit, _that we are the children of God_.
10. Not that I would, by any means, be understood, by any thing which has been spoken concerning it, to exclude the operation of the Spirit of God, even from the _testimony of our own spirit_. In no wise. It is he that not only worketh in us every manner of thing that is good, but also shines upon his own work, and clearly shews what he has wrought. Accordingly this is spoken of by St. _Paul_, as one great end of our receiving the Spirit, _that we may know the things which are freely given to us of God_: that he may strengthen the testimony of our conscience, touching our _simplicity and godly sincerity_, and give us to discern in a fuller and stronger light, that we now do the things which please him.
11. Should it still be enquired, How does the Spirit of God, _bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God_, so as to exclude all doubt, and evince the reality of our sonship? The answer is clear, from what has been observed above. And first, as to the witness of our spirit. The soul as intimately and evidently perceives, when it loves, delights, and rejoices in God, as when it loves and delights in any thing on earth. And it can no more doubt, whether it loves, delights and rejoices, or no, than whether it exists, or no. If therefore this be just reasoning,
He that now loves God, that delights and rejoices in him, with an humble joy, and holy delight, and an obedient love, is a child of God:
But I thus love, delight, and rejoice in God;
Therefore I am a child of God:
Then a Christian can in no wise doubt, of his being a child of God. Of the former proposition, he has as full an assurance, as he has that the scriptures are of God. And of his thus loving God, he has an inward proof, which is nothing short of self-evidence. Thus the _testimony of our own spirit_ is with the most intimate conviction manifested to our hearts; in such a manner, as beyond all reasonable doubt, to evince the reality of our sonship.
12. The _manner_ how the divine testimony is manifested to the heart, I do not take upon me to explain. _Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me; I cannot attain unto it. The wind bloweth_: and _I hear the sound thereof_. But I cannot _tell how it cometh, or whither it goeth_. As no one knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man that is in him; so the _manner_ of the things of God knoweth no one, save the Spirit of God. But the fact we know: namely, that the Spirit of God does give a believer such a testimony of his adoption, that while it is present to the soul, he can no more doubt the reality of his sonship, than he can doubt of the shining of the sun, while he stands in the full blaze of his beams.
II. 1. How this joint testimony of God’s Spirit and our spirit, may be clearly and solidly distinguished, from the presumption of a natural mind, and from the delusion of the devil, is the next thing to be considered. And it highly imports all who desire the salvation of God, to consider it with the deepest attention, as they would not deceive their own souls. An error in this is generally observed to have the most fatal consequences: the rather, because he that errs seldom discovers his mistake, till it is too late to remedy it.