Question about the inner witness of the Holy Spirit...

[derrick09]

I'm very curious about the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (Apologist William Lane Criag mentions this alot in his debates as a powerful evidence for God), what specifically does the inner witness feel like and how do you know for sure that you have this inner witness of the Holy Spirit or does the Spirit not produce feelings or evidence but we just merely assume we have it because that's what is promised to us in scripture? For me personally, I currently don't feel anything per se, but I have a personal love for Christ, his teachings, fellow believers etc. Is that a indication of the inner witness? Please help me out if you can. Thank you all for your time and God bless.

[jlay]

I have a personal love for Christ, his teachings, fellow believers etc. Is that a indication of the inner witness?

Well, considering that you are wholly incapable of loving Christ on your own, I would say Yep!

You can never say, "I love you," to God. You can only say, "I love you too."

[Jac3510]

I think all Craig is saying is that he, like most people, has had a mystical experience with God. Such an experience is, of course, completely subjective and even more completely worthless as far as convincing someone else that God, much less your god, is real (by that argument, we'd all be Mormons!). But with that said, the question is why I should say that my own experience is illusory. Indeed, many people have had contradictory experiences and someone's must be illusory. But does the fact that someone else's experience was not real mean that mine, too, wasn't? Given the solid reasons we have to believe given the moral, cosmological, and teleological arguments, not to mention the historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection, then our experience is based on a good possibility that it is, in fact, real. In that case, when the atheist tells us that our experiences are not real, then they have to have reason to tell us that they aren't beyond their presumption of naturalism.

In other words, the subjective experience is enough to convince ME that it is real, and when you have it, it will be enough to convince YOU that it is real to so long as that experience lines up with objective reality. That, I think, is the context of its apologetic value. I can tell you from experience, having had the blessing of leading several people to Christ via apologetic evangelism, that all the arguments in the world do absolutely NOTHING to cause a person to trust Christ. At the end of the day, they only make a person open to Him. They lead a person to recognize that the logical position is Christianity, but in that moment, they then must choose to place their faith in Christ. And that is all Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. More often than not, an experience, though preceded by sound, rational reasons, is the final straw that leads them to place their faith in Him. At that moment, all the arguments become both completely convincing personally and complete irrelevant. I think it is rather similar to giving someone all the logical reasons in the world that someone loves them . . . they may recognize the facts and assent to the truth, but when they suddenly experience that love, then everything changes. No more argument is necessary.

[jlay]

I know there are varying experiences as I had a profound one. Nothing like what B.W. experienced but profound nontheless. However, I wouldn't simply equate that experience with the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The question more relates to the daily walk of the believer. After all, Christ did promise and Paul confirmed that we would be abiding places for the Holy Spirit. This is where we see a lot of division within the church. Some preach that there is a 2nd helping. A post salvation experience where one is baptized in the HS. The reason I think there is such division is that there are so many who claim to be Christian, yet live as if they beleive something else. And the church is trying to explain, why? I think Jac called this a practical atheism. Hah!

I heard one great expositor say that it isn't an issue of how much of the Holy Spririt do you have. You don't get part of it, and then some later. It is, how much of YOU does the Holy Spirit have.

In the end, i would be very careful to attach "feelings" to experiencing the Holy Spirit. Sure, the love of God may manifest itself in feelings, but this is not always the case. I believe that God has birthed in me a love for working with children. Sure, I get tired and frustrated at times, but I don't burn out. Why? Because I know God is the source. It brings me great joy to teach children, or to help a child learn a bible verse. The joy is a by-product of responding to this calling in obedience. But there are other times where this joy may not be a reality. It is simple trust and faith that we must stand on in those times. There may be no confirming feeling at all. In fact, true love can be demonstrated in doing something that is contrary to one's feelings. Just as Christ was obedient even unto death. His feelings, as demonstrated in the garden where counter to the sacrifice He would make. Yet His answer was, "not my will, but thine be done." That is love. That is the HS at work in a person.

[ageofknowledge]

That was one of the best posts I've ever read on this forum. And it came from Jac. Well said Jac.

[derrick09]

Yes indeed, wonderful stuff Jac, I also really like your evidences for God posts on your blog as well, I especially like the argument from logic and reason as well. Thank you for your input and God bless.

[B. W.]

Very good post Jac. Agrippa's comment to Paul in Acts 26:28 also applies as well for an objective lesson...
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