“For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men’s hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit.”
As a pastor I am often asked by Christians what they can do or use to convince a friend or a family member to accept the Bible as God’s Word. And often I am tempted to turn them to reason. I will refer them to different books or chapters in particular books that assist us to reason apologetically with the unbeliever. But as John Calvin says, “the testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason.” Therefore it stands to reason that unless the Spirit of God is working in the hearts of men to accept his Word as the truth the hard and impenitent heart will continue to reject God’s authority.
The Spirit who spoke through the mouths of the prophets and apostles is the same Spirit that must “penetrate into the hearts to persuade us that they faithfully proclaimed what has been divinely commanded.” The apostle Paul and Peter were convinced of this about all that God had spoken by the prophets and now was speaking through them. They were speaking and writing from God’s authority and they believed that man must rely upon God’s Spirit to give them understanding, and that they must rely on God’s Spirit to seal what they were speaking and writing on the hearts of all those whom he loves. So every man must be convinced not by man’s reason but by the Spirit that Scripture derives from God so that God himself speaks in it.
The believer then must not rest upon his reason or any man’s reason to convince his unbelieving friend or relative of the authority or truthfulness of God’s Word in order to bring them to a knowledge of God their Creator and only Redeemer. The believer must rest upon the mercies of God to seal it into the heart of the unbeliever by the Spirit. The unbeliever must come into a true and lively faith that is accomplished by the work of the Spirit before they will desire and receive God’s Word as more precious than gold or sweeter than honey. The believer also must not rest upon his economy regarding the small number of believers we see. As Calvin says, “Whenever, then, the fewness of believers disturbs us, let the converse come to mind, that only those to whom it is given can comprehend the mysteries of God.” God will cause unbelievers to become believers by his working power through his powerful Word.
Therefore believers must treasure the Word that has been sealed upon your hearts. And they should speak the Word to unbelievers, study the Word with unbelievers, and bring unbelievers under the preached Word, so that the Spirit may work to change their hearts sealing his Word unto them for life.
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