“How does a Christian deal with doubt? Although there are many causes for it, there is only one answer—by knowledge. The Christian must simply take himself in hand and confront himself with what he knows to be true concerning God and God’s work in his life. In other words, faith (which is the opposite of doubt), being based on knowledge, must be fed by it. —James Montgomery Boice
Because God abides in us through his Spirit, we can have a confident assurance that we are his children.
1. Love for others and a knowledge of God reassures our hearts that we are God’s children.
2. Assurance that we are God’s children gives us confidence before God.
“The sense of what John says is this: When we trust the judgment of our conscience to our great God, who is omniscient about everything, our confidence shifts from being based on our experience and our feelings to being based on God’s Word and what He says about us.” — Daniel Atkin
3. We know we are God’s children by the Spirit whom he has given to us.
“The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to his children, a divine bestowal. In this gift of the Holy Spirit, God gives himself to us. This is that precious truth of our union with Christ.” — R. Kent Hughes
“And how am I assured … that I do not mistake the voice of the Spirit? Even by testimony of your own spirit: by ‘the answer of a good conscience toward God.’ By the fruits which he hath wrought in your spirit, you shall know the testimony of the Spirit of God. Hereby you shall know that you are in no delusion … the immediate fruits of the Spirit, ruling in the heart … And the outward fruits are, the doing good to all men; the doing no evil to any; and the walking in the light a zealous, uniform obedience to all the commandments of God.”— John Wesley