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I. THE WITNESSES. The text suggests that we are entering upon a calm judicial process, in which the verdict can be obtained only by the testimony of two witnesses of tried competency and proved faithfulness.

1. The importance of having the Holy Spirit as the chief witness will appear from the nature of the facts to be witnessed to — namely, that we are the children of God, etc. For on the authority of no mere man could I receive this testimony. Wise he might be, and holy; but the subject is beyond his province. Neither could I take the testimony of an angel. Note the requirements essential to the competency of our witness. The counsels of God's will, the goings forth of His love and peace, must be naked and open to the witness with whom we have to do. He must know when the act of grace went forth, when the wandering spirit turned, and when the heart surrendered. These are things which must be known to the Holy Spirit, because of Him and through Him are all these effects wrought. Are the eyes opened? It is His to enlighten. is conscience awakened? It is His to reprove. Does the will yield? It is His to subdue. Is the heart at peace? It is His to seal.

2. The second witness is the spirit of the man himself — the responsive testimony of our own hearts echoing the silent utterances of the Holy Ghost, and giving us confidence toward God. This view of course supposes the witness of our own spirits to be of a derived and reflected kind. It is a witness to a witness — the interpreter of that testimony which is borne by the Spirit of God. Of themselves our own spirits can testify nothing.

II. IN WHAT LANGUAGE DOES THE SPIRIT SPEAK, AND IN WHAT SIGNS DOES THE HEART MAKE ANSWER? The joint witness is to be looked for in the inward peace arising from the discovery of certain tendencies and dispositions answerable to the state of sonship. And it is properly called a joint witness, because the same Spirit who forms these tendencies in us, also manifests their existence to us. We can only know that we are children when the Spirit reveals the existence of those moral dispositions which prompt us to act and feel as children, and these we find only in the written Word. But this still makes the Spirit of God the chief witness, because until He shines upon the Word it is a sealed book to us. But when He opens our understanding we find that the entrance of God's Word giveth light. And it is just the agreement between these two — the Scripture calling and the heart answering; the Spirit insisting on certain feelings, and our own spirits testifying that we have such feelings — that constitutes our double witness. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to My Word, it is because there is no life in them." But to what purpose does our text come in at the close of several of the most distinguishing marks of true grace which Scripture contains, if it be not to set the heart upon the inquiry whether, by the Secret illumination of the Spirit, these marks be discoverable in ourselves? Now it is manifest that if these marks be found in us we have the witness of the Word to our adoption; and what is the witness of the Word but the witness of the Spirit, who both indited the Word and gave us understanding to comprehend the truth? Conclusion: The text describes a real blessing, It is no visionary good. Do not let any difficulties connected either with its manifestation or its source affect your possession of it as a great spiritual reality. It is a witness, and a witness to a great fact. The heart's peace, the soul's comfort, life's prospects, death's fears, all hinge and turn upon the clearness of this twofold testimony. It brings with it heaven's credentials; it is stamped with heaven's seal; it leaves behind it heaven's peace; it is the witness of the Spirit of God.

(D. Moore, M.A.)

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KJV: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

WEB: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;