Sin is a barricade to joy

Today we have the Scriptures to inform us of God’s work in our lives. However, the first Christians did not have the New Testament or at least only bits. But they did know the commands of God. Jesus said to them:

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:10–11)

Their source of joy was the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit could freely produce that ‘fruit’ in them as they walked in obedience. Their confidence in God included confidence in answered prayer. These ingredients combined to give them a powerful awareness of truth and the need to continue in their obedience.

Tozer says that the problem today with some Christians who are not joyful is that they are ignoring the Holy Spirit. I would not put it that way. In my understanding and experience, lack of joy goes hand in hand with lack of obedience. Imagine a water hose with sand in it. The flow is stopped or diminished until that sand can be expelled from within. It may require an extra force from the water, but when it happens, it gushes through the hose as it is intended.

Joy is like that. It is there from God but impeded by disobedience. However, as soon as I get out of His way by dealing with the sand, the Spirit is able to flow producing joy and the fruit that only He can produce.

The early Christians had that same power from within. Tozer calls it the ‘inner witness’ in which the Spirit kept them informed of God’s will and God’s pleasure. As they believed, He continued to work and this ‘inner witness’ became their guide.

When the canon of Scripture was agreed upon and the full Bible came into being, this need for an ‘inner witness’ did not stop. I still need to obey the Spirit. Scripture helps me know that what I hear on the inside coincides with His will, but the same certainty is from the Spirit who says ‘Amen’ to what I am reading.

“Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:10–15)

Here is our confidence, not just in the reading but in the believing and obeying, in the asking and receiving. My assurance is diminished when I am disobedient, not because my salvation is slipping away but because my sin has blocked the flow of God’s Spirit who gives me that confidence, that inner testimony, and along with it that divine joy.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, Your joy is both a privilege and a blessing. It is the assurance that I’ve nothing coming between me and You. I know that sin happens but also know that if it blocks the flow of Your grace, it can be removed by confession and cleansing. Through the Spirit, my salvation is made known to me and through the overwhelming joy that You give, may others also see the reality of my faith because You are making it visible on my face and in my life.