“If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3)  

If: - then, this isn’t a matter to be taken for granted concerning every human being. “If:” - then there’s a possibility and probability that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious. “If:” - then this is not a general, but a special mercy of God; and it’s essential to inquire whether you know the grace of God by inward experience. This is the most important question you’ll ever ask. 

 But while this should be a matter of earnest and prayerful inquiry, no one ought to be content while an “if” exists. A jealous and holy distrust of self may give rise to the question even in the believer's heart, but the continuance of such a doubt would be an evil indeed. We must not rest without a desperate struggle to clasp the Savior in the arms of faith, and say, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:8). 

 Do not rest, oh believer, till you have a full assurance of your interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy you till, by the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness with your spirit, you’ve certified you’re a child of God. Don’t ignore this; don’t let “perhaps” and “if” and “maybe” satisfy your soul. 

 When God supernaturally changes a sinner into a saint, He has a new heart and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The evidence of this supernatural change is 1) Power over the sin repented of, 2) a witness of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and 3) a consistent bearing of Holy Spirit fruit. As the saint matures, he should experience the love of God, the love of God’s people, the love of God’s Word, and a hatred of sin. Here’s what George Whitefield told church-goers during the First Great Awakening: 

 “The Scriptures call it holiness, sanctification, the new creature, and our Lord calls it a new birth, or being born again, or born from above…they denote a real, moral change of heart and life, a real participation of the divine life in the soul of man. Some indeed content themselves with a figurative interpretation; but unless they are made to experience the power and efficacy thereof, by a solid living experience in their own souls, all their learning, all their labored criticism, will not exempt them from a real damnation”.

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