Recently the idea of DNA testing has been on my mind. No, not to see if I belong in the the last will and testament of a recently deceased wealthy person. In fact, the type of DNA testing on my mind is a spiritual one. Many times over the twenty-two years of ministry at Shining Light Baptist Church people have asked to speak to me about their salvation. Regardless of age or gender they all seem to make the same statement “I just don’t known if I am truly saved”. Ironically, most of the time the people with this concern demonstrate more fruit of the Spirit than many of the church members who seem unconcerned with the genuineness of salvation.
I also have given much consideration to the DNA of our church. I hope you would agree that if a church body shared the same DNA then it would share the same characteristics. After twenty-two years of ministry I am just learning that a church should take a regular DNA test to see if it is connected to God’s DNA or not.
So what does a spiritual DNA test look like? The Bible holds the answer to that question. Ephesians 4:4 says “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;” Clearly God wants us to know that we belong to one body, and our spiritual life is through one Spirit. Not only do we belong to one body, but we make up the one body of Christ. Romans 12:5 says “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” 1 Corinthians 12:27 says: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Thus we are the body of Christ, which means we share the same DNA with Him.
A spiritual DNA test is measuring our character to the fruit of the Spirit and the character of Christ found in the Bible. Consider the first paragraph where I mentioned professing Christians come for counseling because they want assurance of their salvation. I know many Christians who simply tell this person if they doubt their salvation they should pray again asking God to save them, then get baptized again and have it all settled. While I respect these Christians for their efforts I find no biblical examples of the church telling people to re-pray a prayer, and get baptized multiple times to settle doubts of their salvation. In fact, my experience with people who attempt to settle their salvation by this method is that they often repeat the process multiple times in their life, and rarely live with any lasting assurance. The method I have found most helpful is to talk to these people about the fruit of the Spirit. Because the fruit of the Spirit is the DNA of God, it is biblical evidence of the Holy Spirit indwelling and empowering a believer. On the other hand, when there is no fruit of the Spirit (spiritual DNA) there is biblical reason for concern, and evidence that the person who does not have God’s DNA does not belong to God.
In the next article we will further discuss spiritual DNA, and how yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit produces His fruit, and assures us that we belong to God.
The Holy Bible: King James Version., electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. (Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Ro 12:5.
The Holy Bible: King James Version., electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. (Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995), Eph 4:4