The Country Church Bourbon Indiana

Announcements:
Jenni has announcement Men’s Breakfast at Teel’s

Introduction:

1 John 5:13 – “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.”

The believers John writes to had believed in Jesus. And having believed in Jesus, they had eternal life. John didn’t write to them telling them about love and righteousness to say that they have to work for salvation. No, salvation is already theirs through believing in the name of the Son of God. John writes about love and righteousness to help them to know that they have eternal life, because false teachers were saying that they did not.

I’ll mention a lot of things in the sermon this morning that give evidence that you have eternal life. Most of these things are not what actually gives us eternal life. Eternal life doesn’t come by loving others. Eternal life doesn’t come by obeying God. Eternal life comes through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works so that no one may boast.”

But there are many things out there that could cause a believer to lack assurance in their salvation. For the believers that John is writing to, false teachers were causing them to lack assurance in their salvation. These false teachers were teaching a different way to reach God. They were teaching a different Jesus. They were deemphasizing righteousness and emphasizing knowledge. This was discouraging to the believers and was causing many to ask “am I really of the truth?” “Do I really have eternal life?”

Sin is another thing that can cause a believer to lack assurance of salvation. It leads to our heart condemning us and we can forget about God’s unconditional saving grace to us that comes through faith in Jesus. Sometimes we fail to love or fail to be righteous and that can lead to a believer wondering “am I really of the truth?” “Do I really have eternal life?”

This is not an uncommon struggle for believers. Perhaps you have struggled with these questions. Maybe you are going through a particularly hard time and don’t feel the presence of God like you used to. Or maybe there is a person out there challenging your beliefs and trying to say that they aren’t true, or that you need to follow them to really have salvation. Or maybe you’re struggling with some sin. Or maybe you are looking to the feelings of your heart for truth, rather than the promises of God. There could be any number of things.

This morning as we conclude our time in 1 John, we’re going to learn and be reminded of the many things that John mentions that we can look to in order to give us that assurance of salvation that we need.

Text: 1 John 4:13-16; 5:1-5; 5:10-13
Theme: Review and Conclusion

Verses 4:13-16 – Assurance of Eternal Life through Abiding Holy Spirit, Confession of Jesus, and Love

Here are several things that speak to us having eternal life.
First is the Spirit of God within us. That is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. There isn’t a believer that does not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The Holy Spirit guides us very often through our emotions – The Holy Spirit brings conviction when we sin, comfort when we face difficulties, and helps to make us aware of God’s will – especially by bringing to mind the truths of Scripture. Some believers are more in tune to the Holy Spirit than others. Some believers have quenched the Holy Spirit so that His voice and presence are hardly noticed. But all are indwelt by Him.

And so, when you experience conviction when you sin, or when God supernaturally comforts you or gives you peace, love, and joy, or when you become especially aware of God’s truth or God’s will in your life. Or when you are able to see a God moment, an answer to prayer or His working in some way – this is the Holy Spirit at work. And if the Holy Spirit is in you, then you can know that you abide in God and God abides in you – You have eternal life. Because God does not give His Holy Spirit to those who are not believers.

Second is your profession of faith. This belief that Jesus is the Savior of the world and confession of the person Jesus is what saves you. This is probably the most important part on the list, because if you feel like you are loving, if you feel like you are righteous, if you feel like you are guided by the Holy Spirit, but you have not confessed Jesus as your Savior, then you are not saved whatever you think or feel. Faith in Jesus is the means through which God saves us. We are not saved through love, good works, or spirituality.

And since faith in Jesus is how we are saved, that is also a way that we can be assured that we are indeed saved. Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world? Have you confessed Jesus? If you have, then it is God’s unshakable promise that you will be saved. It doesn’t matter how you feel or how discouraged you might be at this particular moment. Whatever sin you have, it is forgiven. You can be assured of your salvation because of your faith in Jesus.

Third is whether or not you love others. God is love. And God demonstrated His love for us by sending His One and only Son to die on the cross for us. What great suffering and pain He went through! If love is displayed in your life, if you are making choices that put the needs of others above yourself, that is evidence that God abides in you. Naturally, we are selfish creatures. We want things our way. We want our comfort. It is an act of God in your life when you choose discomfort and not your way in order to love another. Love therefore is evidence that you know God, that you have eternal life.

Link: 1 – Spirit of God – 2 – Confession of Jesus – 3 – Love for Others

Verses 5:1-5 – Assurance of Eternal Life through Loving God, Obeying God’s Commandments, and Overcoming the World.

A couple of things mentioned here are similar to what came before, like confession of Jesus and believing that He is the Christ, and loving others and loving the children of God, so I won’t say much about them.
Three things I will mention:
First, love for God gives evidence of salvation. I don’t know if you have noticed, but rare is the person who is not a Christian that would say they love God. They instead resent God because God is righteous. Or in their pride in their unbelief, they mock God and take His name in vain. They don’t like or want God’s commands intruding upon the way that they want to live their lives. But Christians love God because He first loved us. Christians don’t make fun of God, they take Him seriously and try to honor Him.

Christians know and believe the Gospel. They know about Jesus dying for them, so how could they not love God? Knowing about God’s deep love for them, they love Him in return.

And since they believe that lying and hate and adultery and stealing are ugly things, and they know that God only does good things like give gifts and give peace and comfort, they naturally love and desire God – the source of all good things.

So if you love God, that is good evidence that you have come to know Him. You’ve experienced His wonderful gift of salvation and other gifts. So the next time something might come to question your salvation, consider your love for God. The whole reason that you love God is because He first loved you, has saved you, adopted you, and given you a heavenly home. Isn’t your love for God evidence that you have believed the Gospel and been saved by it?

Second, do you obey God’s commandments? Obeying God’s commandments is an expression of love toward God. If you say that you love God, but you don’t keep His commandments, then you don’t know what love is.

Obeying God’s commandments gives evidence that you know the cost of sin – the death of Jesus. And you care that God cares about your sin. And you want to please God with your life. Furthermore, the Bible says in Ephesians 2:10 that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”

Christians receive new life when they are saved and are given good works by God to do. A believer is a new creation doing good deeds. How could this be true of your life if you were still in your sin and still an enemy of God? Why would you be obeying God if you don’t know Him? Obedience to God therefore is evidence that you have eternal life.
Third, do you have victory over the world? This is related to keeping God’s commandments. It is victory over the world that enables us to resist the powers, lies, and temptations that assail us and instead choose the good. Anytime that you resist the ways of the world in order to choose the way of God, this is an expression of your victory over the world.

If God has given you power to choose righteousness over popularity, to turn away from sins that are popular, to love the unlovable, to resist temptation – this is evidence that you have been saved.

And what has granted that victory over the world is your faith in Jesus. John asks “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” So, any time that you might wonder – is this true, am I true, do I have eternal life, or any similar questions, remember: only those who have believed in Jesus have the power to overcome the world. If you see in your life that your faith in Jesus has led to you overcoming the world, then you can be assured that you have eternal life.

Link: 1 – Love for God – 2 – Obedience to God’s Commandments – 3 – Overcoming the World

Verses 5:10-13 – Whoever has the Son has Life

I turn to these verses at the last to reemphasize that eternal life is the unearned gift of God that comes through Jesus Christ. The testimony that God has borne concerning his Son is that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. Therefore whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

We didn’t earn eternal life, it was given to us. And that life is not found in love or works or knowledge, but in Jesus Christ.

Some might say that it is found a different way. Some might say that you don’t have it. In dark times you might wonder if it is true. When your heart condemns you, you might think you aren’t of the truth. People might challenge your beliefs and say they aren’t true. Or they might try to tell you about the real Jesus.

But even if a supposed prophet or an angel were to come to you and tell you a different Gospel, in all of these things you don’t need to be dismayed or deceived. Because you have believed the Gospel and God has given you life and that life is in His Son Jesus. And that life that you now have has resulted in several things that give evidence of that new life’s presence:

You have the Spirit of God, who leads guides and directs you.
You have your confession of Jesus, and God’s accompanying promise of salvation.
You love others, choosing to serve even when it is more pleasurable to be served.
You love God because you believe that He is good and first loved you.
You obey God, acknowledging that His ways are higher than your ways.
And you have overcome the world; you now follow a different path, the path of victory in Jesus.

*Prayer*