The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
1 John, Part 10 – Assurance
That the apostle John addresses the issue of assurance of salvation based on the outcomes of salvation in 1 John indicates that he recognized a confusion about this among the believers of his time. Basically 1 John gives us three attributes of the Christian life by which we have assurance of our salvation, no matter what our circumstances or feelings: faith based on sound doctrine, obedience to the Word of God, and love for one another. These characteristics are based on the facts of Scripture experienced and written by those who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry and after His death, burial, and resurrection. These three work together to produce both the evidence and fruit of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Belief in sound doctrine is primarily implied throughout the epistle, but is stated in terms of “…you know [the truth] and that no lie is of the truth” in 1 John 2:21 and “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God” in 1 John 4:15 and 5:1. John repeatedly expresses the importance of obedience to the commandments of God, as well, contrasting the believer with the non-believer by the demonstration of obedience or lack of obedience. Following the commandments is not contrary to New Testament freedom from the law. All ten of the Old Testament commandments are, in fact, consolidated and confirmed by the two New Testament commandments to love the Lord your God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself. Although belief in Jesus’ finished work of salvation is the beginning of our relationship with God, it does not stand alone. According to 1 John, obedience and love are natural outcomes and visible traits of the true believer. All three attributes of salvation come together in 1 John 3:23, “And this is his commandment: that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
The writer of 1 John doesn’t stop there. In addition, he establishes the following facts about our salvation: you have eternal life (1 John 2:17, 25; 5:11, 13, 20), the Holy Spirit abides in you (1 John 3:24), and you abide in God (1 John 2:27). Notice the words used to describe both eternal life and abiding. They represent continuous action. We have eternal life now and will always have eternal life. The Holy Spirit abides in us and we will always have the Holy Spirit in us teaching us all that we need to know about God. And we are both commanded and enabled by God to abide in Him.
To abide involves obeying His commandments by which we are able to live the character of Christ. Our part is to abide in God so that Christ is able to move in and through us to reach a dying world. We are the voice through whom God speaks and the hands by which God works His will. For some reason God chooses to communicate to our world through humans. We are the conduit of His light, righteousness, truth, mercy, and love to those among whom we live. Note that these aspects of our salvation – eternal life, the Holy Spirit in us, and our abiding in Christ – are also outcomes of belief, obedience, and love.
No one, not even you, can remove you from God’s family. In John 10:27-29 Jesus declares, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Hebrews 13:5b-6 further states, “…He has said, ‘I will never leave you, nor forsake you,’ So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.’”
What blessed assurance we have. As 1 John 2:5 says, “…whoso keeps His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him.”
Update/Prayer Request: We praise God as little by little we, along with Rob and Carolyn, are healing from our collision injuries. There are days that we seem to be getting better, and other days that we feel more pain again. Please pray for us as we continue to deal with emotions and paperwork related to the accident as well. At the same time Dan has resumed Physical Therapy for his shoulders which leaves him with additional discomfort. Since it has been four months since his last immunotherapy infusion, Dan will also be having another PET/CT scan soon.
