A Know So Salvation

A KNOW-SO SALVATION

1 John 5:10-13

When a person’s life is filled with fear and doubts it is difficult for that person to live a happy and productive life. The fear and doubt stymie the individual. This is especially true when it comes to one’s spirituality. When asked if a person has a 100% certainty that have been saved and that they know for beyond all doubt that they are going to heaven, the replies often are: I believe so, I think so, I hope so. 39 times John uses the word “know” in his first letter, to addresses this matter of uncertainty and to declare that you and I can have a “know so” salvation. “Knowing once and for all whether or now you’re going to heaven is one of those milestones that every Christian needs to pass if they are going to grow and be effective in their Christian life.” (copied)

I. How does one receive salvation?

A. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

B. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

C. Salvation is an act of God that is received by faith not by any works that you do.

D. The Holy Spirit begins by revealing to you that you have violated God’s law and you see and acknowledge your sinfulness. John 16:8 tells us that the Holy Spirit “convicts the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

E. God’s Spirit further shows you that your sin has separated you from God and apart from any divine intervention you are on a path of spiritual self-destruction that leads to an eternity of punishment in hell. Without His salvation you are hopelessly, spiritually dead. The first three verses of Ephesians 2, tells us that we are “dead in trespasses and sins” and “by nature are children of wrath” “subject to God’s anger”.

F. The Holy Spirit then enables you to see and understand that Jesus went to the cross of Calvary for you, dying in your place, bearing your sin and pouring out His precious blood as the redemption price for your eternal salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Isaiah 53:5 states that Christ was wounded for your transgressions, He was bruised for your iniquities; the chastisement for your peace was upon Him. His resurrection attests to the acceptance of that offering to God, the Father and of the reality of the eternal life that He secured.

G. By faith salvation is procured when under the Holy Spirit’s leading you confess your being a sinner, acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour turning from your life of self and sin to Christ trusting only in Him and His shed blood for forgiveness and salvation.

II. How can one know for sure they have been saved?

A. The Testimony of God’s Word

1. 1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

2. The Bible is the inspired written word of God. It is unchanging truth. Whatever is written in its pages can be accepted and relied upon as truth. God cannot lie.

3. John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

4. We should find assurance of our salvation in the objective truth of God’s Word. We should have confident trust that we are saved based on the promises God has declared.

5. J. Wilbur Chapman tells the following true story of how D.L. Moody used John 5:24 to help him gain assurance of salvation: I was studying for the ministry, and I heard that D.L. Moody was to preach in Chicago. I went to hear him. Finally I got into his after-meeting. I shall never forget the thrill that went through me when he came and sat down beside me as an inquirer.

He asked me if I was a Christian. I said, “Mr. Moody, I am not sure whether I am a Christian or not.’

He very kindly took his Bible and opened it to the fifth chapter of John, and the twenty-fourth verse, which reads as follows: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”