I Want To Know About Eternal Life Series

“I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE” 1 John 5:13

FBCF – 8/27/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Don Wilton was my preaching prof at NOBTS – recently retired as pastor at FBC, Spartanburg, SC – Tremendous preacher/evangelist. Question I remember him frequently asking when he preached: “Do you know that you know that you know?” Know what? That you are secure in your relationship w/ Jesus Christ – that you possess the gift of eternal life – that you will go to heaven when you die.

There are a lot of things I would like to know:

- How to fly an airplane or helicopter

- How to call up a turkey

- How to play the guitar better

- Why all TV shows can’t be like the Andy Griffith Show

- Why we had such bad haircuts when I was a kid

- What the cure for cancer is – the cure for Alzheimer’s

Knowing these things may make me smarter, feel better about myself, increase my self-confidence, make me a more interesting person, make me happier & maybe make some other people happier. May even make the world a better place. But not a single one of these things even comes close to having the knowledge that I know that I know that I know that I have eternal life.

We Southern Baptists are known for our belief in “Once saved, always saved”, & rightly so. Why? B/c salvation, from beginning to end, is a God-thing.

- He’s the one who created us for fellowship w/ Him – Genesis 1:27

- …initiated the plan for that fellowship to be possible – Genesis 3:15

- …loves us so much that He would sacrifice His one & only, one-of-a-kind Son for us – John 3:16

- …calls us into that relationship w/ Him – Romans 8:30

- …empowers us to respond to that call – John 1:12

- …gives us the free will to be able to choose whether or not we will respond to His call on our life – John 3:36

- …places His stamp of eternal ownership on our lives when we respond to His call – 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14

- …keeps us in the palm of His hand where no one can snatch us out – John 10:28-29

- …gives us the grace & power to live our lives for Him – Titus 2:11-12

- …has prepared a place for us in heaven – John 14:2 – “I go & prepare…”

- …is coming again to get His children one day – John 14:3 - & if I go…”

- …to whom we will give all our praise & adoration for all eternity – Revelation 5:13

- HE IS THE ONE WHO DOES ALL THIS! SALVATION IS A GOD-THING FROM BEGINNING TO END!

“Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” (https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#iv). So, you see that the security of our salvation is not based on who we are & what we do, but on who God is & what He has done & will continue to do on our behalf. It’s all about HIM!

EXPLANATION – 1 John 5:13

Don’t you want to KNOW that you have eternal life? Not HOPE you do – not THINK you do – but KNOW you do! Word “know” used about 38 times in 1 John. Used over 1000 times in the entire Bible. Means to have knowledge about something – either a casual, surface knowledge, or a deep, intimate knowledge – “…Adam knew his wife & she conceived…” (Genesis 4:1).

1 John 5:13 – The reason that we can truly know is b/c our salvation is not dependent upon ourselves – our performance, good works. If it was, then when we have a bad day & blow it, we won’t know if we are still saved. But b/c our salvation is totally dependent upon what Christ has done for us & purchased for us, then we can truly KNOW we are saved & secure in Him. “Our security in Christ is not our grip on Him, but His grip on us.” (David Smith - https://gracequotes.org/topic/salvation-assurance-source/)

APPLICATION – You can know that you know that you know you have eternal life!

It’s a wonderful thing to know that you have eternal life. Having this knowledge affects us in these ways:

TO KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW BRINGS GREAT PEACE

Jesus Himself said:

- “Peace I leave w/ you; my peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)

- “I have told you things so that in me you may have peace…” (John 16:33)