Knowing That We Are Saved - Part #1 Series

There were SEVERAL THINGS they BELIEVED & they VARIED from GROUP to GROUP & from PERSON to PERSON.

A FEW of THEIR BELIEFS:

1: It BELIEVED that ONE CANNOT PROVE the EXISTANCE of GOD.

2: AGNOSTICS DID NOT KNOW for SURE that JESUS was the SON of GOD.

3: Another IDEA was JESUS is the CHRIST but HE HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN the CHRIST. When HE was BAPTIZED CHRIST came into JESUS’ BODY.

CHRIST means THE MESSIAH or THE PROMISED ONE.

They TAUGHT a LOT of WEIRD & STRANGE THINGS.

4: If there WAS a GOD then HE could ONLY be REVEALED to a VERY FEW INTELLECTUAL PEOPLE.

5: The AVERAGE PERSON COULD NOT KNOW whether he was SAVED or NOT.

This SPIRIT of AGNOSTISM was BATTLING HARD AGAINST the CHURCH:

& JOHN was WRITING to not only ENCOURAGE US; he was WRITING to STRAIGHTEN OUT SOME of the PROBLEMS that were going on in that TIME.

NOTICE CAREFULLY THIS TEST:

The FAITH TEST:

This TEST REQUIRES a CONFESSION or an OPEN DECLARATION that JESUS IS the CHRIST regardless of WHAT OTHERS SAY.

WE are NOT ASHAMED to CONFESS JESUS CHRIST PUBLICLY!

Do we BELIEVE this morning that JESUS is the CHRIST, the SON of the LIVING GOD & that HE is GOD in the FLESH?

That is HOW we BEGIN to KNOW that we are a CHRISTIAN.

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LOOK at these PHRASES in the 4th CHAPTER of 1ST JOHN:

JOHN TEACHES us of the PRE-EXISTANCE of CHRIST.

He says: Verse #2: ‘HE IS COME in the FLESH.’

WHAT does that MEAN?

That MEANS JESUS did NOT START when HE was BORN in BETHLEHEM as a BABY but HE CAME to BETHLEHEM having ALREADY BEEN in EXISTANCE.

HE was INCARNATED in HUMAN FLESH.

HE was BORN in the WOMB of MARY but HE DID NOT BEGIN in the WOMB of MARY.

HE was GOD WALKING ABOUT in a PHYSICAL BODY.

HE was NOT a SAVOUR ----- HE is THE SAVOUR.

LOOK AGAIN at 1ST John 5:11-12

‘& this is the testimony that GOD has given to us eternal life & this life is in HIS SON. He who has the SON has life & he that has not the SON of GOD does not have life.’ POSITIVE STATEMENT of BELIEF:

IF we HAVE JESUS IN OUR HEART:

IF we BELIEVE that HE IS the SON of GOD:

Then we have PASSED the FAITH TEST.

BUT there is MORE!

TEST #2:

THE LIGHT TEST:

Once again we see this BORN of GOD passage.

I John 2:29 ‘If you know that HE is righteous, then you know that everyone who practices righteousness is BORN of HIM.’

Some other passages:

I John 3:7 ‘Little children, let no one deceive you, he who practices righteousness is righteous just as HE is righteous.’

I John 3:10 ‘In this the children of GOD & the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is NOT of GOD nor he that does not love his brother.’

SIMPLE ISN’T IT?

Now in this BOOK of 1st JOHN there are a NUMBER of PLACES where if we READ it CAREFULLY we will SEE THIS:

It is FOUND 8 TIMES this PHRASE:

‘IF WE SAY”

IF WE SAY

IF WE SAY

JOHN is saying:

It is EASY to WALK AROUND SAYING a BUNCH of SPIRITUAL STUFF.

We CAN SAY a LOT. (I BELIEVE that JESUS is the SON of GOD)

BUT if WHAT WE SAY does not MATCH the WAY we LIVE then SOMETHING is WRONG.

If we SAY ONE THING & then LIVE ANOTHER THING