How Do I Know
1 John 3:4-10 (NLT)
Intro: Will Rogers was an actor and cowboy. He is best known though for his humorous quotes. Let me share a few with you.
. “ Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have for something they don’t need”
. “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment”.
. “Everything is changing. People are taking comedians seriously and the politicians are a joke”
. “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people”
. Rogers was born in 1879 and like many who were born in that era, he had no birth certificate. He was applying for a passport and the clerk asked him for his birth certificate. He said that he didn’t have one. She said that she needed one in order to issue a passport. He asked why. She replied, “So I can have proof of your birth.” Rogers answered, “Well, I’m here, ain’t I?”
. Many Christians struggle with the same thing that the clerk was struggling with. Proof that they are saved.
. How do they know for sure that they have been adopted into the family of God and are a child of God.
. The apostle John uses this epistle we call first john as a letter of assurance or re-assurance for those who would doubt their membership in the family of God.
. In our scripture this morning, the apostle john tells us exactly how we can know that we belong to the family of God.
. How do you know that you know.
. Like the psychiatrist who took on a very disturbed man as a patient. The man thought he was dead. No matter what techniques the doctor tried, the man still thought he was dead. Finally the shrink tried one last desperate strategy. He asked the man if dead men bleed. "Of course not," said the patient, "they’re dead." With that the doctor pricked the man’s hand with a pin, and it started to bleed. "What do you say to that," asked the doc. "Well, I’ll be," said the man, "Dead men really DO bleed after all!"
. This man knew without a doubt that he was dead.
. John wants you to know without a doubt that you are alive in Christ.
. Lets read our scripture.
.1 John 3:4-10
4Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
5And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
8But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
. The first way that we know that we are saved is that we:
. Know That You Are A sinner
. Look at verse 4 again:
. 4Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
. Romans 3:23 reminds us.
. 23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s gglorious standard.
.John also writes that if we say we have no sin, we are liars.
. There was a man who sent a check to the government for back taxes with a note attached that said:
“I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes I had to send you this check. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.”
. A minister told his congregation, “Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17.”
The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked for a show of hands. He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up.
The minister smiled and said, “Mark has only sixteen chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying.”
. We know that we all sin so therefore we are all breaking God’s law.
. In order to know that you are saved, you must first know that you are a sinner and are in need of salvation.
. It is much like a drug addict or an alcoholic or even a smoker.
. The first step to change is acknowledging that you have a problem.
. I smoked for 20 years. I have been tobacco free now for about 18 years. Back when I smoked though, for years I would tell people that I could quit anytime I wanted to. I didn’t quit because I liked smoking. When I didn’t like it anymore, I would quit. I would not acknowledge that I had a problem. That is the first and the hardest part.
. In order to be saved, all people must recognize and seek help for their sinfulness.
. You cannot possibly quit any bad habit without first recognizing that it is bad and needs to be changed.
. Know that you are a sinner in need of Salvation.
.Next you need to :
. Know Christ In A Saving Manner
. Know that Christ is the way to salvation.
. Look at verse 5 with me.
. 5And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
. That sin we all have carries with it a penalty. Paul writes that the wages of sin is death.
. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes in 6:23
. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
. The penalty for sin is death, both physically and spiritually.
. Sin separates us from God.
. We are sinners and saved by the grace of God through the death of Jesus on a cross for our sins.
. In theological circles, this is known as substitutionary atonement. The concept that Jesus took my place for the punishment of my sin.
. This is a free gift that God gives us.
A preacher had once to illustrate the free nature of God’s gift of salvation. They stood in the pulpit one morning held up a poinsettia plant and said: “Whoever wants this beautiful Christmas poinsettia may have it. All you have to do is take it.”
They stared at me. I waited. And waited.
Finally a mother timidly raised her hand and said, “I’ll take it.”
“Great!” said the preacher, “It’s yours.”
But to my astonishment, she nudged her son, “Go get it for me.”
“No,” I said. “Whoever wants this gift must come and get it personally. You can’t send a substitute.”
She shook her head, not willing to risk embarrassment. I waited again. It was a gorgeous flower, unusually large, wrapped in red cellophane with a gold satin ribbon. It was set in front of the pulpit to brighten our small sanctuary during the holiday season. Several people had commented on how beautiful the plant was. Now it was free for the taking.
Someone snickered, “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” I replied. “It’s free.” No one moved.
A college student asked, “Is it glued to the altar?” Everyone laughed.
“It is not glued to the altar. Nor are there any strings attached. It’s yours for the taking.”
“Well,” asked a pretty teenager, “can I take after the service?”
I shook my head. “You must come and get it now.”
(I was beginning to wish I’d never started the whole thing, when a woman I’d never seen before stood up in the back.) Quickly, as if she were afraid she’d change her mind, she strode to the altar and picked up the plant. “I’ll take it,” she said.
As she returned to her seat carrying the free gift, I launched with enthusiasm into my text, Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
. When we truly accept this free gift, we develop a relationship with Jesus that saves us from the wages of sin and brings us into fellowship with God.
. You know you are saved when you have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
. Next we really get to the crux of the matter.
. You will know that you are saved when you recognize that:
. Continual Sin Is A Sign Of No Salvation
.Look at verses 6-10 again
6Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
8But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
. Wait a minute Anthony, you just said that we are all sinners and in need of forgiveness and now verse 6 says that after we are saved, we cannot sin. If we do, we cannot be saved.
. These passages can get very confusing so let me see if I can shed some light on this.
. In his commentary on these verses, John MacArthur writes:
. “The view of John’s references here to believers not sinning derives from an accurate understanding of the Greek tenses. In this passage the verbs related to sin are all in the present tense, indicating continuous, habitual action. In other words, John is not referring to occasional acts of sin, but to established and continual patterns of sinful behavior. Believers will sometimes sin , even willfully, but they will not and cannot sin habitually, persistently, and as a way of life”
. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven”
. That is true but we are not forgiven to do what we want to any time we want.
. John writes that if we have a lifestyle that shows no change, a life that is a continual life of sin, then we are not children of God.
. Yes we will mess up and yes we will sin some time but if we don’t even try, if our life shows no evidence of faith, if we live in habitual rebellion and sin but still say we have been saved, we are wrong.
. Maybe it’s us preachers who have you confused about salvation. Yes it is free and you don’t have to do anything but believe to receive it but then if it is true, if it is genuine, there will be, there must be some evidence to back this up.
.Look at verse 9 again:
. 9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
. God’s life is in you, some translations say God’s seed.
. God’s life, God’s seed is The Holy Spirit.
.If you are saved, the Holy Spirit will dwell inside of you and you will not live in habitual sin.
. I will close with verse 10 this morning.
. 10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
. How do we know?
. We know by the life we live and our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
. Our love for God, his way of life, and our love for our fellow believers.
. Do you know this morning?
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
John MacArthur, The Macarthur New Testament Commentary, 1-3 John
