The Assurance of Eternal Life
Series – The Creed
1 John 5:11-13
John 5:24 - "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
Intro
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Last week we began a new series called The Creed. We saw that formal creeds typically came about due to a false teaching that was being put forward by a person or group of people so the church sought to clearly articulate a belief based on Scripture to help teach truth so people could live in light of that truth.
We started by talking about the Truth of the Trinity and the importance of and help in understanding the Trinitarian view of God.
This week I want to talk something else that is vitally important to how we walk with the Lord and how we experience the Life He gives us and that is in regards to the Assurance of Eternal Life
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for those that believe in Jesus Christ – the fact that you are eternally secure in your salvation if you have truly believed in Jesus Christ in your heart.
If I asked you if you died today, would you go to heaven, what would you say?
Some people would say, I sure hope so, or I think so.
That answer is indicative of a problem
in understanding salvation or
in knowing the truth of God’s word.
It is my hope that we can clear that up today so we can have a firm grasp in understanding salvation, in knowing what God’s word teaches regarding this issue, and that we might be able to live in the grace and truth of knowing Christ’s all sufficient sacrifice for those who trust Him and that we are eternally secure in Him when we have put our complete hope and trust in Him.
I want to begin in the first letter of John, chapter 5
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1 John was written to Christians because there are some who had recently left the church and were working to lead people astray with false teaching and their own example.
John was writing to confront their false teaching, to encourage his readers in truth and to assure them of their salvation if they had indeed believed in and received Jesus Christ as their Savior.
In fact, much like in his gospel, he gives the purpose of his writing toward the end of his letter in the verses we are about to read.
It says
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1 John 5:11-13
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Look at that last line again. I am writing this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. If that is you, if you have truly put your trust in Him and Him alone, he tells them that you can know you have eternal life.
Now this is not a pride thing that says, I know I have eternal life because I am better than most, or that I have lived a life that is more positive than negative.
Let me clear that up for you.
You probably aren’t better than most, but even if you were, salvation is not determined on a bell curve.
And also, salvation is not given to those who have done more good than bad. The reality is that as unbelievers, the good we do is still bad because it is typically done for some sort of selfish motive.
So, the assurance of salvation is not a matter of pride.
It is a matter of fact for those who have put their faith and hope in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
Today, my hope is to give you a basis of knowing why, through Christ and His grace, we can be assured of our eternal destiny with Him and that if we have it, it cannot be lost.
To truly understand and know why this is so, we have to start by understanding salvation.
We need to know that
We are saved by Grace
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Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Many of you have heard that and many of you know that, but what does that really mean?
It means that there is no works you do to obtain your salvation. It is a free gift of God given through His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
It is by grace through faith that any person comes to salvation.
How this happens is that, through the Power of the Spirit of God, we come to recognize our need for a Savior and the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus Christ.
It is God who draws us to Him and we respond in the faith that we have been given to repent of our sin and believe in Jesus Christ.
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Now many believe this, that we are not saved by our works but by God’s grace alone.
But there are some, while they believe this, they believe that we must now maintain our salvation.
As I was studying for this message I came across this illustration that I thought was appropriate.
Illustration - Jet
Imagine you are heading on a vacation to Europe. You have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. You head to O’Hare and board the 747 that is going to take you there.
You back away from the gate and get to the runway and you feel the power of the Jet engines revving up for take off and the Pilot pushes the throttle forward and you sink deep into your set and the Jet engines thrust you forward with such great power. You see the ground speeding by you and then leave the ground and begin a steep incline to 30,000 feet and begin what should be a non stop flight to London’s Heathrow airport.
Now this Journey will take a while and there may be some turbulence. That is what you expect, but you don’t doubt with the power of the jet engines you will arrive at your destination, after all, they were able to overcome the force of gravity and get you to 30,000 feet.
About 30 minutes after take-off, after you get to cruising altitude, a light comes on and a panel where your feet are opens up and as you look down, you see pedals.
In fact you see everyone has pedals in front of them. The captain comes on and says, ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. We have done our part to get you started on your journey, but now you need to do your part and maintain what we have given you!
What are the chances this plane will be arriving at Heathrow? Zero.
There is no way that in their own power, without the power of the Jet engines maintaining their speed that they will be able to arrive safely at their destination.
The same is true for our salvation.
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We are not only saved by Grace, but
We are kept by Grace
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What I mean by that is that maintaining our salvation is not dependent on us just like our salvation is not dependent on us.
Listen to what Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
It is God that keeps us strong to the end. It is He who has drawn us to Himself by His grace and by His grace He keeps us secure in Him.
It is from God. If you could lose your salvation because you are required to keep it or not keep it, then I guarantee that nobody would be in heaven.
They would be lost just like those in the story about the plane.
Paul is not the only one who says this. Jude says something similar at the end of his short letter.
Jude 24-25
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To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
God Keeps us secure in Him by His grace.
Apply
So what does this mean in reality?
Does this mean that we can make a profession of Christ as Savior and then do whatever we want with no fear of going to hell?
I think a person who asks this misunderstands salvation.
Because while we are saved by Grace and kept by grace,
We are changed by Grace
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While Paul was preaching grace, there were some who thought he was preaching license to sin. Listen to what Paul says to this in
Romans 6:1-4
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
And he says further in
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
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17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…
So we are changed, we are different, we are a new creation!
So what does this mean?
Does that mean people who still sin are not saved?
Does that mean that, I am not saved, because I still sin?
No.
Real Christians still sin.
Paul still struggled with sin.
Listen to what he says in Romans 7
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Romans 7:18-25, 8:1
18For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
In this passage, we see Paul talk of the struggle he faces in doing what God wants vs. sinning.
But notice that. It is a struggle. He says he delights in God’s law internally, but struggles with carrying out what God wants.
So while he struggles with this, he also recognizes that it is because of Jesus Christ that he does not face condemnation, not his ability not to sin.
This does not cause him to say his sin is no big deal. He still struggles desiring to follow the Lord but not always able to carry it out, but still knowing that Christ died for his sins.
Apply
If you make some profession of faith and can go on sinning with no struggle, thinking what is the big deal, Christ died for my sins so I can do what I want, then that is a major red flag for you regarding if you truly know Christ.
Because being a Christian is not just about saying some words, but about truly believing in and receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior and walking with Him.
When you do that, the Holy Spirit indwells you permanently, you are sealed with Him and you are changed, transformed and guaranteed eternal life!
Listen to what Paul says in
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Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that when we have truly believed in Jesus, that we are “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Transition
Now there are those that may appear to be believers in Christ to us in our flawed human capacity to see, but that doesn’t mean they are.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23
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Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Two things to recognize about this text.
First, Jesus says “I never knew you.” It isn’t that He knew this person for a while and then they lost their salvation and Jesus says, I don’t know you anymore.
He never knew them. They were never a real believer.
Second, it says “only he who does the will of my Father”
Does this mean that we have to work or do something to earn or keep our salvation?
What is the will of the Father?
Jesus tells us clearly in John 6 what the will of the Father is
John 6:28-29, 40
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28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
40…For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life
If a person truly believes in Christ, knowing Him for who He really is – The God who has loved them and came to die for their sins and resurrected from the dead – and repents of their sin that He had to die for, they will be saved, permanently and eternally!
Now, there are people who can make a profession or say they believe in Jesus, but it is not a saving faith, it is not real. There is no fruit in their life, no evidence of transformation.
The reality is, is that all true believers in Christ will produce fruit, will be changed and will persevere to the end.
They will never turn from that belief in Christ. It is just not possible for a true believer not to produce fruit and persevere.
Only Appear to be believers
For those that do appear to be believers and turn away and depart from the faith, it is just evidence that they were never believers in the first place.
That is what John says in 1 John 2
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1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Their departure from the faith showed that they were never really believers.
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Now, understand this. Real believers may have times that they get caught up in sin.
This is why it is imperative for us to be cautious in our judgment of someone saying they are not a believer based on the actions we see.
But here is the difference between a believer who is sinning and someone who has not put their trust in Jesus for salvation and is sinning.
The person who is not a believer in Jesus Christ will face no struggle in their sin, will not be convicted over it, but can freely go deeper and deeper into a sinful lifestyle with little or no internal conviction.
The true believer, on the other hand, while they may sin, they will face conviction, they will face struggle, and they will be disciplined.
That is another aspect of God’s grace in our life that identifies us as believers.
We are Disciplined by Grace
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Hebrews 12:4-8
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
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7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
When a true child of the Lord sins, we are going to face conviction and discipline.
That is because that is what a loving Father does when His children do things that are going to harm themselves for the long run. e corrects them so they can glorify Him and truly live life.
If we are living in opposition to the teaching of God’s word and not facing any conviction or discipline, then we have some serious questions to be asking about if we are in a relationship with the Lord.
Conclusion
So for real believers in the Lord, who have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling them, can be absolutely secure in their salvation. Your salvation and maintaining of your salvation is completely of the Lord. Now, if you are sinning, you will face discipline and consequences to your actions, but you do not lose your salvation.
Live life with the confidence of knowing you serve a God who has loved you and will keep you secure in Him, sealed with the Holy Spirit, who guarantees “our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.” (Ephesians 1:14)
For those of you here today who have made a profession of faith in the past, but as I have spoken today, you are wondering
why your life hasn’t changed,
why you can continue in sin with no conviction,
Then perhaps, you need to be, as Paul says, testing yourself to see if you are in the faith.
If not, then experience the joy of a salvation that is given, and kept and secured by the power of the Lord, not by your ability to maintain your salvation.
It is then you will find real joy in life as you live the new life you have been given, seeking to glorify Him in all things, and experiencing the real joy that comes from a salvation that we can be assured of by His word and His power.
If that is what you need, then turn from you sin in repentance today and receive the free gift of salvation by believing in Jesus Christ as the Lord, the God who put on flesh so he could live, suffer and die in your place, for your sins; and who resurrected from the dead to give you life.
Confess your real belief in Him today and begin living your new life in Him.
Let’s pray.
