Have you ever had doubts about your salvation? Is it possible to be saved and have doubts? Are you saved and never had doubts? Let’s see what John had to say about the subject and how we can know for sure that we are saved.
This book is called “Names and Numbers”. Are your names written in this book? God has a book too. It is called the “The Book of Life.” It is a book that has all the names of people that has truly accepted Christ as their Savior. Let’s read about this book.
Rev 20:12-15
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
(NIV)
Notice that the verses say books were open. Everything that we have done, everything that we have said and every thought that we have had has been recorded.
John wrote this letter for all Christians, even for us today. With everything that is going on in the world today, many Christians are questioning whether the Bible is completely accurate and the true Word of God. Some may even be questioning their salvation.
John wrote this letter to dispel doubts and to give assurance that we can know that we are saved.
I Jn 5:13
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.
(NIV)
Yes, we can and should know for sure that we are saved. John is talking to Christians; (to you that believe in the name of the Son of God), those are all Christians. He is talking to us here today. He tells us that he is writing these words so that we can know “K”-“N”-“O”-“W” that we have eternal life. If you have a doubt about your salvation then there is something wrong with your spirit.
Rom 8:5
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(NIV)
Rom 8:9
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
(NIV)
The Spirit of God lives in the hearts of all true believing Christians. This means that we no longer let our human desires control our lives, but we allow the Spirit of God, the Holy spirit, to control our desires and actions. When you accepted Christ as your Savior, The Father sent His Holy Spirit to live in you.
There are three tests that can let you know you for sure that you have been saved.
Test 1: Do You Obey His Commands:
I Jn 2:1-6
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
(NIV)
In verse 3 of the KJV it say:
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
The Greek word for keep in this verse is:
5083 tereo (tay-reh’-o); meaning a watch as in maritime on the old sailing ships when they watched the stars for their navigation directions. They would watch the North Star so that they could maintain their correct course of travel. Sometimes a strong wind would blow them off course or clouds may obscure the star, but by keeping watch on the stars, they could return back to their correct course.
It is the same with God’s commands. If we keep His commandments and teaching we are following the correct course. Sometimes something may happen to get us off course, but the commandments and teaching are still there so that we may get back on the correct course again.
John is writing this letter to all Christians so that we would not sin, but if we slip up and do sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Is there anyone here since becoming a Christian that has not committed a single sin? If you say yes, then you just lied and committed another sin. We all slip up sometimes. We are not perfect, but we do have an adversary in Christ Jesus who speaks to the Father is our defense. You couldn’t ask for a better defense lawyer. What other defense attorney can say about their client “I have paid the price in full for their sins and have cleanse them and made them righteous by my blood?
John is telling us that we can be sure that we are saved if we follow His commands. John also tells us that anyone who claims to be saved and willfully breaks the commands of Christ is a liar and is not saved. We may slip us from time to time, but Christians do not willfully and continually break the commandments and teachings of Jesus Christ.
I Jn 3:6-9
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
(NIV)
When we accepted Christ as our Savior, we were born again. That means that the old sinful life that we lived before is now dead and we live a new life in Christ following and obeying all of His teachings.
2. Love Our Brothers:
The next test is the Companion test. Do you love your fellow church members? Do you love all brothers and sisters in Christ no matter were they attend church?
I Jn 3:14-15
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
(NIV)
The word brother here means fellow believers in Jesus Christ. As parents our kids can get on our nerves sometimes. As parents we corrected and punished our kids for wrongful actions. But as parents we always love our children. It is the same with fellow church members. They may get on our nerves sometime and sometime we may have to rebuke them because of a sin in their life, but we still love them. John tells us that if we don’t love our fellow Christians then we are still dead and need to receive Christ.
I Jn 5:1-5
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
(NIV)
When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are born of God and become children of our Father. We love the Father; we must love all of His children. I have been in many churches, where there appeared not to be any love between Christians. They were to busy fighting over who is going to run the church. I have news for them. There is only one person that runs the church and that is God. He runs all the churches. We are just there to be His servants in proclaiming the Gospel.
3. Believe And Trust In The Son Of God:
I Jn 5:10-13
10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
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.
(NIV)
The greek word for believe can also mean trust.
4100 pisteuo (pist-yoo’-o);
from 4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ):
KJV-- believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.
Do you believe and trust in Jesus Christ and His teachings. If you do then you can know beyond and shadow of a doubt that you are saved and have eternal life. Believing doesn’t mean that you walked the isle of the church when you were 12 years old, shook the hand of the preacher, repeated a prayer and was baptized in water.
Invitation:
Rom 10:9-11
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
(NIV)
To be saved you must first admit that you are a sinner. You must admit that you need help. You must be willing to allow Jesus to change you. No matter what sin you have in your life, Jesus can take it from you. There is no sin that is so great that Jesus can’t forgive. Jesus loves you. You may feel that no one love you or ever could love you, but Jesus does love you now and always. He is just waiting for you to call out to Him.
You must believe in your heart (not just in your mind) that Jesus Christ died on that cross for your sins and that God raised Him from the grave and He sits on the throne in Heaven at the right hand of the Father.
If you confess with your mouth that you will allow Jesus to be the Lord, the controlling force in your life, you will be saved. Not maybe. You will be saved.
Once you have allow Jesus Christ into your heart, His Spirit will live within you, guiding you to a new life without sin. You may not be able to change yourself, but Christ can change you. You will feel a love and peace that you have never experienced before. What are you waiting for? Don’t be embarrassed to get up and walk the isle. Every Christian here has done it. We all love you. So as the music plays, follow your heart and come let me introduce you to my Jesus.
