Blessed Assurance
I John 3:23-24
We sing “Blessed Assurance” but do we really mean it? We see Christians today that apparently do not have any assurance that if they died tonight they would go to heaven. As a result, they have no joy; their lives are filled with worry; they serve God grudgingly, out of fear and thus ineffectively; they are afraid to die if they are not on their knees in prayer or in church.
The subject of assurance of eternal life is certainly not new. The book of I John was written with this subject at least partially in mind. Throughout history there have been three main positions concerning this subject.
First, some have said that we cannot know in this life if we are saved. They contend that salvation is God’s secret and he will not tell anyone until the judgment day. But the Bible says we can know (I John 5:13). Therefore, if we cannot know we are saved then we cannot know if any of God’s promises are true. If we cannot know we are saved then we cannot know we are lost.
Second, some have said that we can feel within ourselves that we are saved. John Calvin said that we each have an inner witness of the Holy Spirit that says we are saved. In a word, we can “feel” that we have eternal life. But human feeling is neither a reliable guide to divine truth nor a safe index of our spiritual status.
For example, look at the story of Samson in Judges 16:20. “And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ and he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”
Consider also the church at Laodicea in Rev. 3:17. “You say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
How we feel about spiritual matters determines nothing. When we begin to determine our spiritual status and define our doctrines by our experiences, feelings and opinions, we have started down a path of error which can only end in everlasting disaster. So then we cannot know by feelings whether or not we are saved. How then can we know? This brings us to the third and I believe, biblical truth concerning this matter.
We can know for certain that we presently possess eternal life if God tells us.
ILLUSTRATION: Man inherits money but doesn’t know it until the will is read.
ILLUSTRATION: Man on death row has received a pardon but doesn’t know it until he is told.
Similarly we can know that we have received an eternal inheritance and have been pardoned from our sins only if God tells us. But God doesn’t tell us through our feelings, how does he tell us? He tells us through his divinely inspired word (I John 5:13).
Before we look into God’s word to see how we can know we are saved, we need to clear up a question or two. First, we are not advocating “Once saved Always Saved.” We cannot know if we will still be saved 5, 10, or 20 years from now. But we can know NOW if we are in a saved relationship with God. We must not react to one extreme by going to an extreme in the opposite direction.
Second, We are talking today to Christians; those who have already come into a saved relationship with God. The question before us is not how to become a Christian but how a Christian can know if he/she is still in a saved relationship with God. The Scriptures give a number of tests. The apostle John implies in I John 5:13 that we can by reading the preceding words in his letter whether or not we are at this moment saved. Look at I John 2:3-5 . . .
We do not keep Christ’s commandments to earn salvation but the keeping of commandments is seen here as proof that we are already saved. Conversely, not keeping the commandments of God is seen as proof that we are already lost. A dog doesn’t bark to become a dog. He barks because he is a dog already. Also, even if a cat could be somehow be trained to bark like a dog, it would still not be a dog.
Keeping God’s commandments will not by themselves save us. However, we cannot say we are saved if we are not keeping God’s commandments. Neither fellowship with, nor knowledge of God can exist apart from obedience to his will.
I John 2:4 . . . He is not merely guilty of certain statements and acts of falsehood, but is himself false in his moral state. He is a living lie.
I John 2:5 . . . The one who as a habit of life does the will of God has within himself the love for God made complete. The keeping of God’s word is proof that we are in him.
I John 5:3 . . . “His commandments are not burdensome.” His commandments do not impose a burden when they are kept. Jesus said in Matt. 11:30, “My yoke is easy and my load is light.” What imposes a burden is disobedience to his will. The more we fulfill the will of God, the happier we are. The Lord supplies strength for the fulfillment of the commandments, his love make them light, and he rewards the doing of them.
WHAT ARE HIS COMMANDMENTS? I John 3:23-24
1. BELIEVE!
The first commandment is faith. It has often been said that it does not matter what a person believes as long as he does what is right. John says, that is utterly wrong. Faith is the first essential, for without faith there can be no right doing. So then, what are we to believe?
2. Believe THE NAME.
What does that mean? In the ancient world and certainly in the bible, the name was more than a word by which one person was called differently from other individuals. A name was the person’s whole character. It meant everything he was. Hence, the name was the person and the name signified all that person was. It should be noted that in the original language, “in” is not in the sentence. John does not say we are to believe “in” the name. He says we are to believe the name. That is, we are to believe everything this name represents. What then is the name which we are to believe?
3. Believe the name of HIS SON.
John first says that this name which we are to believe is the name of “his Son.” The name is the name of the Son of God. John is saying that first we must believe that this person whose name we are to believe is the Son of God. This fact is affirmed throughout the New Testament and proclaimed by God himself. When Jesus was baptized in Matt. 3:17, and transfigured in Matt. 17:5, God declared, “This is my beloved Son . . .” John affirms in I John 4:15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.”
4. Believe the name of his son JESUS.
The name of Jesus means Savior. Therefore, to believe the name Jesus is to accept everything that enabled him to be our savior: his virgin birth, perfect life, death, burial and resurrection. To believe the name Jesus then is to accept him as my savior realizing that I cannot save myself but salvation rests in him who died for me.
5. Believe the name of his son Jesus CHRIST
The name Christ is equivalent to the Old Testament name Messiah. Both names mean “the anointed one of God.” To believe the name Christ is to accept the fact that he is Lord, and I am his servant; that he is King and I am his subject; that he is Master and I am his slave. In this relationship of faith the concept of obedience is implicit. John 3:36 . . . “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of god abides on him.” John says this obedient faith will be manifested in a number of ways.
I John 2:6 . . . We will walk as he walked
I John 2:15-16 . . . We will not love the world.
I John 3:3 . . . We will purify ourselves
I John 3:7 . . . We will practice righteousness.
Our obedience to God will not be perfect but it will be a pattern of life that we follow each day.
6. LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS HE COMMANDED US.
Brotherly love is the “New Commandment” stated by Jesus in John 13:34-35 . . . “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Brotherly love must be a part of our relationship with our fellow believers who have a common relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ. I John 3:14-18
A. Brotherly love is evidence that we are in a saved relationship with God. (14-15)
B. Jesus has shown us how to love. (16)
C. If we do not love our brothers how can we say that we love God? (17)
D. We must love in deed not just in word. (18)
7. AND WE KNOW BY THIS THAT HE ABIDES IN US, BY THE SPIRIT WHICH HE HAS GIVEN US.
This is the ultimate guarantee of salvation, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But his indwelling does not manifest itself as the inner witness of Calvin. We cannot see, feel, hear, taste, or touch the Spirit. If this is true, then how do we know we have the Spirit? We know we have God’s Spirit through our obedience to his commands. If we have the Spirit of God will also have the fruit of the Spirit. Gal. 5:22-25.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.” This is the kind of assurance that every Christian should have. To have that assurance, we must
Believe . . . the name . . . of his Son . . . Jesus . . . Christ
Love one another just as he commanded us
Possess the Spirit whom he has given to us.
If you died right now would you go to heaven? If you are a Christian, you should be able to answer that question with a resounding,“YES!” If you can’t then there is a problem somewhere. It could be in your life that you know you are not conforming to what the Scriptures say you must do to have that assurance. Or it could be that you misunderstand what the Scriptures teach. Either way you are robbing yourself of the greatest joy known to man, the unqualified assurance that when Jesus comes again, you will assuredly go to heaven and be with him forever in Heaven.
