Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
How many hundreds of times have I sung this old song in little country churches in the hills of Western North Carolina, in spirited camp meetings, in great conference halls in Atlanta, Louisville, and Dallas, and in great churches like 1st Baptist Dallas.
The singing of this great song begs the question; “How do I know He is mine, or perhaps more importantly, How do I know I am His?”
There is little doubt that many claim Jesus as theirs who are not His. Jesus made this fact crystal clear in Matthew 7 where He was teaching about false teachers. Many followed Him, not because of who He was but for the “loaves and fishes”. Not everything that glitters is gold, and not every one who claims to be a Christian is.
So, back to the question, “How do I know He is mine, or perhaps more importantly, How do I know I am His?”
When asked the question “How do you know you are a Christian?” some people might answer the following:
· I try to live a good life.
· I am as good as others I know.
· My family has always been Christians.
· I have been a member of the church all my life.
· I joined a church a few years ago.
· I believe in God (Jesus)
· I was christened as a child.
· I have been confirmed.
· I live by the golden rule.
There could be dozens of other answers and ideas about how you can know that you are a Christian, but how valid are those answers? I submit they are incorrect.
1 John 5:13a. says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life”. This should be a good starting point for a valid answer. We must learn what “These things..” are if by them we can know that we have eternal life.
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 2:3 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments”
1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
1 John 2:10 “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”
1 John 2:24 “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.”
1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 John 3:7 “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
1 John 3:9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.”
1 John 3:16-21 “16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”
1 John 3:23-24 “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:6a. “We are of God. He who knows God hears us..”
1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:9-11 “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John 4:12-16 “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
1 John 4:17 “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
1 John 5:1-5 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 John 5:10-12 “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that 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.”
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” 1 John 5:13a.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20
We can know that we have passed from death to life, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light, and that we have eternal life. 1 John makes it very, very clear.
We must have an abiding faith in Jesus Christ.
We must love those He loves.
We must obey His commandments
We must avoid sinful lifestyles.
When we place our complete trust in Jesus Christ He Himself becomes our “eternal life”. Eternal life is not just something He gives, but rather He gives Himself.
He comes to abide in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit, to teach us about Christ, to give us the supernatural love of Christ for others, and to guarantee our salvation until Christ comes.
Every person who has repented of (turned away from) their sins and trusted Christ will have an inborn desire to obey God and love their fellowman. This person will love the light and hate the darkness and his life will reflect the light.
We will want to forgive because we have been forgiven, to love because we were first loved by God, and to be with God’s people to work, worship, and proclaim Jesus and His love to others.
We are now children of God, part of the body of Christ (the church), we have an inheritance reserved in heaven for us, we have access to God in prayer, we have assurance given by the Holy Spirit who lives in us, we have God’s grace to teach us to say no to ungodliness, we have a supernatural ability to love everyone, even our enemies, and one day even our bodies will be redeemed and made incorruptible like Jesus’ own glorified body and we will be with Him and His people forever and ever.
Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation and salvation is found in no other. We can do no act of goodness, no rite, no penitence, nothing to merit God’s love in Christ. We simply in childlike trust, accept the free gift of Christ’s righteousness, the forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
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