Eleven Tests in the Epistles of John

That Can Assure Us We are Saved

Part Two

 

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

This is the second part of a series on the epistles of John written by John the apostle. In this series we will cover the eleven assurances we have that establish our salvation as a Christian.

 

TEST 5 – WE LOVE CHRIST AND EAGERLY AWAIT HIS RETURN

 

1 John 3:1-3 – How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

 

John tells us in this portion of scripture that when we accept Christ as our Savior, God pours out His love upon us and accepts us as His children. This adoption into the family of God not only brings forgiveness of sins and the ability to live a holy life, but also a future hope of becoming like Christ. Because of this blessing and inheritance we respond with an eagerness to obey the commands of Jesus and witness to others about our faith. We also are eager to see Christ return.

 

Our passion to see Christ return to the earth to claim us and His Kingdom motivates us to dedicate ourselves to obey His Word and model ourselves after His example. We obey God’s Word out of our love for God and this gives us evidence that we are truly saved from our sins and have received salvation.

 

Jesus often taught about the necessity of being ready for His return. Many of his parables contained a practical application to obey His commandments and that we should always be ready for His return. Examples of these teachings are the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. After sharing these parables Jesus gave a general teaching in Matthew 25:31-46 on the rewards for those who are dedicated to God and awaiting the Son of God’s return to the earth. Jesus also tells us in this teaching in Matthew that punishment that awaits those who are rebellious and have no relationship with the Lord.

 

Because we are no longer under God’s judgment as a Christian we greatly anticipate the experience of seeing Christ appear in these last days. We know that when He returns we will be taken to Heaven to be with Him and our Heavenly Father where we will experience no pain, hardship or sadness ever again. When we are assured by our desire to see Him return to claim us, we can be confident that our salvation has taken root and is growing within us.

 

Philippians 3:20-21

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

 

If we were not saved we would dread the return of Christ for we would still be under God’s judgment because of our sins. So we can be assured that we are saved if we sense a love for Jesus, a desire to become more like Him and an anxiousness about seeing Him return to take us to Heaven. While we are eager for Christ to return, let us patiently wait for this promise to come to pass.

 

James 5:7-9

“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”

 

TEST 6 – WE SEE A DECREASING OF SIN IN OUR LIFE

 

1 John 3:5-10 – But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 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. 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. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

 

When we became aware and convicted of our sin we sought to be saved from it by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord. Now that we have become a Christian we can be assured we are truly saved when we sense a decrease in the sin that is in our lives. While we are forgiven for our past, present and future sins by accepting Christ, we still sin at times in our Christian life. We are aware that while we strive to obey God’s Word and live by the example of Christ we sometimes stumble in our walk with Christ. We are not perfect as Christians, only forgiven. John is telling us in this portion of scripture that when we become a Christian we will not live our lives in a continuous pattern of sin. While we will sin at times, we should not be in a continual or habitual type of sinning behavior. If we are, our salvation and commitment to Christ can be called into question. So we must recognize that we do sin at times as John reminds us in 1 John 1:8 and 10;

 

1 John 1:8,10

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

 

But John also tells us in 1 John 1:9 that when we do sin we can confess and receive forgiveness.

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

 

The key point to understand is that even though we fail at times and sin against God, as long as we are not in a habitual sinful lifestyle or setting a consistent pattern of sinning, we can be assured we are saved because we are sensitive to our sin and confess it as soon as we are convicted of our behavior.

 

We must also understand that as Christians we are involved in the process of sanctification, a gradual transformation of ourselves towards holiness patterned after the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 12:2

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 

2 Corinthians 3:18

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

 

TEST 7 – WE HAVE A LOVE FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS

 

1 John 2:9-11 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”

 

A strong indicator that will assure us that we are saved is if we sense a strong love and concern for people, especially our Christian brothers and sisters. As in any family, there should be a strong commitment to love and cherish relationships within the family. God’s family is no different and actually should be a model for how people are to love each other and treat one another in relationships. We can have an assurance we are saved if we seek to help and assist others and show them love in numerous ways of service. We should do this not only in the way we talk, but also in how we help them physically, interact with them in conversation and in how we treat them in social and ministry situations.

 

Christians should love each other in an “agape” fashion patterned after their Heavenly Father. This should serve as an example of how different from the world Christians are in how they love each other. The gospel of John gives us several examples of this when John quotes Jesus,

 

John 13:34-35

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

John 15:12-14

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

 

John also covers this in his epistles where he says,

 

1 John 4:7-9

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

 

1 John 4:12

“…if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

 

1 John 4:19-20

“We love because he first loved us.”

 

So we can be assured of our salvation and that we are Christians because we are eagerly awaiting Christ’s return to the earth. We can feel confident that we are saved because though we may sin at times, we see these occurrences of sin decreasing as we live for Christ. We can also know we are saved and forgiven for our sins because we have a desire to love all people and especially our fellow Christians.