The First Epistle of John: Lesson Sixty-Six

"...but these things were

written that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

The Son of God, and

that believing you may have life in His name."

John 20:31

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Good day again, let's begin our time with prayer...

"Our dear Lord and Father, I pray to You this morning to ask You to be with me this day and give me the words to write for this study. You alone are worthy of our prayer, worship, adoration, and love. You are our Bridegroom preparing a place for us. It is You who have died and defeated death for us. Now we have eternal life through Jesus Christ. I thank You, Father, for that gift of love and life.

I seek forgiveness of sins and pray that You will wash me from my sins. Please release me from the bondage of sin and cleanse me. Renew in me a steadfast spirit and a pure heart.

I lift up each lady reading today. I pray that she is seeking Your face this day. I pray that You will go to her and encourage her through her busy day. I pray that You will convict her of her sins and fill her with Your Holy Spirit this day so that she may hear from You. Walk with her, comfort her, give her strength to face all her many challenges today.

In Jesus' name...amen."

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The Certainty of God's Witness

Today, as we finish up this portion of 1 John chapter 5, we will conclude with looking at the reasons why John wrote this letter to his fellow believers.: "That you may know"

John, a loving Pastor, writes in his letter to his "little children" that they can know for sure that they have eternal life. Our loving Shepherd, Jesus, does the same for us by giving us this letter to read over and over again during good times and bad.

God wants us to know, without a doubt, that we have that life.

1 John 5:13-

"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, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."

Notice how similar this verses is to our opening verse above. Obviously, they were both written by the same author.

But it seems imperative to John that we have that complete assurance. As with Gen Eisenhower said when he toured the concentration camps after WWII, John seems to have the foresight that someday the life of Jesus Christ will be questioned or even denied and the fact that there were witnesses to His life may even be questioned.

I have sat in many court cases that depended solely on the credibility of the key witness' testimony. Lives have been forever changed on the testimony of one person. It is most important that we remember that.

John almost has a sense of urgency when writing to his fellow believers. He desperately wants us to know that those who believe in the name of the Son of God have eternal life.....it is certain.

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"That you may know..."

Many Christians ask, "How can we know for sure we are saved...or if anyone is saved?"

That is a question that leads to doubts. And the Gnostics of old and modern times thrive on the doubt of a Christian.

As Christians, it is imperative that we know for sure of our salvation.

John 20:31

Luke 1:4

John 19:33-36

Notice how the Gospels do not begin with , "Once upon a time..." like many myths, fables, and stories.

Instead, our faith is well grounded in scripture that is based on historical fact. Why would these men begin their testimonies with historical figures like Herod of Judea or Caesar Augustus when the story could be easily verified or disqualified? Simple: their stories were true so they would want them to be fact checked next to the historical narrative surrounding these rulers.

As Luke wrote:

"In as much as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us..."

Our gospel is based on eyewitness accounts of the men who walked with Jesus.

Rom 9:33

Rom 5:5

The Lord promises us that those who believe on Him will not be put to shame because the hope we have in us by the Holy Spirit will not disappoint us.

Ps 37:9-11

God promises us that if we wait in the Lord shall inherit the earth...we shall delight ourselves in the abundance of peace.

It is a promise that leads to life!

2 Cor 1:19-20

And the promises are YES in Christ Jesus.

2 Cor 1:21-22

And we have been established by God and anointed by God who has also sealed us and given us the Holy Spirit...that witnesses of God...in our hearts as a what?

Guarantee.

Praise God!

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"That you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."

Not only does John leave us with utter assurance of our salvation, but he wants us to continue in that assurance until the end. Why?

Remember what Jesus said:

Matt 24:13

John himself suffered persecution for his beliefs in Christ and he knew full well that his fellow believers would also suffer. He was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ and shared it with us as he was commanded.

He saw the end times and how the believers would be martyred for their faith.

So, as an encouragement, he wants us to continue in our assurance of eternal life.

Matt 10:22

Luke 21:16-19

But Jesus left us with His words of comfort:

Matt 28:20

He will be with us always...even to the end of the age.

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John finishes his letter with more ways of having that assurance and we will look at them further in our next lessons.

We will look at how we can have confidence in prayer as well as safeguarding that assurance in our Christian life.

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Life Application

As we complete our study of the Certainty of God's Witness, we have addressed many things that pertain to assurance of our faith. The very fact that God puts in us that witness of Himself is a beautiful thing....a gift that we cannot hide nor deny.

Remember how John told us to walk as Jesus walked now that we have been changed.

Eph 5:8-13

And to manifest that light to the world. Once we have been changed by God, there is no hiding it. Once we have that assurance of our salvation, there is no longer reason to doubt.

Every challenge, every hardship, every conviction of sin is further proof of our salvation. We should rejoice when we are convicted of sin...we should rejoice when we are being chastised by a loving God....we should rejoice with every good and perfect gift knowing that all these things mean we belong to Him. We are His children.

Once again, remember to whom John was writing. The Jewish people went 400 years without a word from their God. They were being ruled by the Romans in their own land. They were being held down by the Jewish leaders with their man-made laws. They were burdened and tired.

John understood this when he wrote to his fellow believers. He used his letters to encourage them, remind them, and assure them of their eternal reward through Christ.

I pray that you will take these words written by John and treasure them because now you can truly KNOW that you have eternal life...and you can continue in that eternal life until the end.

It is truly a gift from the Lord.

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"Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance that continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you."

-Charles Spurgeon 1834-1892 (Morning By Morning, 2005, July 19 devotion)

Blessings,

Ruth