Everyone
who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his
children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey
his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his
commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we
achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the
Son of God. And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his
baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but
by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his
testimony. So we have these three witnesses—the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely
we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his
Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts
that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God
a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have
God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we are confident that he hears us whenever
we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our
requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that
does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death,
and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. All wicked actions are sin, but not every
sin leads to death. We know that God’s children do not make a practice of
sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.
We know that we are children of God and that the world
around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has
given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God
because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true
God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take
God’s place in your hearts. 1 John 5:1-21[NLT)
Have you ever doubted your salvation? You may be like the lady who was converted
along with her young son. They'd heard a
message on John 5:24,
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe
in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their
sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” John 5:24(NLT)
But in the morning the feeling was all
gone, and mother was having the same old doubts. She said, Son, the feeling is gone. The boy ran and got the Bible, found John
5:24, showed it to his mother and said, Mother, it's still in there; you're all
right.
It is dangerous to base our salvation
experience entirely upon feeling.
Knowing that, and acting upon it, are still sometimes strangers. Like the psychiatrist who took on a very
disturbed man as a patient. The man
thought he was dead. No matter what techniques
the doctor tried, the man still thought he was dead. Finally the shrink tried one last desperate
strategy. He asked the man if dead men
bleed. Of course not, said the
patient, they're dead. With that
the doctor pricked the man's hand with a pin, and it started to bleed. What do you say to that, asked the doc. Well, I'll be, said the man, Dead
men really DO bleed after all!
There are two questions that are important to everyone who has
ever doubted whether they’re still right with God:
·
How can you
know the confidence of God's salvation in your life in spite of lingering
doubt?
·
How can you
banish the doubt altogether?
Our text offers two REALITIES that lead us to depend on the filling
of faith God would bring in
our lives, as opposed to the feeling of
experiences upon which we depend.
Reality of Relationship
5:1-13
This first reality has to do with the fact
that a person is either saved, or not saved.
When you are free falling from 20,000 feet, the parachute will either
open, or not...you will live or die - all other options are eliminated. On a job application, when it asks if you are
male or female, you can't answer "yes." You're one or the other.
The scripture says:
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not
have life. (5:12)
The reality of relationship means you have
either accepted Christ as your savior, or you are still rejecting Him.
Many people say, Yes, I know that; my problem is in knowing if that experience was real - did it 'take'?
The answer to this subsequent question is
more involved. It spawns another
question: Did
your experience of accepting Christ change your life? Genuine salvation has that quality.
What are the signs?
·
Love of the brethren (5:1)
Do you love Christians?
·
Love of the Father's will (5:3)
There is nothing burdensome when it involves pleasing the one you
love.
·
Love of the cross (5:6) At
the time John wrote this letter a group of intellectuals, (called Docetic Gnostics) were saying that Jesus couldn't have been involved
with something as awful as the cross if He were truly God. The blood was too nasty, dirty. Therefore, He only appeared to have a body,
and die as a common criminal.
How do you feel about the cross?
·
Was Christ
really the Son of God?
·
Did He hang
there in your place?
·
Have you
called on Him, personally, asking for Him to forgive you, and that you might
receive that forgiveness, and be born again?
·
Have you
turned your life, your possessions, your time, your talents over to His
control?
·
Does it make
you want to love the Lord who died for you, and love the others He died for,
and be obedient to the Father's will?
That is the reality of relationship. You either have the Son of God as your Savior
and Lord (and eternal life), or you don't!
Reality of Renewal
5:14-21
Renewal has to do with the changes that
happen in a person's life. John says
there are at least four characteristics that will mark the life of a saved
person:
1. Answered prayer
And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything
that pleases him. And since we know he
hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we
ask for. 1 John 5:14-15(NLT)
Those who are children of God spend time
with Him, finding out what His will is; then, as obedient children, they begin
to act, and ask according to that will.
Something is wrong in a household when a
child won't talk to the parent. There
will not be much of a relationship or provision, beyond the basic necessities
of life.
In the same way, prayer (and the resultant
answers) become a natural part of a believer's experience. We talk to our Father
regularly, and He answers!
Answered prayer marks the life of a saved
person, and…
2. Care for others
If you see a fellow believer sinning in a
way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person
life. But there is a sin that leads to
death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. 1 John 5:16(NLT)
Usually, in the church, we criticize and
humiliate those who sin. But that isn’t anything
like what Scripture says a follower of Jesus Christ ought to do. You cannot love and hate at the same
time. The Bible says we should pray for
those who have lost their way, so they might be forgiven.
Answered prayer and caring for others
marks the life of a saved person, and…
3. Decreasing influence of sin
All wicked actions are sin, but not every
sin leads to death. We know that God’s
children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely,
and the evil one cannot touch them. 1 John 5:17-18(NLT)
We are not sinless by any
stretch of one's imagination; however the growing Christian does sin-less. That is what becoming an overcomer is all
about! The Christian is one who is so
uncomfortable with his sin, despising it in himself so much, that he fights,
and eventually wins-out against the dominance of sin in his life. Someone once said that the only certain sign
that you are saved is not that you don’t sin at all, but that you despise your
own sin.
When Thomas Dewey lost the '48 election to
Harry Truman, after everyone expected a Dewey landslide, Dewey later said he felt
like the man who woke up to find himself inside a coffin with a lily in his
hand and thought: 'If I'm alive, what am
I doing here? And if I'm dead, why do I
have to go to the bathroom?'
Genuine believers are embarrassed by sin
in their lives. They feel like they
don't belong. A pig will go back to the
mud-wallow because he feels at home there.
A sheep gets out of a mud-hole quickly and avoids the next one he
sees. That's the nature of a sheep.
Answered prayer, caring, and decreasing of
sin marks the life of a saved person, and…
4. Worship
We know that we are children of God and
that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and
he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.[e] And now we live in fellowship with the
true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the
only true God, and he is eternal life.
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in
your hearts. 1 John 5:19-21(NLT)
A.W. Tozer said: We are called to an everlasting
preoccupation with God.
God is worthy of our worship. One of the ways that you can be reasonably
assured of your salvation is your desire to worship. Knowing the true God and recognizing idols
that would take His rightful place are marks of a true Christian.
Believers recognize counterfeits. Like the man who wanted to rid his house of
mice and bought a mousetrap. He didn't
have any cheese, so he cut out a picture of a piece of cheese, loaded up the
trap, and went to bed. In the morning
there was a picture of a mouse in the trap.
Whatever keeps you from exalting the true
God is an idol, a counterfeit.
Some Questions to Ponder
·
Have you accepted Christ, and begun the spiritual pilgrimage of
relationship with Him?
·
Is your life characterized by answers to prayer, care for others, a
decreasing influence of sin, and an increase of worship?
If so, when the devil attempts to rock
your faith, be like the young boy who was talking to his pastor. The pastor asked: Does the devil ever tell you you're not
saved?"
Said the boy: Yup.
Then what do you tell him? asked the pastor.
Replied the boy, I tell him it's none of his
business!
Our Prayer
Father, we are often tossed-about by the Enemy’s snares
and deception. We are often tormented by
doubt and confusion.
Help us to so live in your love that the Evil one
despises everything we do in Your name, and the way we love each other…and care
for the needy ones of this world who don’t yet know You.
We pray in Your Son’s Name;
help us to cooperate with Your Spirit…Amen!
