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ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

1 John chapter 5:7 to 13

The King James version includes the words "in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness" (NKJV), after the word witness in verse 7. Most other translations of the Bible leave these words out, it being assumed that they are not part of the original letter, having been added by a scribe later and mistakenly included with the original in later copies. These words merely make a statement of the oneness of the Trinity, and appear to have little bearing on the witness to us.

There are three witnesses on earth which concern us:

1. The Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and applies it to our heart. What we read in the Bible is His witness and it lingers in our mind. His witness is given so that we might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2. It is through the Word of God that we come to that knowledge. The Word of God is the only thing which can clean up our life even as believers, and it is the only thing which will keep it clean, and deliver us from the defilement of sin in the world today having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23).

3. The Word of God presents Christ who shed His blood for our sins. He died for our sins and He was raised for our justification.

These three bear witness on earth: the Spirit uses the water of the Word, and applies the blood for our salvation. These three all agree on the one purpose of bringing us to faith in Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Son of God, thereby giving us eternal life, which means permanent and unbreakable communion with God for ever.

In our courts of justice, great reliance is placed upon witnesses in order to arrive at the facts before any judgement is made. Most people do receive the witness of men, and they are often misled by it. There are many people who believe whatever they read or hear, but they will not receive the witness of God! " … for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son": His news is good news, and it is about His son who died for us on the Cross. That is the message of the triune God: the Son came, the Spirit witnesses, the Father has given His testimony (verses 6-12).

Who has trusted Christ as his Saviour, is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He testifies that these things are true. When reading Scripture, or listening to a preacher from the pulpit, or radio, or other means, he will accept it because the Spirit bears witness that he is hearing the Word of God. But when a person does not believe God, he adds to his other sins by implying that He is a liar. God says, "Trust Christ, and I'll save you." If the unbeliever says, "I don't need Christ to be saved," then he is calling God a liar.

God's testimony is that He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Mankind is "dead", separated from God because of sin, but God gives "eternal life", reconciliation with Him to last for ever, to whoever has the Son. Eternal life is to have Christ: to trust Him as our Lord and Saviour, in such a way that no one on earth or in heaven can shake our confidence in Him. We are lost without Him, but if we have Him, we have life.

Let's forget about religion, "churchianity" and all this gimmickry that is going on today: taking little courses, going through little rituals, all that sort of thing. The important thing is: do we have Christ as our Saviour? That is the only question we need to answer. He is God manifest in the flesh and He is absolutely the only one who can save us; nobody and nothing else can. He died upon the Cross because He alone could pay the penalty for our sins. He rose again, and He is living right now at God's right hand. If we have Him, we have life we are saved. That is the testimony.

John wrote this letter to us who believe in the name of the Son of God. A great many people say, "I just want to believe that I have eternal life." The question is: Whom do you believe? Not what do you believe, but whom do you believe? Do you believe God? Do you believe the testimony that He gave? He says that if you have the Son, you have life. Now do you believe that? John didn't say if you feel like it or if you have joined something, but if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour.

The purpose of this letter is twofold:

1) that we may know that we have eternal life: if we have Christ, if we have believed Him, we have eternal life: the reconciliation with God will last forever; there will be no chance of another spiritual death. We are saved for all eternity. When He gives us eternal life, that means we do not earn it, nor work for it. It is a gift lasting for ever.

If it might be withdrawn from us for any reason within a week or a year or until we sin, then it is not eternal life after all. "And I give them (my sheep) eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:29).

The sheep would not really be His if such life did not last forever. The sheep may be in danger, but the Shepherd will protect them. They may be scattered, but He will gather them up again. They shall never perish. May they backslide? Yes. Will they perish? No. The sheep may get into a pigpen, but there has never yet been a sheep in a pigpen that stayed in a pigpen. Sheep and pigs do not live together. The sheep is always a sheep. No man can pluck that sheep out of the Saviour's hand. No enemy, no man, no created being can pluck them out of His hand. The passage actually says "no created thing shall pluck them out of my hand." He is the Shepherd. He is God. If the sheep tries to jump out, the Father puts His hand right down on it, and it cannot do any jumping. Both hands are the hands of Deity.

This life was also the purpose of the Gospel which John wrote: "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are 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 20:30-31). We honour God when we know and believe it, because we trust Him and thereby do not make Him a liar.

It is not a matter of how much faith we have or how we feel about it, it is whether or not we trust Christ for what He and the Word of God say. That's all important. Some people hope that they will receive eternal life. John says we can know we have it. Our certainty is based on God's promise that he has given us eternal life through his Son. This is true whether we feel close to God or far away from him. Eternal life is not based on feelings, but on facts. We can know that we have eternal life if we believe God's truth. If we aren't sure of our situation, we should ask ourselves: "Have I honestly committed my life to him as my Saviour and Lord?" If so, we know by faith that we are indeed a child of God and, as such, have already eternal life which will never be taken away from us.

2) that we may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God: having this assurance of eternal life will do something for our Christian life here and now.

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

 

7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.

8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.

9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son.

10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son.

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life.

13 I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.