How Can I Be Sure?

“This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” – 1 John 5:11

God hasn’t just called us to walk HUMBLY. He has also called us to walk CONFIDENTLY.

 

In 1 John 5, John shares six Christian certainties on which we can build our lives with confidence. Today I’m going to talk about the first two.

 

First, we can be certain that Jesus the Son of God. In verses 7 and 8, John tells us that “there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

When Jesus was baptized in water, God confirmed that Jesus was the Son of God by speaking from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). At that time, God sent His Spirit down to remain on Jesus. Then, once again, God spoke from heaven a few days before Jesus was crucified. Jesus cried out, “’Father, save Me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).

 

In short, the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ baptism and Jesus’ crucifixion ALL testify that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. And these three testimonies are in complete agreement.

 

Second, we can be certain that believers in Christ have eternal life. In verse 13, John assures us: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” In other words, John wrote this letter, at least in part, so that believers and followers of Jesus Christ would have certainty that they are saved and walk in confidence—knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is saving a spot for them in heaven.

 

Here are two Life Lessons we can draw from this passage:

 

Life Lesson #1: You can be certain that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, and that certainty should give you great confidence to live your life all-out for Jesus. God’s Word makes it crystal clear that Jesus IS the Christ and the Son of the living God, and that He deserves nothing less than your absolute best. He gave you HIS best, so you must give Him YOUR best.

 

Life Lesson #2: If you have put your faith in Christ, you can be certain that you’ll make it to heaven. You don’t just THINK it or HOPE it. You KNOW it. The world around us will try to get you to doubt Jesus Christ and His promises. But you and I must hold strong in our faith. “He who has the Son has life.” Believe it! “You may KNOW that you have eternal life.” Believe it!

According to John 14:2-4, Jesus has gone to the Father’s house to prepare a place for every one of His followers—and that includes YOU. He has promised to come back for you so that you may be in heaven with Him. Believe it, church! Believe it, Christian!

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.