Assurance of Salvation

1 John 5:13 English Standard Version

1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

How Can I Know I Have Eternal Life?

Five Assurances of Eternal Life:

1. A confession of faith in Jesus Christ.

a. 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

b. 1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

c. 1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

i. Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

2. A desire to obey God.

a. 1 John 2:4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

b. 1 John 2:5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

c. 1 John 2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

i. 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

3. A change in lifestyle (1 John 3:6-9)

a. 1 John 3:6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

b. 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

c. 1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

d. 1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

i. 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

ii. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

iii. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

4. A love for others.

a. 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

b. 1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

c. 1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

5. An inner witness.

a. 1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

i. Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

1 Corinthians 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

1 Corinthians 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

1 Corinthians 11:31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

1 Corinthians 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”