"That you may know"

1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

I. Intro

In one of the Superman movies, Superman saves a man from a burning building. He rescues him from the top floor and is carrying him to safety by flying through the skies. The man looks at Superman and then looks down at the ground. “I’m scared, Superman. Look how far down that is.” Superman gives him a great answer. “Now if I delivered you from the burning fire, what makes you think I am going to drop you when I’m carrying you to safety?” If God has delivered you from a burning hell, what makes you think He will drop you before He safely puts you down?

Many of us made a profession of faith at a very young age. For others, our salvation came to us later in life. But the truth is, there will be many professing Christians that will split hell wide open. I’m not saying that your salvation experience was not genuine. There is only one way to eternal life, and that is through Christ. John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” In today’s message, we will go over how you can know for sure you have eternal life, and how you can security of your salvation. We must remember one thing above all. The devil is a liar. John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Even if your salvation if secured and real, he will try his best to get you to question and doubt it. If he can get you to doubt your salvation, he can get you to doubt God. Satan has only come for three things-to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to steal your peace, he wants to kill your joy, and he wants to destroy your utter existence. John had no doubt of his eternal salvation, and he made sure that we shouldn’t either. In his letter, John uses the word “know” more than 30 times. John’s assurance wasn’t built on a hope-so or maybe-so salvation. It was built on a know-so salvation. Jesus warned against such false assurance. Many who profess to be Christians will be rejected in the day of God’s judgment. John is saying in his letter, “I want you to be sure that you have eternal life.”

II. How can I be sure of my Salvation

Come to a place where you realize you can’t get to God or Heaven by yourself.

No matter how hard we try, we can not get to God by ourselves without Jesus. Since God can’t be in the presence of anything unholy or corrupt, and we are corrupted by the curse of sin as soon as we take our first breath, God can’t be in the presence of or have a relationship with us until we seek forgiveness and become washed in the blood of Jesus.

God promises us eternal life. 1 John 2:25 “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.”

God wants to save us, and He offers each of us genuine salvation no matter our past.

1 John 4:9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Getting saved is so amazingly simple, as the work has already been completed on Calvary!

A-Admit you are a sinner and that you need God.

B-Believe in the Lord Jesus

C-Confess your sins to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and to save you.

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

III. Many of us know God, but do we KNOW God?

You can can all the head or book knowledge about God, and still go to hell.

Knowing God only comes by having a personal relationship with Him.

John says he is writing this to those that believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.

The word used here, “know” is exete, and it translates as ‘you possess.’ This phrase “you possess” most closely translates to English as “ongoing assurance.”

IV. Conclusion

We have all been in that dark place one time or another where you ask yourself, “Am I really saved?” Did I say all the words right in my prayer? Did I believe enough for Christ to save me? Well I have good news for you. Our eternity is not rested upon whether or not we did something right, it rests upon what Jesus did on the cross.

When people go shopping and pay for something, they get a receipt. That receipt validates that they made a purchase. If there is ever a question or if anything ever goes wrong, the receipt proves that the payment was made in full. For Christians, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, the payment for their salvation was paid in full on Friday night when Jesus was crucified on the cross. Early on Sunday morning, the receipt was given. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our receipt. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s receipt for the payment of the death of Christ.

After His death on the cross, God said, “It is finished.” That is a financial term meaning that the debt has been paid in full. Once you accept Christ and His work on the cross, your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life never to be removed, because it was written in the blood of Jesus, and there isn’t an eraser for that. Revelation 3:5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”