Assurance Rooted in Love

Sacred text: 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Introduction: We will be in 1 John chapter 3 if you want to go ahead and open your Bibles. A while back, just before we started preaching through the letters of John, I shared a glimpse of what my life was like growing up and my time before knowing Christ. I remember that all I knew was alcohol and partying. It had become so ingrained in my life that I thought that was the meaning of life, based on my actions. One day, my mother decided to give up that life and follow Christ. My brother and I despised her for it. We treated her very badly, gave up on her, and believed she was the world’s biggest hypocrite. But she never gave up on us. She prayed for us, begged and pleaded with God on our behalf, and loved us through it all. She wanted nothing more than for her two sons to know Jesus the way she did. That’s love, and that’s how we are all called to love one another. This is what John has been urging us to consider: how am I loving the person next to me? How am I loving the people in this church right now? This was God's desire for the people John wrote to thousands of years ago, and it is God's desire for us today. We love because God loves us and shows us how to love. Let's read our passage and then begin to look at how John makes his case for an assurance rooted in love.

1 John 3:19–24 “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

Context: If we remember, last week we explored verses 11-18, where John highlights the contrast between hating our brothers and sisters in Christ and loving them. Much like Jesus, John equates hate with murder and emphasizes the necessity of loving one another. This week, in verses 19-24, John takes this a step further and explains that through our love, we know we are truly saved. By our love, we gain the confidence to draw near to God in prayer, and through our love, we humbly walk in obedience. If you're a note-taker, those are the three main points we will explore today: through our love, we gain assurance, confidence, and obedience.

Heart Assurance (1 John 3:19-20)

Assurance by Love 1 John 3:19 “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;”

Our assurance lies in the way we love God and love people. “By this,” we shall know that we are walking in the truth and our hearts are reassured before God. In verses 11-15, John shows that when we have passed from death to life, this transformation has taken place, and we know this to be true because we begin to truly love others the way God desires. In verses 16-18, John reminds us of the love that Christ has for us by giving up his own life for us, and he says that we must love others in the same way. Now, in verse 19, you can add the word “love” at the end of the phrase “By this,” and it completes the sentence. “By this love,” we shall know that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Jesus says in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Folks, love is not optional for us. If we find ourselves hating a brother or sister in sinful anger, then something is terribly wrong. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” People will know you by your love. More importantly, regarding the point John makes in this passage, Paul states that it is God who has taught us to love. Without God, we cannot love fully. Therefore, if we find ourselves loving others as we should, our hearts can discover reassurance before God that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Yet, at times, our hearts may condemn us. 

A condemning Heart 1 John 3:20 “for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

This is the point of heart failure that many of us experience daily. This is the moment when, if we listen to our hearts, we fall into doubt and condemnation where there should be neither. Remember, when Scripture speaks of the heart, it refers to that “control center” from which all our thoughts, words, and actions flow. Here is the truth about our hearts, the prophet Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 17:9–10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Our hearts are wicked and deceitful; they lie to us and condemn us. But God is greater than our hearts and only God truly knows the inner workings of them. Our hearts latch onto every little impurity within us to accuse us and bring the charge: “You failed to love this person, so you must not be a true Christian.” Charles Spurgeon says of this, “In moments of soul conflict it will be wise for you to carry this question beyond yourself up to the Omniscient (all knowing) One.” This involves confessing, repenting, and seeking God’s forgiveness in prayer. God knows the true intentions of the heart better than we do ourselves, yet He still forgives us. What John is saying here is that we need to stop seeking assurance based on our feelings and what our hearts tell us. Instead, we should find our assurance in the truth of God’s word, which is revealed in His promises and in abiding in Christ. This abiding in Christ, and Him abiding in us, brings peace to our hearts before the Father.

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Heart Confidence (1 John 3:21-22)

The Renewed Heart 1 John 3:21 “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;”

John goes on to say that if our hearts do not condemn then we have confidence before the Father. This verse alone should give us hope that in our doubts and the accusations of our hearts against us, we can have confidence, real assurance of our salvation, before the Father.

Praying and Receiving 1 John 3:22 “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”

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Heart Obedience (1 John 3:23-24)

Supporting point/argument 1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

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Supporting point/illustration/quote 1 John 3:24 “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

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Conclusion:

Prayer: