The joy of Assurance: Our Assurance through the Holy Spirit

Title: The joy of Assurance: Our Assurance through the Holy Spirit

As we’ve progressed through 1 John up into chapter 3, we’ve come to see that John has been telling the churches that God wants them to have great joy.

He’s actually gone into some great detail to explain why we have this joy, but also what we as Christians must do to have it…

or better yet, how we, IN Christ, are to live so that we might experience that joy.

And one thing that keeps coming back at us is the importance of keeping the commands of our Lord so that we CAN have the great joy God desires for us.

John has told us over and over (so I guess this is sort of important)…

He’s told us that without keeping the commands of the Lord, all of which in truth spring from the Great Commandment, the Great Commission,…without keeping God’s commands, we’re going to miss out on His joy.

But the other key part of experiencing this wonderful joy, is that we MUST remember our IDENTITY…

I’m talking about our identity of being a child of God because of the REDEEMING work of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

To help us think about how great our identity in Christ really is, let’s watch a short video clip…

IDENTITY mp4 (SermonCentral.com)

Our passage that we’re looking at today again is

1 John 3:24 ESV

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.

(ESV) 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.

John once again, uses this 2 word phrase that we’ve seen in previous verses… ‘by this’…

And once again, here John is showing us that we can KNOW by this proof that he gives us, we can KNOW…we don’t have to guess or hope…we can KNOW that we really do have the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ in us…

We have the reassurance that we REALLY have been saved…

So John says, “by this…whoever keeps his commandments”…

Now this doesn’t mean you’ve got to keep a ‘check-off’ list of some kind…

But it does mean that IF you’re living out the commandments of God in your life, then that is indeed one of those proofs that YOU do have Jesus in YOU through His Holy Spirit.

So john isn’t saying that our proof is our score card that we might try to keep…

you know, like keeping a record of how many times you went to church over your lifetime and how many times you did a good deed to show that you loved your neighbor in order to prove that you “Love the Lord you God with all your heart”

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

(ESV) 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Nor does John tell us that we get credit for how many times we go and volunteer to work a church’s summer VBS or BackYard Bible Club…

Nor do we get credit for going out and doing street evangelism or go on a mission trip to make us feel like we’re working to please God…

No is it about how many times we go door to door to tell somebody about Jesus so that we can say that we witnessed or tried to make disciples as Jesus said in the Great Commission…

(ESV) 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What it all boils down to is this…John knows full well, that people can state anything…

Those early Christians apparently were also doing just that…so we can state that we’re followers of Jesus Christ…but if we DO NOT LIVE our lives IN CHRIST and SHOW it, are we really who we claim to be?

So a person can state that they go to Dallas Baptist Church, I use that because that’s the church we’re all part of or attend…

but IF they rarely attend, do they really belong to the church body? Are they really in fellowship?

You know, I get a kick every once in a while when I get a call from one of the local funeral directors asking me to perform a funeral for someone I never heard of, but the family stated that the deceased person was a regular member of Dallas Baptist Church.

Likewise, people can state that they follow Baptist doctrines and teachings, but if they attend a non-denominational church or a Methodist Church, or Assembly of God, or some other church, are they really Baptists?

Again, people can state that they’re Christians and even go to church regularly on Sundays, but if their lives don’t show Jesus Christ in them during the week, are they really genuine Christians?

Johns been telling us that our lives must demonstrate through “LIVING OUT” (I like that better than just “KEEPING”) the commandments of Jesus.

I’m quite certain that is why Jesus said in , (ESV) 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

John 15:10 ESV

10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Living it out. That IDENTIFIES us. That’s practicing what we say.

And fortunately, the Holy Spirit helps you live that life;

He guides you;

and He ASSURES you each and every moment that you truly are a child of the King.

(ESV) 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.

1 John 3:24 ESV

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.

Video clip: My Identity