Do you Know, that you know?
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Good morning, it is so good to see everyone this morning, Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 John 2 we will begin reading in verse 3.
This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard.
Let’s pray
We are continuing our study through the letter of 1 John and we have learned thus far that the whole point of this letter has to do with fellowship. Fellowship with God and fellowship with one another as believers in Christ Jesus.
One of the things John is driving home for us is that we should have assurance when it comes to our salvation. Our salvation is not something that is up for grabs but rather this is something that once you are born again once you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ it is something that is sealed and kept by the Lord Jesus.
He has taught us that God desires to grant humanity life and not just life abundantly but fellowship with our Heavenly father right here on this Earth. From Gods perspective our salvation is sure if it is genuine. We can take heart even in our imperfection that from Gods heavenly viewpoint our salvation it as if we are seated already in the kingdom of heaven in Christ right this minute.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
That is past tense meaning it has already happened I am telling you this morning that if you are saved your salvation is as sure as the Lord Jesus Christs seat on his throne and isn’t that good news?
But we don’t always see things this way, there are times we battle with sin, we battle with the flesh, and we allow the enemy Satan to make us doubt whether or not the Lord is really at work in us.
But what we are talking about this morning is one of the most important doctrines in all the Christian faith, and that is the assurance of salvation in the life of the believer.
Assurance causes the Christian to rejoice with the great hymn:
BLESSED ASSURANCE JESUS IS MINE
OH WHAT A FORETASTE OF GLORY DIVINE
HEIR OF SALVATION PURCHASE OF GOD
BORN OF HIS SPIRIT WASHED IN HIS BLOOD
Assurance is a privilege and a birthright, when you and I are saved we are born again in the new birth. I we doubt our salvation it leads to misery and despair. We can have such a deep assurance of our salvation that we know we are Gods and we live with that boldness and joy, but we must pursue that assurance!
Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
Peter says make every effort to confirm, to make sure that you know that you know.
There are pastors who would like to give you hope that if you have repeated a prayer, if you have made a profession of faith, given mental agreement to the gospel, or even been baptized that you are definately saved and should never question your salvation. But that means you never have to examine yourself.... but the Bible teaches us to examine ourselves to confirm whether or not we are in the faith.
Listen this is something we have to examine, assurance is something throughout church history that has been a major issue. Roman Catholics say there is no chance at total assurance, this is heresy, and it comes from the heresy of thinking that salvation is a joint effort between God and sinners.
In other words they believe you do your part and God will do His part. However it is not by works that we are saved the Bible says but by grace we have been saved through faith not of yourselves it is the gift that comes from God.
Listen to me SALVATION IS THE LORDS ACCORDING TO THE PSALMS
IF you are saved in this room I want you to know the person who lead you to the Lord the circumstances that surrounded you coming to church or hearing that sermon, or the song on the radio that lead to your salvation were SOVERINGLY ORDAINED MY GOD HIMSELF!!!
God was at work through my mother, and through others in my life who tried to lead me to salvation. God was at work in the events that lead to me wrecking the truck and ending up getting hurt at badcock which lead to my salvation.
You need to recognize and realize that God Himself orchestrated the events surrounding your salvation perfectly so that you would come to to now Him!
God saves totally from beginning to end God saves totally!
When people experience saving faith they recognize their sin and wickedness and the truth of the gospel, and they repent of thier sins and embrace Jesus as thier Lord and Savior and thiefr only hope.
When that happens they are energized by the relief that comes from knowing they are forgiven and it feels like a weight lifting, a burden lightens, a relief comes.
If you have experienced this it could be assurance.
God letting you know it is all alright I am yours and you are mine
Gods word gives believers their source of certainty you can hear the promises of Gods word and know that Jesus does not lose any!
While I was with them,
I was protecting them by Your name
that You have given Me.
I guarded them and not one of them is lost,
except the son of destruction,
so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.
God promises that all who come to Him through faith in Jesus shall not be lost. You can assurance today because no matter what kind of mistakes you have made, no matter how far you fall, no matter how many times you have made a mess of your life if you are truly born again your sonship/ your fellowship in the family of God cannot be affected because it is not based on your ability to be good but on God ability and desire to be good to you and keep his promises.
I may get mad at my children when they do something wrong, i may discipline them but nobody loves them like thier mom and me. I would lay my life down for my kids, Let me tell you something they may disobey and they may do something wrong but I want them to know they can always tell thier daddy, because I want them to know that no matter what they do DADDY WILL ALWAYS LOVE THEM AND WILL NEVER KICK THEM OUT OF THE FAMILY NO MATTER WHAT!
The proof of this assurance means the Holy Spirit is at work in the believers life and emotions so that they feel the joy of thier forgiveness and long to be in Gods presence, like children with a beloved father.
Once truly saved and adopted always truly saved and adopted.
The question then becomes how do I know that I know?
The practical test God gives
The practical test God gives
This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.
This begins a new set of tests that verify salvation and encourage assurance.
(Verification is important)
So John presents his readers with some ways they can verify that they were walking in the light and had a genuine relationship with God.
First of all I want you to see John says this with certainty he does not say we might know we are saved, he says this is how we know!
“WE KNOW” is the present tense form of the word ginosko, and means continually percieving something by experience.
Assurance comes from obeying God’s commands in scripture. Those who fail to do so will and should wonder if they are converted and the Holy Spirit is truly leading them. But if you are obedient believers can be assured that they have come to know Him!
as it is written:
There is no one righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
If you are seeking God if you are seeking to obey if you care at all there is a good indication that you are genuinely saved.
External obedience provides evidence for whether or not an internal transforming work has been accomplished by the Lord in a persons life.
THe Bible is clear that when we come to faith in Christ the law of God is written on our hearts and what is in a persons heart controls how he or she lives their life.
Once we experience the goodness and mercy of God Himself it will transform us to the point where when we know something is wrong we try to stay away from it, we put away old things and put on Christ Jesus.
Now this is not some legalistic obedience imposed externally, or observed superficially or hypocritically. It aint putting on a showit aint keeping rules. it is a grateful attitude of obedience that flows from the truth we have embraced on the inside. Even though we still wrestle with sin we can agree with what Paul wrote
So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.
So God says we can know that we know Him if we keep His commands.
The word KEEP=tereo and it means
an observant watchful obedience. It can also be translated to guard.
(My friends wanting me to hang out with them after I first got saved)
(The girl in the gym)
THE WORD KEEP MEANS Christians are continually safeguarding the commandments because we find Gods word precious. John didnt want his readers to settle for a half way righteousness before God he wanted them to have closeness with him that only comes trough trying to live a holy life.
Your relationship with God should be the most important relationship you have, you should safeguard it against things that could drive a wedge between you and Him. Sin separates not completely but it strains the relationship we have with God now let me ask you a question, Cory do you love your wife?
If she came to you and said I really dont like you doing this and it is putting a strain on our marriage so I would like for you to not do this anymore what would you do?
I dont even have to ask it would be gone
Under the New covenant of JEsus blood God accepts believers loving and sincere albiet imperfect obedience and forgives thier disobedience. By god grace a real Christian is consistent for their love of god and their desire to remain close to Him. God honoring obedience shows genuine love as John writes later in this epistle
This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden,
But this command was nothing new he heard it from Jesus Himself.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commands.
The test applied
The test applied
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him:
I can assure you of this as well according to John is you claim to know God and yet you do not care at all about keeping His commands then you are a liar and the truth is not in you.
John thunders forth this accusation that you can talk a good talk but when ti comes to the reality of your life what does it look like?
I always said to the teenagers when I was a youth pastor would people be able to look at the evidence of your life and find you guilty of being a christian?
In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Those whose faith is genuine will obey the truth they know.
If we love God then we seek to do what makes Him happy. This verse says whoever keeps His word in him the love for God has been truly perfected.
(Lonnie)
The test exemplified
The test exemplified
The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.
The only person who can pass the test of obedience and realize the deep assurance is the one who abides in Him bc Jesus is the perfect role model for obeying the father.
Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.
We draw spiritual life from the Lord Jesus Christ alone. even as branches do from a vine to abide in Christ is to remain with Him not a temporary attachement but a permanent deep connection If you keep going with Jesus it is evidence that you are genuinely saved even those who walk away for a time always come back to Him they have to, one simply cannot taste and see the Lord and His goodness without returning.
If someone walks away and stays away it is bc they genuinely never had that deep intimate saving relationship.
We should seek to be like Christ in our decisions and actions
following His lead when ti comes to obeying our Heavenly Father
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
This is why the Father loves Me, because I am laying down My life so I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.”
On the contrary, I am going away so that the world may know that I love the Father. Just as the Father commanded Me, so I do.
“Get up; let’s leave this place.
Obviously we are going to fail and not be as perfect as Jesus but that does not mean we should not seek to obey God.
we are going to slip and fall but let me ask you this question:
Are you giving everything that you are to all of God that you know?
Are you obeying the truth God has revealed to you?
Are you forgiving that person you know is not worthy of your forgiveness?
Are you loving that person who does not deserve it?
Are you sharing your faith?
Seeking Gods face?
Helping the needy?
Leading your children towards the Lord?
answering the call?
DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU KNOW HIM? DOES HE KNOW YOU?