07.02.07

Evidences of Salvation - The Tests of 1 John

Posted in Salvation at 10:54 pm by TruthofmyKing

In a previous article (Evidence of Salvation - You Will Know Them by Their Fruits), I briefly wrote about the book of 1 John being the “book of assurance.”  This subject must be dealt with in a little more depth.

It seems the first reasonable act, if you want to know if you are saved, if you want assurance of salvation, is to ”examine yourself”

2 Cor 13:5

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?

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It is important that you do not use any other method of measure to recognize that Jesus Christ is in you than the written word of God.  Do not compare yourself to someone else, lest you be found to be justified in your own heart and not in the eyes of Christ. 

Prov 14:12

12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

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Jer 17:9

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

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Now it is only fitting that 1 John was written by the Holy Spirit so that we may KNOW that we have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

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So let us begin examining ourselves:

1 John 1:6

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

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You will notice throughout this entire book of 1 John he uses a series of questions that begin with “if we say” but then he ends with “and yet” which means the actions of one who does not have assurance will be contrary to what they say. 

This is important……

Do you not what your profession of faith means?

NOTHING!  If it is not followed by action, or there is no fruit of that profession. 

James 2:17

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

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Remember the Lord said that a good tree will bear good fruit (Matt. 7:17) but what becomes of the tree that bears no fruit?

Luke 13:7

7 “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’

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So the first test found in 1 John 1:6 says that if we say we are walking with Christ or if we say we are a Christian but we walk contrary to righteosness then we are a liar. 

It is the same as saying we are good tree and we are producing bad fruit.  In addition to John, the Lord Jesus said this cannot be so:

Matt 7:18

18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

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Do not escape this first test, if it is failed, do not try to justify yourself by any work, by trying to walk in the light.  No one is justified by works.

Remember, these tests are only the evidences of your faith.  Evidences of who you are. 

If you find yourself to be without faith, return to your knees and cry out to the Lord of Glory to replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh and if it is a sincere cry, I have the assurance by His written word He will save you.

For those of you who passed, here is the second test:

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

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Are you one who believes that you are going to heaven because you are good (Sinner -What Have You Been Saved From)? 

Do you not confess your sin to your Savior? 

The question here is found in the present tense form so it does not mean “Have you confessed your sin at one time in the past” but are you “confessing” even to this day.

Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you found yourself broken over your sin?

If you pass, A third test:

1 John 2:3-4

3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

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Do you live as though your Father never gave you a law to obey?  Do you confess that you have been saved from the condemnation of your transgressions and yet continue to live in violation of those same commandments?

A fouth test:

1 John 2:6

6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

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A fifth test:

1 John 2:9

9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

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By now you should see the clear instruction from the Holy Spirit.  What you say can be completely contrary to the way you live your life. 

So during this examination I beg you to discard all of your professions of faith and examine yourself strictly on your walk.

A sixth test:

1 John 2:15-16

15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

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A seventh:

1 John 3:7-9

7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

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The eighth:

1 John 3:10

10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

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Ninth:

1 John 3:15

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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Tenth:

1 John 3:17

17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

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 Eleventh:

1 John 3:24

24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

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The twelfth:

1 John 4:2-3

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

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Thirteenth:

1 John 4:6

6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

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Fourteenth:

1 John 4:7-9

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9

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Fifteenth:

1 John 4:20

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

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And at last the Sixteenth:

1 John 5:1-3

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 

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I encourage you to read the book of 1 John.  I pray that you have passed the tests, that your examination proved you are who you profess you are.

If so, the Holy Spirit through John has one last thing to say:

1 John 3:19-22

19 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

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May you have the eyes to see and ears to hear.

For the Truth of my King

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