Studies Through 1 John - Lesson 5
How Do I Know That I Am Saved? (Part 1)
This is a topic that John deals with a lot through 1John and in fact is one of the main reasons that John writes this epistle. John's ultimate desire is to disturb the comforted - those with false assurance, and comfort the disturbed - those who lack assurance but are saved. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 13:5
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? "
There must then be some tests that we can use that are given in scripture that we can use to examine ourselves and I believe there are. I believe there are some internal tests and there are some external tests of our faith. First lets look at the passage in 1John.
"We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them."
The first word I highlighted is "know". The Greek is "epignosis" which means to know a person not just know about.
I could say I know about Lebron James because I have his whole trading card memorized but his number is not in my cellphone. He does not follow me on Twitter. I do not know him personally and neither does he know me. A lot of people know about Jesus but they do not know Him personally. Some examples are 1John 1:6, Matt. 7:21-23, Luke 13:24-27, and John 8:31-59. The latter passage is one people usually don't think about in regards to this topic but it starts with "To the Jews that believed Him Jesus said..." and ends with "they picked up stones to stone him" This passage gives some insights into what it truly means to be saved that we will be referring to throughout this lesson. So let's look at the internal evidence that we are saved.
Internal Evidence
This is the proof that only you can see. You have access to the inner regions of you that no one else has except God. Sadly, He sees it clearer than you do. (1 Cor. 4:4,5 , Jer. 17:9,10) With the access you have, you can look for these 8 signs that you are truly saved or more precisely that the Holy Spirit lives inside you. John alludes to this line of questioning in the above verses in 1John. I highlighted the times when "in Him" is used. Whenever you see "in Him" think of the life being run and controlled by or in the power of the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit do inside us before the evidence makes itself outside?
1. Inner confidence - I know this can't be completely trusted as we have seen above but if you have received Christ..
And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Rom. 8:16
" Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. " John 3:33, 7:17
When the Holy Spirit comes in, you know deep inside.
2. Conviction of sin - It isn't just a sorrow for getting caught. It is Godly sorrow for hurting the One we love and giving the accuser of the brethren some ammunition against us. It brings about a resolve and plans to never do that sin again. This is what the Holy Spirit does inside of us. Prior to this we would have said, "Oh well, I'm only human"
" And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin..." John 16:8a
3. Conviction of righteousness - Now we have a chooser inside of us directing us to make the right choices; hard righteous decisions that we couldn't have made before and wouldn't have wanted to. For example, a friend has a financial need but you are saving up for a new bass boat. You choose to give him the money. See, it wouldn't have been a sin not to but it was righteous behavior to. Or the wives want to rent a cabin and have a girl's weekend but you choose to spend it with the family. It wouldn't have been a sin to do that but it was righteous behavior to spend it with your husband and kids. In the past you might have thought "all I do is give, give, give". I need some me time. Now you are thinking, "all Jesus did was give, give, give. I guess I desire to be like Him"
"And when He has come, He will convict the world... of righteousness " John 16:8b
4. I am understanding the Bible and God is speaking to me through it!! - Do you remember those days prior to salvation or even early on where the Bible made no sense? Jesus illustrates that when He talks about parables being closed to unbelievers but open to believers. This is the way the Bible is. The Holy Spirit makes it come alive to us. I heard a cook once describe it as his blueberry muffin mix. It is inedible until you add water but then it comes alive.
" when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" John 16:13, 14:26
5. I am starting to put Jesus ahead of myself and giving Him the glory - We are all born living for our own glory and making our name great. Gradually, only through the Holy Spirit, we are now starting to think about how He can be magnified not us. We are thinking of ways to use our abilities to share His greatness. The Holy Spirit, even though He is God, has the job of glorifying the Son. How much more should we!
"When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. " John 15:26
6. I am starting to crave God - the last 3 are taken from Psalm 42:1-8. The Psalmists in verse 7 say "deep calls to deep". I see this as deep inside our heart lives the Holy Spirit and He is calling out to the Father through us. I picture E.T. and his overriding desire deep inside him to phone home and reach out to his father.
The sons of Korah say in verses 1&2
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
When the Holy Spirit is residing inside of us there has to be a craving, a thirsting for spending time with God. Having a quiet time where we meet with Him. I can't understand professing Christians who don't read the Bible, long for Heaven, and their prayers are limited to blessing the food and memorized bedtime prayers with the kids. Deep is calling to deep if He is inside you.
7. I am desiring fellowship - we talked about this 2 lessons ago so we won't go into detail. One thing God revealed to me this week as I was preparing a men's study was from Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
From our study on the names of God we see that Jehovah, the personal God that relates to mankind said to Elohim, the triune God, "It is not optimal for man to be alone". Here is the triune God, who existed in threefold fellowship throughout eternity saying basically here we are the 3 of us and here he is the one of him. That is flawed. Therefore as deep calls to deep, the spirit is making us feel incomplete being out of fellowship. Those "believers" that don't desire church I have to question.
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng
8. I am desiring worshipping God - Everyone worships something - what are you worshipping? What kind of music are you listening to. Are you critical of people who get emotional in worship at church. Does worship move you like the Spirit is compared to the wind moving things in John 3? Would you just as soon skip the singing and get straight to the message? I remember feeling all these things early in my walk but over time I crave praise and worship because deep is calling to deep.
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life
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