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John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. So we are told that whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life, but how can we know. 1 John 2:20–21 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 1 John 2:25 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. 1 John 3:14 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 1 John 4:17–18 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 5:13 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. God does not intend for us to walk around worried that we might not make it into heaven, but instead He gives us assurance that we are saved. Romans 10:13 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Salvation is found ONLY in Jesus Christ, and in nothing nor nobody else. When we receive salvation in Jesus Christ, He gives us assurances that we are saved. 1. Belief and Confession This is the first step of salvation, to realize that we are unable to ever save ourselves. Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The only way to be saved is to receive the gift of God through believing in Jesus as the only way to God and confessing Him as such. Romans 10:9–10 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 1 John 4:15 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. Once we have done this, we are then able to walk in the comfort of forgiveness found in Jesus. We now know that we cannot out-sin the grace of God, but that the sacrifice of Jesus covers ALL sins, past, present, and future. 1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 2:1 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:12 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 1 John 5:1–2 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. But there is a question that Paul addresses with this. Romans 5:20 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, Romans 6:1–2 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Instead of continuing to walk in darkness, the Holy Spirit transforms our life from the inside out. The writer of Hebrews tells us that if we continue to sin, then we have not truly received the gift of God. 2. Transformed Life Hebrews 10:26–27 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. This is where confusion can set in, I’m a Christian, but I continue to sin. Does that mean I’m not truly saved? There is a difference the walking in sin and struggling with sin. Everyone struggles with sin, but we are not called to walk in sin. The writer of Hebrews stated if we deliberately go on sinning. Paul knew what it was to struggle with sin in Romans 7, but he fought against it and continued to rely on the grace of God. The evidence of a saved life is a transformed life, which looks different in different people, but the Holy Spirit is at work in their lives. When we truly receive the gift of salvation in Jesus, He transforms our lives through the Holy Spirit. According to Jesus, there will be some who hear the Word, and respond to it, but it does not take root in their lives. Matthew 13:3–9 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:19–23 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Jesus tells us that the evidence of the salvation that we have received is in the fruit which we produce, which results in walking in the light, and not in the darkness. 1 John 1:6 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 1 John 2:4 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 1 John 2:9 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 1 John 2:15 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 3:4 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:8 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Instead, we walk in the light. 1 John 1:5 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:7 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 2:3 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 1 John 2:5–6 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. The way that we walk in the light, is by abiding in God, and keeping His commandments. 1 John 2:24 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2:27–28 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 1 John 3:6–7 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 1 John 3:9–10 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 4:13 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:16 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 3. God’s Love is in Us John concludes his first letter by telling us that he is writing these things so that we can know that we are saved. 1 John 5:13 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. An overarching theme of what John writes about is that God’s love is in us. 1 John 4:7–8 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:20 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Proof that we have the love of God in us is that we love one another. 1 John 3:14 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 1 John 3:18–19 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; This isn’t the worldly love that is based on a feeling, but rather it is the sacrificial love that Jesus models for us. Matthew 5:43–44 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes about what the marks of a Christian look like. Romans 12:9–21 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Now the question was how can we know that we are saved, and the answer has been examined through works. Here is the truth though, we are not saved through our works or by our works. Ephesians 2:8–9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Instead, as James says, the results of our transformed life through faith in Jesus Christ is that we will produce works. James 2:17 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Titus 2:11–12 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, The only way our lives are transformed though, is not by our own doing, but by the working of Jesus in our lives through faith. 1 John 5:4 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. In this faith, we can have full assurance of our salvation. Hebrews 6:19–20 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. It’s because of the sacrifice of Jesus that we know that we can go directly to God, and that He hears us. Hebrews 10:19–23 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 1 John 5:14–15 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. Whenever you want to know where you stand with God, and if you are saved, look to the Cross. At the cross you see that God spared nothing so that we might be with Him. John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. It is at the cross only that you will find salvation, and through that, the Holy Spirit works through you and transforms your life to make you more like Christ.
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