The apostle John said in 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God [Jesus] that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.”

You can be saved and know that you are going to Heaven now. It rests totally on receiving Jesus into your soul. 1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son [Jesus] has life and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This involves a definite decision to believe in and receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Jesus is God. He died on the cross for your sins and arose from the dead. Have you believed in Him with all your heart? You may be saying, “I hope so.” You can know for sure. The apostle John wrote the little epistle called 1 John to help Christians have assurance of salvation. (Note: Not the Gospel of John). He gave these four evidences of real Christians:

ONENESS WITH CHRIST. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God” (1 John 4:15). A real Christian is spiritually married to Jesus. Ninety six times in the New Testament Christians are described as being “in Christ” or “Christ being in them.” This is much more than believing facts about Jesus. You must confess Jesus as Lord, believing in Him with all your heart (Romans 10:9). Have you done that?

OBEDIENCE. 1 John 2:3 says, “Now by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” If you belong to Jesus, you will want to please Him. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” No, you are not saved by obedience. I am not speaking of perfection but rather a tender love for Jesus that grieves when you let Him down. Is this true in your life?

CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14). “Brethren” are other Christians. Devoted Christians want to be with others who love Jesus. Do you love other Christians? Most churches are blessed with traveling Christians who visit their services. Often there is an immediate awareness of Christian love and fellowship. Going to church is not drudgery to real Christians. Don’t think you will enjoy Heaven if you don’t enjoy being in Church now. I am very suspicious of professing Christians who say they love Jesus but dislike being in church.

INNER WITNESS. 1 John 4:13 says, “By this know we that we dwell in Him and he in us, because he hath given us of His Spirit.” 1 John 5:10 says, “He that believes in the Son of God (Jesus) has the witness in himself.” If you have the Spirit of Jesus in your soul, He will bear witness in your soul that you are saved. Paul says in Rom. 8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Peace will be the primary inner witness. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If you have these evidences that you are a Christian, praise God! If not, don’t try to work them up. You can fake most of them and still be lost. Instead, “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith;” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Rather than trying to defend a fuzzy past profession, just make a fresh decision now to believe in Jesus with all your heart, trusting Him to give you clear assurance of salvation.

Ask a Christian friend or pastor to pray with you to confirm your decision. Read the Gospel of John through. Pray every day. Get in a Bible believing church. Confess any known sins and ask Jesus to help you turn from them. Unforsaken sin can cause doubts. If you have not done so, share your decision in church and follow the Lord in baptism. If you let Jesus be Lord of your life, he will produce assurance of salvation inside out. Rest in his finished work on the cross. You can have assurance of salvation!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 7:36 pm and is filed under Blog Entries, Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.