How do you know for certain your salvation is real, your faith is genuine, that Jesus Christ is indeed LORD of your life? There is a difference between sentimental faith and living faith. One cares but does not act; the other cares and acts in spite of the sacrifice. In our Scripture passage today, the Apostle John begins to provide a series of tests which can provide you and I great assurance of our faith. At the same time, they can be quite disturbing if all you really have is a sentimental faith. The Test of Assurance--Love
Consider for a moment the difficulties in living out your faith in this world. An old Jewish proverb goes like this: "Love your neighbor, even if he plays the trombone." This vividly illustrates the problem with obeying God's command to "love one another" (John 13:34). It wouldn't be a problem loving everybody if it weren't for the people! Yet the people in the world provide the very test of whether you have genuine faith or not.
Scripture Passage: 1 John 2:3-17
Main Point: The test of assurance of your faith is found through the demonstration of your love for people in a fallen world.
Obedience to the One who loves you brings great assurance of your faith. Emulation of the One who gave Himself for you brings great assurance of your faith. 
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. (1 John 2:3-5a, NIV)1. Obedience to the One who loves you brings great assurance of your faith.
John writes with startling simplicity and clarity. You will know for certain you know Jesus Christ if you obey His commands. The one who claims to be a Christian but does not follow Christ is a liar. On the other hand, those who have trusted in Christ and follow Him find His love at work in their life, making them better and giving them peace.Who can know this assurance that you belong to Christ? Remember first John is writing to Christians (ref. 1 John 2:2). So make certain you have come to that place in your life where you realized you were a sinner and turned from your sins to God, placing your faith and trust in the LORD Jesus Christ who died for your sins and rose from the grave. This is certainly the prerequisite for having assurance of your faith. If you have never settled your eternal destiny with God, you need to do this right now!
After this point, you will need assurance that your faith is genuine because the devil and the world and your own doubts and fears will raise up to accuse you of not being genuine and, hence, not truly a child of God. God needs no assurance, and neither do others -- they need their own assurance! So John writes about what you need and what you can know that you know.
How will you know that you know Christ? How will you know your faith is genuine? John says to check your obedience to the command of Christ. The present tense of the verb translated "keep" or "obey" speaks of your lifestyle, a lifestyle of obedience.
But now we need to know what command is he talking about? More than once in this little epistle, John makes reference to the "new" command that Jesus Christ gave His disciples in the upper room the night before His crucifixion. That command was to "love one another" (John 13:34, NIV). You can find this in John's first epistle in 2:7, 3:23, and 4:21. Jesus called the greatest commandment to love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:29-31). Neighbor love or loving one another is also called the "Royal Law of Scripture" (James 2:8). It has its roots in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19 provides a pithy look at real love for one another. After discussing your personal love for God and how that looks, Moses describes love for your neighbor:
I hope it is becoming obvious in what way you will know that you know Christ. The issue is experiencing Christ in your love for others. In a sense, letting the love of Christ in you to flow through you to touch the lives of others. Such a love is experienced with decisiveness -- you have to choose to conduct your life in the manner we just discussed. The experience of demonstrating such love brings you assurance that your faith is indeed genuine.(vv9-10 ) Don't glean the corners of your field (save a portion of what God provides to you to give to the poor and disadvantaged). (v11) Don't steal from one another. (v12) Don't profane God's name, especially in public. (v13) Don't cheat your neighbor or withhold money from those who have served you. (v14) Be especially considerate to those with physical problems because God takes special notice of them. (v15) Judge fairly in disputes, especially when one involved is poor. (v16) Don't gossip about others. Don't say in public things about them you would not say to that person even in private. And don't plot against people. (v17) Don't harbor hatred against others. On the other hand, be sure to rebuke someone if needed. (v18) Love your neighbor as yourself (that is, as you would want to be treated). Knowing God is not a matter of knowing about Him through Scripture. Knowing God is realized through living our your faith in obedience to the One you know. To know the Bible and, hence, the God of the Bible, but not obey Him is the worst of hypocrisy. I recall a great science-fiction writer named Isaac Asimov who wrote a commentary on the Bible. Asimov was an outspoken atheist to the day he died (as far as we know. One can only hope that God broke through his pride at the end with the very words of Scripture he studied when writing his commentary). So his knowledge of the Bible did not enable Asimov to know God.
John differentiates such a person from one who really knows God. Nothing mystical here -- just plain obedience to what God has revealed in Scripture.
A lifestyle of obedience to God -- to the One who loves you so much -- will make you a more loving person over time. This is what John is saying "if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him" (1 John 2:5a, NIV). This also brings assurance of your faith for others will see what God is doing in you and commend you for it. You may not be all that lovable at first but, over time, people will look at you and see the difference Jesus makes in your life. Is this true of you? Are you obeying God in order that you might know that you know Him?Obedience proves to you that God is right when He speaks. Obedience positions you to receive all the blessing that God has for you.
This is how we know we are in him: (6) Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:5b-6, NIV)2. Emulation of the One who gave Himself for you brings great assurance of your faith.
Obedience involves doing what Jesus commanded, doing the same thing He demonstrated in His earthly ministry. Emulation involves doing the same thing in the same way. This is different from simple obedience.I can tell my son to apologize to his sister but I can't make him be sincere about it. "Sorry!" he might yell out with a sour look on his face. He will obey what I tell him to do but not necessarily the way I want it done -- or the way that I emulate for him in our family. Emulation, not obedience, is John's next point for how you and I can gain great assurance in our faith:
How did Jesus carry out His Father's will, the commandment of God? He did everything in love -- from washing His disciples' feet to denouncing the hypocrisy of the "religious" Pharisees. Here's what John explains:
(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 you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. (9) Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. (10) Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. (11) But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. (1 John 2:7-11 NIV)The commandment to love one another is an old commandment, one we have had since the beginning. Yet love is always new whenever it is exercised in earnest. Love for someone reflects God's light in the world while hatred turns out the light! We are to love others with the purpose and passion of Jesus Christ our LORD. This is what it means to "walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6, NIV).In church, the body of Christ, one of the most common elements of love needed is to be inclusive in our relationships with one another. Many keep a little book with folks on the left (the ones I just don't like and won't have anything to do with) and the folks on the right (the ones I choose to love). You may start out on either side. But if you offend me, disappoint me, or fail me in any way you will move from the right side (choose to love) to the left (choose to not love thus hate). Once on the left side, you can never move back. This is way so many in the body of Christ treat people. They have a record of how every person has treated them and base their own love on what is in that book.
We need to grant people the grace to change! We need to extend forgiveness to those who hurt us in the past and actively seek to love them again. Often people who fail you have a hard enough time forgiving themselves, much less expect you to forgive them. Love, the Bible says, keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5). Is there anyone in your book on the left side? You need to love, not hate, that person by moving them to the right side of your book -- then destroy your book!
When you begin to love others beyond a sense of duty and love the the compassion that Christ had for sinful people of all ages, you will be greately assured that your faith is genuine and your salvation secure.
Conclusion:
To obey God seems hard enough for most of us. But to emulate the love of Christ seems impossible! Humanly speaking, it is! We all have limits to what we can do...or do we?The Bible states clearly that you are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) not just a "saved sinner" as we so often think of ourselves. So what are your limits when it comes to obeying the word of God and emulating the love of Christ?
The Christian actually is limited in obedience and emulation of Christ by three things:
You and I can obey or emulate Christ only to the limit of these three things:The Love of God The Will of God The Power of God The Love of God: Obedience to anyone or anything, not to mention emulation, requires motivation to begin. God's love is our motivation to obey because God demonstrated His love for us by sending Christ to die for our sins while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). God loved the whole world, every single person who has ever lived is included in the scope of that love (John 3:16). One who loves someone so unworthy is certainly the greatest motivator in the world.Wait a minute, you say, these do not sound like things that limit our ability to obey and emulate Christ. My point is that you are only able to obey much less emulate Christ to the limit of these three things. Now consider your life in light of these three things. Is there anything you can think of that God wants you to do that is not covered completely by these three things?The Will of God: Obedience and emulation also require direction to be effective. God's will is revealed to all of us in His word so that we might have direction in life. God's word speaks clearly that every person is called to turn from their sins and receive the grace and forgiveness offered by God through His Son, Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15; John 1:12; Rom. 6:23). Every person is called to serve God in some capacity with the gifts He provides (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:16). Every person is called to love one another with no exceptions, exemptions, or limits (John 13:34). God makes this clear in His word so that we will have the direction we need.
The Power of God: Our obedience and emulation can have the right motivation and direction but still fail. Since we each still carry a sin nature in the flesh and live in a fallen world, we each struggle to do what is right. The third thing that limits our ability to obey and emulate Christ is enablement. The power of God that brings salvation (Rom. 1:4) and raises us up from the dead (John 6:39) is the power God provides for you to obey His word and love as Christ loves you (Phil 3:10-11). God's power is like the fuel for your spiritual engine that enables you to move forward.
Reflect on YOUR life:
There are no limits with God. So engage His love for you, branch out in His will for you, and trust His power to enable you be all that Christ wants you to be. Obey God and experience the thrill of His assurance that you are a child of God. Emulate the love of Christ for others and experience the satisfaction of His assurance that your faith is genuine and your salvation secure.
Our Creator God loves you and wants you to know Him! If you would like to contact this ministry for further information or questions, please send your e-mail to:
Email: ministryrequest1@WordTruth.Com
Web Site: WordTruth.ComCopyright 1999, Randy Lariscy.
