The Apostle John wrote his first letter to believers who had doubts about their salvation. What about you? Do you ever have doubts about the genuineness of your salvation? Is it even possible to “know” that we have eternal life? If so, how?

Also, read about the failure of religious legalism and what God sees as more important. And, finally, in our reading from Proverbs, find out what God says about the importance of our motive for obeying Him.

Today’s Readings:

Hosea 5 & 6
Psalm 139.1-6
Proverbs 29.19
1 John 5.1-21

Do You Know (or Merely Hope) that You Have Eternal Life?

1 John 5.1-21:

Assurance of Salvation

God used the Apostle John to write the gospel of John so that, “… you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20.31). That’s why we frequently encourage unbelievers to read the book of John.

Here in 1 John, God inspired him to return to the issue of salvation. This time to help genuine believers have assurance of their salvation. God wants His children to be confident that we have eternal life!

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God (5.11-13).

“These things I have written to you … that you may know that you have eternal life.” What things is he talking about?

What Validates Salvation?

According to John MacArthur, “these things” refer to everything he has been talking about in his letter. If they “adhered to the fundamentals of the faith (a proper view of Christ, obedience, love), their salvation was sure.”

Let’s look at the first few verses of this chapter:

¹ Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

A Proper View of Christ

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ” along with all that entails (v. 1). That means not only verbally acknowledging Him as Lord but walking in submission to His Lordship. 

Obedience & Love

The fruit of a redeemed life will be love for God and others demonstrated by obedience to His commands (vv. 2-3). This would include demonstrating the characteristics of love described in 1 Corinthians 13.4-7 and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.22-23.

We won’t do these things perfectly but there should be a desire to grow in these areas with increasing fruitfulness.

Confirm Your Calling & Election

Peter said it this way:

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s not that works of any kind can save us. But a redeemed life will be characterized by these things. They are the fruit that validates salvation.

Today’s Other Readings:

Hosea 5 & 6:

Mercy is More Important than Sacrifice

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (6.6).

Jesus quoted this statement in Matthew 9.13 and again in Matthew 12.7.

In Matthew 12, Jesus’ disciples had plucked grain and eaten it on the Sabbath Day. He quoted this verse in rebuking the Pharisees when they condemned them for it. The Pharisees believed their legalistic adherence to the law was what made them right with God. The next scene in the gospel account is this one:

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Rather than trying to understand, they hardened their hearts still more.

Meditate on Hosea 6.6. Is there some area in your life where you are legalistically adhering to the law of God, but not out of a pure desire to love God and demonstrate His love to those around you?

Psalm 139.1-6:

The Only Heart-Knower

For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether (v. 4).

The NLT says it even more clearly:

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

He not only knows what we will say before we say it, but He knows before we know we will say it. He knows us inside and out. God knows our thoughts, our motives, and our intentions. He is the one and only true Heart-Knower!

Proverbs 29.19:

The Motive for Obedience

A servant will not be corrected by mere words; for though he understands, he will not respond.

True believers are often called “sons of God.” A son obeys out of his genuine love for his Father, but one who sees himself as merely a servant, a hireling, even when he knows what he should do, will not without the threat of consequences.

How about you? Do you obey God because you love Him and want to please Him, or because you are afraid of the consequences of not obeying?

Coming Up:

In the next few days, we’ll talk about false teachers, friendship, judgment, the Rapture, the Tribulation, grace, and the responsibility involved in being a true friend. I hope you’ll join us.

Get Ready for the Coming Year with a Plan for Your Bible Reading

The holidays are just around the corner and the new year will be on us before we know it. What will you do to make Bible reading an ongoing habit in the coming year? I want to encourage you to set a goal to read through the Bible again or for the first time. If you join me here, I’ll take you through a plan that covers both the Old and New Testaments in about 15 minutes a day. Sign up here for my daily email. It can serve as a gentle reminder to stay on track and I believe you’ll benefit from the additional background and application comments that I share.

Start today so you can begin the habit and it will be a regular part of your day come January.

You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Just click on the social media icons. But nothing replaces having the daily devotion pop up in your inbox each day. It, usually (once in a while life gets in the way), goes out at 6 a.m. MST.

Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.