The Evidence
JOHN 1 IS NOT
AN “EPISTLE’’ in the conventional sense of the word. It is not addressed to
anyone particularly. It doesn’t contain the customary salutations. It doesn’t
discuss personal issues. (Compare it to St.
Paul
One of the new Christians dilemmas is, how
can you be sure you are saved? 1 John is
the epistle on how you can have the assurance of your salvation. Throughout the
epistle, John has been giving you some of the shreds of evidence that you are a child of
God. The more important among them are:
1. It is He who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for
ours only, but also for the whole world's (1John 2:2).
Sometimes it is difficult to forgive who wrong us.
Imagine how difficult it would be to forgive all people, no matter what they
have done. This is what God had done in Jesus. No one, no matter what sin he
has committed, is not beyond
forgiveness. All that he has to do is turn from sin, receive Christ’s
forgiveness and live a life committed to Him.
Romans 3:25
says: “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right
with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood.
This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not
punish those who sinned in times past”. Christ died in our place for our sins.
God is justifiably angry at sinners. They have rebelled against Him, and have
cut themselves off from His life-giving power. But God declares Christ’ death
as the appropriately designated sacrifice for our sins. Christ then stands in our
place, having paid the penalty of death for our sins, and He completely
satisfies God’s demands. His sacrifice brings us pardon, deliverance and
freedom.
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2. Since we know Christ is righteous, we also know all who do what
is right are God’s children. (1 John 2:29).
The visible proof of being a Christian is the right behavior. Many do good deeds but don’t have faith in Jesus Christ.
Others claim they have faith but rarely produce good deeds. A deficit in
either faith or right behavior will be a cause for shame when Christ returns.
Because true faith always results in good deeds, those who claim to have and
consistently do what is right are true believers. Good deeds could not produce
salvation (Ephesians 2:8, 9), but
they are necessary proof that faith is actually present.
A child of God will practice righteousness
in his life. This does not mean that righteousness is the unusual thing, the
abnormal thing, or that you practice it once in a while. It is to be the
practice of your life. You will slip and fall sometimes, but righteousness will
be the practice of your life if you are His child.
3. “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for God’s seed
remains in Him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (3:9).
A child of God
will not practice sin. He will not live in it, revel in it, or make it
his life. The life-style of a sinner is sin; he lives in sin all the time, and
you don’t expect Him to do differently. We all lived in sin until we came to
Jesus. Verse 3.10 says “So now we
can tell who children of God are and who children of the devil are. Anyone who
does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God”.
Being “born again” is not merely a fresh
start; it is a new birth, receiving a new family name based on Christ’s death
for us. Our perspectives change, our values and goal change, and because we
have a new mind we are renewed day by day by the ministrations of the Holy
Spirit. Romans 12.2 urges us “Don’t
copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a
new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s
will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”.
4. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world
hates you (3.13).
God accepted
Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s. In envy and anger, Cain murdered his
brother. Those who are morally upright expose and shame those who aren’t. If we
live for God, the world will often hate us, because we make them painfully
aware of their immoral way of life. Jesus had also warned us in John 15:18, 19: ”If the world hates
you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it
would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world”.
5. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every
one that loves is born of God and knows God” (4:7)
Everyone believes that love is important, but love is
usually thought of as a feeling. In reality, love is a choice and an action as 1Corinth 13:4-7 shows. God is the source of our love. He loved us
enough to sacrifice His Son for us. Jesus is our example for us that what love
is; everything He said and did was supremely loving. The Holy Spirit gives us
the power to love; He lives in our hearts and makes us more and more like
Christ. God’s love always involves a choice and an action, and our love should
be like His. How well do you display your love for God in the choices and the
actions you take?
6. “You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them,
because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”. (v. 4:4).
It is easy to be frightened by the wickedness we see all
around us and to be overwhelmed by the problems we face. Evil is obviously much
stronger than we are. John assures us, however, God is much stronger. He will
conquer all evil—and His Spirit and His Word live in our hearts. A child of God
will overcome the world.
7. “Dear friends, if this is
how God loved us, then we should love one another. No one has ever seen God,
but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and His love is made
perfect in us” (4:11, 12).
If no one has
ever seen God, how are we to know Him? John has said in his Gospel “the unique
One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to
us (John 1:18). Jesus is the complete
expression of God in human form; He has revealed God to us. When we love
one another, the invisible God reveals Himself to others through us, and His
love is made complete. If God sees we are ready to love others, he will bring
them to us. God provides us the strength to us to do what He asks.
In conclusion, I would like to quote 1John 5.20 that says “We know the Son of God has come and has given
us understanding so that we know the true God. We live in union with the true
God—in union with His Son Jesus Christ. This is true God, this is eternal
life”. Because our sins have been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God,
we have a union with Christ that can never be broken. In our faith connection
with Him, we identify with His death, burial, and resurrection. We should live
in constant contact and communication with God. When we do, we will all be
unified with Christ and with one another.
Also 1 John 3:22-24…and
whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do
the things that are pleasing in His sight.
This is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps
His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides
in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us”. This is our ultimate evidence that we
are as safe as a trusting lamb in the
embrace of his shepherd, insulated from a villainous and broken world.
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