Excerpted from Greater Love: A Devotional Journey through 1 John, pages 96-97
Persistent Faith
“. . .that you may know that you have eternal life. . .”
(1 John 5:13)
As a pastor, over the years I have helped many who have wrestled with their assurance of salvation. Lack of assurance can be quite persistent and, like a stubborn infection, resistant to the antibiotics of God’s truth. No sooner have I talked them back from the edge of their despair by refreshing them in the wonder of the gospel, back to the solid ground of the Rock of their salvation, than a month later we find ourselves in the same predicament.
I think this is God’s purpose for John’s first epistle, not only to inspect someone’s profession of faith but also to respect it by shoring it up against the constant efforts of the evil one to undermine it. Satan lurks and prowls about seeking to devour those weak in faith. He points out the sin in our lives (of which we are so painfully aware) to drive us to despair. God knows the efforts of the evil one who spotlights our sin in order to lure us to shipwreck on the rocks of guilt and shame. Remarkably, the Spirit of the living God also highlights our sin, but to drive us to Christ who suffered our shame and atoned for the guilt of our sin.
John writes to us as little children, easily led astray, easily beset by fear, to bolster our faith by the truth of God’s Word and the telltale signs of His life-changing grace. He lays out his reason for writing: “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” (1 John 5:13). John is not so much presenting a challenge, although the indicators of new life he has covered can serve that function. Rather, he is encouraging us to rest in Jesus Christ and hold fast our profession, to “continue to believe.
How can we know that we have eternal life? It certainly can’t be by feelings. Feelings are like a storm-tossed sea of a restless spirit that keeps us from the tranquility of peace. The devil likes to agitate our doubts and fears as he points out the continuing presence of sin in our lives, and brings us to question whether we are really saved, whether we really have the Son (1 John 5:12). Feelings can be fickle and cannot be the basis of our assurance. Nor is certainty gained by mere lip service to Christ that yields no fruit of a changed life.
The resource for assurance of salvation is the revealed Word of God that lends its diagnostic tools administered by the Holy Spirit. John constantly points us to Jesus. He agrees that we have sin. In fact, awareness of sin is a indication of spiritual life. But he constantly points us to Jesus who made an end of our sin. As we have believed in Jesus, we are to continue to believe, to abide in Christ for life and living. We live by faith and we walk by faith.
John has also repeatedly reminded us of the nature of God’s love for us. Certainly, we are commanded to love but our love is a reflex of regeneration. We love because He first loved us. We are unworthy of His love and we prove that point all the time. But God’s love is filled with mercy and grace.
In the account of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11), Jesus could have brought down the gavel of condemnation upon her but He did not. Yet, neither did He sanction her sinning. Rather, He said, “Go, and sin no more.” That’s just what John has told us: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1).
How can you deal with doubt and fear that sometime plague you?
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Greater Love: A Devotional Journey through 1 John (Stanley D. Gale, Waxed Tablet Publications, 2025) is a devotional exploration that immerses us in John’s rich teaching and exhorts us in a more intimate walk with our God.
