Assurance of Faith
Notes
Transcript
Evidence of Salvation
Evidence of Salvation
Eternal Security and Present Assurance: Other Evidence of Salvation
Throughout his first epistle John lists ways we can know that we are one of God’s elect:
(1) if we keep His commandments
1 John 2:3 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
(2) if we keep His Word
1 John 2:4 “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
(3) if we walk in love
1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
(4) if we love the brethren
1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.”
(5) if we love in deed, not only in word
1 John 3:19 “And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
(6) if we have the Holy Spirit within us
1 John 3:24 “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
(7) if we love one another
1 John 4:13 “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
(8) if we don’t continue in sin
1 John 5:18 “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”
1 John 3:9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
In short, if we manifest the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22–23), we have the presence of the Spirit in our hearts and can be assured we are among the elect. We do not have to wait until we meet Christ to know that we belong to Him. The first fruit of the Spirit is agape love, and Paul details its unmistakable characteristics in 1 Corinthians 13.15
Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Three: Sin, Salvation (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2004), 314.