Last week we talked about four birthmarks identifying the children of God. The children of God are marked by:

1. A belief that Jesus is the Christ. (John 5:1)
2. A love for God the Father. (John 5:1)
   1. A love for all those born of God. (John 5:1)
      1. A love for God the Father (1 John 5:2)
   2. Obedience to the commandments of God (1 John 5:3)
3. A faith which overcomes the world. (1 John 5:4)
   1. A belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (1 John 5:1:5)

Once again we are brought back to the foundation of our faith which is centered around the identity of Jesus. Our identity as children of God, is united to Christ’s identity as the Son of God. Those who deny the deity of Jesus as being Christ, the Son of God are called antichrists and are not the children of God.

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:22-23)

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every Spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:2-3)

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:14-15)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. (1 John 1:1-2)

Over and over again, John emphasizes the identity of Christ as being the Son of God. John emphasizes that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, he was not a mere phantom or a spirit being, he was flesh and blood. Jesus was someone who could be touched, seen, heard, and stared at by John himself and the rest of the disciples. John declares himself to be a witness of Christ. He personally seen him and interacted with him and knew him to be flesh and blood, but not only flesh and blood, for that would make him to be like any other person like us. Jesus was not like any other flesh and blood person, Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh. This is what baffles the mind.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

John was writing against Gnosticism when writing this letter. It was this stronghold of false teaching that John was attempting to tear down and expose.

“ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

John was doing spiritual battle against the false teachers that were rising up in the church, leading the flock astray. There was one false teacher who is recorded that many think John may have been writing against in particular in this letter. He was known to be an opponent of John the Evangelist by Polycarp and Ireaneus, who were well known early church Fathers. Polycarp was a disciple of John’s and Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarps. This opponent of John, was named Cerinthus. He was a Gnostic. He was quite cultured and of superb intelligence. He probably looked down on the teaching of the gospel and on John and the disciples because they would not have been as educated as he himself was. Cerinthus claimed to have angelic inspiration and knowledge and carried wide influence. This was common with gnostics to have “secret knowledge.” John could not stand the teaching of Cerinthus or to be anywhere near him. According to Irenaeus, Polycarp once told a story that John once fled a bathhouse when he found out Cerinthus was inside yelling, “Let us flee, lest the building fall down; for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!” If you have ever heard someone speak and untruth and moved aside in fear of lightning striking that person, you will have some shared sense of how the disciple John must have felt.

Cerinthus drew a sharp distinction between the man of Jesus and the Christ. He taught that Jesus was not supernaturally born but was the son of Joseph and Mary. A heavenly power, called ‘Christ’ descended upon the man Jesus at his baptism and used this man Jesus as an instrument to work miracles and reveal truth. However, this divine spiritual power left him before the crucifixion. The ‘Christ’ did not suffer and die, only the man ‘Jesus’ did. Jesus the man died, and did not rise again but will rise again with the rest of man on the Last Day.

Cerinthus essentially separated Jesus into two persons by denying his immaculate conception. He denied the embodiment of the deity of Jesus as the Word of God. Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. You cannot subtract from either side without subtracting from the person of Jesus Christ. To subtract from his humanity, Jesus could not fully identify with us, share in our sufferings or be our substitute as a man. To subtract from the deity of Jesus is take away his power, his holy nature, his identity, his worthiness to be the Savior of the world. Cerinthus denied the atoning work of Christ and without the atoning work of Christ there is no forgiveness of sins.

⁶ This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

It is with this in mind that we read verse six. Jesus Christ is he who came by water and blood; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. Notice the emphasis John puts on, “not by the water only.” There was an agreement between John and the Gnostic teaching that Jesus did indeed come by water. All false teaching starts with an element of truth in it. Much false teaching contains 90% truth but it is that 10% poison that will kill you.

Jesus did come by water. The ministry of Jesus began with his baptism. However it was with blood that Jesus executed and carried out his work. Both aspects are important. Jesus coming by water represented his purity and his morality. His water baptism itself testified that Jesus was the Son of God.

 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)

Jesus has no sin that he should have to be baptized a baptism of repentance for forgiveness. John the Baptist struggled with baptizing Jesus. John felt like Jesus should be the one baptizing him! It was so backwards to John.

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:13-17)

It is by baptism, through water that we too come to Christ through water.

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. – John 3:5

However, despite the cleansing of our sins, but we still need something more, we need the crucifixion of our sins, of our old nature, and a new sprit to live. Apart from this we have no hope. We will be dirty again. Our hearts are sin factories. I often picture it as a bubble maker. I once bought a bubble machine for my daughter’s wedding. You put the soap in and turned it on and it would blow bubbles. I could pop all the bubbles I wanted but unless I stopped the machine the bubbles would keep coming. In 1 John 1:5-10 it spoke of sin and sins. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” This speaks to the sin nature. “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar.” This speaks to our sinful actions. Our sinful actions flow out of our sin nature. We sin because we are sinners. If we would put an end to our sinning, then we must put an end to our sin nature. It would be like trying to clean up water from a leak without first stopping the leak itself. Jesus stopped the leak by putting to death the sin nature in us through his atonement and substitution. Our old nature died in him.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 6:3-11)

You may struggle to believe that you are dead to sin, especially when it seems that you can do nothing but sin. But it is only because of Christ and the work of Christ in us that we feel this way at all. Before Christ we had no notion of sin to know that we were overcome by it. It was only through our coming to Christ that we can see our poor and dire condition of sinfulness. Our utter hopelessness to ever be pure, to be righteous as He is righteous. Yet this is the desire that Christ has placed in our hearts. It is this new desire, this new spirit in us that slowly begins to put to death sin in our lives, a little at a time we begin to set to work and we spend a lifetime, our entire lifetime, putting off sin. It is like slowing stepping out of a mud bath.

Before we were dead to sin we could not do this. We had no notion to do this. It was against our nature to act righteously. Every intention of our heart was evil, and only evil continually. It is only because we are alive to Christ that we this new activity against sin in our lives. It is because of Christ that we can begin to move at all in the other direction against sin. It is because of Christ that we can actually overcome and deny our sinful inclinations. It is because of Christ that we can even see and discern our sinful inclinations. It is because of Christ that we begin to hate our sinful inclinations and actions. It is because of Christ that we begin to stop practicing sin, that we are begin to put to death sin and we begin practicing righteousness instead.

So it may feel that you can do nothing but sin and you are correct. You can do nothing but sin apart from Christ. However, our new life in Christ, walking with Christ, abiding with Christ has us continually putting off sin. It is for this reason that Christ came. Remember from John chapter 2:

            “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” (John 2:1)

We spent an entire lesson talking about how we are no longer a slave to sin thanks to Christ. Sin is optional. We have a freed will to choose God and the battle against sin is on. This doesn’t by any means mean we are sinless, just that we sin less because we are continually putting to death sin by practicing righteousness. If we do sin we trust in the advocacy of Christ.

“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:1b-2)

This reminds us of Christ’s judicial role which brings us back to our verse 6. Jesus did not simply come by water baptism in his ministry. He was simply not just a good teacher and moral example for us to follow as many would limit him as simply another exceptional prophet and teacher. Jesus came also through blood. The water speaks of Christ’s baptism. The blood speaks of Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus came to us through the crucifixion by pouring out his blood for us. Jesus poured out his life for us. It is in the shedding of Christ’s blood that we have healing, that we have forgiveness of our sins, that we have judicial clearance and peace before God. It is Jesus’ blood that gives us our life, eternal life in him as our life source.

Just as Jesus had no sin to repent of to have need to be baptized for cleansing of his sins, Jesus had no sins to die for of his own. Instead, Jesus died for our sins. Jesus willingly laid down his life because death had no claim to him.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” – (John 10:18)

John also had another picture in mind in referring to this as, he who can by water and blood. In proving that Jesus was flesh and blood, John’s mind must have traveled back to the crucifixion when he was the only disciple left standing at Jesus feet, right up until when Jesus died. John witnessed the soldier pierce the side of Jesus after he had already died and John saw the water and the blood both flow out and swears to it.

 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. (John 19:33-35)

Also at the crucifixion of Jesus, after the sky turned black and the earthquake shook the ground, a Roman centurion cried out, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Even by his death, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. This was no ordinary man’s death,

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:54)

Jesus came by water and blood. Jesus was flesh and blood and Jesus was the Son of God. F.B. Hole makes an interesting observation:

In the Gospel it is “blood and water,” in the Epistle it is “water and blood.” The Gospel gives us, what we may call, the historic order: first our need of forgiveness, second our need of cleansing. But in the Epistle the great point is that which is wrought in us, inasmuch as we are born of God; and the holy and blessed characteristics of our new life, a life so essentially holy (“he cannot sin, because he is born of God”) that a wonderful cleansing has thereby reached us. Very appropriately therefore does water come first; and it is linked in our thoughts with the death of Christ, for we must never separate in our minds the work wrought in us and the work accomplished for us. – F.B. Hole

Jesus is truly the Son of God. He was not simply a phantom spirit or heavenly divine power that temporarily descended upon an ordinary man. Jesus was extraordinary from his conception. Jesus was sent by his Father to be the Savior of the World showing his preexistence. There is great danger in believing that Jesus was simply a good, moral teacher, perhaps a prophet. When we do this we strip him of his divine power to be the savior of the world and the savior of us from our sins. Good teaching can’t save us. Our condition is too severe and grievous for that. We need a Savior not only to show us the way but to live through us to enable us to walk in his way. Apart from Christ’s own life, how own Spirit, in us, living, breathing and working through us, our own efforts are dead futile works.

“Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be – to be “pure in heart” (5:8), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach – He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man – exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, ” Blesses are you…” (5:11). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work. –     Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

We must rely on the deity of Christ to save us from our sins.

V6b. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

 We had the witness of the water, the baptism of Jesus declaring Jesus to be the Son of God. We had the witness of the blood, the crucifixion declaring Jesus to be the Son of God. In addition to these two additional witnesses added to John himself and the disciples, as their own witness; we also have the witness of the Holy Spirit, who testifies Jesus to be the Son of God.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26)

The Spirit himself bears witness that Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Spirit of truth.

 A priest was always ordained by sacrificial blood, cleansing water, and oil that spoke of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus also had these three witnesses to His priestly ministry.” (Spurgeon)

 ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

 Verse 7 may read a little differently in your bibles. If you have a KJV it will read:

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.”  “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree as one.

The reason for this missing verse 7 is because in the original manuscripts these lines were written in the margin as a side note and no one is quite sure who wrote them there. Many believe a well-meaning scribe may have written them to help clarify the verse. It is not believed that John wrote them because this verse and reference to the Trinity is not quoted as a biblical reference in ancient texts in the first two hundred years to establish the doctrine of the Trinity which would have been a great reference had John wrote it. It is only after the fourteenth century that it began to appear in manuscripts as part of biblical text. Before then this verse only appeared in one eleventh century and one twelfth century manuscript in the margins by an unknown hand. Many translations choose to not to include this verse because of this.

It helps us as we read them to understand this so that we can continue with the flow of thought and view verse seven more in a parenthesis. John is basically emphasizing that there is unity. The water does not contradict the testimony of the blood. The blood of Christ does not say something else about the life of Christ. The Spirit agrees. There is unity in the testimony of these three witnesses, The Spirit, the water and the blood. They all declare Jesus to be The Christ, the Son of God. They all declare him to be flesh and blood and to be the Son of God at the same time.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. (Matt. 18:16)

We have a lot of witnesses standing before us giving their testimony about Jesus. The three that John just gave are in full agreement. The Spirit, the water and the blood, all testify to the deity of Christ. John was big on witnesses. The word witness is used in the other gospels 4x in Luke. 5x in Mark and 7x in Matthew. In the book of John however, the word witness is used 28x. John wants you to know that Jesus is the Son of God. He doesn’t leave any witnesses out but subpoenas each and every one of them to appear in his gospel and books to testify that Jesus was the Son of God made manifest in the flesh.   Let’s look at a few he makes mention of his gospel of John to add to our cloud of witnesses.

John the Baptist

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. (John 1:6-8)

 John the Baptist and The Holy Spirit

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’  And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34)

 Jesus Himself, God the Father, John the Baptist, The Works Christ, The Scriptures, Moses

³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…….,Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”. (John 5:31-39,45-47) (See also John 8:13-18; 10:25; 12:17;15:26-27)

What a cloud of witnesses!

 ⁹ If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

 We all receive the testimony of men, for truth. We ask them what happened. If they liked something. If we should see a certain movie. If we should try a certain product or restaurant. Personal testimonies are powerful and advertisers know it. Commercials rely heavily on the testimony of men. Sometimes we rely on them too much. There is a great habit of relying on the testimony of Hollywood and the opinions of Hollywood to make personal judgments, what clothes to wear, how to act, what to buy, how to do ones hair, even moral and political judgments.

There are some people’s testimonies that carry a lot of weight and there are others that carry no weight at all. How much weight does the testimony of God carry?

Men bear witness that Jesus in the Son of God. John the Baptist did. John the Evangelist did. The rest of the disciples did. The church continues to bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God and you and I are witnesses that Jesus is the Son of God. We share our own testimony about how Jesus has revealed himself to us and continues to reveal himself to us and how we know he lives and he is truly the Son of God.

God the Father also bears witness about his Son. When Jesus walked on earth, he bore witness of God the Father, now we see God the Father, bearing witness regarding his Son.

God Himself says,

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matt. 17:5)

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.

God’s Spirit in us gives us this testimony, a personal witness in our own hearts that the Word of God is truth. Jesus is the Son of God. God’s own Spirit bears witness in us and leads us to all truth.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. – (Rom. 8:16)

Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

 It may not be our intention to call God a liar but when doubt his word and disbelieve is his word this is the reality of what we do. We inadvertently accept a lie as truth. We align ourselves with a lie and follow and obey a lie instead of the One True God. We put our trust in a lie and put our distrust in God. We look to a lie as our shelter and refuge to shield us from our troubles instead of embracing the truth and seeking refuge in the truth as our shelter and protection. This is a great sin. Satan himself is known as the father of lies. For us to choose Satan’s testimony over God’s and to look at God as unreliable, shaky, untrustworthy is a grievous dishonor against God.

There are times when we struggle with unbelief. Spurgeon would warn us and have us genuinely search our hearts to see where the fault lies.

What if one says, “Well, I want to believe, but I can’t.” Spurgeon answers such a one: For those who “Hearken, O unbeliever, you have said, ‘I cannot believe,’ but it would be more honest if you had said, ‘I will not believe.’ The mischief lies there. Your unbelief is your fault, not your misfortune. It is a disease, but it is also a crime: it is a terrible source of misery to you, but it is justly so, for it is an atrocious offense against the God of truth.”

I can remember when I first came to faith. I struggled with my belief. I knew what the bible said was true, yet I doubted and had no assurance of my own salvation and I could not understand what was missing. Every time someone would mention salvation I would cry. I didn’t know what the issue was. Grace was difficult for me to accept. Yet one night I was reading in bed, I was reading a small book on Christian doctrine called, “What Most Christians Should Know but Don’t”. I came to the part on grace and faith. I remember consciously thinking, “Well that is what the bible says, that is what God says. Salvation is by grace through faith. God says it. I just have to accept it and believe it.” That was the moment of my salvation. I had the gospel shared with me seven years earlier when I was 20. I had a head knowledge of it but could never get it into my heart. I read several books but nothing clicked until that night when I settled it in my heart, God settled me. I have been settled on it ever since. I never doubted my salvation again. To doubt it would be to doubt God. God calls us to settle our faith on him. Even if it is hard or difficult for us to accept to believe. To trust him with our unbelief and belief him anyway. We can choose to believe God when we can’t believe. That is what faith is about. Believing despite our unbelief. Acting on what God says is true even when it appears to us to be untrue. We trust God anyway. We know we are blind but we use his word as our walking stick to guide us when we can’t see. That is faith.

However there is a distinction that needs to made between having faith and having assurance. We can have faith without having assurance, and we are saved. However we cannot have assurance without having faith. This is an impossibility because faith is the substance of our insurance. J.R. Ryle describes this well in his sermon called, “Faith and Assurance”.

Yes, reader, though a man’s faith be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, if it only brings him to Christ, and enables him to touch the hem of His garment, he shall be saved, saved as surely as the oldest saint in paradise; saved as completely and eternally as Peter, or John, or Paul. There are degrees in our sanctification. In our justification there are none. What is written, is written, and shall never fail: “Whosoever believeth on Him,” — not whosoever has a strong and mighty faith, but, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed” (Rom 10:11).

But all this time, I would have you take notice, the poor soul may have no full assurance of his pardon and acceptance with God. He may be troubled with fear upon fear, and doubt upon doubt. He may have many a question, and many an anxiety, — many a struggle, and many a misgiving, — clouds and darkness, storm and tempest to the very end.

I will affirm, I repeat, that bare simple faith in Christ shall save a man, though he may never attain to assurance; but I will not affirm it shall bring him to heaven with strong and abounding consolations. I will affirm it shall land him safely in harbor; but I will not affirm that he shall enter that harbor in full sail, confident and rejoicing. I shall not be surprised if he reaches his desired haven weather-beaten and tempest-tossed, scarcely realizing his own safety, till he opens his eyes in glory.

Reader, I believe it is of great importance to keep in view the distinction between faith and assurance. It explains things which an inquirer in religion sometimes finds hard to understand.

Faith, let us remember, is the root, and assurance is the flower. Doubtless, you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root and not the flower.

Faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind Jesus in the press and touched the hem of His garment (Mark 5:27). Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saving, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God!”

Faith is the penitent thief, crying, “Lord, remember me” (Luke 23:42). Assurance is Job, sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25). “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is Peter’s drowning cry, as he began to sink: Lord, save me” (Matt 14:30). Assurance is that same Peter declaring before the Council in after times, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”(Acts 4:11-12).

Faith is the anxious, trembling voice, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Assurance is the confident challenge, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? . . . Who is he that condemneth?” (Rom 8:33,34).

Faith is Saul praying in the house of Judas at Damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone (Acts 9:11). Assurance is Paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and saying, “I know whom I have believed . . . There is a crown laid up for me” (2 Tim 1:12, 4:8).

Faith is life. How great the blessing! Who can tell the gulf between life and death? And yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, anxious, worn, burdensome, joyless, smileless to the very end.

Assurance is more than life. It is health, strength, power, vigor, activity, energy, manliness, beauty.

Reader, it is not a question of saved or not saved that lies before us, but of privilege or no privilege. It is not a question of peace or no peace, but of great peace or little peace. It is not a question between the wanderers of this world and the school of Christ: it is one that belongs only to the school: — it is between the first form and the last.

He that has faith does well. Happy should I be, if I thought all readers of this article had it. Blessed, thrice blessed are they that believe. They are safe. They are washed. They are justified. They are beyond the power of hell. Satan, with all his malice, shall never pluck them out of Christ’s hand.

But he that has assurance does far better, — sees more, feels more, knows more, enjoys more, has more days like those spoken of in Deuteronomy 11:21, even “as the days of heaven upon the earth.”

John wants us to have faith and assurance. He does not want us to simply to have a folklore faith, believing what we have always been told and what everyone else believes. John wants us to have a solid faith. A firm faith based on reliable testimony from every witness he can bring forth so that we might believe, so that you might know that you know you have eternal life. If you have no assurance, give God your doubts. Tell him to help your unbelief.

 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (John 5:13)

John seeks to strengthen your faith because it is by faith that you will overcome the world, you will overcome sin, you will overcome fear, you will overcome doubt, the world will be overcome by your faith.

 ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

 God’s testimony is this: God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. God said it. Eternal life is a gift that God gives and it is to be found in Jesus. It is given to those who accept Jesus.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)

 Eternal life is another strong theme throughout the gospel of John. Matthew uses the term eternal life 4x. Mark 2x. Luke 3x. John references the term eternal life 18x in his gospel.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. (John 6:47)

These are just a few of John’s references. The rest can be found in the gospel of John. To have and possess Jesus in your heart is to believe Jesus in your heart and to believe God’s testimony concerning him. God has thrown us a life rope from heaven for us to cling to while the world around us continues to be destroyed. This life rope is a person. Jesus. When we cling to him as our only hope of salvation we are saved.

We can say a prayer. It’s not about saying the prayer that saves us. It is belief in Jesus that saves us. Choosing to believe what God says is true. We are sinners. We have no hope of saving ourselves apart from Jesus. Our life, eternal life is in Jesus alone. Jesus offers us life, eternal life by making the great exchange. Our temporary life for his eternal life. We give him our life now and he gives us his eternal life for eternity. He purifies us of our sins and clears us judicially before God so that we can enjoy peace, reconciliation and eternal life now. All of heaven is in Jesus. “God gave us so much in Jesus that heaven can give no more.” If you have Jesus. Enjoy him. If you need Jesus, simply ask for him. Believe God. Believe Jesus.

True life is to be found in Jesus. Sin makes false claims to give us life, to give us pleasure and happiness but all its claims are temporary and death soon follows. “The wages of sin is death.” The Lord’s way often appears as death to us now, however this temporary death, this temporary denial of self and trust in God always leads to life, eternal life which no one can take away from us and by which has no painful repercussions we must pay back. All of God’s commandments are intended to increase our joy, to ease our suffering to bring us life t though our sinful nature would have us believe otherwise. God wants even more for us than we want for ourselves, then we can even think of enjoying. God wants us to have peace, joy, deep relationships, wisdom, knowledge of him, health and eternal life. God our Father is on our side. He is not our enemy in pursing these. However, the way we go about them is often by a shortcut that delays and prevents our attaining them for any length of time. We would obtain them our own way instead of obeying God’s way. We would seek a short cut, an easy route, instead of going the long way or the way of self denial and suffering by which God would often lead us. We must learn to trust God and know he is for our benefit and not our enemy.   All of God’s promises, the ways of righteousness lead us to true life, unending joy which have no sorrow attached at the end.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

The purpose of John writing this book is so that you will know you have eternal life. John does not want you losing out on such a great a salvation. John does not want you to miss out on enjoying such a great joy and fellowship now that is to be had in Christ. John doesn’t want you to doubt your salvation. To doubt God.

When we truly know that our salvation depends on Jesus instead of on us, our work and daily behavior, we can rest. We can enjoy peace. Jesus is dependable. We are not. Jesus has already accomplished our salvation. It is finished. We can rest in his completed work.