And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. – 1 John 5:11-13
INTRODUCTION
Eternal life is not only a future hope, but also a present reality that is based on our faith in Christ and the opportunity to experience personal companionship with Him. All people should hear the message about Jesus Christ because eternal life comes through faith I God’s Son and cannot be received or possessed in any other way. Jesus Christ is the only “way and the life”. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” — John 14:16.Eternal life is Christ’s life in us. We have this life as we maintain a continuous and active faith relationship with Him.
“That you may know that you have eternal life” as we read in 1 John 5:13 is one of the primary purposes for writing this letter: to provide God’s people with a Holy Spirit-inspired, proven and authoritative standard by which we can be certain of our salvation.
1. Many followers of Jesus Christ look for the assurance of salvation in the wrong places.
We tend to seek assurance of salvation in the things God is doing in our lives, in our spiritual growth, in the good works and obedience to God’s Word that is evident in our Christian walk. While these things can be evidence of salvation, they are not what we should base the assurance of our salvation on. Rather, we should find the assurance of our salvation in the objective truth of God’s Word. We should have confident trust that we are saved based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.
2. If we have Jesus, we have life. Not temporary life, but eternal.
God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We should not live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether or not we are truly saved. That is why the Bible makes the plan of salvation so clear. Believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” – Romans 10:9.
Have we repented? Do we believe that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rose again from the dead (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)?
Do we trust Him alone for salvation? If our answer to these questions is “yes,” we are saved! Assurance means freedom from doubt. By taking God’s Word to heart, we can have no doubt about the reality of our eternal salvation.
Jesus Himself assures those who believe in Him: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” – John 10:28–29. Eternal life is just that—eternal. There is no one, not even yourself, who can take Christ’s God-given gift of salvation away from you.
Let’s take joy in what God’s Word is saying to us: instead of doubting, we can live with confidence! We can have the assurance from Christ’s own Word that our salvation will never be in question. Our assurance of salvation is based on the perfect and complete salvation God has provided for us through Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
Some people hope that they will receive eternal life. John says we can know we can have it. Our certainty is based on God’s promises that He has given us eternal life through His Son. This is true whether we feel close to God or far away from Him.
Eternal life is not based on feelings but on facts. We can know that we have eternal life is we believe God’s truth. If we are not sure that we are Christians, let’s ask ourselves: Have we honestly committed our life to Him as our Saviour and Lord? If so, we know by faith that we are indeed children of God.
Stay Blessed!
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