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“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 (NKJV)
What things? What had John written that would take away the uncertainty of our standing with God?
For starters, his entire fourth Gospel presented the person of Jesus Christ in a way that neither Matthew, Mark or Luke had done. Jesus was the “only begotten Son” sent by the Father as the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind that “whosoever believes in Him” should never have to fear the eventuality of death.
We have all learned through tear-clouded eyes that the thief comes to “steal, kill and destroy,” but that our faith in Jesus provides a life that is still strangely blessed in spite of our pain. Even when our own selfish, sinful choices strain our connection with our Heavenly Father, John later said that if we confess our sins, Jesus is “faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
It’s as if God knew what He was getting when He saved us! (I speak sarcasm fluently.) All He expects is that we give Him all that we have and all that we are in order that we can experience the relationship with Him that He intended for us when Jesus was on the Cross. We believe based on what we know about what He has done—never in merely what we feel about our own failures!
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