CAN WE BE CONFIDENT AND CHRISTIAN?
Q&A with 1 John

1 John 5:13

“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.”

Q: How do we know God loves us?
A: He sent his one and only Son so that we might live through Him.

This is Love ...

• God loved us first (4:10)
  - compare John 3:16
• Jesus gave his life for us (3:16)
• We may be called God’s children (3:1)
• So, we should love God (5:2) and one another (3:11)

Q: How do we know what is true and what is false?
A: Every ‘spirit’ that does not acknowledge Jesus is false.

Recognizing the Spirit of God

• The problem with false prophets (4:1)
• They left the fellowship of believers because they did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Son of God (see 2:18-27)
• Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God
• Those that do not are not (4:2-3)

(Romans 14, Colossians 2, 1 Corinthians 8-9, 2 John 9)

Recognizing the Spirit of God

• God’s truth overcomes the ‘wisdom’ of the world (4:5-6)
• We can know the truth (2:21)
• So, we can set our hearts at rest in God’s presence and know we belong to the truth (3:18-19)
  - Confessing Christ (2:23)
  - Remaining in the Spirit’s teaching (2:27)
  - Putting love into action (3:19)

Q: How can we know that we know God and abide in Him?
A: Whoever claims to abide in God must live as Jesus did.

Recognizing the Children of God

• Confessing Christ (4:15)
  - Relying on God’s love!
• Walking in the Light (1:5-7)
  - Cleansing from sin (2:1-2)
• Obeying his commands (2:3; 3:24)
  - Especially the command to love one another (2:7-11)

The One Who Has The Son

• Proof of God’s Love
  - Jesus Christ
• Test of God’s Truth
  - Jesus Christ
• Standard of a Godly Life
  - Jesus Christ

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 21 March 2010

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