Are You Really In The Family?

By on 2 February, 2009 | Comments (1)

bg_doubtGod knew that His children would, from time to time, have doubts about their salvation. He anticipated our agonies of the soul and gave us a little book called 1 John that gives comfort to those who know His Son in truth.

A preacher once said that only a Pharisee would never doubt his salvation.

The great reformer Martin Luther, who knew well the doctrines of the faith and gave the German people a Bible in their native tongue, spent many periods, as a believer, wondering whether God had cast him off.

If this could happen to Luther, then none of us are immune to such
afflictions. In short, 1 John tells us that true believers are marked by these distinctives:

1. Their life is characterised by obedience, even though they still sin;

2. They love God and other believers;

3. They do not practice unrestrained sin as a matter of lifestyle;

4. They have the witness of the Holy Spirit within;

5. They are committed to the truth of God’s Word;

6. They overcome the power of the world;

7. They have believed the Gospel.

The first six things mentioned do not save a soul. But believing the Gospel does. When a person is born again those first six thingconfidencepics will follow, as surely as night follows day. They confirm the reality of the new birth within.

Another preacher said that he counselled people who doubted their salvation to read 1 John every day for a month. He noted that the results were always positive: God renewed His people’s confidence in Christ through His Word.

My burden is that true Christians will have their faith confirmed through  1 John and that unbelievers will have their unbelief confirmed through 1 John- and then flee to the Refuge who is able to save.

So if you are doubting your salvation, dive into 1 John and find the assurance that it brings.

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Topics: Discernment

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Comments

Thanks for that Rob.

Comment by Apo on 2 February, 2009 @ 9:40 am

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