Like the writer of the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle John was concerned that his readers should be sure that they belonged to the Lord, so that they might know the joy and confidence which accompany full assurance of salvation (cf. Heb. 6.11). His first epistle is laced with rich teaching about this matter, helping us to understand both why it is so important that we possess true assurance of salvation and how we may endeavor to do so.

Indeed, helping his readers be sure of their salvation is a primary reason for John's first epistle: "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" (1 Jn. 5.13). In various ways, particularly in chapter 3, John emphasizes what it means to be sure of salvation. Let's look briefly at these.

Assurance of salvation is not just a sort of confidence that I'm going to heaven when I die. It is much more than this. In the first place, it is the unwavering conviction that God Himself abides within us (1 Jn. 3.24). John writes to encourage his readers to "know" that this is so. He wants them to know, intellectually and experientially, that dwelling within their souls is the very One Who spoke the creation into being, sustains it by His powerful Word, and accomplished their redemption in Jesus Christ.

God comes to dwell within us by His Spirit, as Jesus promised (Jn. 14.15-17). His presence in us is for power, holiness, peace, and joy (Acts 1.8; Rom. 14.17), and these, as we shall see, are part of the means whereby we may know that we have come to a saving relationship with the Lord.

In the second place, John says our assurance gives us confidence to stand before the Lord, without fearing or doubting in our hearts (1 Jn. 3.19). In prayer, as we walk through the day, and, especially, as we anticipate the coming day of judgment, we may know that we have eternal life when we do not doubt our standing before the Lord and, in our hearts, are not afraid, but are filled with joy in realizing the presence of God within us (Ps. 16.11).

Finally, this assurance takes the form of hope, of a confident outlook toward the future, an outlook which we know cannot fail and which, therefore, serves to guide and shape our daily experience as we move toward the horizon of eternity. For we hope to see Jesus (1 Jn. 3.2) and, as we do, to be transformed into His image. While this is above all an eschatological hope, it is one that we aspire to realize more and more with each passing day, as John recorded concerning the hope of the Baptizer (Jn. 3.30).

This hope is a source of great joy, joy which can sustain us amid trials and uncertainties, and which can lead us to repentance when we are convicted of sin and need to confess. In all these circumstances, we may have joy in knowing that we have eternal life; and it was for the sake of stimulating that joy, by encouraging his readers to strive for full assurance of salvation, that John wrote this first epistle (cf. 1 Jn. 1.4).

There is joy in knowing that we belong to the Lord. But such assurance is not the fruit merely of a profession of faith. While we cannot have assurance of salvation without believing in Jesus (1 Jn. 3.23), merely professing to believe in Him will not ensure that He abides within us. The experience of the Church in Ephesus bore stark and sad testimony to how easy it can be for those who profess faith to fall away, thus demonstrating that, in fact, they never had faith at all (cf. 1 Jn. 2.18, 19).

Without giving all diligence and "rushing on" to maturity in the Lord, we cannot truly know the joyous assurance of the Lord which He desires us to know.

So we shall have to consider further the teaching of the Apostle concerning what it means to be saved and to know it truly.

T. M. Moore