Assurance of God’s Friendship

1 John 5:13-15

Jim Davis

Nothing is more destructive to a friendship than distrust. When there is a lack of trust in a relationship, we usually make up our minds that we are going to look out for number one. Satan destroyed Adam’s relationship with God through distrust. However, God remained Adam’s steadfast friend. God immediately sought to cover Adam’s shame as he made him clothes from an animal’s skin. God wanted Adam to understand that he was a true friend. He wanted Adam to stand before him in confidence regardless of Adam’s failure. 

Even in failure God wanted Adam to come before him assured of their relationship with him. The first animal sacrificed to provide clothing for Adam and Eve pointed the ultimate sacrifice that Christ would make to cover our sins so that we might stand in God’s presence with confidence. 

Christians must have confidence in God’s friendship before they truly discover the joyous freedom in serving God. The Bible is written that we might have a confident faith in God.

1 John 5:13-15
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. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him. NIV

John penned his epistles “so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Without this assurance our salvation enters upon shaky ground. Without it we will not be assured that God recognizes us and hears us as we approach him in times of need. John writes, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.” Without such confidence there is no way we can be assured that God is with us. 

It is possible to have a false confidence concerning our salvation. John’s reasons for the Christian’s assurance are much different than those given by the world. 

False Assurances of God’s Friendship

We must not rely upon false assurances of salvation for ourselves or others. We may say, “Well, it doesn’t matter what we believe as long as we believe in God.” This kind of response reduces one’s assurance to intellectual knowledge.

We must not build our faith upon false intellectual hopes. Theology has reduced faith to a doctrine to believe that has virtually no impact upon on our lives. James says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV). Demons have no doubt about God’s existence. They are fully confident of his judgment, for this is their reason for shuddering. It is great that people at least believe in God, but there is more. Mental assent is far from recognizing the guilt and sin of our lives.

The assurance of our salvation does not come from our own goodness. The rich young ruler came to Jesus wanting to know what “good thing” he must do to inherit eternal life. He felt that he had kept all the commandments Jesus mentioned.

Matthew 19:16-21
16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 

17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. 

Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" 

20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." NIV

This young man was seeking assurance through his own goodness. He had convinced himself that he was good, but in reality he had broken every commandment, because he failed to love his neighbor as himself. This was evidenced when he refused to sell his possessions and give them to the poor.

James 2:10-11
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. NIV

Some base their confidence solely upon the fact that they have been baptized. An over emphasizes on baptism gives a false confidence of salvation. We must go beyond baptism into a trusting relationship with God. You may place a wedding ring upon someone’s finger that has not taken the marriage vows, but it does not make them married. 

Some are seeking to merely join a church that will save them, but a church cannot save anyone. Only Christ saves. This does not mean that Christ’s church is unimportant, but it cannot save. 

Some may say, “Well I go to church and pray often.” Yet they man not be saved.

You may have repeated the sinner’s prayer, yet you may not been saved.

False assurances of a relationship with God will rob us of the joy of serving Christ from a pure heart as we are forced to trust what we have done rather than what God has done for us. Ultimately, it robs us confidence in God, because these false assurances force us to rely upon ourselves for any assurance of salvation. 

Assurance of Salvation Comes from God

John wrote his letter in order that Christians could know that they have a relationship with God. He sought to give us confidence as we approach God.

1 John 5:13-15
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. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him. NIV

Salvation is based upon God’s faithfulness to forgive our sins; it is not based on our ability to live without sin. John teaches us that we can know that we have eternal life but he assures us that we cannot live without sinning. 

1 John 1:8-10
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. NIV

Our confidence is derived from knowing that Jesus Christ comes to our defense before God. Confidence comes from Christ’s faithfulness to us. 

1 John 2:1-2
2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. NIV

The fact that forgiveness is provided when we sin means that God is going to remain our friend as we experience personal failure. John writes, “. . . he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  God is not a sunshine friend; he is there through thick and thin.

Paul writes of his own personal struggles, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do . . . What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:14-16; 7:24-25 NIV). 

Paul understood that Christ was interceding for him.The most difficult thing in salvation is to turn from trusting in our own goodness to trust in God’s provisions for salvation.

What is the importance of Christ interceding for you when you sin?

•	My salvation is based upon the adequacy of his intercession for me. My salvation is based upon the adequacy of Christ’s sacrifice rather than the adequacy of my own life.
•	My salvation is based upon God’s faithfulness to his Son Jesus Christ; otherwise he allows his Son’s death to be in vain. It would be vain for God not to accept the sacrifice that he has made for my sin.

How to Have Personal Assurance

You may say, “Well I know that God is faithful, the sacrifice of his Son is an adequate atonement, but I am not sure I am saved.” Some are over confident in their salvation thinking that there is nothing can do to be lost, and there are others who fail to rest assured of their salvation. I think that there are some guidelines to help us ascertain our assurance of salvation.

Are you placing total responsibility upon God for your salvation? I think this is the case with those who are over confident. I spoke to a lady who had an after death experience when her heart stopped beating. When she was resuscitated she revealed the glorious presence she felt when her heart stopped beating. She said she experienced the loving presence of God. She was no longer afraid to meet God for she now believed that coming into God’s presence would be a wonderful experience for everyone. 

I am not able to confirm or deny her experience, but my question is: Did she experience all there was to experience in death, or was there something to be experienced beyond God’s glorious presence? Was their judgment beyond her experience? It is not difficult for me to believe that initially at death all will experience God’s glorious presence, but the Bible firmly teaches us that there will be judgment. It would hard for me to believe that God will be snarling at us when we meet at death. It will be God’s initial presence that will haunt the lost throughout eternity. They will see a loving God that is forced to destroy evil once and for all. It will be the only time in our existence that we will experience a perfect blend of love and justice, but their will be justice. 

Personal experience cannot give us eternal assurance. The lady with the after death experience minimized the sin in her life because of her personal experience. 

Do you hate the sin in your life? When Paul looked at his struggles with sin he said, “the things I hate [sin], I do. . .” Paul’s inability to overcome sin made him feel like a miserable wretch. Paul didn’t see himself as spiritual giant. He saw himself unspiritual because he was sold as a slave to sin. Many are looking for ways to feel spiritual . . . but a truer test of our spirituality would be to feel unspiritual. 
I believe this unspiritual feeling resides in those who are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. David’s misery for his sin saturates ever line of Psalms 51.

Psalms 51:1-12
51:1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion 
blot out my transgressions. 
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. 
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned 
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak 
and justified when you judge. 
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 
11 Do not cast me from your presence 
or take your Holy Spirit from me. 
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation 
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. NIV

What was the source of David’s assurance of salvation?

•	God’s unfailing love and mercy.
•	David’s willingness to confess his sin. I might point out that David’s willingness came after a long period of reluctance which drove him to hide his sin from God.
•	David recognized that his sin was against God. Others suffer because of our sins; we suffer the consequences of our own sin, but the motivating factor for confessing our sins is not to find relief from the consequences of our sin, it is not to make ourselves right with the world, it is not to make it right with the church, but to make it right with God.
•	David’s confidence came from knowing that God would purify his heart.
•	David’s confidence came from knowing that God would renew a steadfast spirit within him. He was depending upon God to grant him a willing spirit of obedience. 
Do you long for God to create a new spirit within you? David asks God to create a new spirit in him that would be willing to do what was right. Do you desire that God bring you to maturity in Christ?

•	Understanding God’s ability to give us a spirit of obedience is crucial to our assurance of salvation.

Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. NIV

•	We must depend upon God to give us a willing spirit.

Philippians 1:3-6
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  NIV

Confession and Repentance are the Heart of My Personal Salvation

Confession and repentance are the essential elements that give us confidence before God? Confession has to do with recognition of our sins. Repentance has to do with deciding that we are not going to continue in sin. True confession cannot be had without repentance.

•	I must confess my sin. John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

•	I must repent of sin.

1 John 2:3-6
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. NIV

•	True repentances is revealed in our willingness to obey God’s commands. It is not a test of how well we obey, but our willingness to obey.

Salvation presents us with a paradox: On one hand we realize that we must repent of sin; on the other hand we realize that we can’t live without sin. It may be our intention not to sin, but we know that we do sin. The following verses may confuse those who seek assurance.

1 John 3:7-10
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. NIV

These verses must be placed in the context of the book of 1 John. A struggling Christian may read theses verses and conclude that sinful failures mean that one is lost because they failed to do what was right. 

Remember these verses are found in the context of John’s instruction to acknowledge and confess sin in order to receive forgiveness. There were those in the first century that refused to see themselves as sinners. They saw no need for the sacrifice of Christ. They were depending upon their own goodness. John was encouraging these individuals to recognize the sin in their lives. They were refusing to acknowledge and confess sin as they sought to continue to live in sin. They insisted on living in sin as they turned their back upon Christ. They were children of the Devil.

A struggling Christians righteousness comes through the righteousness of Christ. The willful sinner cannot receive the righteousness of Christ. God does not count sin against Christians who are struggling to overcome their sin through confession and repentance. Jesus keeps struggling Christians free from sin through his atoning sacrifice.

1 John 5:17-20
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. NIV
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The sin that does not lead to death is the sin a Christian is struggling to overcome through confession as the Christian seeks to discontinue sin. In this situation Christ who is born of God keeps him/her safe. The evil one cannot harm such a one who is in Jesus Christ who has been baptized into Christ. 

The verses in Hebrews 10 may also be very confusing to those of us struggling with sin.

Hebrews 10:26-31
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."  31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. NIV

These verses are written to those who deliberately kept on sinning and those who deliberately trample the Son of God underfoot. They are not written to condemn sincere Christians struggling to live righteous lives. Sadly, they have been quoted to Christians struggling with their sinful failures; the result has been a loss of assurance of the Christian’s salvation. Deliberately trampling underfoot the Son of God is a far cry from one sinning through weakness.

A desire to continue sinning is much different than the sinful failure of those who desire to do what is right.

•	The essentials of assurance are a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Psalms 51:15-19
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise. 
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. 

•	Jesus reminds us “blessed are the poor in spirit.” The tax collector cried out, “God, have mercy on me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). 

•	This attitude of godly sorrow brings about a true repentance which results in our assurance of salvation.

2 Corinthians 7:9-11
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. NIV 

Conclusion:

This attitude of confession and repentance is an essential for those who are not Christians. When the Jews on Pentecost were convicted of their sin they cried out what must we do?

Acts 2:38-39
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." NIV

Confession and repentance precede baptism for those who are not Christians. Confession and repentance remain essential for those of us who seek to live right but do wrong.

Are we asking God to help us live according to his will? This is the key question for each of us to know that we have assurance. John writes, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.”