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Assurance of Salvation

John's first epistle is the place in the Bible which talks most about the assurance of salvation. (Notice that all of the verses below except two come from this epistle.) 1John 5:13 even states that this is the purpose of the letter: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."

In 1John and elsewhere we see two different bases for having assurance of salvation:

1- The Subjective Basis for Assurance of Salvation (a spirit of sonship crying out, "Abba, Father!")

Rom. 8:16- "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."

I John 3:21- "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God."

I John 3:24b- "And we know by this that He abides in us: by the Spirit whom He has given us."

I John 4:13- "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us: because He has given us of His Spirit."

2- The Objective Basis for Assurance of Salvation (based on covenantal faithfulness)

I Tim. 4:16- "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."

I John 1:6-7- "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light...the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

I John 1:8- "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

I John 2:3- "And by this we know that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments."

I John 2:4-5a- "The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected."

I John 2:5b-6- "By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

I John 2:9-11- "The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause of stumbling in Him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes."

I John 2:15b - "If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

I John 2:19 - "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us."

I John 2:29b - "...everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him."

I John 3:6-10 - "No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious; any one who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."

I John 3:14-15 - "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Every one who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

I John 3:17-20 - "But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things."

I John 3:24 - "And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us."

I John 4:7-8 - "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love..."

I John 4:12 - "...if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us"

I John 4:17a  "By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement"

I John 4:20 - "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."

I John 5:18 - "We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him."

Other thoughts:

If you were to hear the cry: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Christ!" would it elicit a heart response of "YES!"?