What Can We Really Know?

Jim Thomas, Senior Pastor

The Letters of John: That You May Know…

The Message of 1 John:
God wants you to rejoice in the knowledge of His love for you, which has been displayed vividly in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And God wants us to share His love with one another.

“Certainty and humility do not exclude one another. If God’s revealed purpose is not only that we should hear, believe and live, but also that we should know, presumptuousness lies in doubting His word, not in trusting it.”
– John Stott, The Letters of John

Three categories of evidence for authentic, saving faith:

The theological test: Do we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God?
The moral test: Are we practicing righteousness?
The social test: Do we love others?

1 John 5:13-21

We can know that believers in Jesus Christ have eternal life. (v. 13)
We can know that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us. (v. 14)
We can know that we have the requests we have asked from Him, in His name. (v. 15)
We can trust that God is eager to forgive stumbling sinners, but will allow belligerent unbelievers to have the eternal autonomy they have demanded. (v. 16-17)
We can know that no one who has truly been born of God indulges habitual sin, and even if they stumble, they are held fast by Christ Himself. (v. 18)
We can know we belong to God, not to the evil one or this world system. (v. 19)
We can know that Jesus, the Son of God, has come, has revealed Himself to us and offers us eternal life in Him. (v. 20)
We can know that we need to remain on guard against worshiping anything that is not God. (v. 21)

What are some distinctive characteristics of having a saving faith in Christ?

Its object and confidence are Christ Himself. (v. 13)
It is nurtured through engagement in prayer. (v. 14-15)
It is wholly dependent on God’s grace and mercy. (v. 16-18)
It inspires our confidence in Christ and directs our worship to the living God. (v. 19-21)

Discussion Questions

In our study of 1 John, we’ve identified three evidentiary tests for authentic, saving faith: theological, moral & social. Which of these tests do you find to be the most difficult? Do you think any one of the three is more important than the other two?
How does believing differ from knowing?
Of the eight truths we can know identified in 1 John 5:13-21, which are most important to you? Do you sometimes find any of the eight difficult to believe or to know?
How are you doing at guarding your heart from idols?
Who in your life are you praying for to know Christ?

“Idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong. Why do we ever lie, or fail to love or keep promises to live unselfishly? Of course, the general answer is ‘because we are weak and sinful,’ but the specific answer is always that there is something besides Jesus Christ that you feel you must have to be happy, something that is more important to your heart than God, something that is spinning out a delusional field and enslaving the heart through inordinate desires. So the secret to change is always to identify the idols of the heart.”
– Tim Keller

“Nothing provokes the world’s opposition more than the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it emphasizes such unpalatable doctrines as the gravity of human sin and guilt, the reality of God’s wrath and judgment, the impossibility of self-salvation, the necessity of the cross, the freeness of eternal life and the dangers of eternal death. These truths undermine human pride and arouse human opposition.”
– John Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church

“The person who is deluded always speaks about how ‘nice’ they were. The person who enjoys the full assurance of eternal salvation knows only we were sinners but we were saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. False assurance always speaks about what we have done. Real assurance always speaks about what Christ has done for us, and by His grace, what Christ has done in us.”
– Sinclair Ferguson

God wants us to rejoice in the knowledge of His love for us, expressed vividly in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And God wants us to share His love with one another.