How can we be sure that we are saved?
This is an important and sometimes challenging question for Christians. We are saved by grace through faith alone but sometimes our indwelling sin continues to harass us on the road to holiness and we struggle with knowing for sure that we are saved. I believe this issue of indwelling sin is probably the most common and potent reason for doubting our salvation and standing before God. It certainly has been in my experience.
What does the Bible say about our assurance as believers? This is ultimately the authoritative truth we must come back to over and over again. Scripture gives us great hope for establishing assurance of faith but it doesn’t do so at the expense of reminding us of the seriousness of our fight against sin.
In this article, I’d like to examine what we find regarding assurance of salvation in the epistles of the apostle John, particularly his first. While many passages throughout the New Testament provide grounds for our encouragement, including some written by Paul and the author of Hebrews, John writes specifically to help his readers know their standing before God and their inclusion in the new covenant community.
The Purpose of John’s First Epistle
John tells his readers exactly why he is writing to them. He does this in his gospel account (John 20:30-31) and he does it in his first epistle on multiple occasions. He gives both grounds for his epistle (e.g. 1 John 2:12-14, 21, marked by “because” [Gr. ὅτι]) and also purposes (marked by “so that” [Gr. ἵνα]). The grounds are not outright reasons but more like realities that inform John’s writing. For example, in 1 John 2:21, John tells his readers that “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” This clarifies John’s tone and intention but it doesn’t actually say what John wants his epistle to do. We find that in the purpose statements that John gives, similar to his purpose statement in John 20:31.
John’s stated purpose for writing his first epistle is at least threefold: the completion of his joy (1 John 1:4), the mortification of sin in his readers (1 John 2:1), and the assurance of his readers’ eternal life (1 John 5:13). The last one is particularly instructive for our purposes in this article: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that ( ἵνα) you may know that you have eternal life.” This is, in essence, what assurance of faith is: the knowledge that we have eternal life.
Jesus and the apostles do not speak of eternal life as something we hope to possess in the future. For those in union with Christ by faith, we have eternal life now. To have eternal life is to be saved. To be a Christian is to have eternal life. In 1 John 5:13 we see this connection quite plainly: those who believe in the name of the Son of God have eternal life. This is remarkably similar to John’s stated purpose for writing his gospel account: that his readers might believe in Jesus as the divine-human Messiah and have life in His name.
John’s Marks of Assurance
For John the question of assurance is not a spectrum. It’s not as if you’re securely saved on day and the next you may be less secure in your salvation. You are either saved or you aren’t. This is part of John’s dualistic worldview that sees in contrasting black and white. A number of contrasts pervade John’s writings: light/dark, life/death, love/hate, sin/righteousness, truth/lies, etc. This is the dividing line for assurance of salvation.
If one is saved, united to Christ by faith, and a member of the regenerate covenant community, one has eternal life. This is also expressed in John’s language of “abiding in Christ” which is no doubt influenced by Jesus’ teaching in John 15, which John heard firsthand.
The question, then, is what marks one as regenerate, united to Christ, and included in the new covenant? John gives at least four marks of genuine belief and true inclusion in Christ and His covenant people: acknowledgement of the truth (including acknowledgment and confession of sin), obedience to Christ’s commandments, love for the brothers, and the Spirit’s witness in the heart of the believer. To these we turn now.
Acknowledging Sin
Early on in 1 John, fellowship with the church and the cleansing of sin is associated with confession of sin and walking in the light (1 John 1:7, 9). This is contrasted with denial or hiding of sin (vv. 6, 8, 10).
John writes so that his readers may not sin (2:1) but he is not blinded by unrealistic expectations of sinless perfection. John understands that indwelling sin still hangs around. But as is clear from the rest of his first epistle, the power of this sin is broken. The darkness is “passing away” (2:7). This leads to the next marker of true union with Christ.
Obedience to Christ’s Commandments
The first explicit marker that John gives his readers to test their identity in Christ and in the new covenant/creation is whether they obey Christ’s commandments: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3) John follows this by telling his readers that the way we can know if we are “in Christ” is if we walk in the same manner as He walked (2:5-6). In verse 29 of 1 John chapter 2, John introduces the concept of the new birth as being “born of God”. He writes, “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” (1 John 2:29)
Practicing righteousness is equivalent to obeying Christ’s commandments. In the next chapter, John will draw a contrast for his readers between practicing righteous and making a practice of sinning. Practicing righteousness demonstrates that one is “born of God” and making a practice of sinning, that is, a habitual lifestyle of disobedience to Christ, demonstrates that one is a child of the devil (1 John 3:7-10). John is careful to point this out because there is danger of deception on this matter (see 3:7).
Elsewhere, John reinforces this mark of assurance (1 John 3:24, 5:2).
Love
The next logical question we might ask, in light of John’s presentation of Christian obedience as a mark of true conversion, is what shall be obey? What has Christ commanded?
John’s answer is simple and straightforward but packed with great weight and significance: Christ commands us to love our brothers and sisters.
In fact, John takes on the issue of assurance head-on in 1 John 3:19, writing: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;”. What is the “this” that John is referring to? It is the practical love in vv. 16-18. In fact, we could go back as far as 3:10 where John connects obedience with Christ and love for the brothers as the evidence of being born again. This, John goes on to say in verse 11, is the message that his readers “have heard from the beginning”. This is, in context, an inner-community love. We are called to love all people but John emphasizes the love the church has for its own. Notice the language he uses:
- “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (3:11)
- “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” (3:14a)
- “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (3:16)
This is also probably based on Christ’s words in John 17:20-26 about the unity of the covenant community and the love which ought to characterize it.
The Spirit’s Witness
Our union with Christ is testified to by the Holy Spirit. We read in 1 John 3:24 that it is by the “Spirit” that we have been given that we know that God abides in us. Furthermore, 1 John 4:13 tells us, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
John tells his readers that the evidence of having received the Spirit of God is the confession of Jesus as the Christ (1 John 4:2-3). He also writes frequently throughout the epistle of the new birth, that is, being born of God. This is a work of the Spirit. The Spirit is only received by those who are Christians, covered by Christ’s blood. The world does not receive the Spirit of God. Therefore, it one has the Spirit, one can be sure that they are united to Christ and members of the covenant community.
Conclusion
John writes his first epistle so that his readers may know that they are saved and have been united to Christ. He draws a contrast between those in the church and those in the world. His worldview is dualistic: there are only two options and neutrality is not an option. One is either a child of God or a child of the devil. One either walks in light or darkness. One either practices righteousness or sin. One either loves or hates.
John writes so that his readers can have assurance that they are saved. Among the markers he provides, four stand out: acknowledgement and confession of sin, obedience to Jesus Christ, love for the brothers, and the Spirit’s witness to the believer’s heart.
If these characterize a person, he or she can be assured that they are in Christ by the external evidence. It’s important to note that these are not things that are done to earn salvation. Rather they are external fruits of the internal transformation of the new birth. Ultimately, as 1 John 3:20 reminds us, “whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart”. We ought not be too quick to dismiss questions of assurance because we dare not presume upon the grace of God. But even when our own heart condemns us, we can rest and trust God for assurance and abide in Him.