Do You Know So?

"I thank You that I can know that I know that I know that I'm saved!" These are the words that I remember a deacon praying many years ago when I was a teenager. He knew that genuine salvation of the Lord was not a "hope so, maybe so", but a "know so" salvation. The apostle John wrote the letter of 1 John so that his readers "may know that (they) have eternal life, and that (they) may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). Assurance of salvation and continued faithfulness are the fruit of the message of 1 John.

"Now by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments... whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him" (1 John 2:3-5) John gives numerous "tests" of salvation in his letter, one of which we find here. These verses reveal that a genuine believer is marked by a life of obedience. The word "keep" in that passage is in the present tense meaning continued, repeated obedience (an obedient lifestyle). The Christian life begins with an obedient response to the Lord Jesus' command to "repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15), and proceeds in continual and consistent obedience.

John, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, also says that "whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him." At the center of the believer's obedience is a heart of love for His Savior (John 14:21), therefore, he knows the Lord's commands, he loves His commands, and desires only to grow in his obedience to them. He doesn't want to be free from God's commandments, but to run freely in them (Psalm 119:32)!

As the genuine believer obeys the Word of God he is matured and changed by the Word of God; his mind is renewed and his walk is transformed! (Romans 12:2) A genuine faith produces visible fruit. Verse 6 reveals that this fruit is a Christ-like walk of obedience. "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."

Many people make professions of faith and say "I know Him", but they live with a disregard for the commands of Scripture and are uncaringly disobedient to them. The Lord says clearly through the pen of the apostle John that they are liars and the truth is not in them! (1 John 2:4)

Are you lacking assurance of your salvation? Then take inventory of your heart and life and lay it against the message of God's word! Do you love the Lord's commands? Do you find joy in obeying them? Are you grieved and convicted when you disobey them? Are you growing in your obedience?

Assurance is gained not in a card that we signed, a prayer that we prayed, or a parent's affirmation, but in a changed life! A life made new by the power of God through the Word of God, evidenced by obedience! As one writer, Don Whitney, said - "The obedient life is a truly converted life!"

Thank You, Jesus, for providing a "know so" salvation!