How Can I Know I'm a Christian, Part 2
1 John 4v16b-18
21st July 2023
We've been saying that a true spirit-filled Christian knows that He lives in God, and God lives in Him, because the Holy Spirit continues to assure him that this is true. However, there are other proofs. Here's one of them:
1 John 4v16b
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
John also said "God is love” in verse 8, which we studied recently. Love is the very nature of God. Whoever lives in God's agape love - that is, whoever finds in his heart the constant desire to sacrifice for others, to love our enemies, to do good to those who can't repay us, to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters – is living in God's love. And if you're living in God's love, which only comes through relationship with God, then you know you're living in God.
John continues:
1 John 4v17
In this way love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the
day of judgment because in this world we are like him.
As we read in Matthew Chapter 25 and elsewhere, Jesus is coming back. At the end of history, the Son of Man will come in His glory. All the angels will come with Him, in their tens of thousands. That will be a marvellous sight! All the nations will be gathered before Jesus for the Day of Judgement. He will separate all the people of the earth into two groups. In Matthew 25, they're described as "the sheep”, who will enter into their eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God, and "the goats”, who will go away to eternal destruction.
Several times in this series, we've had reasons to remember that there are only two kingdoms – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. After the Day of Judgement, the kingdom of God will go on for ever, and the kingdom of darkness will be destroyed. Satan and the demons will be thrown into what the book of Revelation calls "the lake of fire”. Those who have trusted in Jesus's atoning sacrifice will live for ever in God's kingdom, and those who have not accepted Jesus will die for ever in eternal darkness.
Some people seem to think that God's a cuddly old gent who would never judge or condemn anybody. They're in for a terrible shock.
How can a person be confident that he'll be counted as a sheep and not as a goat, saved to eternal life and not condemned to eternal death? Are you confident? How do you feel about the certain fact that one day you will stand before God for judgement?
If we consistently walk with God, renounce our sin, study his word, seek His face, meet with His people, share bread and wine to remember Jesus's sacrifice, then we will be filled with His agape love. When we find ourselves caring, serving, forgiving, welcoming and sacrificing, in ways that we never would have done if we hadn't met Christ and been filled with His Spirit, then we know Christ is in us.
And if we know Christ is in us, both by the testimony of the Holy Spirit and by the testimony of our transformed lives, then we can be confident on the Day of Judgement. We know our sins are forgiven. We know we're God's children. We know that when we stand before Him, Jesus will tell God the Father that He's already paid for our sins, so we don't have to:
1 John 4v18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do
with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Every Spirit-filled Christian who walks daily with God, puts his sin to death, and loves others with God's agape love, is confident that when he goes to meet his maker (as they say) God will acknowledge him and welcome him into eternal life (Matthew 25v46). That's why true Christians aren't afraid of death. None of us likes the idea of dying but the true Christian rather likes the idea of being dead. As Paul wrote:
Philippians 1v23
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
We can always trust God. Even when we're hurting, we can be confident that there's a good reason, even though we don't always understand why it's happening or what good it's doing. God is in control, and God loves us.
We can trust God to accept us into His dwelling at the end. Perfect love drives out fear. If you're walking with God, living and serving in His agape love, responding to His word, to His Spirit, to His church, if you're sacrificing for others, because you know how much God has sacrificed for you, then you will never be afraid of God. And you can stand confidently before Him on the great Day of Judgement, He will acknowledge you as His, and He will say to you, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Matthew 25v34).
Our fear of death, our fear of God's wrath, our fear of hell, only exists because our relationship with God is not yet one of mature, mutual love. As His Holy Spirit continues to work in us, making us more and more Christlike, that fear goes, and is replaced with calm assurance of our salvation.
I urge you then, to repent of all your sin, to invest in your relationship with God through prayer, Bible study, church attendance and the breaking of bread (Acts 2v42). Then you will experience the perfect peace that comes from truly knowing the love of God for you.