Assurance! (1 John 4:13-21)
In John 15:1-5 Jesus implores His disciples to ‘abide’ in Him promising them that if they do, He too will ‘abide’ in them and that they will have lives that are fruitful in abundance.
Since ‘abiding’ in Jesus was urged by Jesus, and because it promises much – it is reasonable, therefore to ask how one might be assured that they are genuinely ‘abiding’ in Jesus.
On the one hand, it is good to be assured, and on the other, if one is not truly abiding in Jesus, it would be good to know while something can still be done about it.
The apostle John tells us that we can know that we are abiding in Jesus and He in us because we have the Holy Spirit within us – “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of his Spirit.” (1 John 4:13).
John says that we know we are in Christ because we have Christ’s Spirit in us! Something tangible has happened to the person who has believed in Jesus. Such a person is not just left with an esoteric memory of a moment when they put their faith in Jesus – they have tangible evidence of God’s Spirit in them!
Similarly, Paul described the Holy Spirit to the Ephesian church as the seal that guarantees our future inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of the believer was an assurance, a guarantee of what was to come. It would not be much of a guarantee if the Holy Spirit’s presence was not tangible to the believer.
I believe that what John is referring to is one of the Holy Spirit’s greatest works within us. The Holy Spirit assures the believer in Jesus that they truly are God’s child and that they have an unshakable future hope!
The apostle Paul said it like this; “you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:15-17)
Assurance is one of the major themes in the whole letter of 1 John (see 1 John 2:3, 3:10, 3:19, 3:24, 4:7, 4:13, 4:15, 5:13) and here again, John writes how the Holy Spirit’s work and presence in the life of the believer results in a certainty and a firm belief or assurance;
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.” (1 John 4:16)
As a Father, I remember many situations when all I wanted was my children to know that I had the situation under control. I wanted fear and anxiety in them to subside and for peace and security and assurance to fill their minds and hearts, putting them at ease. I hear, in John’s writing, that our Father in Heaven wants the same for all those who have believed – assurance, peace, the absence of fear and worry and anxiety.
We have been loved by God’s perfect selfless love by the King of kings and Lord of lords. So all fear and insecurity have to melt away in the presence of such love and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit who keeps reminding and revealing to us the magnitude and perfection of God’s love for us His beloved children.
Friend, if you have believed in Jesus, you have been granted the right, and the privilege of becoming the child of God and that is what you are (John 1:12 & 1 John 3:1). You have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit to remind you of these truths and to make the love of God real and tangible so that you rest secure in your heavenly Father’s love forever!
So, pray now and ask for the Holy Spirit to overwhelm you again with the love of God (Romans 5:5) & to fill you with the assurance that you are God’s beloved child forever.
Two words that matter 