How To Know You Have Eternal Life |
|
|
| Message Series - God So Loved | |
| Written by Dan Walker | |
| May 04, 2008 | |
|
In our message series "God So Loved," we're looking at the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. John 3:16 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We've gone through the verse phrase by phrase in this series. Basically, John 3:16 is a conditional promise, which I will simplify into this simple statement: If you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life. The converse is true as well. If you do not believe in Jesus, you do not have eternal life. Eternal life is the reward of the promise. It's the most valuable reward in the universe. If you have eternal life, you have everything. If you lack eternal life, you have nothing and will spend eternity in hell. Today, I want to talk about the topic "How To Know You Have Eternal Life." You should be thinking, Pastor Dan, that's easy, if you believe in Jesus you have eternal life. That's true, but it's not that simple. Several weeks ago, we looked at a passage where Jesus tells us that a lot of people think they believe in Jesus, but they really don't. Matthew 7:22-23 (NLT) On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.' So it's relatively easy to think you believe in Jesus when you don't believe in Him at all. That leads us to the question, "Is it possible to really know that you have eternal life?" The answer is Yes, you can know in this life whether or not you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 (NIV) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. The apostle John who wrote down John 3:16, also wrote the book of 1 John. Here in the last chapter of 1 John, John gives us the reason he wrote the book. It was so that people can know whether or not they have eternal life. The Bible tells people who consider themselves believers to test themselves to see if their faith is genuine or not. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test? I believe that the church in America has a major problem. The majority of people in America think they are believers, but in fact, they are basing their confidence in the wrong things. They have never examined themselves to see if they pass the biblical tests for eternal life. The book of 1 John lays out three tests that will show whether someone is truly a believer. These tests will show whether a person has eternal life or not. You should first of all apply these tests to yourself. God doesn't want anyone in this church to be devastated at the end of their life, thinking they were going to heaven, but ending up in hell. Secondly, you can and should apply these test to the people you know. Why? Because you have friends and relatives who think they are OK with God, but you will see after today, that they do not have eternal life. God wants to use you to tell them the truth. So, let's begin to look at the three tests for eternal life in 1 John. Message Audio |
|
| < Prev |
|---|