Living with Assurance
By Jennifer Slattery
“I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.” - 1 John 2:12-14, NIV
Early in my faith journey, I carried an underlying fear that perhaps I wasn’t really saved. This fear intensified when I went through a season of doubt. I worried that the very fact that I was questioning certain tenets of my faith, including the authority of Scripture, meant I didn’t truly belong to God and hadn’t actually yielded my life to Him. I wonder if you can relate. I have not yet met anyone who has completely yielded to Christ. We all have sinful behaviors that hinder our intimacy with Him, doubts we need Him to replace with truth, and fears that hinder our obedience.
Simply put, we are all in the process of transformation. And if we’re not anchored in God’s grace, our weaknesses, flaws, and the constant accusations from the devil can cause us to doubt our salvation.
This seems to be a challenge experienced by the people to whom John wrote the above passage. I understand why, considering the influence evil was trying to wield in their community. False teachers had risen among them and were spreading a counterfeit gospel known as Gnosticism. Among other things, these heretics claimed salvation through enlightenment rather than through faith in Christ. This, apparently, caused those who hadn’t received some “special knowledge” to doubt their salvation.
John wrote to them to counter this destructive teaching and to assure the first-century Christ followers of their eternal security. Notice all the ways he affirmed them. First, he addressed them as “dear children,” an endearment that emphasized their standing in God’s family. Contrary to the Gnostics’ claims, these men and women weren’t outsiders. They were adopted sons and daughters (Romans 8:15), chosen by Christ (Eph. 1:4), and united by His blood. He also told them, clearly, that they’d received forgiveness not because of any exclusive “revelation” but “on account of His name.”
Next, John highlighted their relationship with Christ, stating that they “[knew] Him who is from the beginning.” Throughout this letter, John used two Greek words for “know.” One, eidó, refers to a factual, cognitive knowing, such as that the earth is round or plants grow from seeds. In 1 John 2:13, he used a different word, ginóskó, which refers to an understanding or recognition that comes through personal experience. Therefore, he emphasized that they knew Jesus personally. They hadn’t just learned about Him cognitively. They’d developed a relationship with Him.
Notice, also, John told them they’d overcome the evil one, the force driving the false teachers and the believers’ doubts and insecurities. The devil didn’t want those men and women to gain a sense of eternal security. He wanted them to live in fear. Understand, his tactics don’t change. While he doesn’t have the power to separate us from God, he can, and does terrorize us to keep us from experiencing the soul-deep peace gifted to us through Jesus’s death. When we understand evil’s strategy and our authority in Christ, we’re able to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
In verse 14, John told the Christ-followers they knew the Father, using the same phrasing as he did for their relationship with Christ. He ended this poetic section by stating that they were strong, filled with truth, and overcomers. Again, while the devil was harassing them and trying to defeat them, he was and always will be a defeated foe.
Intersecting Life & Faith:
Here’s what I find precious and beautiful. God preserved these words in Scripture so that you and I could live confident in our standing in Christ, secure in our salvation. When we begin to doubt those realities, may we speak the words in 1 John over ourselves, reminding ourselves that, because of our faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are forgiven. His grace is greater than our worst sins in the past and big enough to cover whatever sins we commit tomorrow. We know Him and have a Spirit-bound relationship with Him, again, through faith. And finally, through Christ and all we have in Him, we have the power and authority to resist the devil’s most relentless schemes.
As we reflect on those truths, our confidence will increase, as will our peace.
Further Reading:
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 10:1-10
Ephesians 6:10-18
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Melpomenem
Jennifer Slattery is a writer and speaker who co-hosts the Faith Over Fear podcast and, along with a team of 6, the Your Daily Bible Verse podcast. She’s addressed women’s groups, Bible studies, and taught at writers conferences across the nation. She’s the author of Building a Family and numerous other titles and maintains a devotional blog at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLou
She’s passionate about helping people experience Christ’s freedom in all areas of their lives. Visit her online to learn more about her speaking or to book her for your next women’s event, and sign up for her free quarterly newsletter HERE and make sure to connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and GodTube.
