Blessed Assurance in Jesus | 1 John 1:1-4

On a scale of 1 to 10, (1 being I’m not sure at all and 10 I’m 100% confident), how confident are you that you are saved and going to heaven when you die? Some of you are like, “On a good day I’m about a 7.5 and on a bad day I’m a 3.5.” A lot of people who go to church every Sunday may say that they hover around 7-8; maybe some of you grew up in another church and you are like, “I don’t have a clue.” The goal is for everyone to be a 10. Some people have spent years, rededicating your lives every summer camp, getting rebaptized three times, and still lying awake at night wondering, ‘Am I really saved?’”? Some people live on a spiritual roller coaster based on their circumstances and performance: What if I mess it up? What if I don’t have enough faith? What if I didn’t pray the right prayer? If they had a good week spiritually, they feel saved. If they had a bad week spiritually, they feel lost. Studies consistently show that anxiety is at an all-time high in our culture. We are the most connected generation in history and yet one of the most confused and anxious generations in history. We live in a world filled with uncertainty. But God does not want His children living in spiritual panic attacks wondering if He loves them or whether they belong to Him. The goal is not for you to live at a 6 spiritually. The goal is you to have blessed assurance in Jesus not because you are perfect, but because He is.  

The apostle John is the same John who wrote the book of John; not very creative. He was one of the original disciples of Jesus. He was the youngest of the twelve. His nickname was the “disciple that Jesus loved.” The only place that nickname is found is in the book of John. (lowkey confident) He is writing this letter around 90AD; near the end of his life. He is writing to combat the false teachers who had infiltrated the church and were robbing people of their assurance of who Jesus is and who they are in Him. He said, “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.” (5:13) Not hope or guess or wonder but KNOW. 1 John tells us how we can know we have eternal life. John begins in the only place true assurance can rest, that is in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God who is eternal, a Savior who can be experienced and the Life that must be shared.