The Tests of Salvation - All or None

1st John 5:13 is reach the theme verse of this book of 1st John:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

The key phrase of the verse is this: “That you may know that you have eternal life.” All through this book, the emphasis is on our knowing. John wants us to be assured of our salvation.

But how can we be sure? It’s not by looking back at some day in our past when we made a decision, or when we prayed the sinners prayer, or the day we asked Jesus into our heart. John never mentioned any of those, not once in this whole book.

He didn’t because they can be deceiving. They might just be an emotional response to some evangelist’s slick crafted invitation. Millions who’ve made professions of faith, or walked an aisle at some crusade, are nowhere to be found in any church. Many even now deny the faith they once professed - that’s being an apostate.

No! According to John, assurance comes not through some past event, but through daily life - living the Christian life. It comes by demonstrating evidence of faithfulness in our daily lives. Throughout this book, John gave three tests, and he repeats them over and over. The tests are:
1. Right Doctrine – do we believe the right stuff about Jesus?

2. Obedience to God’s commands: some call that practical righteousness.

3. Love for one another: the topic we’ve spent a lot of time on in chapter 4.

But now in chapter 5, rather than presenting the tests individually, they are all jumbled up together. It’s like they are all wrapped up in one package. You can see this in the first three verses, they are like a seamless garment.

Let’s read them so you can see this:
1st John 5:1-3
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ (right doctrine) is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. (Love of the brethren) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. (Obedience) For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

All three tests are tied together. They can be all wrapped up together because they are all a result of the new birth. As it says in 1st John 5: 1, “Whoever [does these things] is born of God.” So, because we’re born of God (born again), we live this way. It’s not just passing one test, we must pass all three - all three are necessary as proof. Like Campbell’s soup and sandwich, you can’t have one without the other. One alone proves nothing.

Let me illustrate: During our early formative years of searching and struggling to develop what we believe, we lived in Syracuse, New York. While there, we were actively involved in a large home school group. Home Schoolers come from a variety of different backgrounds, you know – liberal, fundamental, charismatic. So we’d get together, as believers, and we’d have long discussions of theology. That was a shock to my Baptist upbringing. We thought we were the only ones who were going to be in heaven.

But I’d talk to my believing friends who were in liberal, mainline churches, and some of them were the only born again believers in the whole church, and I’d ask them, “How can you stay in those churches? They don’t preach the Word, they don’t even believe it?”

And their response shocked me: “How can you stay in your fundamentalist churches that don’t do anything to help people? They don’t even act like they like people?”

Then they would list off all the things their liberal church was doing. They operated nursing homes, rented cheap garden spots in the city, built houses through Habitat for Humanity, served “Meals-on wheels.” The list went on and on. “Where’s the love in your church?” they asked, as I asked, “Where’s the good doctrine in yours?”

I had many great friends in Charismatic churches. They were on fire for the Lord, and seemed to genuinely love one another. They seemed like they were living the Christian life right. But I’d say to them, “How can you stay when so much of the doctrine is wrong?”

And they’d say back, “How can you stay in your stuffy fundamentalist church where everyone is so cold and stiff? You guys don’t know how to worship. You don’t know how to show any feelings or emotions toward God.” And again, I’d be speechless, “but, but, but…” Perhaps we all have something important to learn from John.

The liberals might be doing what God wants believers to do in showing love to one another, but for what? If they aren’t also preaching salvation, what’s the point? There’s no benefit eternally to a full stomach.

The Charismatics might have enthusiasm, and write some nifty worship songs, but emotion that isn’t guided by sound theology can lead in some strange directions. You can see that by tuning in to some of their big-name TV preachers.

But, what about us fundamentalists? Our claim is good doctrine, so what’s our excuse? We should know better. We need all three to be right – good doctrine, love, and obedience to God’s commands - or we are not right.