Basic Truths: Assurance of Salvation - Why People Have Doubts #4

- we're studying basic Bible truths and our first lessons

have dealt with the subject of assurance of salvation

- we've said that:

1) God wants you to be saved:

II Peter 3:9 - God is "...longsuffering toward us, not

willing that any should perish, but all should come

to repentance."

2) God wants you to know for sure that you're saved:

I John 5:13 - "These things have I written unto you..."

- we've been talking about having assurance in three

different ways:

- INPUT? (historically, theologically, experientially)

- we said two weeks ago that there is a book of the Bible

that is especially suited to that third source of

assurance, because it gives a series of tests for folks to

apply to themselves to help determine whether they are

genuinely saved

- INPUT - Book?

- INPUT - first two tests we've already studied? (walks in

the light, guards the commands)

- let's pick up the third test by reading I John 2:6-17

(divide into 6-9, 10-11, 12-14, 15-17)

- the third tests we're going to study is:

III. He Loves Brothers More and the World Less

- lets look at these subjects in the order in which John

addresses them

A. Relationship to brothers and sisters in Christ

- John is saying - if you want to determine whether a

person is a believer in Christ or not, look at

their relationship to other people in the church.

- people who are saved love the brethren

- let's talk for a minute about:

1. the meaning of love

- for some this will be review - but it's

important that we all understand this in order

to get the thrust of what John is saying

- INPUT - what are some of the world's definitions

of love?

- INPUT - what is love biblically? Proof?

2. the importance of loving the brothers

a. in this passage

- INPUT- what from verses 6-8 tell us that

loving the bretheren is extreemely

important?

v. 6 - thats how Jesus walked (we'll

talk more about that in a minute)

v. 7-8 - it's a command that's had a

central place in the Word of God

INPUT - from verses 7-8 - is this

commandment an old one or a new

one?

- the answer is - it's both.

cf. Rom. 13:8-10

- point is - loving others has always been central

to the commands of God.

- you don't covet because you love your

neighbor

- you don't steal....

- you don't lie....

- INPUT - so in what sense is this command "new"?

- new in that now we have had the perfecxt model

of love live before us.

- cf. I John 1:1-2 (read)

- INPUT - what are the implications to the fact that

our Savior has modeled perfect love before us?

(no excuse) - regardless of background

- point so far - this command is important because

it's been central in the law of God from the very

beginning.

- it's important because we now have seen and

experienced perfect love through through the

Person of Jesus Christ

b. from other passages

- John 13:34 - By this shall all men know

that ye are my disciples - if you love one

another

- there's one more truth we need to lay down next to these

and then we'll talk about some specific applications

3. evidence of that love

- INPUT - according to verses 9-11 - what is the

evidence of a person who loves his brethren? (or could answer

it negatively - what is the evidence of a person who

doesn't?) - he walks in darkness

- let's talk for a menaing about what John is picturing

- Warren Wiersbe - "the mind of man is not a debating ground

- it's a picture gallery"

- picture is of a person walking in darkness

- INPUT - what does that picture to you? (cf. walking

through the auditorium in the dark)

- issue is direction - believers have direction in

relationships because love governs/controls and

directs.

- overall point - one experiential evidence of a person's

salvation is how they think about and how they relate to

and how they treat the brethren.

- now, we need to start asking some questions:

1) what evidence is there in your life that you love the

brethren? Is that evidence lacking?

- let's bat this around:

- INPUT - what might be true of the person who says

he/she is a believer but doesn't really love the

brethren?

- INPUT - what kinds of things will be true of the

person who does love the brethren? (cf.

conference - serving others without really

knowing them)

- these verses give us a great opportunity to think about the

goal God has for us as believers

(quickly hit - goal & put off/on)

- what we're talking about this morning is a great

opportunity to identify specific ways we can work on

becoming more like our Savior

- if you've had trouble as we've gone thorugh these questions

we've been asking, there's two possible reasons

1) not saved

2) haven't been living for the right goal

- wouldn't it be great if, as a result of studying

these verses, either someone was saved, ort someone

said - I'm going tp pursue the goal of being more

like the Lord Jesus Christ much more agressively.

- show Easter drama clip - last supper

- if a person is going to do what these verses are saying,

he'she is also going to have to work on:

B. His relationship to the world

- read 2:15-17

- let's talk quickly about what world we're talking

about

1. What "world?"

3 uses of word "world" in the Bible

1) universe - cosmos - earth - God made the world

2) world of people - God so loved the world

3) world "system" - philosophies - way

unbelievers think about and view this world,

life, etc.

- INPUT - which word is John speaking about in these

verses?

2. believer doesn't "love" it

- INPUT - based on our discussion of the word

"love", what is John talking about here?

- sacrificing for - giving self for

- some folks say they're Christians, yet they

are entirely emersed in the world

- they love the world

- they sacrifice for the world

- that's where their affection is

- their loyalty, attention, etc.

- the believer doesn't love it for 2 reasons:

a. because He knows it's not of the Father

- a person who's saved can look at the world

and say - "thats not of God"

- that kind of lust - it's not of God

- that kind of pride - its not of God

b. it's passing away

- illus - John McFalls

IV. He Doesn't "Fall" For Unacceptable Substitutes

- read 3:11-17

A. Murder

B. hate

C. Indifference

- many folks know murder is wrong, and know hate is

wrong--but haven't gotten over indifference

- indifference says - I see the need, but I'm not

willing to sacrifice to meet it

- some folks use indifference as a way to control

or hurt others

- cf. husband/wife relationships

V. Our Model of Love

- read 5:19-21