“And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.”
The apostle John wrote with the authority of an eyewitness, for he was with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry until His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. This is not to imply that what he writes is superior to what others wrote, but when John writes about what Jesus commanded, we know that he heard about it from the Lord himself. What I see in these verses are three entities that can give us assurance that we are on the right track in our Christian lives. The first thing that John mentions is “that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.” The truth of this is attested to throughout the New Testament. If we do not believe, then we have not taken the first step and certainly have no assurance of His grace and His presence. We have to be careful here, because we can think that all we have to do to have God’s assurance is to believe about Jesus. There are people who seem assured of their salvation, and the presence of God in their lives, simply because they believe about Jesus. To “believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ” is much more than intellectual acceptance of Jesus. It means that Jesus has entered our lives, indwelt us with His Spirit, and is the deciding factor in all of the decisions that we make in our lives. To truly believe in Jesus is to have Him make a difference in how we live. We are commanded to believe in Jesus, not just to make us feel better about ourselves and to feel accepted by God, but to actually dedicate our lives to live for Him, and for Jesus to make a difference in how we live. Notice that in verse 24, John wrote: “And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and he in Him.” The second thing that John mentioned was that we “love one another.” I know that this command can seem like a broken record. I write about this a lot, but I write about it, and the Bible mentions it a lot because it is of utmost importance. This is a direct command of Jesus Christ: “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus did not suggest that it would be a good thing if we loved one another; rather, He commanded that we love one another. If we believe in Jesus, we are commanded us to love as He did. Think about your relationships with people in your family, in your church, at your workplace, wherever, do you genuinely love these people? Think about your attitude towards people who might differ with you, do you truly love them. The love for others that gives us assurance is a radical love that loves beyond all human expectations. I’m not sure if we ever master this, but we surely need to make it an important part of our lives. The third thing that John mentioned was: “And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given to us.” It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that enables us to believe in Jesus and to trust in Him in daily life. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that enables us to love one another. Before Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended to the Father, He promised His disciples, and us, that He would send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth, and into living the Christian life. The assurance that we have in Christ is not built on earthly things, but on the Holy Spirit who enables us to live as we should. He will remind us when we are getting out of line; therefore, we need to listen for His still small voice in our daily walk. Do you want the assurance that only God can give? Then believe in Jesus and let Him change your life. Learn to love other people in spite of themselves, and depend on the Holy Spirit to enable you to do all that God would have you do and to be all that God would have you be. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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