Certain Eternity Part 17 – Objective Assurance at Every Stage
1 John 2:12-14 January 12, 2025
Introduction
Objective vs Subjective
o Pick of some art, picture of Billy Joel vs Taylor Swift, picture of eagles vs
giants
John has been speaking very recently about methods of evaluation by which we
must subjectively examine ourselves – do we love or hate?
o 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the
faith. Test yourselves….”
But John recognizes that this measurement is subjective. John also knows that
any time you introduce some sort of subjective criteria for examination, there is
opportunity for doubt/dismay/confusion/fear that the enemy can try to weave into
the minds of the evaluator.
Ligon Duncan observes “It’s a difficult thing, isn’t it, to simultaneously attempt to
build up a believer’s assurance while undercutting a false assurance? Those who
are true believers are often those whose consciences are most sensitive to their
own failures in precisely the areas of their delight in God’s word, and in
obedience to His commandments, and in the deficiencies of their love to one
another. And so even as he attempts to undercut false assurance, he may well
affect an undercutting of what ought to be a full and robust assurance in a true
Christian.”
o So in these next verses he reminds us of some objective realities about our
salvation as we mature in our faith.
1 John 2:12-14 “12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are
forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 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, children, because you know the
Father. 14 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 abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
John addresses three different stages of the Christian walk: children, young men,
fathers. We’re going to take this passage in that order.
Children (v12, 13c)
“12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his
name’s sake….13c I write to you, children, because you know the Father”
Has used “little Children” (v1) or “beloved” (v7) previously, referring to all
Christians
o But here the context shifts and John seems to specifically speak to those
who are young in their faith. Regardless of our age, at some point we are
all baby Christians…and it is to those who are new in their submission to
Jesus that John addresses first.
3 objective points of confidence for the new believer
o “Your sins are forgiven”
We’ve talked about this in 1 John 1:9 – but John recognizes it is
critical enough to remind us again.
(Gk. aphiemi) – depicts an action which causes total separation from
a previous condition, to have the previous thing hurled away from you
o In perfect tense – completely accomplished at a single
point of time in the past (the moment of our faith-filled
conversion/redemption/empowerment by Jesus and the
Holy Spirit) that will remain constant and complete forever
In our subjective evaluation of loving one another, it is easy to
find fault because we are broken and flawed people
o Our choices to love are often inconsistent….our emotions
are up and down our situations cause hurt and pain which
makes it difficult to choose love
Think about the person/people who you love the
most – spouse, kids, family member. Now think
about your worst days with them, days when they
upset you or hurt you or selfishly treat you poorly –
we may have a hard time loving them on those days
Consequently, we can easily find fault with
ourselves because we are not loving like
Christ loves – and these are the people who
we should love the easiest because we care
about them the most.
o How about strangers, or enemies –
people who have actively hurt us and
may even continue to hurt us?
o So this subjective measurement can be tough –
especially for new believers who the enemy loves to
come after with doubts of their sincere submission to
Jesus.
Objectively, no fault can be found in the face of the forgiveness
offered by the merciful and gracious God who forgives and washes
away our sin.
If we have put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven. Period. It
doesn’t matter how we feel or what we think about our
forgiveness. IT is objectively true that with faithfilled submission
to Jesus comes the forgiveness of our sins – because He is
gracious and merciful.
Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”
No fault can be found with Jesus Christ who died for our sin,
who is the propitiation for our sin (2:2), therefore, we are
forgiven.
Forgiveness is not something we do, nor something we earn –
yet, as a follower of Jesus, objectively, I know I am a sinful man
who needs Jesus and when I turned to Him in faith-filled
repentance, I am forgiven
o If you know you need forgiveness and have repented of
your sin, that is objective evidence that you belong to the
Lord
o “for His name’s sake”
So why does He forgive – for His Glory
Colossians 1:21-22 “21 And you, who once were alienated
and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled
in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy
and blameless and above reproach before him”
We can be confident in our salvation as new believers because
we know that God is doing a work in us that He begins and that
He finishes. This brings Him glory.
Psalm 106:8 “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he
might make known his mighty power.”
Further, as we are transformed and live our lives in service to
Him, He is glorified and more people will come to trust in Him
as they see the work He is doing in us and hear the truth that
we will have the opportunity to speak to them.
o “You know the Father”
And as we walk in His forgiveness and as we serve His kingdom and
bring Him glory, we know Him more and more deeply
1 John 3:1-2 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that
we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why
the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we
are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we
shall see him as he is.”
Our walk with God – the progress we make in our faith is objective
evidence that He knows us and we know Him and that His Spirit is
working in our lives to make us more like Jesus.
The more we understand that we are forgiven, that our lives bring
glory to our God, the more we will know our Father and know that we
are His children.
Our identity will become more firmly rooted in our heavenly
family. This process begins as new believers and continues
until the day we meet the Lord. But it is objective evidence of
who we belong to as we walk in our identity as forgiven children
of God more and more.
Young Men (13b, 14b)
“13b I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one….
14b I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God
abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
3 objective points of confidence for the growing believer
o “overcome the evil one”
Repeated twice – objectively, when we are in Christ we know that we
have overcome the enemy. Despite the enemy’s best efforts we are
victors, we are overcomers, we are conquerors
Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us.”
Romans 6:22 “But now that you have been set free from sin
and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to
sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
1 John 5:4-5 “4 For everyone who has been born of God
overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome
the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world
except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
o Objectively we know this is true positionally, cosmically in
Jesus because He has done it – subjectively we struggle
with sin everyday, but we know it is a process and so we
keep persevering and fighting the good fight of the faith,
bearing good fruit in keeping with repentance.
There was a time when we didn’t even seek to live
free of our sin – we were totally and completely in
bondage to it. The Lord has set us free from that
(Gal. 5:1) and the very fact that we have any victory
over sin in our life is objective evidence of our
eternal standing.
The very fact that we hate our sin and are bothered
when we fail and are moved to repent and draw
near to God and have victory next time is evidence
that we are His.
o “you are strong”
As we draw near to the Lord, we find strength in Him and the enemy
will flee from us, we will walk in the victory Jesus has already won.
James 4:7-8 “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near
to you…”
Ephesians 6:10-11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
Objectively, as we see the power of the Holy Spirit working in our
lives, that gives us confidence that we belong to the Lord. His power
is moving, we are instruments in His hands.
o “word of God abides in you”
And we grow in strength as we grow in our knowledge of His word
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped
for every good work.”
Sword of spirit – learn how to fight the battle with the word (rema,
specific word, Eph. 6:17)
Ray Stedman “What makes one who is a spiritual child become a
spiritual young man? The Word of God abiding in him. … That is the
secret of growth. That is what will move him from one stage to
another until at last he becomes a father, able to reproduce himself in
others… It is absolutely impossible to grow up as a Christian, or as a
real man or woman, unless the Word of God abides in you. This is
why the devil fights this whole matter of Bible study, the building of
your life around the centrality of the Scriptures, and why there is
loosed a constant barrage of attack at this level. It is the supremely
important thing to move us into maturity. Though the devil cannot stop
us from being Christians, he can certainly keep us from becoming
strong Christians, and this is exactly the way he does it. He tries to
divert our attention and get us off onto spiritual sidetracks.”
Fathers (13a, 14a)
“13a I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the
beginning….14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the
beginning.”
H A Ironside “It is quite possible to have been a Christian for many years, and
yet not be a father (speaking of spiritual maturity). There are many who have
been saved a great many years but are spiritually dwarfed because they give so
little attention to spiritual things. They give so little time to the Word of God, are
so seldom exercised in holy things, and know so little of the blessedness of
prayer and communion with the Lord, that they do not grow. But when the apostle
spoke to the fathers, he was speaking to those who through long years have
availed themselves of their Christian privileges, learned to love the Word of God,
sought to walk with Christ, labored for the blessing of others, and learned
experientially to know the blessed Lord in all His fullness.”
As God’s word abides in us…the thing that objectively assures us the most
clearly is that we know (Gk. ginosko = experientially know) Jesus, the Logos of
God – the Word – who is from the beginning.
o John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.”
Remember the proto-Gnostics were teaching a false gospel…that
Jesus was NOT from the beginning.
John is suggesting here that in knowing Jesus, we will know
truth and we will not fall to heresy. Part of the objective
evidence of salvation is that our theology is being continually
shored up and we are seeking to understand what the Lord
says about Himself – not what some man interprets or
concocts, but what He says in His word. Again, knowing His
word is how we know Jesus and have confidence that we are
placing our faith in the true God, not some man’s current,
culturally acceptable version of him.
1 John 2:3 “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his
commandments.”
The more we know the Lord, the more out lives will reflect Him, His truth, His
standards….those around us will see the change, will see the fruit, and they will
recognize Jesus in us.
o We will not need to subjectively question because our life will come to
reflect Him as we experience Him in our lives more and more. In that
reflection we will have objective evidence of our salvation….because that
transformation comes only by knowing Him.
Application
Recognize where you are in your faith journey.
o Be encouraged no matter what stage you are in that there is objective
evidence of your salvation – not because of anything you are doing, but
because of what Jesus is doing in you through His Spirit
Be encouraged to continue to grow in the Lord.
o Our journey doesn’t end, until we reach out destination (in death or in the
return of Christ), keep learning, keep studying, keep serving, keep
repenting, keep loving….persevere in the Lord.
Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you are failing.
o Trust in the objective evidence presented to you by the Lord as one of His
faith-filled, submitted children
o John Piper “On the one hand he says, “I am writing to help you not to sin. I
am writing to warn you against the deceivers.” And on the other hand he
says, “I am writing because you are forgiven. You know the truth. You are
strong. I want you to have assurance of eternal life.” On the one hand he
intensifies their appreciation of what they have in Christ, and deepens their
assurance of eternal life. And on the other hand he warns them about those
who would deceive them, and urges them to have a vigilance against sin.
And how do these two strands of John’s letter relate? I think John means
for the strand of confidence to motivate the strand of vigilance. He wants to
motivate the fight with the confidence of victory.”
o Spurgeon is quoted as saying that he “was so sure of his salvation that he
could grab on to a cornstalk and swing out over the fires of hell, look into
the face of the devil, and sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!” When
the storms of life, the winds of trouble, and the sea of discomfort and
emotional agony seem to overwhelm, we have to say with the songwriter,
“Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and
righteousness…We dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on
Jesus’ name.””
Conclusion
Subjectively, you may feel good about yourself, you may feel bad about yourself
– both are subjective. Be confident because of who you are objectively in Christ.
John 1:12-13 “12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Amen. Amen.