Certain Eternity Part 39 – Testing Our Salvation
1 John 5:1-5 August, 24 2025
Introduction
Test Taking – who enjoys it? School about to start…yay?
o How many of you remember the worst grade you ever received on a test?
How about the best grade? We tend to remember the specific of the
failures more, don’t we?
o SATs just happened yesterday (How’d it go Michael? and will be happening
for our HS kids throughout the year)
o Engineering Tests (yay, Jason,,,you got this Johanna)
o BAR exam (you got this Lauren)
1 John 5:1-5 “1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of
God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey
his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 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?”
Over 30 places that discuss proofs of our salvation in this letter….John Piper has
categorized them into 11 different tests of those who are born of God (show
slide)….but John essentially boils those 11 down into 2 general tests that we’ll
look at today:
o 2 parts today: 1) Faith Test, 2) Love Test
When we focus on tests, we tend to focus on ourselves, not God, and many of us
naturally give ourselves a failing grade, leading to self-doubt, which is exactly
why John is writing this letter; or conversely to self-doubt, there’s self-
assurance—we strategize and strain to pass the tests in our own strength.
Today we are looking at the 2 most general categories of tests….and I want us to
focus on the fact that God has made the way for us to pass the tests as we rely
on Him….we don’t need to doubt, nor should we be self-assured. By God’s grace
– He has saved us – and our confidence can rest fully-assured in Him. Amen.
o Ultimately, this letter isn’t about working to pass all these tests in our own
strength or evaluating if I am doing enough or believing enough to be
saved.
o What John is calling us to do is to persevere in our trust in the
Lord…persevere in what He has done for us and not to get led astray by all
the false teaching and distractions that this world has to offer.
Faith Test (v1, 4-5)
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God”
“Believes” (GK. pisteuo) – present tense = continues to believe
“Born” (Gk. gennao) – perfect tense = past completed action, “has been born”
What the tenses of these words mean is that we cannot interpret belief as the
cause of being born again…instead, it is the ongoing (continuous) evidence of a
past completed action (born of God)
o Who completed the action: “of God” = it is the Lord who saves us
He draws us to Himself through the Holy Spirit, He gives us the
strength to receive His love and truth, He gives us the humility to
submit to Him, and He saves us. It’s all Him. Surely we must respond,
surely we must exercise what the Lord provides….But He is the
provider, He is the sustainer, He is the empowerer, He is the saver.
Anything good and pleasing to the Lord that we have done, are
doing, or ever will do is from God. Amen. The question is: are
we willing to let Him provide? Are we willing to learn to rely
more and more completely on Him? Are we willing to trust?
That’s submitted faith and the Lord will do it if we are willing to
let Him do it. He will even make us willing if we ask Him.
o So we see belief is the result not the cause of the new birth.
Certainly we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), but
John here is saying that our persevering faith is evidence that we
have in fact trusted in Jesus and, in fact, is a result of having trusted
in Jesus
Sincere faith exercised in submitting to Jesus will result in
ongoing trusting in Jesus as the Holy Spirit works in and
through us and continuously grows our faith.
John MacArthur “continual faith is the result of the new birth, not its
cause. Christians do not keep themselves Born Again by believing,
and lose their salvation if they stop believing. On the contrary, it is
their perseverance in the faith that gives evidence that they have
been born again. The faith that God grants in regeneration is
permanent, and cannot be lost. Nor, as some teach, can it die, for
dead faith does not save . There is no such thing as an “unbelieving
believer.””
Remember, the proto-gnostics failed to persevere (1 John
2:19)….John is urging us to persevere as we remain steadfast relying
on the Lord and seeing evidence of that reliance through these tests
Adrian Rogers “A birth is a definite experience. It would be almost nonsensical
for me to ask, “Have you ever been born?” But suppose I did ask it, and you
were to answer, “I hope so. I’m doing the best I can.” Or, “I have always been
born.” No, birth implies a certainty. There was a time when you were not born
and a time when you were.”
o If you trust in Jesus…if you have faith in His person and work…then that is
evidenced that you are saved, you have been born again as Jesus says in
John 3, the Lord has saved you and has given you the faith the persevere
in trusting Him.
Believes what: right doctrine
o “Jesus is the Christ” (v1)
Fulfilled all the promises of the Father as the propitiation/atonement
for man, as a sinless man
o “Jesus is the Son of God” (v5)
Is divine, rose again to life, ascended to heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of the Father and will return to rule and reign forever.
(v4) Faith in Jesus is victory over the world
o Overcome (Gk. Nikao) to be victorious and prevail the obstacles
John MacArthur “Nikao was a popular term among the Greeks, who
believed that ultimate victory could not be achieved by mortals, but
only by the gods. They even had a goddess named Nike, the
goddess of victory who aided Zeus in his battle against the Titans.
Against that pagan backdrop, it was stunning for the New Testament
to assign to Christians the invincibility associated only with the gods.”
o Why? Because Jesus has overcome he world
John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have
overcome the world.”
o John Piper “This faith overcomes the world, that is, it overcomes the
enslaving power of the world to be our supreme treasure. Faith breaks the
enslaving spell of the world’s allurement. By doing that, faith leads us into
obedience with freedom and joy. God and His holy (commandments) will
look beautiful and not burdensome. The new birth has taken the blinders
off. We see things for what they are. We are free to obey with joy.”
Warren Wiersbe tells the following story
o A Civil War veteran used to wander from place to place, begging a bed and
bite to eat and always talking about his friend “Mr. Lincoln.” Because of his
injuries, he was unable to hold a steady job. But as long as he could keep
going, he would chat about his beloved President.
o “You say you knew Mr. Lincoln,” a skeptical bystander retorted one day.
“I’m not so sure you did. Prove it!”
o The old man replied, “Why, sure, I can prove it. In fact, I have a piece of
paper here that Mr. Lincoln himself signed and gave to me.”
o From his old wallet, the man took out a much-folded piece of paper and
showed it to the man. “I’m not much for reading,” he apologized, “but I
know that’s Mr. Lincoln’s signature.”
o “Man, do you know what you have here?” one of the spectators asked.
“You have a generous federal pension authorized by President Lincoln. You
don’t have to walk around like a poor beggar! Mr. Lincoln has made you
rich!”
We are victorious overcomers of this world through Jesus….yet many
of us can fall into the position of the old man only talking about how
great Jesus is and not actually walking in His victory.
Love Test (4:21, 5:2-3)
1 John 4:7, 21 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born of God and knows God….21 And this
commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his
brother.”
1 John 5:2-3 “2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love
God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
Love Others
o How?
Love God
We’ve talked about the proper order of operations for love, but it
bears repeating….we cannot love others unless we love God
first, we cannot love God unless we have received and
accepted His love for us (1 John 4:19)
Keep His commandments
“keep” (Gk. tereo) speaks of a watchful, guarding and care of
God’s commandments (present tense)…ongoing lifestyle
Love is not about talking….love is about doing….more
specifically, love is evidenced by right action/obedience toward
the person who is loved
John MacArthur “The obedience that characterizes a true child
of God is not external, ritualistic, legalistic compliance. Nor is it
unwilling, partial, inconsistent, or grudging. Loving obedience is
from the heart, willing, total, constant, and joyful.”
Not burdensome
John Piper “What you desire to do with your whole heart is not
burdensome to do.”
o The Lord never asks us to do something He will not
enable us to accomplish
More than that…Jesus has already taken the burden for us
o Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke
upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.”
Conclusion
Test Taking: think of all the people you know. Who would you pick to take a test
for you – it probably depends on the test, right? Who would you pick to take a
test for you on faith and love? I hope your answer is Jesus because He is
definitely the only right answer here.
o The point that John is making throughout this letter is that Jesus DID take
those tests for us and He gives us faith He pours out His love and if we
would just receive that we too will walk in the faith and the love that He
alone gives.
Amen. Amen.