These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may [continue to] know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13).
The first key to the Christian life, as found in 1 John 4:20–5:15, is to realize that loving our spiritual brothers and sisters is the measure of our love for God. The second key is found in 1 John 5:3b: It is vital that we realize that His commandments are not burdensome!
The third key is this:
Realize that the ongoing assurance of our salvation is vital to our sanctification (1 John 5:9-13).
Many professing believers don’t think it is possible to know that they have eternal life. They hope they will spend eternity with the Lord. But they don’t know for sure where they will go when they die.
In fact, most Evangelicals believe it would be bad for you if you could know that you were eternally secure. They think that if you were sure of your salvation, then you’d go out and live like the devil. They see fear of hell as an important guardrail for their lives.
But that is a lie of the devil.
To fear hell is to fail to believe the promise of John 3:16. As long as a believer keeps on believing John 3:16, he knows he will never perish. He knows all the “never” promises are true of Him: He will never hunger, never thirst, never die spiritually, never be cast out, never perish, and never be plucked out of God’s hand. He has everlasting life that can never be lost.
Most Greek manuscripts of 1 John 5:13 contain the words, “and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” The NKJV translators supplied the words continue to in the second half of 5:13 because John indicated in the first half of the verse that the readers had already believed in the name of God’s Son. But it is also true that they already knew that they had everlasting life. Compare 1 John 2:12-14, 26-27. So, in my translation, I supply the words continue to before “know that you have eternal life.”
Remaining assured of your eternal destiny is a vital component of living the Christian life. Knowing that God loves you is vital to your loving Him (1 John 4:19).
Keep grace in focus, and you’ll continue to know that you have everlasting life.
