The Nature of Saving Faith - Part 5

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Well, 1 John, chapter 5. I'm thrilled to be back with you this morning and to be back in this magnificent book of 1 John. And we come this morning in 1 John 5 to the good news. But before we get to the good news, let me just give you the bad news. Let's begin with this question, “How often have you heard someone say, or perhaps even said to yourself, or even out loud, ‘I'm really a good person. I'm really a good person?’” You see, by nature, most of us don't like to think of ourselves as guilty sinners who deserve hell. But according to God's Word, that is exactly the reality.

And just so I can prove that to you, just stop for a moment and take a test with me. This test is based on a very familiar passage in the Old Testament, Exodus, chapter 20; we call them the Ten Commandments. So, I want you to, truly in your own heart, answer these questions about you, as I have had to do about myself.

Question number 1: “Have you ever placed anything above God in your heart or in your life?”

Question number 2: “Have you ever failed to worship God, or to worship Him exactly as He prescribes in His Word?” Now, if you have done either of those things, and if you have done them more than once, in biblical terms, you are an idolator.

Third question: “Have you ever used God's name in a disrespectful way?” You’re a blasphemer.

4: “Have you ever neglected to gather with others on Sunday to worship God as He commands?”

5: “Have you ever been disrespectful to your parents or to others whom God has placed over you in a position of human authority?” You're a disrespectful rebel.

6: “Have you ever murdered?” Now hopefully, the answer for most of us in this room is, “No!” But let's just drill down on that a little bit. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said that to be angry with someone in your heart was to break that commandment. So, let me ask you this question, “Have you ever been angry with someone in your heart? Have you ever yelled at someone in anger? Have you ever acted in physical violence towards someone else?” You're a murderer.

7: “Have you ever been involved in sex in your mind or with your body with someone other than your spouse?” You are an immoral adulterer.

8: “Have you ever taken something that didn't belong to you?” You're a thief.

9: “Have you ever lied or deliberately twisted the truth?” You’re a liar?

10: “Have you ever wanted something that belonged to someone else?” You're covetous?

You see, if you've broken one of those Ten Commandments, you've sinned against God and you're a sinner under God's curse. That's exactly what Paul said in Galatians, chapter 3, verse 10, “…CURSED (by God) IS EVERYONE (No exceptions, and you nor I are the exception; CURSED BY GOD IS EVERYONE.) WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” Every single one of us has broken every one of the Ten Commandments, and we've done so repeatedly.

You see, our problem isn't that we're essentially good people who occasionally do bad things. Our problem is that we are sinners. It's who I am; it's who you are. So now that we have taken and miserably failed God's test in the Ten Commandments, then let's just establish who you and I really are before God. Here it is–this is the ugly picture. By nature, we are disrespectful, murderous, immoral, coveting, thieving, lying. blaspheming idolaters. That's who I am. That's who you are. We've not just broken God's Law; we've shattered it! James 2:10 says, “…whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” And you know what that statement is regarding? Showing either pride or prejudice in your heart, partiality or prejudice in your heart towards someone based purely on external factors. You ever done that? That's all you had to do to shatter the Law of God, because you haven't loved others perfectly and you haven't loved God perfectly.

Romans 6:23 says, “…the wages of (our) sin (What you earned and what I earned by breaking all of those commandments.) is death.” Spiritual death, we were all born spiritually dead to God. Physical death, if the Lord tarries His coming, every single person in this room will die. The mortality rate is 100%. And eternal death, conscious suffering in hell forever, Jesus taught. The wages of our sin is that, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You see, the bad news is we can never merit, we can never earn eternal life. It's impossible! We just saw who we are. Instead, the good news says this, “We must accept the fact that our only hope of being saved from the eternal suffering our sins have earned us, and of receiving eternal life, the only hope is found outside of us; it's found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's the good news! And that's the message that we are learning in 1 John, chapter 5.

We’re studying 1 John 5, verses 1 through 13, and for the third and last time, we're looking at “The Test of Faith in Jesus Christ and His Gospel.” The theme of this entire paragraph is that the one who believes God's testimony about the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel, that person has been born of God and has eternal life. Here, John explains four key elements of true saving faith. So far, we've learned “The Cause of Saving Faith.” In the beginning of verse 1, we learned the reason we actually end up believing is because of the new birth; God gave us life. And in giving us life, He gave us faith and repentance as a gift; that's why we believed. We've looked in the middle of verse 1 down to verse 5 at “The Results of Saving Faith.” Wherever true saving faith is in the heart, there will be “A Love for God,” “A Love for God's People,” there will be “Obedience to God's Word,” and “Victory over the World.” That is, we won't live enslaved to the world system Satan has created.

Today, we come again to verses 6 through 12, where John explains a third key element of saving faith, and that is “The Object of Saving Faith,” the object of saving faith. Let's read it together again, 1 John 5, verses 6 through 12. Speaking of the end of verse 5, Jesus, the Son of God, says:

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Now, the key to understanding these verses is the verb ‘testify,’ and the noun ‘testimony.’ Together, they occur ten times in these verses. The point is the kind of faith that saves believes certain testimony–it has the right object. So, we noted last time that saving faith believes “God's Testimony that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.” That's the message of verses 6 through 9. And if you weren't here, just to clear up some of the confusion in the language in those verses, water in those verses is about Jesus’ baptism, blood is about His death. The point John's making is that Jesus, from the moment of His conception, was the God-Man, and He was the God-Man, through His early life; He was the God-Man in His baptism; He was the God-Man during His ministry; He was the God-Man when He died on the cross and was raised from the dead, and He still and forever is the God-Man. He didn't stop being God at some point along the way! This is the Jesus we must believe in.

Now, today we discover a second crucial object to faith in verses 10 through 12, and it's this, “God's Testimony that Eternal Life is a Gift of His Grace Received by Faith in His Son's Person and Work.” Now, what I'm really saying is this, in verses 6 through 9, we learned that “The Proper Object of Faith Is the Person of Jesus Christ,” and in verses 10 through 12, we learn that “The Proper Object of Faith Is The Work of Jesus Christ,” and how that's applied to us. So, you have to believe the right things about Jesus, and you have to believe the right things about the salvation that He's accomplished.

So, let's look at it together. Verse 10, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.” What is this “testimony?” Well, back in verses 6 through 9 as we learned last time, those verses speak of God's testimony about Jesus at the actual events in Jesus’ life. Specifically, God testified out of heaven at His baptism said, “This is My Son, listen to Him. This is My Son with whom I'm well-pleased.” And then again at the crucifixion, God testified in the miracles that accompanied Jesus’ death, the supernatural miracle of darkness and an earthquake, and the veil-splitting in the temple, as well as the testimony of those around the cross, including even the Centurion. God gave testimony in those events, and then He gave testimony about those events in the Word of God–we have it recorded for us. That's the testimony.

But here in verse 10, John speaks of the believer having God's testimony in himself. What does that mean? Well, it really means three things; let me give them to you. When he says, “If you're a believer, have God's testimony in yourself,” (Paraphrase.) he means first of all, you have accepted God's testimony in Scripture as true. In other words, it's internalized; it's not just there on the pages of Scripture, you've accepted it as true.

Secondly, it means that you have made God's testimony about Jesus your testimony about Jesus. Romans 10:9 and 10, right? You have to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. So not only do you accept God's testimony in the Scripture, you have internalized that, and it's now your testimony; “this is what I believe about Jesus.”

Thirdly, it means this, the Spirit of God increasingly confirms in your heart, God's testimony about Jesus in the Scripture, and that you're truly His, that you belong to the Father. So, you believe God's testimony in the Scripture, it becomes your testimony about Jesus as well, and the Spirit increasingly confirms the truth of God's testimony in Scripture about Jesus and that you're truly His child. It's like Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Or Galatians 4, verse 6, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” I know He's mine; -I know I believe God's testimony about Jesus, and therefore, the Father is my Father. So, we must believe God's testimony, God's testimony, not only about His Son, but about the gospel.

But let's consider specifically what John means by that. As he unfolds this in verses 10 through 12, we learn specifically what we must believe about the gospel in order to have eternal life. If you're a Christian, this should just confirm that this is exactly what you believe. And if you're not, here's the roadmap to true faith in Jesus Christ. Let's look at it together. First of all, if you want eternal life, number one, “You must put your trust solely in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” He must be the object of your faith. When you hear God's testimony about His Son in the Scripture, when you learn about the biblical Jesus, there are only two possible responses and they're both here in our text. First of all, in verse 10, you can believe in the Son of God. Notice how verse 10 begins, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.”

Now notice the difference between this statement and the one back in verse 5. In verse 5, he says, “You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (Paraphrase.) In verse 10, he says, “You must believe in the Son of God.” One is you have to believe the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, that's verse 5; but it doesn't stop there, “You must believe in the Son of God.” Literally, verse 10 reads this way in the Greek text, “The one believing into the Son of God.” It's a strange expression, the one believing into the Son of God. John loves that expression. In fact, he uses it thirty-four times in his Gospel, “to believe into.” He uses it three times in this letter, and to show you how much he loves it, as opposed to the other writers of the New Testament, it's only used nine times in the rest of the New Testament, “to believe into.” The person who truly believes God's testimony in Scripture about Jesus believes into the Son of God. This isn't merely believing the facts; it's not believing that Jesus is the Son of God, you have to believe that, but it doesn't stop there. You must believe into; you must put your personal trust in Jesus Christ, you must commit yourself to Jesus Christ.

We've learned throughout this letter about the nature of saving faith. Faith involves three elements; true saving faith has three elements. First of all, you have to know the gospel. You can't believe in what you don't know, you have to know who the biblical Jesus is, you have to know what He did, and how that becomes yours. You have to know the gospel–that's the first element of faith. Secondly, you have to assent mentally that that is true. In other words, you can't just know it and go, “I don't believe that stuff.” No, you have to know it, and you have to assert that it is in fact true. So good, so far, but even the demons go that far; that's not biblical faith. To be biblical saving faith, there's a third element. And that third element is trusting in, depending on Christ alone for forgiveness of your sins, and for reconciliation with God to the extent that you're willing to follow Him as Lord. You see, true saving faith isn't just believing that; it's believing in!

Now, this isn't a great illustration, but stay with me, it will at least work, alright? All of us, if we stop to think about it, should be amazed that that large hunk of metal we call an airplane can actually take off with all of that luggage and all of those people on it, particularly the amount of luggage people try to stuff in the overhead bins; that's a miracle in and of itself. But it is amazing to think that that thing can fly. But here's the reality, you can believe that the airplane can fly; you can believe that the airplane travel that you're embarking on or you're thinking about is safer than other forms of transportation, which is true. You can believe that. But you only believe in that airplane when you get on, buckle up and take off. Actually, you may not even believe in at that point, but you're stuck. You get the point. True saving faith is like that. John MacArthur and Dick Mayhew in Biblical Doctrines put it this way, “Saving faith moves beyond mentally assenting to the truth about Christ and arrives at personally trusting in Christ and depending on Him for forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God. You see, John's point here is if you really accept God's testimony about His Son, you will believe in His Son.

There's only one other possible response, and it's to reject God's testimony about His Son. Look at verse 10, “…the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar.” Now, first of all, it's interesting that John doesn't say what we expect him to say. What we expect him to say is “The one not believing in the Son.” Instead, he says, “The one not believing God.” He's making a point. You see, the person who refuses in hearing the gospel and hearing about the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel, who refuses to believe in Jesus to personally trust Him, has not only rejected Jesus, but also God's own testimony about Jesus. And the person who refuses to believe God's testimony about Jesus literally, verse 10, says, “a liar, he has made Him.” That’s what the Greek text says, “A liar he has made Him.” He's made God out to be a liar. He's calling God a liar.

Listen, if you're here this morning and you don't believe in Jesus, if you've heard the gospel, and you have even in my message so far this morning, and you aren't believing in Him, your unbelief is an attack, an assault on the very character of the God who created you and who sustains your life. John Stott writes, “Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied. It is a sin to be deplored. Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the Word of the one true God and thus attribute falsehood to Him.”

Now, in what way is the unbeliever who's heard the gospel, but refused to believe, in what why is that person calling God a liar? Look at the rest of verse 10, “…because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.” Remember, verse 9? Verse 9 says, “Listen, you believe humans and their testimony all the time. You go on the internet, and you read a web page written by somebody who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about, and you believe it! And God has spoken, and you don't believe Him?” What an insult to the God who has given us His truth. Notice he says, “The one who has not believed…” The perfect tense here points, as Westcott describes it, to a past crisis of choice. There was a time when this person heard the gospel, and they refused to believe, and in refusing to believe, they may not have thought, ‘I think God's a liar,’ but they called God a liar at that moment.

John 3:18 says, “He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already.” Listen, if you haven't believed in Jesus, you're not waiting for the verdict on your life, the verdict has already been made. You're just waiting for the formal declaration of it. He's “…been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” And the reason for that comes later down in verse 33 of John 3, “He who has received His (God's) testimony (about Jesus) has set his seal to this, that God is true.” When you believe you say, “God is true.” When you don't believe you say, “God's a liar!” Now, every person who has heard about the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel and has not believed has made God out to be a liar. They've concluded that God is lying.

Now, they may have concluded that God is lying about several different things. Perhaps they've concluded that God is lying about their need of salvation. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe they doubt what God says about the reality of their sin; they doubt what God says about His wrath on sin. They doubt what Jesus says about eternal hell, maybe that's what they think God's lying about. Or maybe they think He's lying about the identity of the Savior when He says Jesus is the only way. Or maybe they think He's lying about the means of salvation. Maybe they've concluded, “Look, I know God says I can't get there on my own, but I'm going to get there. I'm going to make it, I'm a good person, I'm going to earn–my good works are going to outweigh my bad works, and He's going to accept me. I'm not coming by grace alone, through faith alone, in the work of Christ alone; God's a liar.” Or maybe you've concluded the urgency of salvation is a lie. Maybe you say, “Tom, look, I believe all those things about Jesus, I believe that the Gospel is true; I'm just not ready yet. There are some other things in my life, I want to do, some other… I just want to wait.” You know what? You're saying God is lying about the urgency of salvation because God says, “Today is the day of salvation.”

Through the years of my ministry, I've talked to a number of people who say, “You know, Tom, I just can't believe because I just have some intellectual issues with the Christian faith.” Well, I answer their questions; I want to deal with that honestly. But when I'm done answering the questions, I always say this at the end of the conversation, “Look, I just want us to be clear; I've answered those questions that you had. There really are no more intellectual questions. Your problem is not an intellectual one; it's a moral one, “You will not have this Man to rule over you!” Jackman, in his commentary writes:

There is ample evidence for faith. It’s God's testimony! You’ve believed a lot of things on a lot less testimony. There is ample evidence for faith, but mankind's problem is not ignorance so much as rebellion. Not that we cannot believe but rather that we will not.”

And that is calling God a liar. To receive eternal life, you must put your trust solely in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Secondly, “You must believe that eternal life is solely a gift of God's grace through His Son,” eternal life is solely a gift of God's grace through His Son. Look at verse 11, “And the testimony is this.” Now, he just used that phrase back in verse 9, go back to verse 9, the second half of the verse, “…the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.” Now there in verse 9 as we saw last time, God's testimony is that Jesus is the God-Man–He's fully God, fully man. And He's that from His conception in Mary's womb, throughout His earthly life, and forever.

In verse 11, John uses that same expression to introduce another part of God's testimony. Notice verse 11, “And the testimony is this, (Here it is.) that God has given us eternal life.” Some argue that God gave us eternal life; what that means is He gave us life when He sent His Son into the world.” And it's true, the reason God sent His Son in the world was to give us eternal life; the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall (should) not perish but (What?) have eternal life.” God gave His Son to that end, so that's true. But here in verse 11, John's not referring to the coming of Christ, he's referring to the moment of salvation, the moment when an individual receives eternal life.

Now, before we go any further, we need to stop and say, “What exactly are we talking about? What is eternal life?” If I were to bring you up on stage this morning, pop a mic in front of you and say, “Okay, define eternal life. What would you say?” Well, in Greek, the expression “eternal life” is literally “the life of the age, or the life belonging to the age.” In other words, we're talking about the kind of life that belongs to the age to come. It's the life of eternity. That's why Jesus in Mark 10, verse 30, says, “The one who believes will receive, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Paraphrase.) In Matthew 25:46 He says, “These will go away into eternal punishment, (sinners, and) but the righteous into eternal life.” By the way, He uses the same expression in both cases; some will go away into the punishment of the age to come, and others will go into the life of the age to come.

But it's not just life that lasts forever. Clearly, eternal life is life that lasts forever. But it's also a different kind, a different quality of life. Listen to how Jesus defines it in John 17 and verse 3, as He's praying, He says, “This is eternal life, (Here it is; here's your definition. This is eternal life.) that they may know You (Father), the only true God, and (That they may know Me.) Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” That's eternal life. It's when you're spiritually alive to God your Creator, and you can have a relationship with God. That's eternal life.

If you're a Christian, you have eternal life right now. Jesus, in John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, (You've done that Christian. He says, ‘that person.’) has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 6:47, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” You have eternal life right now. And fast forward to the future; Christ will raise everyone who has eternal life in the resurrection, John 6:40, “…this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, (That's right now.) and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Those with eternal life will never perish; they'll never be lost for the endless ages to come. Jesus says in John 10:28, “…I give the life of the age to come to them, I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one is able (will) snatch them out of Father’s (My) hand.” (Paraphrase.) God promises the one who believes in Jesus will enjoy the life of the age to come now and forever. In chapter 2 of this letter (I John), verse 25, John says, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” It’s His promise! Christian, if you’ve believed in Jesus, as we've just defined it, then God has already given you the life of the age to come right now; the life of the age to come pulses through your veins; you have the very life of God Himself, the life of eternity.

But how does the gift of eternal life become ours? We need to understand this. Eternal life is “Prompted by God's Grace Alone,” it is prompted by God's grace alone. That gift of eternal life is prompted solely by God's grace alone. Look at verse 11, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life.” Amazingly, “to us,” that is to us who believe in His Son as he just said, God has given eternal life as a gift. And He has the right to do so. John 17:2, Jesus prays, “(Father,) You gave Him (Me, the Son) authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.” In other words, He says, “Father, those You gave me in eternity past as an expression of Your love, those I came to redeem, those You gave me, You gave me authority to give them eternal life.” (Paraphrase.)

Turn with me to Romans, chapter 3. As Paul begins to unfold the gospel that he preaches, beginning in Romans 3, verse 21, he really comes, after explaining the fact that all of us are sinful and need the gospel as we began with this morning, that's verse 23. But notice verse 24, here's the heart of it, “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Every sinner who's ever justified, that is who's ever declared right with God is declared right with God, notice, as a gift by His grace.

What exactly is the gift? Well, the gift, according to Romans, chapter 5, verse 17, is “…the gift of righteousness.” And it's a gift, the gift of a right standing before God. The Greek word translated “gift” here, according to the leading Greek Lexicon means, ‘freely given as a gift, without payment, gratis.’ It's interesting, this word ‘gift’ is used several other places in New Testament and translated in interesting ways. For example, 2 Corinthians 11:7, it's translated “without charge.” In 2 Thessalonians, 3:8, it’s translated “without paying.” In Revelation 21:6 and 22:17, it's translated, “without cost.” Look back at Romans 3:24, he says we are justified “without charge, without paying, without cost;” that's how we're declared right with God.

But look again at verse 24, why does Paul add to “as a gift” the words “by His grace?” Doesn't that seem redundant? Not at all. Because, think about it, sometimes in this life we receive a gift that is partially earned. You work for a company, and you come up on a work anniversary; they give you a gift. You didn't entirely earn the gift, but you did partially earn the gift by being there for those years. You retire, you get a retirement gift; that gift isn't truly earned, in one sense, the gift itself, but it is partially earned because you're getting it because of what you've done. Paul wants us to know that the gift of eternal life is not like that. Salvation, justification, being declared right with God, eternal life, they are a gift, and a gift that finds its source, its basis, its reason entirely in God's grace.

What is grace? We define it as ‘unmerited favor,’ and that's okay as far as it goes, but grace is really ‘a quality in God, a reality about God, a perfection of God’ would be another way to say it, ‘that delights in doing good to those who deserve exactly the opposite.’ That's his point here. Our salvation, eternal life, is a gift that is completely undeserved. In fact, we deserve exactly the opposite–we deserve eternal death. Turn over to Romans, chapter 6. Paul makes this very clear, verse 23. He says, “…the wages of sin is death.” What we earn from our sin is death, spiritual, physical, and eternal. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here, Paul uses a different word for gift. It's the word ‘charisma’ which means a gift of grace. That's clear in Greek, but the NAS adds the word “free” to make it clear in English. Eternal life is not a gift we even partially earn. In fact, notice Paul contrasted here in verse 23, the free gift with the wages, the free gift against what we have earned, which is death.

Listen, you can't earn or merit eternal life because of anything you are or anything you do. You don't earn eternal life because you were born into a Christian family that raised you to fear God and love His truth. You don't earn eternal life because of your own personal good works. You don't earn eternal life because you were baptized as a baby or baptized as an adult. You don't earn eternal life by attending a church, by reading your Bible, by praying. The only way anyone ever has eternal life is to receive it as a gift by God's grace alone. Eternal life is a gift “Prompted by God's Grace Alone.”

Secondly, it's based, this gift of eternal life is “Based on Christ's Work Alone.” The first part of God's testimony in verse 11, is that He's given us eternal life. But here's the second part of the testimony, “…and this life is in His Son.” Eternal life is only available in Jesus Christ. John 5:26, Jesus put it this way, “…just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.” And then later in verse 40 of that same chapter, he says you are unwilling to the Jewish leaders, “…you are unwilling to come to Me so that you might have life.” Jesus can give us life. Why? Because He earned that right through His work for us.

You say, “Tom, what was the work of Christ that accomplished our salvation so that He can give us eternal life as a gift? What did He do to earn the right to give us eternal life?” That's the absolute key question, and there are four answers, very quickly–don't miss this; this is the heart of the gospel. Here's why Jesus can give you eternal life. Number one, “He became a man in the Incarnation,” He became a man in the Incarnation. Look at back at 1 John, and look at chapter 4, verse 9, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” It’s talking about the Incarnation; He came into the world as one of us. That's the first part of His work, He became a man in the Incarnation.

The second part of His work is “He obeyed God's Law in sinless perfection,” He obeyed God's Law in sinless perfection. Look at 1 John 3 and the second half of verse 5, “…in Him there is no sin.” Look at the second half of verse 7. “…He is righteous.” You know that test you took at the beginning of this message, you failed and I failed, absolutely miserably? We got an “F” on our paper; Jesus got an “A^+.” He never broke a single one of them in thought, word, attitude, or action. That's why He can give you eternal life because He became like you in the Incarnation, and He, in your place, obeyed God's Law in sinless perfection.

Number three, “He died as a substitute for our justification,” He died as a substitute for our justification. Look at chapter 4, verse 10, “In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and (Here it is.) (He) sent His Son to be the propitiation (The satisfaction of God's wrath.) for our sins.” And when did he do that? Romans 3:25, “…on the cross when God publicly displayed Him as a propitiation for our sins.” (Paraphrase.)

Number four, not only was it the work of Christ that qualified Him to give us eternal life, that He became a man in the Incarnation, that He obeyed God's Law in sinless perfection, that He died as a substitute for our justification, but number four, “He was raised from the dead in the resurrection.” Everything in this letter assumes that. He begins by saying, “Listen, you can have fellowship with Jesus Christ. And of course, he ends his gospel with a declaration of the resurrection. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, because of those four magnificent parts of His work, He can give you eternal life–it's based on His work alone! It's grace alone!

So, eternal life then is a gift prompted by God's grace alone, based on Christ's work alone, and thirdly, in verse 12, it's “Received by Faith Alone.” Verse 12, says, “He who has the Son has the life.” That's an interesting expression, ‘has’ is a verb of personal possession. If you have something, it belongs to you. It’s used that way back in chapter 2, verse 23, it says, “…the one who confesses the Son has the Father also,” meaning you have the Father as your Father. So here he means, “He who has the Son as his Savior and Lord,” to have the Son is to possess Him as Savior and Lord. How do we come to possess the Son, to have the Son as our Savior and Lord? The answer is throughout this text, we've seen it, by believing in Him. John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” This is so important to me personally to understand that you have to have your faith in the Son of God, your faith alone in Him.

It's important personally to me because this is my story. When I was six years old, I professed faith in Christ and was baptized shortly thereafter, but I wasn't a true Christian. When I was 13, I was convicted again about my sin and again came to talk with someone, and they shared a long plan with me, and then led me in a prayer, and I prayed, and again was baptized the second time. But when I was a senior in high school, I sat in a service and heard somebody preach on heaven from Revelation 21 and 22. And when they got to all of those that won't be in heaven, that list of those who won't be in heaven, like liars and others, I saw myself several times in that list, and I realized, “I'm not going to be in heaven. I've been baptized twice. I've made two professions of faith publicly, but I'm not a Christian.” So I went to my pastor, a country preacher, and I told him my story, and I said, “Look, here's what's happened. I don't want to do that again, help me understand.” And God granted this dear man, great wisdom, I'll never forget what he said to me that night. He said, “Tom,” he said, “It seems to me you've looked for salvation in a prayer, and you've looked for salvation in a plan. Salvation is in a Person, you have to come to Him to get it!” That's exactly what John's saying here. “He who has the Son has the life.”

Verse 12, goes on, “…he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” You can't have eternal life without having Jesus. Eternal life is found nowhere else because He is the life! John 14:6, “I…am the life.” So, eternal life then is a gift “Received by Faith Alone.” “He who has the Son (By faith, who owns Him as Savior and Lord, by faith.) has the life.”

So, what are the major implications of this passage? There are three of them; we've seen them before, but let me just mention them again. First of all, this passage is a test. If you didn't believe in this Jesus, the one we've seen unfold in this passage, and you haven't believed in this gospel that we've talked about this morning, you are not a Christian. You're not because this is the biblical Jesus, this is the biblical gospel that you must believe in to be a believer.

Secondly, this is not only a test, it's an invitation. Implied in this passage is an invitation. Do you want eternal life? Then we've learned what to do this morning, repent of your sins and believe God's testimony that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God. Believe God's testimony that eternal life is a gift of His grace received by faith in His Son's person and work. Put your trust solely in the Son of God; believe that eternal life is a gift solely of God's grace through His Son, that it's a gift prompted by God's grace alone, based on Christ’s work alone, and received by faith alone. What does that look like? I love the way Lloyd-Jones puts it in his commentary.

He that believes on the Son of God, (He writes.) such a person has abandoned himself to Christ, he has surrendered to Him. He is the man who says, “I look on Him and I see the Savior, the Son of God, sent by God. I am under the wrath of God, I am a doomed, guilty, foul sinner, and there He is, the One who can deliver me.” So, I cast myself upon him just as I am without one plea. You can give your intellectual assent to the truth, sitting comfortably, but you can only believe on the Son of God on your knees. You may not realize the full implications of this, but you hand over your whole life into the strong arms of the Son of God.

That's faith! And that's the invitation to you this morning.

A third implication of this passage is for many of us who have believed, and that is this passage gives us our assurance. You see, if you believe in the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel that we've discovered in verses 6 through 12, and then if you can see that your faith is genuine, because back in verses 1 through 5, you see the results of the new birth in your life, you see a love for God, a love for His people, and an obedience to His Word; if those things are true, if you’ve believed in the biblical Jesus, in the biblical gospel, if you see the tests met in your life, then you have eternal life right now and forever! Look at verse 13, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Let's pray together. Our Father, we are truly astounded, overwhelmed by Your grace to us in Jesus Christ. Lord, that You would give us, guilty sinners, the gift of eternal life because of the Incarnation, the perfect obedience, the substitutionary death, and the resurrection of Jesus our Lord. Thank You that You brought us to truly trust in Him. Lord, I pray for every person here who has believed in the biblical Jesus and gospel, and who can pass the tests of 1 John, Lord, give them real assurance, the assurance You intend them to have.

But, Father, for those who've never trusted in Christ or who think they have, but they don't see any fruit in their lives like the tests here in 1 John, Lord, bring them today to realize that and to cry out in true faith and repentance on Your Son. May they believe into Jesus, not believe that, but believe in the Son of God, even today. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.