These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God

1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

You and I as children of God should be the happiest people on the face of this earth. Every day we should be rejoicing (1 Pet. 1:8-9, 1 Thess. 5:16, Phil. 4:4, Rom. 5:1-2, Ps. 9:1-2). Certainly, there are times when our hearts do become heavy and our steps are a little slow because of some adverse condition that has occurred but those times should only be momentary and not of a lasting nature because we have a fellowship with the Father and his Son that enables us to rise above all the adverse circumstances (1 John 1:1-7, 1 Cor. 1:9, 1 John 4:4).

Thanks be to God, we have been delivered from the power of darkness and have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus having our sins forgiven (Col. 1:12-14). As a result of our obedience to the Son of God, there awaits for us a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1-2). We often sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, O what foretaste of glory divine, Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood”.  We also sing, “My name is written in the Book of Life, O bless the name of Jesus….I know, I know my name is written there”. However, I afraid that a lot of folks do not have the assurance of that which they sing about (1 Cor. 14:15). I have heard individuals when asked if they are going to heaven respond by saying, “hope so”, “maybe” or “just have to wait and see”, or “I just don’t know”. The answer should be a resounding  “yes”. This is not being cocky or boastful. Rather, it is showing our trust in our Lord and what he tells us. John tells us over and over in the book of 1 John “we know”, “we know”. I fear that sometimes we exhibit more fear and frustration than faith. This simply shows a lack of confidence in God and his exceedingly precious promises to us (2 Pet. 1:1-4, John 14:1-3, Rom. 8:26-27, 35-39, Mk. 16:16, Ps. 29:11, Phil. 4:6-7, Rom. 8:28, 31, 1 Pet. 5:7, Heb. 13:5).

Our confidence comes not from ourselves but from the Lord. We should be shouting from the roof top, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me” Phil. 4:13; “ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” (Gal. 2:20);  “….I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). Knowing that Christ lives in me, knowing that I am a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), knowing that my sins are forgiven (Col. 1:14) and I walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) and knowing that God will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb. 13:5), I can sing loudly and with great confidence, “I know, I know my name is written there”

God said it, I believe it and that ends the matter.

Charles Hicks