Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: How can one be sure of his/her salvation |
Bible Note: I believe John McArthur would agree, 1 John was not written primarily to give believers assurance of salvation. Rather, it was given to help them to judge the teachers coming to them. The word "we" in 1 John almost always refers to the apostles. The word "they" refers to other teachers with other spirits. Clearly, some of the criteria can be applied to ourselves. Those of us who believe have the witness within ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit, and he witnesses with our spirits that we are the children of God. The other source of assurance is the set of promises God makes to us in his word. The promise in 1Jo 5:14 is similar to the one made in Romans 10:13. Paul explains in what follows that we must hear the gospel (that Christ died for our sins ...) we must believe (trust him completely, enough to turn from our sins and commit ourselves to him) and we must call upon him. The Spirit of God uses the word of God to lead us to Christ, creates faith in him, causes us to call upon him, and gives us assurance that we are saved. |