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NASB | 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 3:24 The one who habitually keeps His commandments [obeying His word and following His precepts, abides and] remains in Him, and He in him. By this we know and have the proof that He [really] abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us [as a gift]. |
Subject: How do we know that we are truly saved? |
Bible Note: Hi, Angel. I did not realize before now that there are those who think that to trust in the Lord means we quote His Gospels! And I was not aware that many Christians trust in Jesus in the sense that we trust in one another. It is obviously important that those of us who call him Lord should do what he says. But here is the point, and I hope you do not miss it: It is not doing good works that makes us saved. It is because we are saved that we should do good works. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5). Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). In saving us, God changes us, and thereafter we are expected to do good works. We do not do them automatically, and that is why the epistles are given to encourage us in that regard. Now, there are some other interesting quotes in your post. “If you do not abide in me you will be removed”. Yes, John 15 records Jesus saying that. But I encourage you to consider that he was speaking of being removed from a place of service. That happens (See revelation 2:5). It may involve being removed from this life (1 Corinthians 11:30). Yet the soul that trusts in Jesus will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). Jesus will say, to use your wording, “Begone from me you children of iniquity!” But I note it is not they had worked iniquity (we’ve all done that, as Romans 3 reminds us). It is because “I never knew you”. We need to make sure that he knows us. The best way it seems to ensure that he knows us is that we introduce ourselves to him. Come to him, admit that we are sinners, ask him to change us, and he does. It is only then that we can do good works that are not filthy rags, after he has changed us. You refer to people learning scripture and memorizing passages and chanting hymns and enunciating prayers, and I agree that those things will not save them. But neither will their attempt to love their enemies, uphold the Sacrament of Matrimony, or otherwise to “obey His commandments”. All those good works come after salvation. You note well that we own a guarantee of salvation which we have done nothing to merit! The fact is, we cannot merit salvation. After you have done all those good words you will still find you have come up short (Romans 3:23). We declare ourselves bankrupt, and then we trust in his merit alone. So, admonish us, but we do not believe you that we can merit salvation. We claim salvation by faith, not by works. We claim that good works come after salvation. We do believe that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, because it says so in Romans 1:13. And yes, we do believe that we have safe passage and a secured place in heaven. Passages such as John 5:24 and 1 Peter 1:3, 4 assure us of that. We who are saved ought to be doing good, as all of the New Testament commands us and encourages us. We are ashamed of our failures and our sins. We are encouraged to abide in him and to follow his way so as not to be ashamed at his appearing (1 John 2:28). But please do not insist on condemning us, because God may ask you who are you (See Romans 8:33,34). Yet I do believe that you mean well in all that you have said. If we are not concerned about our behavior it may well mean that we are not saved. Since we have been forgiven and cleansed and saved, we should not return to sinning. God forbid (Romans 6). To the extent that we do sin after we are saved, please correct us. But please leave us the right to know that we are saved. Our salvation is our motivation to do good works (2 Corinthians 5:14). We know we could have done nothing to merit our salvation. Finally, I find myself in agreement with your last statement. We should boast in Jesus, and Him Crucified for our Salvation. It is He who secures our salvation. Without Him we are nothing! Amen. |