Lesson 7: Confidence in God’s Salvation (1)
Read 1 John 5:13-21 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1jn.5

Am I really saved? How do I know if I have committed the “unpardonable sin?” If I am saved and then commit the unpardonable sin, do I lose my salvation? How can God love me even when I keep doing the same bad thing over and over again? When will He just give up on me?

Christians have been asking such questions since the beginning of time. But the Bible is clear; God wants us to know for certain we are His children. 1 John 5:13 says the Scriptures are written so "we might know" we belong to Jesus. The following verse tells us we can have "confidence" in this knowledge and in Him.

First, we make sure we really are saved. Many people are given false security. Some are taught they are good no matter what their actions have been. They are given rewards even when they have not acted to the best of their ability. They are taught there are no consequences for their actions. When they do wrong and they are not punished simply because of who their parents are, they learn there are no consequences for their actions. This is not God's way. In our hearts we realize this, but with enough practice we can convince our conscience we know best. Therefore, when we accept Christ Satan throws these doubts back into our faces to defeat us.


To be saved the Bible says all we have to do is to believe in Jesus Christ, believe He is God, believe God sent Him, believe we have sinned and deserve to die, believe we can do nothing to affect our own salvation, believe Jesus died in our place to pay our sin's debt, believe Jesus loves us enough to want us with Him for all eternity, and believe His grace is great enough to forgive our sins. This plan is laid out throughout the entire Scriptures, but is given in a nutshell in John 3:16. When we believe, we must accept Him and the gift of eternal life He offers and then, according to Romans 10:9-10, we must confess Him. "Confessing" Jesus means we must acknowledge to those around us we have accepted His gift. It also means we must say to Jesus that we believe all of the things outlined above. This is not to let Jesus know we believe in Him; it is to cement this fact in our own hearts.

So I have accepted Jesus as my Savior. Now what? I am still doing things I know I should not do. Yes, we will sin as long as we have these imperfect bodies. We need to know 1 John 1:9 by heart. We need to exercise this verse over and over every day. As we mature, perhaps our sinning becomes less but it will never go away completely until we are in His presence in our perfected bodies. We must not lose heart over this condition We are also told in the Scriptures that He is able to complete what He has begun in us (2 Timothy 1:12). Nowhere in Scripture are we ever asked to live perfect lives. We are asked to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:16). But, as we see in 1 John 3, we cannot keep on sinning as if nothing has changed in our lives. A saved life will display a broken spirit over sin.

*Memorize: 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
*Have you committed sins you need to ask God to forgive right now?