And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. – 1 John 15:11-13
There are some things you need to understand about good news. It’s only good news if it overcomes or obliterates bad news, if it applies to you personally, if it’s true and if you believe it. When one of those things is missing, it’s not really good news for you at all. The gospel checks those first three boxes; the fourth one is checked off when you put your faith in Jesus. The question is: how do you know if you really believe and are headed for eternal life in heaven when this life has ended? The Bible makes it clear that you can know. It’s called assurance, and it’s one of the many things that Jesus offers to us. You can know that you believe when you look back to see that your faith in Jesus has changed your life, and look around to see that your faith in Jesus is still changing your life. That is, assurance comes when you see evidences of the power of God at work in shaping who you are and what you do. It has caused to you hate your sin and fight against it, and love your Savior and fight for joy in Him. You’ll not always do this, but an evidence that you belong to Jesus is you want to do this, and you strive to do this. There is progress in your faith journey where your beliefs and motives and views and desires and attitudes and words and deeds become less like the world and more like Jesus. Not because you are trying harder to be better, but because the love that God has for you in Jesus has gripped your heart and is making you into someone who desires to know, trust, obey, enjoy and please Him. You’re not going to get this right all the time, so don’t let your assurance rise and fall on your fluctuating faith, desire and effort. There will be ups and downs, steadfastness and stumbles, progress and detours, but true believers will persevere because God finishes what He starts in our lives. That’s what genuine belief and assurance is all about: knowing that you’ll make it to heaven not because of what you are able to do, but because you are trusting in what Jesus graciously does on your behalf.
