After you have received the gift of eternal life, God doesn’t want you to live in doubt. He wants you to know that you have received eternal life and a new relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the theme of the entire book of First John. I would like to look at three undeniable promises of eternal life God has given us:
1. The Promise of the Written Word
The Bible, of course, is God’s written Word, it is full of passages which reaffirm the believer’s assurance. Perhaps the most familiar verse is 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son God: that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
2. The Promise of the Living Word
God’s living Word is His Son, Jesus Christ. A word is an instrument of communication. Jesus Christ is the one final, ultimate instrument which God the Father used to communicate to man. In John 6:47 Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
3. The Promise of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, one of the three Persons in the Trinity, is also involved in assuring the believer of his salvation. Romans 8:16 states, “The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you enter into a relationship with God. You become a child of God (John 1:12). You are born into a family (John 3:3–7). The Bible compares this spiritual birth into God’s family with the physical birth into your earthly family. When you were born as the child of your father and mother, a relationship was established. Even though you may disown your parents, or they disown you, you cannot change the relationship—they are still your parents and you are still their child.
Nothing can alter this same fact spiritually. At the moment of your spiritual birth, you become a child of God. He is your Father, you are His child, and nothing can break that relationship.
Some would argue and say our relationship with God is broken when we sin and we cease to be His child. This is simply not true. Our fellowship with God is broken, but not our relationship. When David had committed adultery and murder, he prayed in confession to God, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). He did not pray, “Restore unto me thy salvation.” He did not need to, David’s relationship with God had not been altered, just his fellowship and joy.
God does not want you to live in a fog. He wants you to know that you are His child.
