Assurance of salvation and obedience (2)


Vincent Ball / General Adult

Assurance of salvation and walking in obedience / Obedience; Jesus’ Obedience; Assurance of salvation / 1 John 3:1–24

The third in a series of sermons discovering what John has to say about our salvation and assurance of it 

 

1 John 3 ESV
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.


Illustration:


A young man named Marcus grew up in a Christian home but rebelled as a teenager. At 19, broke and broken, living on the streets, he remembered his mother's words and called her in desperation, obeying the impulse to return home and seek forgiveness—not out of love for God yet, but out of fear and need. As Marcus began attending church and reading Scripture, something unexpected happened: the more he obeyed—waking early to pray, serving others, resisting old temptations—the more he understood God's character. He saw God's patience when he failed, God's provision in unlikely ways, God's gentle correction, and God's celebration of his small victories. Through continued obedience, Marcus's relationship with God transformed; he wasn't following rules anymore but responding to a God he had come to genuinely know and love. This journey of obedience that birthed authentic love resulted in true salvation—not just forgiveness from his past, but a complete transformation of his heart and a restored relationship with God. The progression is clear: obedience opens the door, experience reveals God's character, love becomes the motivation, and genuine salvation emerges as a restored and treasured relationship with Him, fulfilling Jesus's teaching that those who keep His commands demonstrate their love for Him. This is a common story for a lot of people and this is also the story for me (I wasn't on the streets, though) and it can be the same story for you too if this is where you're at in life. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:1
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.


About the love the Father gives to us. That we are children of God. What does that look like for a believer? If we're honest sometimes we wonder if God really does love us when we face trials of all kinds but... God’s love for us is agape—a selfless, active commitment that’s completely different from human emotion or feeling. It’s not about warm fuzzy feelings. Instead, it means genuinely caring about someone else’s good, not your own. But here’s the hard truth: God’s love doesn’t promise to protect us from pain and hardship. In fact, every single child of God goes through difficult times. God doesn’t treat us like enemies or criminals—he treats us like children. When he allows pain or takes things away, it’s not to punish us in anger. It’s to refine us, to make us more like him, to grow us up spiritually.


This seems backwards because when God allows suffering or loss, it’s actually for our spiritual growth—and that’s worth more than anything we lose physically. When you suffer alongside Christ, you’re becoming his heir. The suffering we face now doesn’t even compare to the glory that’s coming.


The key thing is this: God’s love doesn’t keep us from difficulty. Instead, it sustains us through difficulty and transforms it into something meaningful. God is infinitely wise and good. Even when his discipline hurts, it’s healing. Even when believers are killed for their faith, they have something earthly parents can never give—spiritual food, eternal riches, and a home in heaven. God’s love doesn’t prevent suffering. It carries us through it and makes it redemptive. 


Being God’s child is inseparable from obedience—not as a burden, but as the natural overflow of receiving his love. The love of God is demonstrated through keeping his commandments (1 John 5:1–5), and his commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:1–5). When you doubt God’s love during trials, obedience becomes your answer. Whoever keeps his word experiences the love of God perfected in them (1 John 2:3–6). You don’t feel God’s love, so you obey anyway—and in that obedience, you discover he was faithful all along. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, and by this it is evident who are the children of God: whoever practices righteousness and loves his brother (1 John 3:9–10). Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him, and by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us (1 John 3:23–24). The Spirit’s presence is the proof—not the absence of pain, but his presence with you in it. This is how we can be assured of our salvation.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.


This verse says you are already God’s children today, but what you will look like in the future hasn’t been shown yet. We can’t fully understand what we’re going to become because it’s still hidden from us now.


The core idea is this: when Jesus comes back, you will become like him because you will see him as he really is. Seeing Jesus changes us. When we finally see him face to face, we will be completely transformed. This means our bodies will be like his glorified body, our minds will be clear and perfect (not confused like they are now), and all sin will be gone from us forever.


Right now, your real connection to Christ is hidden—nobody can see it. But when Jesus returns, everyone will see that you belong to him and that you look like him. The grace God gives you now will be completed and finished when you’re finally glorified. So the verse gives us hope: believers will one day perfectly reflect what Jesus is like, even though we can’t imagine exactly what that will look like right now.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:3
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.


When Jesus returns, believers will become like him—and this future reality shapes how you should live right now. The certainty that God will transform you into Jesus’ image motivates you to pursue a life of purity and holiness in the present. In other words: your hope in what Jesus will make you determines how you live today. Your confidence about the future enables you to pursue holiness now—being focused on heaven actually makes you better on earth.


Your assurance of salvation comes from loving other believers. If you genuinely love fellow Christians, that proves you’re saved. Real assurance makes you humble and eager to live a holy life. knowing Christ will return motivates you to live right now in ways that please him. That desire to be more like Jesus is actually proof that your faith is real. True assurance produces humility and holiness, while fake assurance produces pride and laziness.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:4
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.


Sin and lawlessness are connected—sin actually is lawlessness. The difference lies in how we understand them: sin describes breaking God’s rules, while lawlessness emphasizes the attitude behind it—a rejection of God’s authority itself. When someone practices sin repeatedly, they’re not just breaking individual rules; they’re living as though God’s law doesn’t matter to them at all. It’s the difference between making a mistake and deliberately refusing to obey.


Because there is no sin in Jesus, no one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. This doesn’t mean believers never stumble or fall into sin—it means sin is no longer their lifestyle or habit. When you abide in Christ and live in His power, you may fall into sin, but you will not walk in sin—sin will not be your normal practice. In your union with Christ, you’ve experienced a decisive break with sin. It no longer rules you; Christ does. The point is that a genuine relationship with Jesus transforms your heart so that sin loses its grip on you.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:5
You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.


Verse 5 tells us directly: “in him there is no sin.” (1 John 3:5) This isn’t just a claim—it’s stated as something we already know and understand.


The Bible confirms Jesus’s sinlessness in multiple ways. He never committed any sin, and no deception came from His mouth. (1 Pet 2:22) Though He faced every temptation we face, He never gave in to sin. (Heb 4:15) He was holy, innocent, and completely separated from sinners. (Heb 7:26) Even Jesus challenged His accusers: “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46)—and no one could answer.


Jesus appeared specifically to take away sins, (1 John 3:5) which means He had to be completely pure Himself. He “knew no sin,” (2 Cor 5:21) making Him the perfect sacrifice. He is like “a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:19)—absolutely spotless and worthy to save us.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:6
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.


Once again we hear in verse 6 that we won't keep on sinning and as we understand  by now that that doesn't mean we don't sin at all. It just means we habitually don't sin and give in to temptation easily. .


English Standard Version 1 John 3:7
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.


Being deceived means someone is trying to trick you—to make you believe something false about your relationship with God. In this context, the deception is about whether your actions match your faith. People might try to convince you that you can claim to follow Jesus while living however you want, without changing your behaviour. But that’s a lie.


Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous—this means your actions reveal who you really are. If you genuinely belong to Jesus, your life will show it through righteous living. You won’t just say you’re a Christian; you’ll actually live like one.


The key point: Your righteousness mirrors His righteousness. When you’re born of God, you’re transformed to live like Jesus lived. Your obedience isn’t fake or forced—it flows from a changed heart. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, but those truly connected to Christ are freed to live righteously. This is how you know your salvation is real: not by what you claim, but by how you actually live.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:8
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.


We all know if we are practicing sin. Be truthful with yourself. This is of the devil. Who wants to be tarred with the same brush as the devil? I don't. You probably don't. Even non-believers don't. But this is the truth of Scripture. And this is the reason Jesus came to destroy his works. By the Holy Spirit's power let's not be in the same category as him.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:9
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.


You know you are born again when you have that seed of God. You find yourself being convicted of sin But not condemned, And the old ways shed off or should be shedding off, If they're not, then question why. As we've discussed before, it would untrue to say that we completely stop sinning.  But we cannot keep on sinning because we have been born of God and there should be a marked difference in our lifestyles, not because of anything we're doing, but because of what the Holy Spirit's doing in us. The Holy Spirit finds a way of stopping us from sinning I'm assured of that, Either by appeal or discipline. If we see the Holy Spirit working in our lives in this way, we can be assured of salvation. We know we were on the right track. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:10
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.


If you look too much like the people in the world, then something's up. And if you don't practice what you read and apply from the Word of God to your lives, then you are not practicing righteousness. Jesus Christ is a perfect example of how to love a brother and we should be following him. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:11
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.


This message we've heard from the beginning, and it's about love that makes a marked difference between our religion, Christianity, and every other religion there is. The message of Christianity is love. The message of God is love. The message of Jesus is love and it should be the message of his children too. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:12
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:13
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.


Like Cain hated Abel and people hate Jesus, it should be a sure sign, if people hate you and me for what we believe in, that we are on the right track. It's because we expose their dark deeds by our actions of love, Let me encourage you to ignore people's hate. The Bible says to not become weary of doing good and this is always a good thing. Before God and before people.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:14
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:15
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.


By passing from death into life we understand that we are on the right track. If we are truly converted we should be loving people more. And as you see we're talking about loving brothers. That should be our own kind, our Christian brothers and sisters. It's not to say that we should not be loving the world but our own brothers and sisters especially. And what does love look like? A good indication is to look at what it says in the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. It's not a warm fuzzy feeling but a practical love we're looking for. And if you don't love as you should, then something's wrong somewhere and it's for you to find out what that thing is. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:16
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.


English Standard Version 1 John 3:17
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?


English Standard Version 1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.


Jesus gave the greatest example of love by laying down his life for us. There are a lot of good Christians out there but I'm totally amazed at how unhelpful and unobliging some Christians are. 


Some can be so mean and unaccommodating and I think, where is the love? Let's be reckless in abandoning ourselves to our love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Let's be true to our faith, true to God, true to each other, and be totally loving in the most practical sense there is. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:19
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;


English Standard Version 1 John 3:20
for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.


Whenever our heart condemns us, we know we're in the wrong and we know we should be doing differently. Either we should be doing what we ought to or we shouldn't be doing what we are doing. 


When we choose to do the right thing we know we should be doing, then we have peace about it. It's easy as that. And we feel joy before God. And yes God does know everything and we can't pull the wool over His eyes. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:21
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;


English Standard Version 1 John 3:22
and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.


And whatever we ask we will receive from him, this isn't the “prosperity gospel.” But what is in line with God's will, and this pleases God.  


English Standard Version 1 John 3:23
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.


And if we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and we love one another just as He commanded, we are, in fact, fulfilling, like Jesus did, the first of the Ten Commandments. 


English Standard Version 1 John 3:24
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.


But as we know, we can't fulfil those commandments even if we would like to. That is where grace comes in. That is where Jesus died on the cross for us because of that, but we should be getting there somehow. One day we will be perfected in glory. But until that day we can still have assurance of salvation by at least understanding what Jesus has done for us on the cross and attempting by the Holy Spirit's power to obey God's commandments And loving one another.


Conclusion:


As you see, it's so difficult to stick to obeying the Ten Commandments without the Holy Spirit's power. We should fix our eyes upon Jesus, think heavenward, and yield to the Spirit's In all that we do. If you do this you will please God. You will have victory over the sins in your life and you will have peace and joy in knowing that you are pleasing God and of course an assurance of salvation