¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
(1 John 5:13-15 NIV)

John begins today’s passage with a summary and adds the first of a few concluding remarks.  Unlike the Apostle Paul, John does not include any personal greetings to various churches or individuals in this letter.

John provides the third of three reasons why he wrote this letter.  Let’s take a look at all three:

• For the joy of the Lord (for both John and us) – 1 John 1:4
  • “We write this to make our joy complete.”
• To avoid sin – 1 John 2:1a
  • “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.”
• For assurance of eternal life – 1 John 5:13
  • “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

From the beginning of our study, remember that this letter is written to followers of Christ.  John is warning us against false teachers, and teaching us how to have discernment between God’s truth and flawed human reasoning disguised as Gnostic “superior knowledge”.

In verse 13, John gives us both certainty and confidence in Christ.  John says that we know that we have eternal life.  There is no hesitation or faltering here – John is crystal clear about our assurance of eternal life as followers of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the remainder of John’s letter, John provides additional assurances of our relationship with the Lord.

John’s first assurance after salvation is answers to our prayers (verses 14 and 15).  John says that because of our reconciled relationship to God through Christ, God hears our prayers.

John says that when our hearts are aligned with God’s heart (when our will is aligned with God’s will), we have full assurance that God hears and answers our prayers.

How reassuring it is that we can know that God hears and answers our prayers when our hearts are aligned with His!  God has not saved us and then abandoned us to figure out life on our own here on earth.  We can bring our needs and desires to Him and know that He cares about both big and small issues in our lives.

Have your ever thought that God only handles the “big things” in life, and we’re supposed to handle all the “little things” on our own?  I know I have.  And how quickly I am reminded that my ability and influence and power is finite and quickly exhausted.

Thankfully, as followers of Christ, we have access to the infinite and all-powerful God of the universe who loves us and is crazy about us and longs to shower His love upon us and help us through this life.

May you experience the full confidence and joy of your salvation today.  May you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God loves you and hears you and desires to walk with you throughout your day.  May you experience His peace and joy regardless of circumstances as the day progresses.

Blessings,
~kevin