15 Evidences of Genuine Faith—Part Four

The book of 1 John is a book that points Christians to their faith and the demonstration of that faith in their lives. The Apostle John writes this letter to believers to give them certainties about their relationship with the Lord. Thus far in this series, we have examined eight evidences of genuine faith found in 1 John 1-2.

Let’s review those here. 

1. Personal Acceptance (1:1-4)
2. Practical Fellowship (1:5-7)
3. Personal Purity (1:8-10)
4. Persistent Obedience (2:1-6)
5. Precious Brotherhood (2:7-11)
6. Prohibited Affection (2:12-17)
7. Powerful Association (2:18-23)
8. Precious Abiding (2:24-29)

 
Let’s continue into 1 John 3 to see what these next evidences are.

"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." 1 John 3:1-23

9.    Purifying Holiness (3:1-10)

John opens this chapter calling on what he had told the believers in the last few verses of 1 John 2 – there is a wonderful realization here of what that abiding offers to every believer! Being one of God’s children places us directly in the stream of His abundant and lavish love. He then states an obvious point that because the world did not recognize Christ as the Savior, they will struggle to recognize believers as His children. This is a spiritual discernment that Paul tells us not to expect of the “natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:14), but the world’s lack of recognition of God’s children does not negate that reality. Friend, when was the last time that you relished in the truth that you are a child of God and will one day be like Him and see Him as He is (1 John 3:2)? There is a lot that we don’t know about what eternity with Christ will be like, but this verse is so encouraging to my heart because I know that I will be like Christ, and you will be too if you know Him as your personal Savior. This is the greatest hope of every believer. No matter how hard this life gets, I can rest in the hope of what is to come!
 
But John snaps us out of the imagination of the future and back to reality in verse 3. This same hope is what produces the next evidence of genuine faith – purifying holiness.  While we wait for that glorious day described in 1 John 3:2, we are to be in the process of purification from sin. Verse 4 explains the contrast of sin with that purity, and then verse 5 intensifies that contrast with a reminder that Christ is the One who never sinned and even removed that sin! Jesus was the only One qualified to do this for all of mankind. Verse 6 reminds us that those who are God’s children will not continue in sin. It is not suggesting that believers never sin because we know that would be false. Paul even admitted a genuine struggle with the flesh as being the norm for all believers (Galatians 5:16-26). However, it should not be the pattern of a child of God to abide in sin but rather to purify ourselves as He is pure (1 John 3:3). The rest of this section restates these same ideas – God is righteous, without sin, and sent Christ to deal with sin for all men and those who continue in sin are of the devil because sin cannot co-exist with righteousness (1 John 3:7-10a). Then John segues into the next evidence of genuine faith. But before we move on, let me encourage you to stop and consider whether your life is characterized by seeking purity and holiness or maybe you are seeking after things that are more pleasurable for this season. Friend, one day when we see our Jesus as He is, I want to be able to stand before Him without shame for the time wasted in this life seeking things other than His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). May I encourage you to evaluate your pursuit of purifying holiness in your life.

10.  Principled Love (3:11-23)

John introduces this next topic in the last phrase of 1 John 3:10 – “…whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth his brother.” He transitions from speaking about righteousness in terms of purification and turns to explaining it as showing love for the brethren. It brings to mind what John recorded of Jesus’ teachings in John 13:34-35 and John 15:12 and 17. Jesus taught that love for one another is how people know we are His, and this truth is the focus of this section of John’s letter. There is no question that these verses are written to believers because of John’s directly addressing the “brethren,” “little children,” and “beloved” (3:13, 18, 21). He also reminds us that is not a new message (3:11) as seen in the negative example of Cain and Abel in verse 12. This is what love is NOT! However, this hatred and murderous attitude is what characterizes the world’s view of believers. So we should not be surprised when the world hates us. That’s really to be expected. What John is pointing out is that hatred amongst believers is what is abnormal according to God’s design. Unfortunately, it is a problem that we have to combat even in our churches today. This is what John is warning against in this passage and encouraging us to love each other because of Whom we serve! The greatest evidence of God’s love for us is in what Christ did for us on Calvary (3:16), and it serves as our example to willingly lay down our lives for other believers. It is not often in this modern era that the opportunity is available for a believer to give his life for another believer; but, figuratively, we can lay down our desires, wants, and ambitions to love our brothers. Far too often the squabbles in a church are traced back to a lack of love for the brethren! This love is what defines us as Christ’s disciples (John 13:34-35). Friend, who is in the body of Christ that you “just can’t love”? We are too pious often to say that we hate someone or want to murder them as Cain did to his brother, but remember what Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount? If we are angry with a brother without cause, we are just as guilty as a murderer (Matthew 5:21-26). See, if we are going to evidence genuine faith, we must show a principled love for those who are God’s children. This can be a hard one for us especially when we have been hurt by another believer, but may I draw your attention to our dear Savior as we close today. He was wounded for my sins, yet He still loves me the same today as when I hurt Him with my sins. His love is never changing! His love is not dependent on my obedience. So, if I am going to model this type of love that John describes in this passage, I must love those who are His.
 
I am not going to sit here and tell you that I have this all figured out. I am human and struggle with loving others as Jesus loves me, but I know that with His help I can do it and so can you. What are some ways that you can demonstrate this principled love to the brethren in your sphere of influence?

There are five remaining evidences of genuine faith found in 1 John that I will share in the next two posts. I trust that the Lord will use this brief study to help you find a renewed confidence in your faith that wasn’t there before. If you aren’t sure about your salvation, please reach out to us at IE and let us help you find that confidence of knowing genuine faith (1 John 5:13).

How is your faith holding up to these next checks of genuineness?

Read 15 Evidences of Genuine Faith—Part Five.