The Encourager
“Living in God's Peace”
Living in God’s Peace
by Jeff Curtis
One can be right with God when he doubts his faith, and one can be wrong with God when he feels that everything is right. The longing God is that we would both be saved and be assured of the reality of our salvation. Many of the believers John was writing to had doubts about their relationship with God and their eternal life. John, led by the Holy Spirit, didn’t reprimand them for their doubts, but did everything he could to convince them they should not have such doubts.
A confidence alongside my knowing I have eternal life (1John 5:13-15). John said they should live in confidence (5:13,14). What a difference we would all see in our lives if we lived in such confidence all the time! If we approach God asking for anything that is according to His will, He hears us. We don’t ever have to be concerned that God is too busy for us. If we know He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of Him. That is a powerful statement. Our asking needs to be about what we know God wants. When we make our requests, there should be no doubt in our minds that God will grant them. We should live our lives as though they have already been granted to us (5:15).
We are to look after our brothers and sisters (5:16,17). John has talked about acts of sin that we commit when we are trying to walk in God’s light and about how the blood cleanses us in such situations. We have talked about confessing our sins to God when we know of them so that God, who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, may take them away. We’ve talked about being people who continue to live in sin once we have been born of God – because He remains in us so that we cannot keep on sinning.
John emphasized that acts of sin are cleansed by the blood. He also stressed that if we continue in sin after we have been born of God and do not change our lives after becoming Christians, then we really have not been born of God or had our sins atoned for. The sinner must repent.
We are to stay in God’s keeping (5:18-20). As John reached the end of the book, he reminded us of several important truths: “We know that no one who is born of God sins; by He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him” (5:18). He spoke first of followers of Christ who don’t go on living the same way they did before they were born of God. We must be growing away from the influence of the wicked one. At the same time, John wanted us to know that the One who was born of God keeps us safe, and the evil one cannot harm us. Who is the One who was born of God? That is Jesus, who was born of God as the Holy Spirit came upon Mary to make her pregnant and give birth to Him. His the One who keeps us safe from the evil one when we are living a life of faith in God and striving to be like Him in all we do.
John said, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (5:19). He put a huge divide between those who are living for God and those who are living for the devil. If we are God’s children, He is our Father; and we are always striving to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. We want to obey His teaching and imitate the life of Jesus. We may see just how evil we can become in this world. On the other hand, we may try hard to be the best person we know how to be; but without the help or cleansing of Jesus, we will fail.
The real question is “Who is leading us in life?” Our answer can’t be based on how well we are living morally. Satan may be convincing us that we are doing so well in the way we are living that we don’t need God, forgiveness, or a submission to God’s will to be cleansed from sin.
People’s lives were changed when they began to finally recognize that He was more than a great prophet. When He was raised from the dead and walked among them, breathing on them the Holy Spirit, their entire being changed. The apostles changed from a band of fearful men to a band of men preaching a saving Gospel to change the world.
Conclusion. Do you know that you have eternal life because you are in Christ, as one who, through faith, was baptized into Him? Are you living the life that means you know you have eternal life in His Son? The opportunity is there for all of us, but the choice is yours.
