“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” [1 John 5:13 KJV]
Not only what John wrote, but the whole Bible, was written that we may believe, and KNOW that we have eternal life. (That’s ‘have’… present tense, now.) If we can’t KNOW that we have eternal life, what kind of frustrated, confused life are we left with?
When a doctrine makes the certainty of whether you do, or don’t, have eternal life… UNknowable… that cannot be the Word of God. There is nothing in life more important than knowing where you’re going to spend ETERNITY! The sinner needs to know he’s headed for hell. God wants everyone to know where they stand, either way.
To know something that you can’t physically touch or see, there must be an unshakeable, unchangeable authority, like the Word of God! NOT based on feelings. Feelings change. It can NOT be based on some hope in the future that may or may not happen. Our eternal life cannot be dependent on what any other man has done, is doing, or will do. It is only about what Jesus has done, and what we do with Jesus.
Of course, nobody wants to think they’re going to hell, so they deal with that uncertainty in one way or another. Some just go into willful ignorance. Some will try to lower the entrance requirements for heaven so that just about everybody feels pretty good about their odds. Others make God’s grace so universal and cheap, that no one is condemned. Those errors cause people to think they know, when they really don’t. Sadly, false security is worse than no security at all. At least a person aware that he has no security, will be seeking it, and will be more on guard than the one with false security.
There’s another way that eternal life can become unknowable. It’s trusting in WORKS. One huge problem with any kind of works-based salvation, is that you can never know for certain if you’ve done ENOUGH to gain, or keep, your eternal salvation… until it’s too late. There is no standard… no measure… that can guarantee, today, that you that you have ‘done’ enough. You are always aware that you could have done even MORE, but you didn’t. No matter how much good you have done, you have fallen short of the mark. So you can’t KNOW that you have eternal life, by any measure of works.
The personal uncertainty of salvation under a works doctrine, also leaves a person more vulnerable to being exploited by those who would take advantage of that insecurity for their personal gain… whether by the threat of losing one’s salvation, or by offering their own assurances of eternal life.
So how CAN we know? It has to based on something that is DONE. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, and shed His blood as the perfect sacrifice for my sin, and HE said it is FINISHED! Now I have repented, and received Him as my Lord and Savior, and I believe on the name of the Son of God… NOW! I HAVE eternal life.
All works are variable. You can do more, or less. No matter how much you’re doing, you could do more. And as you grow, you are capable of doing even greater things. We all ought to be growing, but our names don’t ‘grow’ into the Lamb’s book of life. It’s either written there, or it’s not. Our name can be ‘blotted out’ (Revelation 3:5), but it doesn’t fade in and fade out, depending on the level of our efforts for the Lord, or even the intensity of our love. Our name must be ‘found’ there on judgment day (See Revelation 20:15)… not entered in after our good works, and intentions, and efforts… along with the bad… are all tallied up.
The book of Revelation calls us to overcome, and gives many promises to them that do. But then it says HOW we overcome. “And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;” [Revelation 12:11 KJV] Even overcoming is not about our own works.
Obviously, good works are expected of one who is born of God, a new creation in Christ. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
We are called to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” [2 Corinthians 7:1 KJV] God’s church is also to ‘come into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ [Ephesians 4:13], but that is not the standard to get into heaven. Entrance is assured only by the blood!
Yes, there is a fight, but it’s not the fight of works. It’s called the fight of FAITH! One way to lose that fight, is to go back under a law of works, and think you need to DO enough to earn (or keep) the salvation that Jesus already paid for!
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