If you consider yourself a Christian, then one or both of the following questions has likely entered your mind.
- How do I know I’m saved?
- How do I show someone who believes they are saved, but is living in open unrepentant sin, that he/she might not understand true conversion?
During my Christian life, I have wrestled with both of these questions. After much search and study, I think a good place to consider the answers to them is 1 John.
Why 1 John?
For quite awhile, I had been contending with the second question listed above. One day, while reading through 1 John, God through the Holy Spirit allowed me to see that John lays out clearly and specifically some characteristics true Christians should possess.
Before we fully dive in, I highly recommend that either before you continue reading, or after you finish this post, that you take time to read through 1 John yourself for full context.
Please know that I am not here “judge” anyone’s salvation. Also, I know we are not saved through works, etc.; this is just meant as a starting point for consideration and further study.
Below are the characteristics. First I will provide the characteristics, the evidence from 1 John, and a brief commentary. Let’s go!
A Christian will strive to keep God’s commands
Chapter 2:3- And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Chapter 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.
Chapter 5:3- For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
John is very clear: If you are a Christian, you will keep the commands of God. Yes, as fallen creatures, we will never truly live up to that. However, we should be in a constant state of striving to keep all of God’s commands.
A Christian will be marked by their love for others
Chapter 2:9- Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
Chapter 3:11- For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Chapter 4:7-11- 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Chapter 4:20- If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
As Christians, we are called to love. As John says, if we hate anyone, then the love of the father is not in us. If you have hatred, animosity, or bitterness towards anyone, you need to reflect, pray, and ask God to help you forgive.
A Christian abides in and reflects Christ
Chapter 2:5-6 – 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Chapter 2:28- And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
Abiding in Christ means to remain with or stay. When we abide in Christ, we stay with him, which causes us to “walk as he walked.” With verse 28, if we are truly abiding in Christ, when the time comes for his return, we should not be filled with shame becuase we are in communion with him.
A Christian does all he/she can to abstain from sin
Chapter 3:6-9- 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 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. 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.
As with the “abide and reflect Christ” characteristic, a true believer should be marked by an avoidance of sin. A person cannot live in open, unrepentant sin and be a true believer.
A Christian will not be caught up with, and be distinctive from, the world
Chapter 2:15- Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Chapter 3:13-14- 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
Along with mentioning the importance of love again, as Christians, we should be distinct from the world. Our entertainment choices will be different, the books we read will be different, the way we bring up our children will be different, the way we talk and what we talk about will be different. We are to be distinct. Because we hold firmly to scripture and do not jump on the latest social bandwagon, the world, and the Christians “in name only”, will hate us.
In closing
I hope this post serves as a starting point for answering the questions from the opening. Please continue to do further Biblical study and have conversations with spiritual mentors in your life.
Also, I wrote a book called God’s Not Gray: Biblical Truth in a Society of Blurred Lines. It discusses the following topics: sin, salvation, tolerance, the hook up culture, identity, and the Christian mission. The sin and salvation chapters discuss some of what is in this post, but the book has more. It also talks about the distinction between actual love and tolerance.
You can learn more by clicking the link above or the graphic below.
Thank you for reading and please share with anyone you think may need it.
In Christ,
-Sarah
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