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Can You Know for Sure?
1 John 5:9–13 · Matt Miller · Balkan Baptist Church, Novi Sad
The man on the mountain
Picture a man two hundred years ago, standing on top of a mountain.
He has climbed all morning. Now the clouds lie below him like a white sea, and the peaks run on and on into the sunrise. It is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
And his first thought is of his wife. She is many miles away, at home in the valley.
"I wish I could send her this," he says to the man beside him. "Not a description. This. Exactly what I am seeing, right now, so she can see it too."
His friend laughs. "Impossible."
And two hundred years ago, he was right. You couldn't send a mountain through the air.
Today that man would take out his phone, open Viber, and his wife would see the sunrise before he had put the phone back in his pocket.
History is full of "impossible." In 1903 two brothers flew a machine for twelve seconds. Sixty-six years later, men walked on the moon. Over and over, people said "impossible" about things that were simply waiting to be discovered.
But there is one "impossible" that matters more than all the others. It isn't about machines. It is about you, and what happens the moment after you die.
What do they all agree on?
Here is a riddle. What do a Muslim imam, a Hindu priest, a Catholic priest and an Orthodox priest all agree on?
Not God. Not Jesus. Not the Bible. They disagree on almost everything.
But ask each of them one question, "Can I know for sure where I will go when I die?", and you will hear the same answer four times: "No one can know."
Islam's own book has Muhammad saying, "nor do I know what will be done with me or with you" (Qur'an 46:9). Hinduism offers cycle after cycle of rebirth, with release never guaranteed. The Catholic Council of Trent declared that no one can have "absolute and infallible certainty" of persevering to the end without a special revelation. And a well-known Orthodox bishop, asked "Are you saved?", answered gently, "I am being saved."
Even many Protestants will tell you, "You can know you are saved today, but you could lose it tomorrow." That is honest, but it still means no one can know where they will go when they die.
Most of the religious world agrees on this one point: you cannot know. One short verse disagrees with all of them.
“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.”
— 1 John 5:13
What do other faiths actually teach?
Islam: Qur'an 46:9; in Sahih al-Bukhari (1243, 3929) Muhammad says that even as the messenger he does not know what Allah will do with him.
Roman Catholic: Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 16; the Catechism (§2005) says we cannot rely on our feelings or works to conclude that we are saved.
Orthodox: salvation is taught as a lifelong process, and full assurance is usually seen as presumption. Many of our neighbors grew up with this, and we say it with respect.
Some Protestant groups (for example many Pentecostal, Methodist and Free Will Baptist churches) teach that you can be saved today but can lose it later. The Amish speak of a "living hope" and consider claiming to know as pride.
God has gone on record
John doesn't answer the riddle with an opinion. He walks into a courtroom.
“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.”
— 1 John 5:9
Witness and record are courtroom words. They mean sworn testimony. And you live by human testimony every single day. You believe the doctor when he reads your blood results. You believe the bank statement. A judge will send a man to prison on the word of two witnesses.
If we trust the word of men like that, John says, how much more should we trust the word of God? So what exactly has God put on the record?
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
— 1 John 5:11
Notice the words. "Hath given." Not "will give if you do well enough." Already given, like a gift that is already in your hands. You don't earn a gift, and you don't pay it off in installments. You receive it.
Then John says something that should make every one of us stop. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar" (v.10). When God has gone on record, doubting His promise isn't humility. It is calling the Witness a liar.
Whose word do you trust more, a man's or God's?
Why did John write this letter?
John wrote two books with a stated purpose. His Gospel was written "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ" (John 20:31), to bring people to faith.
His first letter was written "unto you that believe … that ye may know" (1 John 5:13), to bring believers to certainty. Assurance is not a side idea in 1 John. It is the reason the letter exists.
PAUSE AND REFLECT When I think about eternity, am I resting on my feelings, or on what God has put on the record? |
One line runs through the world
Most people imagine heaven as the top of a long ladder. Pray more, give more, try harder, and maybe one day you will be good enough. You can never be sure you have climbed far enough, because the ladder never ends.
God draws something completely different. Not a ladder. A line.
“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
— 1 John 5:12
There are only two kinds of people in this verse. Not good people and bad people. Not church people and outsiders. People who have the Son, and people who do not.
It doesn't say "he that hath been baptized," or "he that goeth to church," or "he that hath done his best." Those things matter, but they are not the line. The line is a Person.
That is why Paul could write, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). And that is why a dying thief, with no baptism, no good works and no time left, heard Jesus say, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
Heaven is not at the top of a ladder. It is on the other side of one Person.
PAUSE AND REFLECT If God drew that line through this room right now, which side would I be standing on? |
A father's hand
Now John reaches the reason he wrote it all down: "that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
The word know that John uses here means settled knowledge of a fact. It is the same word Paul uses in "we know that all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28). Not "hope so." Not "feel like it today." Know.
And look at the tense. "Ye have." Not "ye will have, if you hold on." You have it now. And what you have is eternal. If it could end next year, it was never eternal life to begin with.
Think of a little boy crossing a busy street with his father. Halfway across, a truck roars past. The boy is scared and his small fingers loosen. But he doesn't fall back into the traffic. Why? Because his safety was never in his grip. It was in his father's.
That is exactly how Jesus described the believer's safety:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
— John 10:28
Your faith will have weak days. Your feelings will go up and down. But your eternal life is not held in your hand. It is held in His. And in the next verse, Jesus adds His Father's hand on top of His own.
If it could end, it was never eternal.
The key words in 1 John 5
Witness / record (martyria): sworn testimony in a court.
Hath given (edōken): a finished gift, already given.
Know (eidēte): settled knowledge of a fact.
Ye have (echete): present tense, you have it now.
Eternal (aiōnios): the life of the age to come, without end.
PAUSE AND REFLECT Am I trying to hold on to God, or am I resting in the fact that He is holding on to me? |
"But someone will say…"
Whenever this verse is preached, the same three questions come up. They are honest questions, and the Bible answers each one.
"Isn't it proud to say I know?"
It would be pride if it rested on me: my prayers, my goodness, my faithfulness. But it rests on God's record. Humility is taking God at His word. Pride is thinking His Son was not enough and my works must be added.
"Then I can live however I want."
Paul heard that objection two thousand years ago, and he answered it in two words:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.”
— Romans 6:1–2
Grace doesn't make people careless. It "teacheth us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly" (Titus 2:11–12). A son who knows he is loved and will never be thrown out of the house doesn't try to see how much he can get away with. He wants to please his father.
"How do I know my faith is real?"
Start with the right foundation. The ground of your assurance is God's promise: "He that hath the Son hath life." Then 1 John gives evidence that confirms it:
You want to obey Him (1 John 2:3).
You love God's people (1 John 3:14).
His Spirit witnesses with yours (1 John 4:13; Romans 8:16).
You believe that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 5:1).
Fruit shows the tree is alive. It doesn't make it alive.
Back to the mountain
Remember the man on the mountain? He wanted to show his wife a place she couldn't reach and couldn't see. Everyone said it was impossible.
God did exactly that for us. Heaven is a place we have not seen yet. But God didn't leave us guessing. He sent His record across the distance, written down in a book, "that ye may know."
Men say, "No one can know." God says, "I wrote it so that you may know." Whose word will you take?
If you are not sure tonight
The Bible is honest about our problem: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). No amount of climbing can fix that.
But here is the good news: "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and … he was buried, and … he rose again the third day" (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). He paid what you owe. And He promises, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).
You don't receive that life by church membership, by baptism, or by doing your best. You receive it by trusting the Son.
You can stop wondering. You can know.
A prayer you can pray
Words don't save anyone; Christ does. But if you are ready to turn from your sin and trust Him, you can tell Him so right where you are, something like this:
“Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe You died for my sins, were buried, and rose again. I trust You alone to save me. Thank You that I can know I have eternal life. Amen.”
If you prayed that and meant it, we would love to hear from you. You can send us a message using the buttons below.
If you already know
Then live like it this week:
Read 1 John 5:9–13 out loud every morning, and thank God for His record.
Count the "we know"s in 1 John 5 (verses 15, 18, 19 and 20).
Tell one person what John 10:28 means to you.
Pray for someone who still believes "no one can know."
TAKE THIS WITH YOU Men say "impossible." God says "know." He has gone on record, He has drawn one line, and He holds you in His hand. If you have the Son, you have life, and you can know it today. |
Questions you might have
Can a true Christian lose salvation?
No. Jesus said His sheep "shall never perish" (John 10:28), and believers are "sealed … unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). A Christian can lose joy, fellowship and reward, and God will discipline His children (Hebrews 12:6), but He does not disown them.
What about Hebrews 6, "if they shall fall away"?
If this passage meant losing salvation, it would also mean you could never get it back, which almost no one believes. The writer goes on: "we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation" (Hebrews 6:9). It warns people who tasted the truth but never received Christ.
Doesn't Philippians 2:12 say to "work out your own salvation"?
Work it out, not work for it. The next verse says, "For it is God which worketh in you" (Philippians 2:13). You live out what God has already put in.
Jesus said, "He that shall endure unto the end shall be saved." Doesn't that mean I must hold on?
In Matthew 24 Jesus is speaking about the days of the Tribulation. And in every age, endurance is the evidence of real faith, not the price of it (1 John 2:19).
Is assurance only for very mature Christians?
No. John wrote these words "unto you that believe", all of you who believe. The thief on the cross was a brand-new believer, and Jesus gave him assurance on his very first day.
Do I need to be baptized to be saved?
Baptism is an important act of obedience after salvation, but it is not the line. "He that hath the Son hath life." The thief on the cross was never baptized, and he went to paradise that very day.
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ABOUT THIS MESSAGE This message is part of Words for the Way, our Wednesday evening Bible teaching at 18:30 at Balkan Baptist Church, Ćirila i Metodija 42a, Novi Sad. You are welcome to join us. |
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