Peter Barnes | 1 John 5:13-17
SERMON NOTES
ASSURANCE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Mark 3:20-30; 1 John 5:13-17
1. Christians can come to assurance of their salvation.
– 5:13; note Rom.8:28-39; this concept is rejected by Islam, by the cults, and by Roman Catholicism
– need to test ourselves to beware of presumption (2 Cor.13:5), but assurance is biblical
2. We can know assurance in prayer.
– 5:14-15; Heb.4:15-16; we ask what God has promised to give
– our daily bread but not to win the lottery; Moses could legitimately pray to enter the Promised Land (Deut.3:23-27)
– William Penn on George Fox: ‘The most awful, living reverend frame I ever felt or beheld, I must say, was his prayer.’
3. But we are not commanded to pray for those who commit sin leading to death.
– 5:16-17; James 5:20; but note Jer.7:16; Matt.7:6; Mark 3:28-30 (blasphemy against the Spirit); not referring to Peter’s sin (Luke 22:31-32; 1 John 2:1)
– Bonhoeffer applied it to Hitler. If in doubt, pray on (Augustine).