Like the audience of John’s day, many Christians struggle with assurance. We feel our prayers unanswered. We question our faith. We struggle with doubt. We see little victory in sin. We observe apostasy all around us. Let the Apostle John’s Spirit-inspired, 2,000 year old, pastoral advice speak to you today: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!”
As he does elsewhere, John also includes evidences along with his encouragement. Verse 10 says, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Most likely, John was responding to apostates who taught that holiness was optional. However, following Christ’s own statement that true and false disciples are known by the fruit they bear, John says that the true children of God are marked by practicing righteousness and loving the brethren. We have considered how loving the brethren proves our salvation; in this message we will consider how this love, coupled with a desire for righteousness, proves that we are children of God. God not only makes us his children, he wants us to know we are!
