Extraordinary

"Faith is this extraordinary principle, which links man to God." (Martyn Lloyd Jones)

¹³ I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. ¹⁴ We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), then God cares about what we say. ¹⁵ God listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us the things that we ask from Him.

¹⁶ Suppose someone sees his brother in Christ sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death). That person should pray for his brother who is sinning. Then God will give the brother life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death. There is sin that leads to death. I do not mean that a person should pray about that sin. ¹⁷ Doing wrong is always sin. But there is sin that does not lead to eternal death.

¹⁸ We know that anyone who is God’s child does not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps him safe, and the Evil One cannot hurt him. ¹⁹ We know that we belong to God. But the Evil One controls the whole world. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. Now we can know God, the One who is true. And our lives are in that true God and in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is eternal life. ²¹ So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.  (1 John 5:13-21, ICB)

When we put our faith in Jesus…

1.   We know that we have eternal life.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.  (John 3:16, ICB), see 1 John 5:13 above

2.   We know our prayers are heard.

Pray to the Lord, and he will hear you. He will save you from all your troubles. (Psalm 34:17, ERV), see 1 John 5:14-18 above

 

3.     We know we’re held securely.

You will feel safe because there is hope.  You will look around and rest in safety. (Job 11:18, ICB), see 1 John 5:18 above

4.     We know we’re His children.

But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God.  (John 1:12, ICB), see 1 John 5:19 above

5.     We know the only true God

There is only one God. And there is only one way that people can reach God. That way is through Jesus Christ, who is also a man. (1 Timothy 2:5, ICB), see 1 John 5:20 above

“Our lives are the only meaningful expression of what we believe and in Whom we believe. And the only real wealth for any of us lies in our faith.” (Gordon B. Hinckley)[i]

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “Conclusions: What We Know” (installment four, final) Sunday March 10, 2019, Pastor Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.