Eternal Life Found in 1 John
1 John 5:13 states, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." Have you ever wondered about eternal life? How can one be sure that they have this eternal life that John proclaims so confidently in his epistle? In his epistle, John gives some very clear ways on how one can be sure that they have eternal life. First, John proclaims that Jesus is eternal life (John 1:2). If one wants to know they have eternal life, the first thing people need to start with is to just look at Jesus, He is the source of eternal life. Second, John points out believers walking in the light (1 John 1:7; 2:3-5, 17, 28). To walk in the light means to walk with Christ in obedience to His Word. If one is walking in the light and not in darkness, they can be confident that their eyes are on Christ and that they are on the road to eternal life.
Third, one can know they have eternal life by enduring until the end (1 John 2:19). If one perseveres in their faith until death, believing in the source of eternal life, Jesus Christ, and lives a life of light, John confirms how this is a sign of genuine faith. Fourth, eternal life is granted to those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 2:23-25). If anyone denies that Jesus is the Christ, they are antichrist and can be sure that they will not have eternal life. By confessing Jesus is the Christ, the promised one has from God’s Word is eternal life (1 John 2:25). Fifth, one can be confident that they have eternal life not by being sinless but if they are sinning less (1 John 3:4-10). The Christian life is a process. One of these processes is called sanctification. By the means of Grace, God continues to prune and sanctify His children to be more like his Son, Jesus Christ. Believers can be sure they have this eternal life if they can see their lives becoming more like Jesus (Jobes, 2011).
Sixth, Christians can be sure of their eternal life by keeping the commandments (1 John 3:21-24). The commandment is this, “that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us” (1 John 3:23). Belief and love are at the heart of the Gospel. God is love and sent Christ to die on the cross for our sins and because of this, Christians should be radiating love. With love, there is no fear and Christians can have confidence of the day of judgment that they will receive eternal life.
So how does John communicate confidence for eternal life? It is all through love. Love God, love His commandments, love your brothers, love to do good works that radiate the light, love perusing the Christian life until the end, love God through sanctification, and most importantly love the source of eternal life, Jesus Christ. If a believer has this type of love, they should be confident to “know that they have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).