SERIES: The Letters of John
TEXT: 1 John 5:13-21
MESSAGE: “A New Confidence”

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book…these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” — John 20:30-31

“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate… I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games.” — Brennan Manning

“Not only can a believer have assurance of salvation, but he also can have assurance that God will hear his prayers and answer them. Moreover, it is the gift of eternal life that allows the believer to come directly before God with boldness or confidence.” — Daniel Akin

Q: What does this new God-confidence look like? It’s confidence in…(1. God’s Purpose 2. God’s Presence 3. God’s Protection)

1. God’s purpose (v. 13)

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

2. God’s presence (v. 14-17)

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.”

3. God’s protection (v. 18-20)

“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

TAKEAWAYS: How can we live in this new confidence? Let’s ask ourselves two questions…

• Where do I find my confidence?

• Where do I run when life gets hard?

“It behooves the individual Christian to be on his guard against any such God-substitute, whether it be a political idea, or some fashionable cult, or merely the product of his own ‘wishful thinking.’” — C.H. Dodd