1 John: What is Eternal Life and Who Has It?

Download the 1 John Bible Journal Outline

Open your Bibles, if you would, to the book of 1 John. This morning, I'm going to give an overview of the entire book. This is part of the “Journey Through the Bible” series. We're coming to the end, where we just have a few books left. And it's been quite a journey. Hopefully, you have one of these outlines that will give you, this morning, some of the significant verses in 1 John, and kind of help you follow along a little bit.

As I considered this book, 1 John is written by the apostle John around AD90, probably about 60 years after our Lord ascended. And it's so straightforward that it's almost hard to preach. There are some verses in here that are so black and white, there's almost no room for comment. But do not get your hopes up that the sermon will be shorter today; it will not. As you've probably noticed, the shorter the book, the longer the sermon, but I will try my best to summarize the profound truths in this book. And the danger for us is to kind of go right by, because 1 John is a book about eternal life -- what it is and who has it. That's your outline for the whole message. What is eternal life and who has it?

Okay, so you go, “Well, I know what it is, and I have it, so I get an hour nap.” Well, that's kind of like, you know, the race cars -- they're racing around, they're doing fine, like, “I'm doing fine,” then they run out of gas. They go in to see the pit crew, and they fill up again, so that they can keep going. The danger in messages like this that are so clear, so profound, so simple is that we already think we know everything. And so, we just kind of, you know, start thinking about this afternoon, but don't you do it, because I'm going to be looking at you. Okay? I can see you. You need to stop in the pit crew and fill up. And there is nothing more encouraging to believers than to be filled with the truth of God's Word. Amen? Being filled with the truth of God's word means you are filled with Jesus Christ, who is the Word, and you are filled with what is written.

So, this morning, we're going to get a little bit more about what is written. We're going to answer the two questions, as I said: What is eternal life and who has it? We'll start with 1 John 1:1 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and made manifest to us -- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things to you so that our joy may be complete.”

Now, if you just love notes, and you come away with a jillion notes after a sermon, there's nine different places in this book that says, “I'm writing these things to you so that…” Many people think there's just one verse like that at the very end of 1 John -- there's nine. So, he says, “I'm writing these things to you so that our joy may be complete.” Eternal life has to do with joy. Eternal life, simply put, is having Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to digress into all the familiar phrases that we use. I'm going to do my best to stay within the corpus of 1 John, to challenge our thinking. Okay? You can do a systematic, deep dive on eternal life if you like later, but let's just get what is the thrust of this particular book. This apostle, who says he has seen eternal life. “I’ve seen it. It was manifested to us. We've heard it. This eternal life spoke to us. We've touched it with our hands.” This is a factual account, not a third-hand account. This is something that he saw with his own eyes.

So, what is eternal life? Well, you must believe the facts given in these first four verses. One in 1 John 1:3 -- that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he is the Son of God. That means he has a divine nature, and he has the same nature as God. The very thing that Jews wanted to stone him for, John the apostle claims Jesus has, even now after His ascension still has, had before. So, you need to believe what the Bible says about Jesus. That’s how we start to understand: what is eternal life? Eternal life is that God has sent Jesus to the earth from heaven. He existed before he was born on earth. Okay? So, there goes the heresies that Jesus was the first created being, so you can just get rid of all the other religions out there that say Jesus is just the highest, the first of the created order. No, he is pre-eminent -- that is he is supposed to be premiere of all the first things that are made. He is the first perfect man who ever lived, and he also existed before. He was with the Father, then made manifest to us.

So, eternal life is agreeing that Jesus came from heaven, came from God. Eternal life is knowing that Jesus is the Christ. Look in 1 John 1:3. There are no filler words in Scripture, as you know. It says, “His Son Jesus Christ.” Christ means Messiah, the sent one. He is the one that the prophets foretold about in the Old Testament, or if you're a Hebrew scholar, in the First Testament. You must believe that this Jesus is the Christ spoken of. He is the One; there is no other one you need to look for. He fulfills everything that is said of the Messiah in the Old Testament, and to save you a few hours, we won't review all that. You can do that on your own. But he is the One. Eternal life is believing this. So far, so good? Divine from heaven, the Son, the Messiah, and is eternal life.

Next, 1 John 1:5. Notice, he describes the message. He says in 1 John 1:3, “We proclaim him to you also.” So, what are they proclaiming? He's going to tell us what he proclaimed. 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” You probably thought I was going to say that there's a great chasm that separates us from God, right, or any one of the hundreds of tracts that are helpful. But notice, John goes for the jugular here. He just raises the bar. “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.”

1 John 1:6, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Eternal life agrees that God is perfectly holy. He's perfectly holy -- every single thought, decision, action, perfect. Everything. Every decision. Eternal life means that we agree the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 – “If we walk in the light… the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” And we'll see the connection with “walking” in a minute. But I just want to focus on: what is eternal life? It is it is knowing that our sins are taken care of by Jesus. Eternal life means we admit we are sinners and confess that sin to Jesus. You agree that you have sin, not just that you have sin and have good things, and your good outweighs your bad -- believers know there is no righteousness in and of ourselves -- but that we have sin. That's the first thing to recognizing what eternal life is -- that there's a difference between us and God who is holy, who has no darkness in him at all.

What do we do with this sin? If we confess our sins, he is what? He is faithful. He is just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He does it. He's faithful. He's the one who does that work in you who have eternal life. Eternal life means we have put our trust in the One who is faithful to forgive. We do not put our trust in a prayer that we prayed as an eight-year-old, or a two-year-old or a three-year-old, or a 30-year-old. I know a guy who was 92, and he prayed the prayer. He's gone; I knew him a long time ago. We don't put our trust in that. We put our trust in a Who, in a person, in a divine Son of God. We put our trust in him that he is faithful to forgive.

Do not confuse when you first started pursuing Christ with the source of your salvation; the source of your salvation is Jesus. He is the one who was faithful to forgive. Many people have faithfully, truthfully prayed prayers as little kids and been saved. But when you think, “Why am I saved,” if you think to a prayer instead of a Person, you've got issues, serious issues. So far, so good? If not, go back to start, okay, and work your way back up through just the first -- what have we gone through -- 10 verses so far. We need to turn from our sin. There are no two ways about it. We either walk in the light as he walks in the light, or we don't. That's how clear John is. That is not confusing. The fact is not confusing. Our lives get confusing, but the truth of God's word is so straightforward.

And I want to ask you: what is holding you back from turning from every sin in your life? Those special ones only you know about, the bitterness in your heart towards others, the sin late at night on the computer. As 1 John 2:16 John says, “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,” right, those things that only you know about? Why would you hold on to that instead of pursuing Jesus Christ? I want to ask you: is that sin worth eternal damnation in hell? Today, you have heard the call to turn from your sin. You are now culpable for that truth -- to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Let us further consider what is eternal life in 1 John. Eternal life secures Jesus as our advocate. Look in 1 John 2:1 – “My little children [he is so endearing to them; he calls them his children], I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Eternal life secures Jesus as our advocate. An advocate is one who pleads on behalf of another. The lobbyists plead on behalf of another; we all get that around here. Right? An advocate, someone who says, “Here, consider these things and give them things.” We've already established that Christians sin, and they confess their sin. They have to confess their sin.

But we've also established that Jesus is pleading for us before the Father on our behalf. And he is the one who is faithful to forgive. The one who's pleading, the one who is our advocate. It's okay that he knows every single thought you've ever had or will have, because he's the one who provides forgiveness. You can't secure it by your good life. It's only to be found by believing in Jesus Christ. Look how it says at the end of 1 John 2:1: “Jesus Christ the righteous.” That's where righteousness is found. He's known as the Righteous One.

What does that mean that Jesus Christ is the righteous? Well, look at the 1 John 2:2 - that “he is the propitiation for our sins.” And you say, “That's not helpful. I don't use the word ‘propitiation’ very much.” “Propitiation” means to set aside the wrath of God -- to get rid of it, to lose it, to put it aside completely. Remember the Old Testament sacrificial system (they had to make atonement for sin over and over and over again), it was looking forward to Christ who would set it aside once for all. Okay? So, if Jesus is the propitiation for our sin, he has set it aside once for all.

We walk around with such burdens, such weight. We play these verses in our minds, that are found over and over again in 1 John, and we say, “Well, if I had loved God, I'd obey him, and so I must not be saved.” Or you can swing to the other pendulum like half of the American churches, which don't ever mention that again, because it's too convicting, as if God's word is too sensitive to preach, right? But our righteousness is found in Christ. Though we pursue him, though we love him, and we obey out of love, we still know that our confidence in our salvation is rooted in the One who's faithful to forgive. How long do you go as a perfectly faithful Christian? I don't know. But Jesus is always faithful. He says, “Come to me. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I'm going to take care of you.” (Matthew 11:28-30) We should stop trying to be Jesus, the Jesus of our own lives. We need to follow his example, knowing that he has done things you and I know never could do. So, eternal life is that which secures Jesus as the advocate for the one who has it.

Eternal life also brings us God's love. Look in 1 John 2:5 – “but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.” Spouses, you thought that when you first got married, right? We say, “God, this is the perfect person and for me.” The fact is, is that everyone who's a believer, the love of God has perfected, because it's Christ in you. It's the righteousness of Christ, and his love is perfected in you, because he sent his Son to die for you, to be the propitiation for your sin. It's not based on your performance that people see the love of God in our lives perfected in us, it's Christ in us and through us. You could say this is a benefit of eternal life -- that God's love is in us and perfected in us. It's most demonstrated in us. We are worthy candidates to see God's love, because we are so sinful.

There are other benefits of eternal life as well. 1 John 2:20, eternal life brings knowledge from God. You realize that -- knowledge from God. Eternal life brings knowledge from God. Eternal life means we know the truth. Now, some think they know the truth, and they're deceived. We'll get to that in a minute. But we know the truth. And you've done this before, where you try and share your faith with someone, and you just go, “They aren't getting it.” Well, those are spiritual truths that someone who doesn't have spiritual eyes is trying to see. The only thing that opens closed, dark eyes is the Gospel. The same thing that opened your eyes and my eyes. Eternal life brings this knowledge, this clear knowledge and understanding of the truth in 1 John 2:21.

We've already talked about some of the benefits before. In 1 John 1:3, eternal life brings fellowship with the Father and the Son. Do you -- it's okay to use the word feel -- do you feel like you have fellowship with the Father and the Son? If you do you, probably live a life of great joy. Right? Eternal life brings the benefit of answered prayer; we see that in 1 John 5:14-15. Eternal life brings protection from the evil one in 1 John 5:18. So, it brings knowledge of God, knowledge of the truth, fellowship with the Son and the Father, answered prayer, protection from the evil one -- when Satan's roaming around, you know, “like a lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8-9) It's not you. Right? You resist him, but the power comes from God. God protects you. That should be enough (right, believer) that God is the one who protects you as his child. We are known as being his children.

Another aspect of eternal life is that we have Jesus and the Father. 1 John 2:23 – “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” You have the Son and the Father. Normally, we just think about Christ in us, but it's the Father as well. We are therefore “children of God” in 1 John 3:2. It's not just that we're going to be children later. 1 John 3:2 – “Beloved, we are God's children now.” That's why you're protected by God. Those who have eternal life are God's children. They're God's children.

1 John 5:11 - and I'm skipping around because he basically repeats himself over and over and over again for five chapters. And I love it, because I need things repeated. So, I really enjoy that. Right? What is eternal life? He describes it, like, 100 ways. But look in 1 John 5:11. “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Can you be saved apart from having Jesus Christ? No. Does that make answering some of these questions about “Well, is so and so over in some remote island village, who's never heard the name Jesus saved?” Can you be saved without Jesus Christ? No. That should spur us to global missions. Right? But that does not change the truth. Okay?

Some of our greatest evangelists, in the elder part of their days, have changed their understanding of this. “Well, there must be a way they can come to a conclusive saving knowledge of God.” Well, I guess God could have sent an angel to speak to them and tell them the truth about Jesus. But without Jesus, no one is saved. “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Any religion that says there is eternal life any other way, is in flat contradiction to the Word of God. They are all lost. And they do all need Jesus Christ, and you and I need to tell them about it.

Eternal life also means that we are born of God. You hear me say this often -- we have a new nature. 1 John 3:9 – “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God.” That's straightforward. But it's hard to put into practice, isn't it? And you go, “Alright, I understand that. I'm not supposed to make a practice of sinning, because I've been born of God. And I know that I've been born of God, because of all the things that we've just said before, right? I've confessed my sin. I've asked God for forgiveness. I placed my faith and trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, not in myself. I believe the truths of Scripture, described in Scripture, as they are in Scripture. And I am saved, because of who Jesus is and what he has done. And yet it says, ‘no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.’”

It'd be really easy to just skip to 1 John 4 where it just talks about love all over the place. Right? Maybe, until you see what they equate the love of God with. Right? Eternal life, simply put, means we have believed in Jesus. Eternal life is believing in Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? It is a command from God to believe. 1 John 3:23 – “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” To not believe is not just a choice of omission, it is direct disobedience to God. All who do not believe in the Son are disobeying the direct commands of God. When you placed your faith in Jesus Christ -- and he saved you by his grace, not by any good works you have done -- you are acting in obedience to Jesus Christ.

To obey Jesus Christ means you have followed the grace of God in your life. No one seeks after God. No, not one. (Romans 3:10-12) No one obeys God. Right? No one can do that. No one can come to the Son unless the Father who sent me draws them. (John 6:44) Right? That is an act of obedience, and to obey God means we are acting in the grace of God from God, but it is still a command to believe. So, let's return to the main question. What is eternal life? It’s simply believing in Jesus Christ. We confess our sin to Jesus, and he forgives us. You say, “Is that it?” Well, you know what’s coming.

That brings us to the next question. Who has eternal life? Right? And 1 John is not silent on this. My great fear is that 1000s of churches will flat out preach contradiction to 1 John this morning. They want to appease men so bad, that they are scared of 1 John. 1 John is so clear about what is eternal life, and who has it. And we shouldn't be scared, right? We should be scared if we think we have to earn it, because you're going to fall short, real fast. You should be scared even if you have to keep it, because you're gonna fall flat, real fast. Right? The Bible says we’re sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30) That's the future -- the day of redemption -- from now till then, that's still the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

So, who has it? Well, that's the culminating reason why the apostle John wrote 1 John. Look in 1 John 5:13. This is very familiar to you, I know. But this is the ninth time he described why he's writing. “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.” I've told you before I went forward as a little kid, and I was just confused. Am I saved? Am I not saved? I've said the prayer. I've done this. I come to church, and I go to the kids classes. Am I saved? I pray to God. I ask him to forgive me. But does that mean once for all?

You know, I've never heard the word “justification” or “positional justification” before? I don't know what that means. Am I now permanently God's child? Or do I have to keep being God's child every time I pray for forgiveness? Right? And so, I went forward again. I went forward a lot. And I said, “I have to know.” All they did was point me to this verse. I remember the guy who did it. I'm still friends with him on Facebook. And he just said, “Well, John wrote so that you'll know.” “What did John write?” That was my next question, but we never got there.

So, you have to see: what did John write in these first five chapters that will make a person absolutely know if they are saved? Once he has defined eternal life very quickly, then he defines who has it over and over and over, and I want this to be a blessing to you. Maybe you're here, and you realize, “I am not saved. I’ve just been playing games.” Well, get saved today. And maybe you realize, “I'm just confused.” And we all wrestle with our salvation at times, but you need to be clear on who has eternal life. And this is the second question we're going to answer. And it's the final question.

Turn back to 1 John 1:5. And this is where many sermons, on this beautiful Sunday morning, will deviate from God's word. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him [that is, if we say we have eternal life] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” John just called all the fakers “liars,” right? The vocabulary in 1 John is the most basic in all of the New Testament. There's barely 300 unique words in all of 1 John. Okay? It's like first semester baby Greek for all the students. It's just so straightforward. Like, how can the apostle John, who has walked with Jesus, have such a limited vocabulary? Well, I would say that brevity, that simplicity means you have great understanding. Okay, not the inverse. So those who walk in darkness are not saved. Period. That’s it. That’s what he just said. They do not have eternal life. That is what he just said.

Who has eternal life? 1 John 1:7 - those who walk in the light. Those who walk in the light. What does “walk in the light” mean? Look in 1 John 2:3. “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” Who has eternal life? Those who walk in the light, those who keep His commandments. This is so straightforward. And remember, 1 John was written to people who know the truth, okay? I know you know the truth. You've come here for the truth. We're giving the truth. But this is how John speaks. Right? He says, “Little children, I'm writing to you because your sins are forgiven. Young man (he addresses them twice), you're strong. You've overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:12-13) Right? He's writing to people who know and have the truth, but he's clarifying it.

He loves them so much that he wants to clarify over and over again. “Walking in the light” simply means we obey God. Not sinless -- we've already said that. “Whoever says he's without sin is a liar. And the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4) And “if we sin, we have an advocate. Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1) Okay, so it's not sinlessness. But we obey God. 1 John 2:4, look there, if you would. “Whoever says ‘I know him’ [right? the professing person is specifically addressed in Scripture] but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him [here we go again] truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

If you're on the football team -- I mean, there’s football going on, right, yesterday, today. It's nauseating how many games there are, right? And you're like, “No, I love… I just hit record, everything. It's fantastic.” -- Who has jerseys on at the football game? Just the guys on the field? Or the 70,000 fans? Right? The players are on the field. The fans are in the stands. They’ve both got jerseys on. Granted, one looks like, you know, a six-foot eight Mack truck coming down the way, and we look like water boys compared to them, right? So, you can see it. And you go, “Whoa, I can catch a football.” I'm telling you, I would probably never run any faster than if I had some lineman coming after me. Right? It would inspire me to achieve more.

Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is in the stands. Okay? They're in the church. They're in the church. Is that not the truth? We come in through the narrow way, and we want to walk the wide path. You can only come in the narrow way and walk the narrow way. Or you come in the wide path, and you stay on the wide path. The two don't crisscross. It’s the straight and narrow. One is achieved through Christ, the other is achieved through any other means. “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:6) Who has eternal life? Those who “practice” the truth.

1 John 3:8-9 goes over this concept of “practicing” more. “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” But you say, “All Christians keep on sinning.” No, “practice” of sinning. Do you make room in your life for your sins? If you do, you should be scared that you are not saved. That is what 1 John, flat out, says. Secret porn addiction -- you should be scared that you're not saved. All these things – lying. Right? Same category -- you should be scared that you're not saved, if you make a practice of sinning. Because those who are saved, those who have eternal life, have been born of God. And would we dare say that those born of God make a practice of sinning?

We're confused at times, still, about who is saved and who isn't. Why is that? Well, many times we turn it into this emotional argument. “Oh, you know. They were great until they hit youth group. It must be that horrible youth pastor.” “They were great until they hit college. It must be that college professor.” “They were great until they just forgot to go to church.” And whatever, right? You're going to music practices. You're going to this, that, or the other, sporting events. You're going, constant, you know, summer vacation.

You're practicing forsaking the gathering of the saints which is expressly forbidden in Hebrews, and we make room for that in our lives. We should be so convicted by that. And when we sin and realize it, what do we do? We confess it. What happens when we confess it to Jesus? He forgives us. So, again, even though you sin, you focus on Christ. But you make no provision for the sinful flesh. We're forgiven. Who has eternal life? Those who are forgiven. Those who are forgiven are crushed by their sin. They take it to Jesus, and he cleanses us with his blood -- that is through his death, burial, and resurrection.

Some people like to think, “Oh, I found a drop of blood. It's magical. Anybody who touches it is healed.” No, it's his life, death, burial and resurrection. The blood symbolizes what he has done, and that he has shed his blood for us. But it's not just that he got rid of some blood; the blood was attached to a person, the person lived the perfect life. That's why his perfect righteousness is given to believers, and we are seen by God as having perfect righteousness, not just a clean slate that we keep messing up all the time. We're given his life. The real problem is that we want to make room for our sin or for somebody else's sin in their lives. That's why 1 John is rarely preached, and these truths are rarely received.

So, who has eternal life? Quite simply, those who obey God's word. You do not get eternal life by obedience, but those who have eternal life do obey. Now there's more evidence to see of eternal life than that. 1 John 2:9 – “Whoever says he's in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” This would cleanse the church, all by itself.

Your brother is not your coworker. Although Jesus did say, “Love your enemies,” so that doesn't get you off the hook from hating your coworker either, or your neighbor, or whoever. This is talking about your brother, your brother and sister in Christ. If you say you love God, whom you have not seen, and do not love your brother, whom you have seen, Scripture says you're not saved. Unless we want to redefine those who walk in the darkness as being saved. I mean, 1 John, he’s just drawn line after line after line. If you find hatred in your heart, you confess it. And you will be completely forgiven. Remember, this is the “practice” of sinning. You should not be okay with hatred for any Christian on the planet.

I don't know how many of you have ever been to church business meetings. They used to be known for fighting. Like, they should just go read 1 John and call it good. Right? I mean, I've been in church business meetings, basically, where the sheep try and lead the shepherds. Right? And you see a whole bunch of people who've never thought of something before until that meeting; they're asked to decide the trajectory of the church based on a few moments’ notice, or maybe a week, right? And they get nervous, and they start arguing, and it's like, “Oh, that guy always… I just hate that guy.” Like, no, you can’t do that. That is not something God thinks is pleasing.

Who has eternal life? The one who loves his brother. Who loves him. I hear this all the time: “I don't have to like him. I just have to love him.” What unbiblical nonsense is that? You can love somebody but not like them? As if like is greater than love? Don't get mad at me; I'm just reading you the Scriptures. 1 John 3:11 – “For this is the message that we have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” Okay, after the service -- group hug. Joanna, get the camera. Right? We should love one another. Somebody roast a marshmallow, and we’ll sing “Kumbaya,” right? We love one another. We demonstrate that love.

That’s why it's hard to start the service sometimes. You guys are just talking and loving each other, and sharing what's going on, and we see that demonstrated. This is who has eternal life. That's a sign of eternal life. And you go, “Wow, I just I say every thought that comes to my mind. I must really have eternal life.” That's not what I'm talking about. Are we truly knowing, loving, serving, cherishing, praying for one another?

How do we recognize biblical love versus unbiblical love? 1 John 3:16 – “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” What does that mean? That we all just go die for each other? You do; you die to self. That's what that means. Jesus took it to the nth degree, and literally died for you and me, while we were sinners, the unlovables. That’s what we are. We’re the unlovables. And Jesus died so that we could become lovable, so that we would be born of God, and have a new nature, and have a new mindset, and have a new disposition towards others, and to prefer one another, and you know, it goes on and on. By this we know love, right? We look to Jesus again to define what love is. Love is not appeasing your family member, who is of the devil -- and John says that. All right? -- who lives like they're of the devil and tell them “You'll be fine, because I know at one point in your life you went to Sunday School.” That person has no assurance of salvation. The assurance comes out of loving God and displayed in your life through obedience.

So, who has eternal life? The one who loves his brother. 1 John 3:23 – “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.” Look in 1 John 4:7. 1 John 4 goes over this many times. It's an amazing section of Scripture. 1 John 4:7 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”

Again, pointing us back to Jesus -- what he did -- and our life living through him. I don't know if you've ever said this to someone, that “God is love.” And then, you know, the unbelievers say, “Oh, yeah, well love is God.” Right? We wasted the 60s and 70s on that one, right? That love is God. And everybody that's loving, just loves everyone. Love is love. Right? Barf. Love is not love. God is love. Is God only love? Okay, if God was only love, then you could say “love is God.” But God is also just, gracious, merciful, and for that we're all thankful. Right? So, God is love, but he is more than love. He has all of his attributes, all the time. Love is not that. It is loving, to be loving like God, but God is so much more than just love. Those who have eternal life believe in that kind of love. Godly love -- loving one another, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

You know the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And the next is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) If we were playing Jeopardy, I could ask you: now that's the answer, what's the question? Right? And you would say, “What's the greatest commandment.” Right? But there is another passage of Scripture that gives that as the answer to a different question. In Luke 10:25-29 - “What must I do to have eternal life?” This is right before the passage of the Good Samaritan. And Jesus says, “Well, you know the law. What does it say?” And the lawyer says, “Well, love God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” He says, “You are right.” And then he says, “Who is my neighbor?” And all we remember about that passage is the story of the Good Samaritan. Yet the preeminent question in that passage is: how do I inherit eternal life? Not “Samaritans are so great; they take care of people who need bandages.” The Samaritan demonstrates eternal life. That's why Jesus told the story.

That's what it looks like to have eternal life. It is this unconditional love for others. Believers, that should be easy. That's first base. But demonstrating it towards others who don't believe like you and I do, who may have grown up in other countries and never heard the name of Jesus. Demonstrating that kind of love to people who are not living in any way that honors Christ, and they make our lives difficult, loving that person. That's what the Good Samaritan story is all about. It's demonstrating who loves his neighbor in answer to the question, who has eternal life?

1 John 4:16 – “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him.” Those who have eternal life have God abiding in them. Right? We are “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” What does it say, “and God abides in him.” Right? It's profound -- the blessings that we have by having eternal life. You say, “Okay, Dave, short-term memory is checking out around seven details. We passed that about 45 minutes ago. Can you summarize?” Right? Let's let 1 John summarize.

Turn to 1 John 5:1-3. This is a beautiful summary. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” Biblical love there is defined in a way we can practice it. Maybe you listen to this message, and some of it is a little jarring. It’s okay. It's recorded. You can get jarred again; listen to it later. But this is about being loved by God and having Jesus. What is eternal life? It's belief in Jesus Christ. And everyone who has it has been born of him.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for your Word. As the apostle John was near the end of his life, you inspired him to write these words out of love and kindness to believers -- to clarify, Lord God, to provide comfort, that we might know that we have eternal life. Lord, I pray that if there's someone here who hasn't confessed their sins and asked Christ for forgiveness, that they would do so now. And that they might know you're faithful and just to forgive.

Lord, I pray for us, that you would help us to withhold nothing back from you, that we might walk in love towards you and others. Dear friends, let's just take a moment right now and ask God to help us to understand if we have eternal life and to live it out. Lord God, we praise your name. We love you. We pray, Lord God, that your name would be high and lifted up in our hearts and in our lives for your glory. In your precious Name, Amen.