F O O T H O L D
READING
93 BEING SURE
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PRAY Look at the description
of God's love in Psalm 57:10. Give thanks
for it.
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READ 1 John 5:1-21.
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THINK Can you find a promise
or a warning in this reading?
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FOCUS Probably some of the
false teachers claimed that 'the Christ' was
a divine spirit that
descended upon the human Jesus at his
baptism in Jordan and left
him again before his crucifixion. Not
so, says John. This
'abbreviated' Christ is not the Lord of the
Christians. Authentic faith
rests in a Jesus whose humanity and
deity were united, even in
the agony of the cross.
John's chief purpose in this
letter has been to reassure true
Christians of their secure
place in Christ.
CONFIDENT OF HEAVEN (13).
Weak faith is still saving faith.
Confidence about going to
heaven is not presumptuous if it is
based on John's test (see 2:3,
3:10, 3:18-19, 4:13, 4:15).
CONFIDENT IN PRAYER (14-15).
Notice that condition 'according to
his will'. Prayer is not a
method of getting God to do what we
want, but rather of
discovering what HE wants. If Jesus could be
totally honest in Gethsemane
(Luke 22:42), we can be sure that he
wants the same honesty from
us.
CONFIDENT OF MERCY (16-18).
Other Christians may sometimes
disappoint us by their
failure to live according to their words.
But we must not quickly
write off someone as a hypocrite. While
hope of repentance remains,
we must pray and care.
CONFIDENT OF THE FACTS (19-21).
In a broken world, we must not be
surprised if our faith is
tested. Christians are a colony of
heaven in an empire of
demonic influence. We must not give in to
defeatism.
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PRAY Ask God to help you to
be more confident and sure of your faith.
