Absolute Assurance
When John came to the end of his letter, he underscored the things every believer can know with absolute assurance.
When John came to the end of his letter, he underscored the things every believer can know with absolute assurance.
Is it true, prayer changes things? That depends on what “things” we are talking about. I think when most of us wonder whether or not prayer changes things, we’re really asking if God will intervene in a specific situation.
At one time, I assumed that “victory in Christ”—or living a victorious Christian life in the middle of our sinful, messed-up world—meant having victory in my own life, as I chose to define it.
If tears were indelible ink instead of clear fluid, all of us would be stained for life. The heartbreaking circumstances, the sudden loss of someone we simply adored, riding out the consequences of a stupid decision—ah! Such is the groan and grind of life.
Why don’t we experience more victory in the Christian life? We have neglected the spiritual disciplines and opted for comfort and mediocrity. So now what do we do to find victory?
Although it may feel like it, death is not an escape—it leads you into eternity. Ending your life is not your decision to make, it’s God’s. He is both the Giver and Taker of life.
You can’t play games fairly without keeping the rules and the same logic applies to life. Rules set boundaries for us in how we should live but they don’t stop us from stop doing what wrong. God’s law is not the cause of our wrongdoing it simply reveals it to us.
Demons cannot possess a believer. They do not have the authority to do so. The believer belongs to Christ, and neither Satan nor his demons can reclaim one who belongs to the Lord.
Because Jesus triumphed over Satan through the cross, and we are in Him, we are no longer under Satan’s control, rule, or authority. We are beyond his reach forever.
The first part of 1 John 5 helps deepens our understanding of what it means to be a child of God in His forever family.