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This morning we’re in week 2 of a series I’ve called Test Yourself.  The title of this series comes from a verse Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?

How do you know that you truly know God, that what you call belief is actual saving faith?  It’s very easy to act like a Christian, dress like a Christian, look like a Christian, yet not even know God.  You can be a pastor, an elder, a Sunday School teacher, even a missionary.  You can do good deeds, spend time in prayer, even perform miracles, yet miss out on the whole point.  And before you begin to think I’m talking about someone else, stop and make sure I’m not talking about you this morning.  I would be a terrible pastor if I let you sit here week after week believing that you were a Christian when in reality you did not know God.

We’re in 1 John, and last week we read the first chapter and the beginning of chapter 2.  We’re in 1 John because the purpose of his letter is this, as expressed in 5:13:  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.  My goal is to give you a Biblical assurance – assurance meaning that you know that you know God, and Biblical meaning that you are measuring yourself not on how you feel or what your culture tells you but on what the Bible says constitutes true, saving faith.

1 John was written to a church where false teachers had arisen, claiming that you could know God apart from repentance of sin or Jesus’ death and resurrection, and that because of this direct, special revelation, you did not have to worry about sin but could live however you pleased.  And so John writes to correct these false teachings.

The first chapter gave us two tests by which to measure ourselves.  The first test is this:  anyone who claims to know God but walks in the darkness is a liar and does not know God.  Anyone who as a habitual pattern of their lifestyle does not concern themselves with the holy character and will of God but lives however they please, it does not matter if they say “I know God,” because their life proves that they do not know Him.  Why?  Because God is light – truth, righteousness, purity, moral perfection.  And anyone who knows him will desire to walk in that light, to live a holy life.  And what this means is that first of all, your profession of faith means nothing if your lifestyle contradicts it; secondly, that your claim to speak to God or that God speaks to you means nothing if your life does not match his character and will, and thirdly, that just because you lived like a Christian 5 or 10 years ago or prayed a prayer asking Jesus to come into your heart means nothing if your lifestyle today is not concerned with knowing and following God.

The second test is this:  what is your attitude to sin?  John writes and says that if anyone claims to be without sin, they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them.  But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness.  We all sin, we all fall short in many ways.  The difference between the one who knows God and the one who doesn’t is how they respond to that sin.  The one who knows God responds in confession and repentance, in brokenness, in agreeing with God.  The one who does not is not sensitive to sin, or does not confess and repent.

Now this is not teaching that you can lose your salvation, but it is saying that if you are not currently walking with God, then you have no assurance that you are saved, no confidence that the prayer you prayed or the life you once led represented genuine faith. 

As we continue, remember that I can not see into your soul.  I am not here to judge you.  This is for you to test yourself.  And there may be some of you who are scared, because everyone has always assumed you know God, and you may sit here as I preach and realize that you do not know Him, that you have never been born again, that your faith is all about your good works and righteousness and not about Jesus saving you from sin.  But this is all done out of love, that you might know God and experience eternal life.

Now, there is a danger in these verses, and I realized that it would have been possible for some of you who may not really know God to hear last week’s sermon and still go home believing that your faith is genuine.  You might say, “I try to live a good life, and I feel bad when I sin.  Therefore, I passed the tests and my faith is genuine!”  And that’s why there is more to this than just those tests.  Don’t forget how we ended last week, with the first two verses of 1 John 2:

1 John 2:1-2  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

We are not preaching a works religion here, where it is your good deeds and attitude towards sin that saves you.  No – we are preaching that you are only saved by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died to pay the penalty for sins.  That is the only way anyone will be saved.  However, the evidence that you are saved, that gives you assurance of salvation, is not that you prayed a prayer one time in your life, but that your life today demonstrates that God has done a supernatural work in your heart.  And two of the ways you know that are that you desire to live according to the holy character and will of God, and that you hate sin and find yourself confessing and repenting when you do sin.  Do you understand the difference?