What Is Real Love? A Guide to 1 JohnНамуна

1 John 2:24-27

24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. 25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 2:18-27 NLT

Pray: Jesus, help me to remain faithful to you. I give you my whole life. Thank you for giving me eternal life. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your family. I want to enjoy your love and become more aware of your presence. Teach me what’s true. Help me to follow you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today, we’re going to wrestle with the security of our relationship with Jesus. We’ll look at this subject from two different angles, and see how grappling with this particular question can propel us forward in our discipleship journey. Let’s get started.

24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. 25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

John is telling us to remain faithful to what we’ve been taught from the beginning. What is it that we’ve been taught? Jesus, the Son of God, is the Savior-King the Scriptures were pointing to. And because of what He’s done, what He is doing, and what He will do when He returns, everything has changed. We have become citizens of His forever Kingdom and members of His eternal family. And now, we have been given the assignment of living in the light of His love in the ongoing war against the darkness.

And, if we remain faithful, then we will remain in fellowship with God. But, what if we don’t? Does that mean our fellowship with God will be broken? Can we actually lose our salvation?

Some, when asked this question, respond by saying, “Not a chance. Once you’re saved, you are always saved. If you’ve really put your faith in Jesus, then you are eternally secure in Him, and nothing can change that.”

Others, when presented with this question, have answered, “Yes, your fellowship with God can be broken. While nobody else can take your salvation from you, you can choose to give it up by turning your back on God and leaving your faith behind.”

What’s the correct answer? Great question. If we just look at this passage of Scripture, it looks like John is plainly stating that we can lose our salvation. But, earlier in this same chapter, John wrote something that sounds very different:

19 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. 1 John 2:19 NLT

Here, it seems like John is saying that the people who turned their backs on the church were never really saved to begin with, and their leaving was proof they weren’t ever a part of the family. They didn’t lose their salvation because they were never saved to begin with.

Within the span of just a few verses, it seems like John is agreeing with both sides of the debate? So what did he really believe? More importantly, what should we believe?

Our recommendation is to believe that Jesus is good, loving, true, gracious, and just. That He wants our whole lives, not just empty words. That faithfulness to Him looks like devoting your entire life to serving Him and loving others. If you do, then you’ll never have to worry about whether or not your fellowship with God can be broken because you will stay committed to Him. For some of us, that will be the most helpful path forward.

For others of us, we won’t be satisfied with the question going unanswered. If that is you, then we would recommend you look to other passages in the Bible that speak to the question of the security of our salvation. What does Jesus say in the Gospels? What does Paul write in his epistles? What about Peter, in the letters he wrote?

You will likely be tempted to just look up the answer online, and if you do, you’ll find a lot of people who will tell you exactly what you should believe with lots of Scriptures cited to prove their conclusion is the Biblical answer. If you do decide to take that route, then we would recommend you do your best to look for thoughtful answers from both sides of the debate, before coming to your own conclusion.

There’s a reason people have disagreed on the right answer to this question for centuries. It’s not because some of them are idiots and the others aren’t. It’s because the Bible is God’s Word for us but it wasn’t originally written to us. It was written by people thousands of years before any of us were born. So we can’t actually ask them to clear up our confusion. But, because it was inspired by God we can trust that the most important things will always be clear. Namely, who Jesus is, how to enter a relationship with Him, and how we’re meant to live as His followers.

So, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t need to know the answer to that question, then let the ongoing debate be a beautiful reminder that even when we disagree, we’re still family.

And if the kind of person who loves getting nerdy about the Bible and some of the more tricky theological questions, then embrace the discovery process. But do it with humility, curiosity, and a confident trust that no matter what, God is still good.

Okay, now that we’ve chased that rabbit down the trail, let’s come back to John. In the next part he writes:

26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

John is warning us not to get too comfortable or complacent. Because whether we realize it or not, we are in a spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. There are people who claim to follow Jesus who really just want to get us off track. The devil, our spiritual enemy, wants to attack our identity and target our desires with lies and deception. Sin, the disease of self-centeredness that has infected all of us, will tempt us to disobey God and hurt others. The world, a society ruled by the devil and fueled by sin, is built to keep us away from the life God wants for us.

All of these threats are real and they are dangerous. But, we have something, scratch that, someone, that gives us the power to overcome them. The Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity. God is living within us. And He will teach us everything we need to know to remain faithful to Him. The same Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the Scriptures is at work when we are reading the Scriptures. And the same Holy Spirit that was with Jesus when He overcame the devil in the wilderness, is with us when we are tempted so we can remain faithful to our King.

And that’s really good news for us.

Application: Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what is true and to give you the power to live in truth. As you go throughout your day, be on the lookout for lies and half-truths that attempt to pull you away from God. When you see those things, ask God to help you remain faithful to Him.