Assurance by the Spirit

13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:13-16)

Thoughts: John is giving us ways to know God is in us and we are in God.  These are called "assurances of salvation."  If we love, God's love abides in us.  In fact, if we love we have been "born of God" (vs. 7).  If we acknowledge that Jesus has come in the flesh we have the right faith.  If people listen to us- and we are listening to God's Word is an assurance of salvation. Ultimately the Spirit inside of us assures us that we know God and He lives inside of us (by His Spirit).  This last phrase is what John tells us now. 
      Christians do not need to "prove" the existence of God.  Christians do not need a bunch of activities or good deeds in order to believe.  Ultimately the Holy Spirit speaking to our spirit is our assurance of salvation.  This is a very personal thing.  No one can judge whether you believe or not correctly.  They may try to discern, but no one should condemn us if we say we believe Jesus-the Son of God- has come in the flesh and if we are people of love.  There is a lot of judgmentalism going on in the church today.   John 3:16 indicates if we believe in His Son's coming to save us we have eternal life. This is extremely personal between each soul and God.  But it shows in how we interact, are united, and love others.
       There are some who say we can never know we are saved.  To do so, they say, would mean we would become lazy in good works.  There is some truth in that.  People can rest on a past event and forget who they are and what they are to do.  But the Bible says we can "know" we have eternal life (John 5:24; 1 John 5:17).  The Bible indicates we can have peace in our soul- and an assurance knowing we are His and He is ours.  This is the covenant formula- brought out in the Old Testament- "I will be your God and you will be my people" (Gen. 12; Ex. 6:7; Ezek 36; Jer. 7:23; 26:12).  The covenant God makes with us assures us we are His. In John 10 Jesus says, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me..." The reasons we can have an abundant purposeful life (John 10:10) is we know our shepherd and know that we are His and He will not cast us out. In our world, there is a lot of casing out.  We want to kick everyone off the island who does not agree with us. We wish to conspire against those who disagree.  We should be sensitive that there are those who know Jesus who might disagree with us.  We will see them in heaven, and we need to be loving them and working with them for God's glory on earth.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to grow in the assurance that I am yours and you are mine.  Help that to show in an amazing love for those around me.