1 John 1:1-4 The Only Word Of Life

This Sunday, we are blessed to observe both the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper at the beginning of the 11:00 A.M. service. We are also beginning our study of the book of 1 John. This short book was written to give believers the God-ordained grounds of assurance. John’s first readers were being confused by false teachers who had separated from the church (1 John 2:19) and claimed to have the true knowledge of God and salvation (2:20-21). This led gospel believers to question their standing with God through Jesus. Throughout the book, John will provide tests by which the reader can "know they have eternal life" (5:13), which is the purpose of the book. Assurance is a wonderful blessing and a necessity for following Christ joyfully and faithfully, but assurance not based on God’s own word is presumption rather than real assurance. Only God’s word gives us the grounds of assurance to examine and know that we have eternal life. But before John launches into any tests of assurance, he immediately proclaims the identity of Jesus. Only the true Jesus, whom the apostles proclaimed, is able to save. If we are wrong about Jesus, it doesn’t matter what we are right about. If we are wrong about Jesus, it doesn’t matter how morally we live or what spiritual knowledge we have. Everything rests on this foundation: The Christ whom the apostles proclaim is fully God and fully man, and He is the only Word of Life and the only fellowship with God. I. Only the True Jesus Is The Word of Life (v. 1-2) II. Only the True Jesus Gives Fellowship with God (v. 3-4)