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How 1 John 2:6 Can Change Everything
Brian Mashburn
August 12, 2018
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Proof
How do you know when you have come into actual contact with the grace of God? In other words, is there evidence - observable proof - that reveals if you are truly living in Jesus?
I ask because, well, don't you want to know for sure? Do you not want to live in red-hot confidence, with intensely peaceful assurance, that you are indeed in Christ?
As for me, the last thing I want is to claim that I live in him when, in actual fact, I do not. If I am naming the name of Jesus with my mouth, but experiencing none of the effects of the life lived in Jesus, not only will I be exhausted, but I have to seriously ask myself if I am truly naming Jesus at all. He said so himself (Mt 7:21).
So, how can I know? Christianity at large likes to use half-truths either to keep the answer conveniently ambiguous ("no one can judge whether I am a Christian or not!") or overly simplistic ("I've been baptized and go to church"). Is there nothing better than these?
Our game changing verse for today says there is. The beloved disciple John says that "anyone who claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
When you live in Jesus, you live like Jesus. You become a walking fountain of love. This is the natural result of coming into actual God-contact. It is the inevitable fruit seen in the life fueled by grace. It is the proof that the Gospel has been heard and received.
Oh, and it also fills you with immovable assurance and confidence. John continues, "Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him." (1 John 4:17) Make is so, dear Father.