5.
Do you find your prayers being answered? (1 John 3:22, 5:13-15) For the believer, having prayers answered
should be a pattern of his life, not merely a now-and-then surprise.
6.
Do you long for Christ’s return? (1 John 3:2-3; Phil. 3:20-21;
Tit. 2:11-13) Paul spoke to the believers of
his day assuming they, like he, were “looking for the blessed hope and
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit.
2:13). How much more so should we who
claim to love Him, especially as we see the end times approaching?
7. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your
life? (1 John 3:4-10) Though we are not sinless, do you
find old sinful ways to be repugnant (Rom. 7:14-25), and instead of
loving sin, do you now seek deliverance from it? Do
you now seek God,with the desire to know and submit yourself to Him,
and find victory in doing so?
8. Have you encountered persecution or animosity because of your faith? (1 John 3:13) Have you ever been rejected, lost a friend, or been estranged from family members because of your faith? “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
All of the above tests are
presented in the book of 1 John, written so that those who
remained in the churches during a time when false teachers had led many
into false doctrine could test themselves and be sure not only that
their doctrine was correct but that their lifestyle passed the tests of
a true believer.
As John brought his book to a conclusion, he said, “These things [i.e., the above tests that he has just written about] I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). John based his “exam” not on a past experience, but on present evidence that could never be produced by human effort. It is the work of God and His Holy Spirit alone. Though initiated at the moment of true salvation, the evidence always exists in the present.
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"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
