By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. – 1 John 3:19-24

A new waitress kept dropping glasses from her tray as she served patrons. After it happened a couple of times, she worked harder to concentrate on holding the drinks steady. She kept spilling the glasses. A seasoned waitress pulled her aside and gave her advice. She told the young lady that she kept dropping the tray because she was focused on the tray. She advised her to focus on where she was walking, and it would be easier to balance the tray without dropping it. 

This is the counterintuitive advice John gives about assurance of salvation in 1 John 3:19-24. 1 John 5:13 states the theme of the letter: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John is about how to know you have eternal life. John gives three tests of assurance: 

• The doctrinal test of sound teaching. 
• The moral test of a godly lifestyle. 
• The social test of loving fellowship.

These tests are presented repeatedly throughout this letter. Before our text, 1 John 3:11-18 issues the test of love (again). After our text, 1 John 4:1-6 issues the test of truth (again). Our text does not record any test of assurance. It is considered a digression from John’s main thought. But it is a critical statement about Christian assurance. It teaches what to do when doubts arise. Do you ever doubt your salvation? If not, you are the exception, not the rule. 

• We talk a lot about professing Christians who have false assurance. 
• We don’t talk enough about genuine Christians with no assurance. 

The struggle is real. There are three reasons a Christian may question his standing before God: sin, suffering, or Satan. This is how the enemy undermines or overthrows faith. 

• The flesh abuses us. 
• The world attacks us. 
• The devil accuses us. 

At different times, in multiple ways, to various degrees, the believer will doubt their true spiritual condition. What do you do when doubts arise? The temptation is to be like the rookie waitress and concentrate harder on not spilling the glasses from the tray. That will only lead to more slip-ups. You cannot fight your doubts by focusing on your doubts. Look to God when doubts arise. Ian Hamilton wrote, “Lack of assurance is a crippling spiritual sickness. God wants his children to know they are truly his.” 1 John 3:19-24 gives three ways God gives assurance when doubts arise. 

The Truth of Christian Assurance 

A young boy helped his dad plant a tree. One day, his dad found the boy holding the little tree in his hand, having pulled it up by the roots. “What are you doing?” the father asked. The boy replied, “I was trying to find out if it was going!” You do not have to pull your faith out by its roots to know you are a genuine or growing Christian. Verses 19-20 state the truth of Christian assurance. 

You Can Know. Verse 19 may point back to verse 18: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” It is better to read the verse as pointing forward to verse 20. The text is about what to do when doubts arise. It states the truth of Christian assurance in two ways. First, John says, “We shall know that we are of the truth.” “We shall know” means we can know. You do not have to live doubting you are truly saved. You can have a know-so salvation. Note how John describes salvation: “We are of the truth.”

• Assurance is not having a feeling. 
• Assurance is knowing the truth. 

John 8:31-32 says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Likewise, verse 19 says we can “reassure our heart before him.” “Reassure” is used twice in the New Testament. Here and in Matthew 28:14, where the religious leaders promised to “satisfy” the governor’s ears. The governor would be against the soldiers when he heard the body of Jesus was missing. They vowed to convince or persuade him on the soldier’s behalf. Here John speaks of times when the heart is against us. The heart asks, “Am I truly saved?” Your conscience may cause you to doubt. But troubled hearts can be soothed, pacified, or tranquilized. You can know in your inmost soul that you are saved. 

God Already Knows. Verse 20 says: “For whenever our heart condemns us” Here is the burden of the text. The world and the devil may cause doubts to arise. Neither is mentioned in this text. The problem is our “heart.” It is the seat of personhood: the mind, the will, and the emotions. The term is used four times in verses 19-21. Each occurrence is singular. Our heart may condemn us. Don’t follow your heart! A guilty conscience produces spiritual doubts. “Whenever” indicates it will happen and can happen at any time. But two truths about God reassure our hearts. 

Divine Sovereignty. Verse 20 says, “God is greater than our hearts.” The conscience may condemn you.

• Take what the conscience tells you seriously. 
• Do not let the conscience have the last word. 

1 Corinthians 4:4 says, “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” God is greater than the heart. Roman 8:33 says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” If God declares you righteous by faith in Christ, who can overturn God’s verdict? 

John 10:28-30 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” 

Divine Omniscience. Verse 20 ends: “And he knows everything.” God is omniscient. He knows everything known, unknown, and knowable. Your heart may not know the truth about your salvation. But God knows everything. This is a convicting truth that should lead us to pray Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” 

It is also a comforting truth when our heart condemns us. Peter denied the Lord three times. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” John 21:17 says Peter replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” This is how you should respond when doubts arise. Look to the Lord and say, “Lord, you know everything.” 

The Signs of Christian Assurance

• Verses 19-20 state the basis of Christian assurance. 
• Verses 21-22 state the benefits of Christian assurance. 

What are the signs of Christian assurances? 

Spiritual Confidence. Verse 21 says, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”“Beloved” is a term of affection that indicates the tone of the text. This is not a rebuke. It is an affirmation of love for the saints. Verse 20 says, “Whenever our heart condemns us.” Verse 21 presents: “If our heart does not condemn us.” This statement does not suggest sinless perfection. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 

You can have genuine assurance without sinless perfection. It is based on what Christ has done, not what you do. 1 John 2:1 says, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” If our heart does not condemn us, “we have confidence before God.” 1 John 2:28 says, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming.”

• We need confidence when Christ returns. 
• We need confidence when doubts arise. 

“Confidence” is freedom of speech. It is boldness, openness, frankness. When there is a lack of confidence, a person clams up, quiets down, and backs off. The believer in Christ need not feel that way toward God. You can stand firm, speak up, and draw near. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

A little girl sat in church with her family and heard the pastor make an appeal for a special offering. Her dad had recently given her a dollar. She took it out of her little purse and put it in the offering place. Her dad leaned over and said, “That was mighty generous of you to put in all your money.” “I’m not generous,” she replied. “I’ve just got a good daddy.” 

Answered Prayer. Confidence before God is an objective reality expressed through answered prayer. Simon J. Kistemaker wrote, “If our conscience is clear, the avenue to the throne of grace is open.” 

The Promise of Answered Prayer. Verse 22 says, “And whatever we ask we receive from him.” Note the scope of this promise: “Whatever we ask.” This is the privilege of prayer. There is nothing too big for God to handle. There is nothing too small for God to care about. 

This is an assurance, not a promise. John does not promise we will receive what we ask.  Verse 22 says, “Whatever we ask we receive from him.” 1 John 5:14 says, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

The Premise of Answered Prayer. The promise of answered prayer is not a blank check you can spend on whatever you desire. It is God entrusting his credit card to a person he can trust. Can God trust you with an answered prayer? Verse 22 says God answers prayer “because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” The two verbs are in the present tense. God answers prayer for those whose lives are characterized by obedience and submission. 

• Obedient Christians “keep his commandments.” 
• Submissive Christians “do what pleases him.” 

After breakfast, a housewife had to go next door to help her neighbor. She asked her daughter to straighten up the kitchen. The girl washed the dishes, tidied the counters, and swept the floor. As her mother delayed, she vacuumed the living room. She even went to her brother’s room and made his bed. How do you think the mother will respond? 

The Means of Christian Assurance 

How can I know the assurance of verses 19-22? Verses 23-24 provide two answers. 

Obedience to God. Verse 22 describes Christians as those who keep God’s commandments. Verse 23 summarizes the commandment of God: “And this is the commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

• In verse 22, “commandments” is plural. 
• In verse 23, “commandment” is singular. 

Yet the verse calls for two acts: faith and love. R.C.H. Lenski wrote: “You cannot believe without loving nor love without believing.”

Faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 23 says, “We believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” This is the first time the word “believe” is used in 1 John. It refers to the decisive act of saving faith. Romans 10:9 says: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Saving faith is personal confession. By faith, we confess the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. His “name” encompasses his threefold office as Prophet, Priest, and King. Romans 10:13says: “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

 Love for One Another. Verse 23 says we also “love one another.” This is the twofold evidence of genuine conversion: faith in Jesus Christ and love for the saints. One without the other should cause doubts to arise. When both are evident, it produces confidence before God. Saving faith is demonstrated in mutual love. 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.” 

We love one another, “just as he commanded us.” John 13:34-35says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Communion with God. Obedience to God is enabled by communion with God. We obey as we abide in him.

The Practice of Abiding. Verse 24 says, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and God in him.” 

• Doubts arise when we break God’s commandments. 
• Faith rises when we keep God’s commandments. 

Keeping his commands demonstrates that we abide in him. “Abides” means to stay or remain. This abiding is mutual: “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.” John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The Proof of Abiding. Verse 24 ends: “And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” How can we know God abides in us? It is by the gift of the indwelling Spirit. When you repent of your sins and trust in Christ, God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart immediately, completely, and permanently.

A primary ministry of the Spirit to the believer is to give assurance of salvation. Romans 8:15-17 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!” The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also with him.”