1 John | A Series About Abiding in Christ – Believing the Testimony of God
1 John 5:6-13
God Himself has given a perfectly sufficient testimony regarding the reality of eternal life:
1) Jesus’ substitutionary life (the water) and atoning death (the blood) are the historical, external testimony that must be received by faith for salvation.
Hebrews 2:17, 4:15 // Romans 5:19, 4:5 // Matthew 3:13-17
Ref. John 6:54 // Matthew 26:28 // Romans 3:25 // Romans 5:9 // Ephesians 1:7 //Ephesians 2:13 //Colossians 1:19-20 // Hebrews 9:12 // Hebrews 9:14 // Hebrews 9:22 // Hebrews 10:19 // 1 Peter 1:18-19 // 1 John 1:7 // Revelation 1:5 // Revelation 5:9 // Revelation 12:11
“As we come to Christ, empty-handed, claiming no merit of our own, but clinging by faith to His blood and righteousness, we are justified. We pass immediately from a state of condemnation and spiritual death to a state of pardon, acceptance, and the sure hope of eternal life. Our sins are blotted out, and we are “clothed” with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In our standing before God, we will never be more righteous, even in heaven, than we were the day we trusted Christ, or we are now. Obviously in our daily experience we fall far short of the perfect righteousness God requires. But because He has imputed to us the perfect righteousness of His Son, He now sees us as being just as righteous as Christ Himself.” — Jerry Bridges
2) The Holy Spirit is the experiential, internal testimony that urges us to trust in the person and work of Jesus.
John 16:7-8, 13-14
Confidence in salvation can be attained, not by scrutinizing what we have done, but by simply asking, “Do I believe the truth of what God in Christ has done?”