If you confess Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, committing your life to Him, That was the work of the Spirit of God in you. And that was evidence number one that you possess the Holy Spirit, because apart from the Holy Spirit, you're not going to know who Christ is, and you're certainly not going to confess him as Lord and Savior. Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. There's probably never been a more difficult time for counterfeiters to pass off a forged painting as genuine.
With the help of ultraviolet light and infrared technology and modern dating methods, it doesn't take long for experts to spot the fakes. Along that line, there are tests you can take that can show if the salvation you claim is the real thing or if it's a fake. You'll see a couple of those tests today. Stick around as we continue John MacArthur's study, Myths About Salvation.
Well, we're more than three weeks into this series, and an overarching point is this. When a person is saved, his or her life will be transformed in obvious ways, and along that line, when we asked John whether salvation will always change the way a person lives, here's what he said. The answer to the question, of course, is absolutely yes. Salvation changes a person, and it changes the person foundationally. not superficially, but that foundational change is an entire new life.
The Bible talks about it as regeneration, new birth, being born again. Being converted. Those are all things that talk about a complete alteration of a person on the inside.
Now, what does that come down to? It comes down. to how you think. how you perceive reality. How you view issues in life, all of your priorities are dramatically altered.
All of your affections are dramatically altered. all of your desires are dramatically altered. There is a new creation. with holy longings, aspirations toward things pure and divine. Obviously sin is still present in our unredeemed flesh.
But this new creature, with all of those holy longings, will manifest itself In the words and the behaviour of that transformed person. Look, I wrote a book on this some years ago called The Gospel According to Jesus. This is the most important book that I have ever written. The gospel according to Jesus. It describes what the New Testament says are the components of a true saving faith, and what the New Testament says are the evidences of true conversion.
Friend, you need to get this book. I'll give you the details on how to order a copy of the Gospel according to Jesus before we end today. But right now, here is John with today's lesson. Let's go to 1 John. A number of the New Testament writers, of course, are very, very concerned about this matter of true salvation.
as was our Lord Jesus himself. And John dedicates, actually, the entire first epistle to this subject.
Now the epistle as such is made up of a series of tests.
Now, we've already considered six of those tests, and I put them in the form of questions. Are you enjoying fellowship with Christ and God? Secondly, John Brings another test. Are you sensitive to sin in your life? Three, are you obedient to God?
Then the fourth query and test that we noted: do you reject the world? Put it another way, to use the very terminology John uses: do you love the world? Do you love the system of the world? That's chapter 2, verses 15 through 17. The fifth test that we have examined, do you love Christ and eagerly wait for his return?
And then last time we considered number six in our little list. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? Number seven on your list. Do you love? Other Christians, number eight.
in John's list of tests. Do you experience answered prayer? Do you experience answered prayer? Go over to chapter five, verse fourteen. John says, this is the confidence which we have before him.
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. If you belong to him, He'll answer your prayers. Answered prayer. is a sign You are his child.
Could I say it this way? God is more anxious to answer the prayer of his children than they are to ask. There's a certain disappointment, I think, in God's heart because He would do so much more than we ever asked Him to do. You ever had that thought?
Now one of the good reasons to have an active and aggressive and faithful prayer life is so that you can enjoy the assurance that answered prayer brings, right? There are some people who probably don't enjoy Their salvation assurance simply because they have such a skimpy experience of answer prayer, because they have such an ineffective prayer life. I can only tell you it These things have accumulated in my life that I have had God answer my prayers. in large quantity. through the years, continually.
which is evidence that he hears me. which is evidence that I abide in him and he in me. Answered prayer. Have you had your prayers answered? then you have eternal life.
Is that a pattern for you in life? Have you prayed for someone and seen them come to Christ? Have you prayed for someone who had a great trouble and a great need in their life and God Use some means to turn that into blessing and joy. Have you sought God? About a lack in your life and having fill it.
Have you prayed for forgiveness and a clear conscience and received it? Have you asked God for enabling grace to present the truth on some occasion to an individual or a group? And he gave you the grace to do it. Have you sought power in proclaiming the gospel and experienced it? If he asked that God would Help you lead someone to the Savior, and he did.
Have you sought that God would give you contentment with your circumstances and you enjoyed it? And granted peace. If you ask that the Lord would teach you some lessons about him and help you to get to know him better, And he did teach us some hard lessons, and now you do know him better.
So all of those are indications that you belong to him and he to you. Answered prayer. Number nine. Another test John gives, do you experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Do you experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit?
Chapter 4, verse 13. By the way, one of the reasons that 1 John is difficult to interpret is because John cycles back through the same subjects all the time. He sort of, he has a general kind of flow, but every once in a while he leaps forward or jumps backward and picks up something. The most difficult thing about 1 John is trying to outline it, it almost outlines itself in a spiral. That's why we jump back a little bit.
There's a flow, but it jumps here and there. From time to time, showing something of the passion of John, who is not quite so coldly. analytical as say Paul. But back in chapter 4 and verse 13, listen to this. By this we know That we abide in him and he in us.
How do we know that? You know what? Isn't it amazing? I just read that and I say, how in the world can people be running around trying to figure out whether they're saved? By this we know.
We abide in him and he in us. I mean, it couldn't be more obvious than that. How? Because he has given us of his Spirit. And the first thing that the Spirit did...
Was bear witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, and we confess Jesus as the Son of God. If you confess Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, committing your life to Him, That was the work of the Spirit of God in you. And that was evidence number one that you possess the Holy Spirit, because apart from the Holy Spirit, you're not going to know who Christ is, and you're certainly not going to confess Him as Lord and Savior. Have you experienced the ministry of the Holy Spirit? In what sense?
In the sense that you've acknowledged. Jesus Christ. Confessed he is the Son of God. With all that that means, if so, God abides in you, you abide in God, because the Spirit has effected that belief, that faith. If you have experienced Salvation.
Faith. Love for Christ. Commitment to him. That was the Holy Spirit. and work in you.
If you have experienced illumination, That is The understanding of the word of God. Who was that? John says we have an anointing from God, so we don't need a human teacher. Who is that anointing? Holy Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, 1 Corinthians 2, even the deep things of God, and makes them known to us, right? They are discerned by the Spirit. How about fellowship? Have you ever experienced fellowship with God? Say, what do you mean?
Well, let's take prayer. Do you Talk to God. Commune with him. Pray to him. Who is prompting that?
Who in you makes you cry, Abba, Father? Galatians 4 says he's given us his spirit by which we cry Abba, Father. What makes you go to God for fellowship? Go to God for communion. the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
What about praise? Who is it that lifts your heart to praise and adore God? Christ. Who is it that fills you to sing with meaning and devotion? It's the Holy Spirit.
The unregenerate don't do that. The ungodly don't do that. With joy. Have you ever Have you ever borne spiritual fruit in your life? Have you ever experienced love?
Joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. That's the fruit of the. Spirit. Those attitudes are spiritual graces. Have you ever been used by God in serving?
Have you ever witnessed to someone? Have you ever ministered? In a spiritual way. Through helping someone through Giving to someone? Through leading, through all of those areas of spiritual giftedness.
You see, if any of those things are. Many of those things have occurred in your life that is evidence of the Spirit of God. Do you experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Those are the ways, listen carefully. In which Romans 8:16 is fulfilled.
The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. How does the Spirit bear witness? By saying, You're a Christian, you're a Christian. Did you hear me? No.
There's no audible voice. How does the Holy Spirit bear witness to that? Bears witness by your faith in Christ and your love for Christ, bears witness by illuminating the scripture to you, bears witness by drawing you into fellowship with God for the purpose of prayer and praise, bears witness by producing spiritual graces in you, the fruit of the spirit, bears witness by producing effective witness, effective service, and ministry to other believers. That is the work of the Spirit. It is not some kind of esoteric Spacey.
Theoretical, mystical thing the Spirit does, but those very experiential, concrete works. If you have experienced the ministry of the Spirit of God, You can be assured if the Spirit is in you, you belong to God. That's what he's saying here. Verse 13, the Spirit is in you. You belong to God.
He's given you his spirit. Be assured. Don't let your heart condemn you. Damn you. Tell you you're not a believer.
Get back in touch with the work of the Spirit in you. There's no reason to doubt and be unstable. Number 10. Can you discern between spiritual truth and error? Can you discern between spiritual truth and error?
Seems Fairly obvious, but let's go to chapter 4, verse 1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you can know. Here's the way to test them. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
In other words, every spirit that acknowledges the reality of Christ. Inherent in Jesus Christ is that he's the Savior, the anointed, the Messiah. But also, that this anointed Savior, Messiah, God, the second person, has literally come in incarnate human flesh. That's the test. By the way, every false religious system that I know of.
violates that test. They will always undermine the truth about who Jesus Christ is. Because if you postulate Jesus Christ to be exactly who the Bible says he is, accomplishing exactly what the Bible says he accomplished, it eliminates a false religious system. All false religious systems have to attack the person and work of Christ.
So the test is very simple. Any spirit confessing Jesus the Savior, the Christ, the anointed, in the fullness of his work in incarnation. It's from God. Can you discern that? Verse three.
Every spirit that doesn't confess Jesus isn't from God. It's the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them. Because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. They're from the world, therefore they speak as from the world.
The world listens to them. We're from God. He who knows God listens to us. Did you hear that? True believers will listen to true prophets.
Because true believers discern truth. From error. About the person and work of Christ. That is the watershed issue.
Some guy came in this pulpit and stood here. and taught error about the person of Jesus Christ. It By response, it would separate the believers from the unbelievers. True believers would say that's not true. Why you say, well, how do we know that?
You know that because God has given you the truth. You have an anointing from God. to discern. That's the indwelling ministry teaching of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, there were in the church to which John wrote.
some false teachers. This False teachers were teaching. About Something about Jesus, we don't know what. And so here you have not a moral test and not an experiential test, but a doctrinal test. He says, true believers know truth from error.
That's why According to the Word of God. A true believer. can never deviate into error. about The person and work of Jesus Christ.
Someone says, Well, I used to believe in Jesus Christ, but I've seen the light.
Now I believe Jesus Christ was an angelic being. Or, I believe Jesus Christ was an emanation from God, or I believe Jesus Christ was a demiurge, or I believe Jesus Christ was a divine spirit. Without the human element, or I believe Jesus was just a man and not divine. Any of those aberrations of Jesus Christ. reflect an unregenerate heart.
Why? Simple concept. When you were saved, you were saved by believing the truth about whom? Jesus Christ. Is that right?
So, when you were saved, you were saved by believing the truth about Jesus Christ. How did you come to believe that? The Holy Spirit of God, right? Made it clear in your mind.
So from the moment of your salvation, there's one thing you're clear about. And that is who Christ is and what he did. or you never would have been saved. any other than Christ. Who did any other than Christ did?
Was not the Savior.
So from the very beginning of salvation, you came in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ. And you remain there because the same Spirit who revealed that to you initially continues to affirm that. That's the substance of your ongoing faith. And note this, beloved. You were once given the faith to believe, and that is still being given to you as a divine gift.
You were once made to understand who Christ is, and that is continually given to you as a divine gift. True believers know truth from error. Because of the Holy Spirit. Down in verse 1 of chapter 5. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ Is born of God.
It's the same test again. When you believe the right thing about Christ, you're born of God. Basic. Absolutely basic.
So essential. You need to be skeptical. Go back to verse 1 of chapter 4 for a moment. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. Don't believe everything you hear.
Stop believing everybody. Test the spirits. Test daemazo, continual practice, continually be testing the spirits. The Spirit implies the the influence behind the mouth of the teacher. Or the prophet.
Test them. Why? Because there's so many fake. prophets. False profits.
Here is Three tests. Test number one: confession of the divine Lord, verses two and three. Do they confess Jesus has come in the flesh from God? He is God, the second person, come incarnate into the world as Savior, Messiah, King. In other words, agree with God's revelation concerning Jesus Christ.
That's test number one. Commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who is God in human flesh. Test number two. Commitment to the Divine word. Verse four.
You're from God, little children. and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who who is in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. He who knows God listens to us.
He who is not from God doesn't listen to us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit. of error. That's the second test. Really, those two tests suffice.
What do they say about Christ? And do they listen to the Word of God? You will notice that cults invariably, whether it's Christian science, Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, or any of the others. First, attack the person of Christ. Secondly, postulate A substitute for the Bible.
Invariably. A true believer. can discern. between the truth and error. True believers don't believe lies.
Why? They have a resident truth teacher. Satan's people listen to him. God's people listen to him. You want to know if you're a Christian?
Ask yourself this: Can I tell truth from error? Can I tell the truth about Christ from error? Can I tell the truth from the word from error? I'm telling you. It's so clear.
I heard a radio program recently. and there was a guy on there propagating a false religion. I don't know anything about that religion. I don't know particulars about what they believe, but I could tell you from the word out of his mouth in the first sentence, I knew that man did not represent the truth. Just in the way he skewed one small statement.
And from then on, I could not accept anything he said, and I listened rather intently until he was finished. And he told me about the great prophet. who is the instrument of God to bring this great truth. to humanity. It did not square with scripture.
I don't need to know what that system is. I don't need to know anything about it. I know it didn't fit the scripture. How do you know that? Because the Spirit of God.
has convinced me about Jesus Christ. and convince me about salvation in Christ by grace through faith, and convince me of the veracity and truthfulness of the Word of God, and I do not need some prophet of modern times to give me the truth. That should be true in your life too. You don't have to be a seminary graduate to know the truth from the error.
Now we're talking about basic truth. Personal work of Christ. and the divine word of God. Last point. Have you been rejected for your faith?
Look at chapter 3, verse 13. Do not marvel, brethren. If the world what? HU Hmm. Cain hated Abel.
The unrighteous always hate the righteous. Always. Because their deeds are evil and ours are righteous. Have you experienced animosity? Hostility.
Rejection. Bitterness Alienation. Being ostracized. Even persecution. If so, that's a sign of your Christianity.
We are the off-scouring of the world, aren't we? Listen to Philippians 1:28. I love this verse. Paul says, In no way be alarmed by your opponents. Which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you.
Yeah. If you If you have attacking opponents, It's a sign of destruction for them. It's a sign of salvation for you. When you're persecuted, Don't say, oh, woe is me. Am I really a Christian?
Things are going so badly, I wonder if God cares. If the world is persecuting you, say, isn't this wonderful? It's pretty clear who I am. Don't be surprised if the world hates you. When the world comes at you, and the Spirit of Satan comes at you in one form or another, and you're hated for the sake of righteousness, that's an affirmation.
Now if you're hated because you're obnoxious, that's another issue. There really is no virtue in that.
Now let me run those tests by again, just ever so briefly, if I might. Because these are the things that we want to touch. Are you enjoying fellowship with God and Christ? Are you sensitive to sin in your life? Are you obedient to God's word?
Do you reject the world? Do you love Christ and eagerly wait for His return? Do you see the decreasing pattern of sin in your life? Do you love other Christians?
So very, very basic. Do you experience answers to your prayers? Do you experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit? Can you discern between spiritual truth and error? And have you been rejected, hated, alienated for your faith in Christ?
If so, says John. I write all these things that you may know that you have what? Eternal life. Be assured, dear friend, there's no reason for you to go through your. Spiritual experience.
And the dumps And yet Millions of Christians do. Very rarely does anybody ever teach about this most important theme. Let's bow together in prayer. We rejoice, Father, we rejoice. That we can know that we have eternal life.
And that the eternal life we have is indeed eternal. Oh, what a joy. Thank you for the happiness of heart. It comes to the true believer. And Lord, we would pray as well for the one who, exposed to these tests, failed.
And it is now dealing with the realization that no matter what the claim might be. There's no real salvation there. The one who is Saying I don't enjoy fellowship with God and Christ. I live in sin. I'm not really sensitive to it.
I'm not obedient. I don't reject the world. I don't really wait for Christ's coming. I don't see a decreasing pattern of sin in my life. I don't love other Christians.
I don't experience answered prayer and the ministry of the Spirit. I can't discern the truth from error, and I'm certainly not persecuted for righteousness. Father, for that person. Save them for Jesus' sake. and for your eternal glory.
For the rest of us, fill our hearts with joy. Because our salvation is real, And sure. In Christ's name. Amen. You're listening to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur.
John's current study is titled Myths About Salvation. A friend, going back to what you heard John MacArthur say before the lesson, it is sobering to consider that there are people everywhere, maybe even in your church, who believe they're saved but they're still dead in sin. To help you avoid that fatal error and to know how to defend the true gospel and how to spot counterfeits, pick up John's classic book, The Gospel According to Jesus, when you contact us today. The Gospel According to Jesus costs $15 and shipping is free. To get your copy of the Gospel According to Jesus, call 1-800-55 GRACE during regular business hours at 7:30 a.m.
to 4 o'clock p.m. Pacific Time. And you can also order online anytime at gty.org. our number again, 80055GRACE, and our website, gty.org. And while you're at the website gty.org, Make sure you tap into the thousands of Bible-related resources that are available free of charge.
You can check out the Grace to You blog and read articles by John and the Grace to You staff. On topics like spiritual growth and evangelism, and much more. You can also catch any episodes of this broadcast that you may have missed. Or you can download any of John's 3,600 sermons free in MP3 and transcript format. Our web address again, gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson with a question. What role, if any, do you play in enjoying the assurance of your salvation? Find out what it means to apply all diligence in your faith as we continue John MacArthur's study called Myths About Salvation. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time on tomorrow's grace to you.
