WALKING IN CONFIDENCE
1 John 3:11-24
If you are a Christian, do you walk through your life with confidence? Do you have confidence in your salvation or do you doubt it? Do you have confidence that you are living in obedience to God or do you have doubts that God would be pleased with your life? Do you have confidence in your witness to a lost world or do you have doubts about how you appear to the world?
1 John 3:11
It is a proven fact that people who are confident in who they are and what they do draw others to them. People want to be around people with confidence. The same holds true for Christians. If we are going to walk in confidence, we must do some things. Before we look at the dos, let us look at the don’ts.
Don’ts
1 John 3:12
Don’t Be Like Cain
Our text says that Cain belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.
Genesis 4:2-8
Why did Cain murder Abel? Cain brought an offering that did not have any blood shed, while Abel’s offering had the shedding of blood. The Bible says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin”. Cain’s offering was not pleasing to God, so Cain took his anger out on Abel by killing him.
Now you are thinking, “No problem, I have never murdered anybody”. But, are you sure?
1 John 3:15
1 John 3:13-14
Don’t Be Surprised
Christians that live in obedience to God are often very unpopular in this world. Because Christians have been given new life through Jesus Christ we should be distinctively different from non-Christians. Believers have the love of Christ within them. Don’t worry about what the “lost” say about you; instead lead them to the cross of Jesus.
Now that we have seen the things we should not do, let’s look at what we should do.
Dos
1 John 3:16-20
Do Be Like Jesus
Jesus showed us what real love is. Real love is love that would do anything for anybody. We are to be like Jesus. That means you have no choice but to be willing to give your life for anyone. Are you? The text goes even farther and says, “Don’t talk about loving others, do it”!
Matthew 25:31-46
1 John 3:21-24
Do Be Obedient
What does it mean when it says, “If our hearts do not condemn us…”? For a non-Christian, evilness and darkness will be found within their heart and there is no room in Heaven for these people. This passage is written for Christians. A Christian that is being obedient to God will have a clean heart; therefore causing them to receive anything they ask of God. Does this mean if you have a clean heart and you ask God for a million dollars that you will receive it? No, because if you have a pure heart you will not be concerned about yourself, but for others.
Verse 22 tells us that Christians with a pure heart will obey God’s command and then in verse 23 we are told what God’s command is. What is God’s command? First you must believe in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a quick summary of salvation. The second thing you must do is love one another.
These verses also give us confidence in our salvation by giving us to proofs of salvation. A saved person strives to obey God’s commands and a saved person can accomplish that through the Holy Spirit which dwells within them.
Series: Light In The Darkness [#6]
Sunday Evening Bible Study August 24, 2003
Bel Aire Baptist Church
