Big Idea: Our assurance is found not in our performance but in Christ’s perfect and perpetual atonement.
- We Have Assurance Through Our Advocate
1 John 2:1 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
But Jesus’ advocacy reminds us that our relationship with the Father is not dependent on our performance but on Christ’s finished work. His perpetual advocacy means there is nothing left to prove.
Shame tells us that we are defined by our failures, but Jesus’ advocacy declares that we are defined by His righteousness.
Romans 8:1 “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
- We Have Assurance Through the Atonement
1 John 2:2 “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Jesus, as the atoning sacrifice, took upon Himself the punishment we deserved. His death on the cross satisfied the justice of God and made it possible for us to be reconciled to the Father.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”
Hebrews 9:22 “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”
John 3:16 “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
The atonement calls us to walk in the light and live as those who have been forgiven and made new.
- We Have Assurance Through Transformation
1 John 2:3-6 “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
True faith produces fruit in the form of obedience and transformation.
If we are in Christ, His love will be made complete in us as we walk in obedience and rely on the Holy Spirit. When we stumble, we are not condemned but called to confess, repent and keep walking in the light.
