Do You Know?

You know? You do know, don’t you? The apostle John says, “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.” Knowing things was important to John. There were some people around him claiming to know what they said was the real Jesus. They created secret societies—exclusive clubs for “those in the know.” In fact, exclusion was their primary premise. If you were one of them then you were saved. But, if you didn’t know—well, then…

We are surrounded by uncertainty these days. You can hardly be sure that what you read or hear is the truth. Fact-checking websites have risen to fill the need opened up by spin doctors—tellers of half-truths that seek to deceive people—and careless folks who, without a thought, pass on any bit of gossip they’ve run across, never considering its credibility. John’s readers also had to deal with enough conflicting “authorities” to shake their faith, so he decided to set their minds at ease by reminding them of some essential truths that they (and thus we) can know.

At least six times, John points out that we can know what our relationship in God is. There need be no question. The Spirit says so.

That’s something to think about.