The True God

Text: I John 5:20 And we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Introduction:?

All truth comes from the true God. God does not change, and the truth does not change either. Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. Jesus said “Thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17) The New Testament church is described as “the pillar and ground of the truth.” (I Timothy 3:15). Because God is truth, Satan hates the truth and will oppose the truth. There is only one true God who is Jesus Christ, and we are in Him.?

The true God gives assurance that we have eternal life:

The purpose of John’s gospel is to show us how to have true belief and eternal life. John 20:21 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name. However, the epistle (letter) of I John is written to have assurance that we actually possess eternal life as true believers. ???????I John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. What are “these things” which John wrote?

1.??????? Obedience to God: I John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

2.??????? Love: I John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

3.??????? Truth: I John 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

4.??????? The indwelling Holy Spirit: I John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and He in us, because He hath given us of his Spirit.

5.??????? The witness within: I John 5:9 If ye receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He testified of his Son. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son.

We may not manifest all the signs all the time, but this should be the norm. Many of the verbs in I John are in the present tense, meaning that this is what we will normally do. However, if we lack these signs in our life, we should question if we are truly saved and pray to the Lord for clarity. II Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates??

The true God hears and answers prayer:

False Gods cannot hear and answer prayer. The true God can hear and answer prayer. Are we experiencing answered prayer in our lives? I John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

The true God warns us over the seriousness of sin:

I John 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. The sin unto death refers physical death, and not eternal separation from God, which is the second death. For example, Ananias and Sapphira sinned unto death when they lied to the Holy Spirit about the amount of a sale of their property. Each was confronted by the apostle Peter and died after lying. In I Corinthians 11:29-30, we are warned not to despise the Lord’s supper, where it speaks of many being weak and some die.

The true God protects his own children:

I John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not. 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

We live in a dangerous and wicked world. Yet the true believer has his position in Jesus Christ, who is not only the Son of God but God the Son, with all the power of deity. We are under His protection and can rest in his assurances. We should not seek protection or consolation from something or someone else that we use to replace our confidence in God, but to worship and rest in the true God.