Confidence Before God: Day 11
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” - 1st John 3:19-24 (ESV)
Assurance. How can we find assurance in our faith? Can we actually obtain this level of confidence? John would encourage us that we can. It is entirely possible to walk with confidence before God. To walk with a level of assurance, knowing without a shadow of a doubt, that we abide in him and he in us. Through the Holy Spirit inside us, we are given the road map to this level of confidence and assurance. Here in these verses, we observe two principles that can increase our assurance in God and our confidence before God.
1. God is greater than our hearts. When the bible talks about the heart, it was often understood that it was not just referring to the physical muscle located in your chest, rather it was seen as the center of your intellectual and emotional life. The inner you. This was considered the secret place where only you knew. No one has access to your intellectual and emotional life unless you outwardly express your thoughts. This is where we conceive our biggest dreams, think our most vile and wicked thoughts, and desire whether for good or evil; it is the core of who we are. God knows and sees us in our secret place. Psalms 44:21 says “Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.” A both challenging and freeing realization is that God sees and knows what is inside our hearts. He knows what we are feeling and thinking, at all times.
A reality that is often hard to accept, is that we are often our own worst critic. Depression and self-doubt are not new emotions to the human race. They have been around for almost as long as time itself. Because of this, one thing that often keeps us from having confidence before God is our thoughts. We know everything about ourselves and we, like Adam and Eve, cower and try to hide ourselves from God. We would condemn ourselves through our thoughts. Yet here John writes a truth that encourages us. God, who knows everything, is greater than our hearts. His love is greater. His mercy is greater. His compassion is greater. Whenever our inner thoughts and emotions go against us, God is greater.
2. Obeying God's commands brings confidence. This must be seen in the right context. John is not writing here that if we perfectly obey we unlock our salvation or a magical blessing. Rather what John is communicating here is that when we obey, we grow in confidence. God has given us commandments, not suggestions. These commands are not given for us to earn our salvation, rather they are given for us to walk in life as God has intended. Living in God’s world, God’s way. There is a natural progression to living out life obeying God. When we obey God’s commands, life is as it was created to be. We find confidence because we come before God with a posture of obedience. When he speaks, we listen. A disobedient child may come before their parents knowing they are loved, however, a disobedient child does not come with much confidence when they know they’ve disobeyed. Obedience creates confidence, not from a place of earning, but rather from a place of reassurance. The Spirit at work is on display through obedience.
When we think of God’s commandments we immediately think about the hundreds of rules in the Old Testament. However, John makes it pretty plain, as in he doesn’t leave much guess work. He tells us which commandment that if we obey brings us confidence before God. Vs 23 “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” The greatest assurance is found in the name of Jesus. It is in our faith of the person and work of Jesus Christ that we find both assurance and confidence. The obedience John is talking about is simply to know and love Jesus; also to love one another. Confidence before God is found in love. first, found in God’s love for us, second, found in our love for Christ and his people.
Takeaway: Be assured in faith by God’s love for you. Be confident before God by loving Jesus and his people.
