I John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not he Son of God hath not life.
To Have Christ is to Have Life
John Rice once told a story of a young man who was saved in a revival service one night. A few nights later, John Rice preached on the words of Christ to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” Again, the young man came forward, took John Rice by the hand, and said, “Brother Rice, the other night I trusted Christ to be my Savior, and now I want to be born again.” Uncle John explained that when he trusted Christ, Christ saved him, and he got everything that God had for him. The young man replied, “Well, I wanted to be sure I had everything.” John Rice’s conclusion was that when you have Jesus Christ you have everything in the way of salvation.
I John 5 says it this way, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Salvation is a gift. You don’t earn it. You receive it or reject it. This gift is in a Person, God’s Son, Jesus.
Whatever you may lack, when you have Jesus Christ you have life, and whatever you may have, if you do not have Jesus Christ, you do not have life. It’s just that simple. John continues in verse 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.” So, we can know that we have life, and we can remember what gave us life to begin with, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Assurance ultimately comes from depending on what Christ has done and not what I have done. Salvation comes down to what you do with Jesus Christ. That is the one crucial decision that determines death or life and upon which we must hang our assurance. The way to have assurance today is to remember Who saves a person in the first place, and that is nothing less, more, or different than God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.