ILLUSTRATION: Pastor Anthony Diluzio, Calvary Community Church, and the evil attorney

There is a trial that goes on from time to time in the mind of almost every believer. Hard times, sinful times - doubt - Am I really a Christian? I just don't know. I really have doubts. Prosecution says one thing and the defense says another. But I wonder, what evidence do you use to defend whether you're a believer?

The book of I John gives us some really good ideas when it comes to examining the evidence of whether we are believers, and getting an assurance of our salvation. Now, 1 John is not just about that; it's about other things as well. John states several purposes for writing his letter right in the book:

1 John 2:26 - To refute false teaching about Jesus Christ and about Christian living ("If we say" in vv. 6,8,10 - statements by false teachers in the churches)
1 John 1:3 - So that you can have fellowship with us (be on the same page)
1 John 2:1 - So that you will understand that Christians don't sin by habit
1 John 1:4 - So that you will have full joy
1 John 5:13 - So that you may know that you have eternal life

So, John sets out to answer the question, "how may I know that I am truly saved? What evidence should I look at?" Groups of professing Christians base their assurance of salvation on some pretty poor evidence.

1. Don't Look At Religious Activities
John doesn't say anything about church rituals or participation in them, he says nothing about baptism, or confirmation, or acts of penance, or attending Mass, or last rites, or anything else that figures so largely in the peace of mind of the average Catholic or Lutheran or Anglican.

He doesn't even say the spiritual disciplines of daily devotions, Scripture memory, or giving to the poor are evidence to be considered.

"Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus said this to a community accustomed to think that heaven was theirs in exchange for a relatively undemanding commitment to outward rules; heaven was theirs if they embraced a religious routine. No one more consistent giving, tithing, fasting, and prayers than the Pharisees!

Jesus warned about relying on religious experiences as evidence of your salvation - many will come to me in that day and say, "Lord, Lord …" (Matthew 7:21-24). No relationship; part of a system. Like the 2nd and 3rd soils in Matthew 13 - some were choked out by riches and the cares of the world, and some dried up when persecution came.

2. Don't Look Back At A Past Experience
John also doesn't say that you should put into evidence any particular kind of spiritual experience in your past, such as American evangelical churches have for so long. In many evangelical circles, one knows he is a Christian because he had a conversion experience in church, or at a camp meeting, or at an evangelistic crusade … and you write the date in your Bible to remind you. But that is not what John says - don't look back. No, people who proved themselves to be finally unbelievers sometimes had powerful, tear-filled, slain-in-the-Spirit experiences that everyone thought at the time were evidence of their conversion and new life in Christ.

There are drunk young men on the streets of Joburg and London named Brad and Mark and Peter who likely slept with a girl last night, but were flames for Jesus Christ in the Sandton Youth.

Paul warned about taking things for granted - "make your calling and election sure, work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

And John places virtually no weight on past experience in his letter. Buying a Blue Bulls shirt in 1998 does not mean that you are a Blue Bulls fan today. I find that many people "try on Christ" to see if He is a good fit.

3. Don't Look At Your Identification With God's People
Ever met a woman who, after 20 years working for the SPCA, turned into a dog? When Jesus was confronting the Jews about their lost condition, they fired back, "We are children of Abraham and of the circumcision who have the Law and the prophets." Jesus said that God could make stones into circumcised Jews … and they would all be lost. Church affiliation should be evidence that you are a Christian, but any more, it really isn't. Many evangelists believe that about 70% of the professing church is actually unbelievers.

4. Don't Look At Your Feelings
1 John 3:18-20 - John says that if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. Unfortunately, the ones who should be confident aren't, and vice versa.

5. Look At Living Evidence.
John says look at recent behavioral evidence. You should test your commitments by the fruit they produce in your character and life. When God comes into a life, He comes to produce certain results. Changes MUST happen; you WILL begin to change from the inside out. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17):
Our spirit is reborn; our old self dies and is replaced by a new self; we have the Spirit of God on board and starting to work, whispering to us that we are His children; then come the results … the necessary results of those internal changes … and the presence of those results - John says - is the main proof, the most reliable evidence of the presence of God's salvation.

NOTE: These five things are evidences of being a believer - not how you become a believer (like walking in righteousness). God chose you before the foundation of the world, drew you to Himself by His Word, His Spirit, and His messengers, and you responded in repentance and faith asking God to forgive your sin because Christ died in your place.

True believers are identified by present day characteristics.
1. True believers walk in the light. Light = truth. Our life can be assessed as lining up with God's ideas, God's values, and God-honouring activities - properly guilt-free living - no need to hide in the darkness (1 John 1:5-7, John 3:19-21). True believers don't claim to be without sin. Although we don't have to sin, our walk is not without stumbling - we have a hatred for sin - but we have a remedy for our imperfections. 1 John 1:8-10, 2:1-2
2. True believers practice righteousness by obeying the commands of Jesus. Our life can be assessed as being a pattern of one right step after another. 1 Jn. 2:3-6, 3:6-9
3. True believers don't love the world (1 Jn. 2:15-17) but overcome the world (1 Jn. 5:4-5). World = world's people, ideas, and activities outside of God or opposed to God - go for possessions, go for pleasures, go for positions. Our life can be assessed as continually resisting a love for money and the things money can buy, continually being suspicious about my own ambitions to be somebody, and continually being a taskmaster over my own impulses for indulging myself with bodily pleasures.
4. True believers are those who love God and love Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour of the world (1 John 5:1). Cordelia at KwaMhlanga. Our life can be assessed as continually having a love for God and a desire to please Him.
5. True believers love their brothers in Christ. Love mentioned 35x in the letter! 1 Jn. 2:9-11, 3:10-11, 16-17, 4:7-8. Our life can be assessed as having an unselfish commitment to meet the needs of others.

Am I really a Christian? I just don't know. I really have doubts." Prosecution says one thing and the defense says another. But I wonder, what evidence do you use to defend whether you're a believer? The book of I John gives us some really good ideas when it comes to examining the evidence of whether we are believers, and getting an assurance of our salvation … and it all has to do with looking at the living evidence of our lives in the recent past.

Do I walk in the light? Do I practice righteousness by obeying the Lord? Do I refuse to love the world and try to overcome its influence in my life? Do I love God and Jesus? Do I love other believers?