Believe, Be Sure About It And Be Ready

John's advice is still important today.

The apostle John was a close friend of Jesus, he was in the inner circle of the disciples, he is the man that took care of Jesus' mother for fifteen years after Jesus' death and he was an early leader in the church.

John's books are very significant part of the Bible, he gives us more of the teachings of Jesus than any other gospel writer, he also wrote the most unique book of the Bible from the vision that he experienced while he was exiled to Patmos.

We can see in John's books that he wants us to believe in Jesus, be sure about it and he wants us to be ready for his return:

Believe

John 20:31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

John wrote his first book out of a desire to help you believe. It is easy to find something to believe but there is only one belief that is going to get you to heaven. So what are we supposed to believe?

• Jesus the man is also one hundred percent God. (John 1:1-3, 14)
• Jesus came from the heavenly world to reveal God to the human race. (John 1:18, 3:13, 5:18-19, 6:62, 8:23, 8:26, 14:9, 14:11)
• Jesus came to live with us with a normal human body. (John 4:6-7, 9:6, 12:3, 19:34)
• Jesus came to be the sacrifice for our sins and give us eternal life with him. (John 3:14-16, 6:27, 10:10)

Eternal life is only available by belief in Jesus and his work on the cross as a substitute for the punishment that I deserved.

Be Sure

1 John 5:13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

John's next book was written to help you be sure of what you believe. The same man that was unclear and lacked faith in who Jesus was wants to help you with your belief.

What you believe is so important to John because just like every other Jew, John held onto false beliefs all of his life, his beliefs didn't get straightened out until after Jesus came back from the grave. Nobody understood that Jesus first coming wasn't going to be his last.

In John's three letters he wants to reassure troubled believers that they really do have eternal life so that they might enjoy it. (1 John 1:3; 3:18-19; 4:13; 5:13 / 2 John 5)

Be Ready

Revelation 22:20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

The first coming of Jesus was to give us eternal life and when he returns he will come to give us our eternal reward. Unlike the first time, when he returns again it will be too late to clear up any false beliefs, it is extremely important that you believe and that you are sure about it.

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