I believe that God is in control of all things and that includes the pandemic that we’re in right now. That makes me hopeful of His good purposes for all that we’re experiencing. But there is genuine cause for concern as well. When COVID-19 first caused churches to close their doors, there was a lot of optimism and even celebration. Early on in the pandemic, Carey Nieuwhof, announced that church growth had spiked 300% in the month following the shutdown and cited research that showed that 49% of all churches were growing. Church growth soon showed itself to be little more than online church curiosity. Christians were popping around to various churches to see what everyone else was doing.
Dealing with the closure of our church ministries has been a difficult process for everyone. For some of you, it’s probably been the longest period that you’ve gone without attending a church service since you were born. For others without such established patterns of church attendance, the separation is different. As we try to navigate through the unchartered pandemic waters that we’re facing, it’s important that we continue to listen to each other and seek God’s will for our next steps. To help in that, I wanted to share the results of our latest survey about returning to in-person worship services along with some of my own thoughts.
If you’ve ever shared doubts with a Christian friend about whether you can know that you’ve received eternal life or will go to heaven one day, it’s likely they’ve read to you 1 John 5:13. That’s the verse which says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” It’s a great verse of assurance that promises us that we can know that we have eternal life. There’s no need to be left guessing. The promise is made to those who believe in Jesus and it has calmed the fears of countless believers. I think it’s a great verse and it’s not wrong to share it with people who have doubts. The problem is that it can be read and applied too simplistically. That’s because it’s a summary statement that comes at the end of a 5-chapter book that has given a series of tests of true and false faith. And so 1 John 5:13 needs to be understood alongside those other tests. The book of 1 John gives at least four tests, alongside our faith in Jesus, that are given to reassure us of our salvation. Let me share them with you.
It’s not surprising that the aspect of Christianity that is most unique is also the most misunderstood. Christianity makes the outrageous claim that God completely pardons sinners and gives them eternal life solely on the basis of their faith and not as a result of anything they have done morally or religiously to deserve it. This is what distinguishes the Christian message from almost every other religion. But it begs the question: What part do good works play in the Christian life? Doesn’t God care how a person lives? Our minds immediately race to movies featuring mafia members in a confessional booth or church service and then hours later committing some shocking crime. Is that what the Bible teaches? Two seemingly contradictory passages of the Bible help clarify the place of good works in a person’s salvation.
