Jesus Provided Assurance By Cutting Out All Add-Ons

What Did Jesus Do?

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

Have you ever found a bargain on the internet, perhaps on Amazon or eBay, only to be frustrated by the “+”? You know, when the bargain item you found for $8 requires $15 in “Shipping & Handling” to get it to you. There are all kinds of things where add-ons and hidden charges complicate, threaten, and sometimes simply put out of reach, our obtaining what we are after. Fortunately, this is not at all the case with salvation and eternal life, and prayer, because Jesus provided assurance by cutting out all add-ons.

You see, it is never Jesus+ __________=Eternal life. John was compelled to write to the Church (his little children; 2:1, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21) because false teachers had come among them and tried to sell them add-ons, ups, and extras. John’s response in this letter was to say that our assurance is Jesus, the Son, and him alone. We are certain, secure, and sure in the name of the Son—in Jesus we know we have eternal life. But that’s not all we have in Jesus. John also tell us that we have a new sureness, a confidence in prayer in and through the Lord (1 John 5:14).

You see, our prayer will be diluted, diminished, distracted, and devoid of power if we are forever seeking after something to make it better, more acceptable to the Father, than simply coming to him in and through the Son. Our confidence in prayer, our boldness (Hebrews 4:16), is grounded in the great high priest who is in heaven interceding for us (Hebrews 4:14). And this confidence rests upon our knowledge of the perfection of the Son’s sympathizing with us, for he was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So, we know he not only hears our prayers, when they are prayers of faith, prayers in accord with and submitting to his will, but we also have the assurance that he answers every prayer asked of him according to his will (1 John 5:15). In exhorting the Church to pray in and for the will of God, John passed on what he and the other apostles had learned from the Lord about prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), and followed the example of Jesus himself in prayer (Matthew 26:39).

One important aspect of prayer according to his will which I must not fail to mention is that, even though we have the immediate assurance that we have the requests that we have asked of him, there may yet be a delay in our experience of them due to the fact that part of our submission to God’s will includes his sovereign authority to act at the time he himself appoints. While we might, and often will in our flesh, chafe at any delay, we may be certain that God’s timing will result in more glory to his name, greater advancement of his kingdom, and more benefit to us than we can presently imagine.

Finally, John’s pointing to our assurance in prayer in and through Jesus should free us from fretting when we pray. Yes, we should feel a burden for prayer in our hearts, but our hearts need never be burdened by worry when we pray, because the Lord is our assurance in prayer, and there is no need to add anything, even worry, to prayer that is confident in Christ Jesus.

Commit your way to the LORD [in prayer];
trust in him, and he will act.
Psalm 37:5

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4