In his first epistle, the Apostle John provides believers three tests to confirm their spiritual standing. Following a church split (1 John 2:18–19), those who remained likely questioned who was truly right: the stayers or the leavers?
John wrote 1 John partly to define the difference between those who abandoned the church to form a sectarian congregation and those who stayed behind. While offering multiple insights in this epistle, he demonstrates that the remaining congregation are true believers (as opposed to those who left) because they have passed three critical tests of faith.
Importantly, John’s primary goal is not to make his audience question their salvation but to help them realize their full assurance by recognizing these three tests.[1]
Test 1: Do You Believe Christ Came in the Flesh?
John states, “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). Those who left the church likely denied Christ’s physical incarnation. They may have believed in Jesus but rejected the concept that he was the Son of God who took human flesh (John 1:14).
John emphasizes his witness of Christ’s flesh: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1-2).
By denying the Incarnation of Christ, John warns, one loses both life and relationship with God the Father:
- “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23)
- “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12)
The first test challenges believers to believe that Jesus Christ came from God by taking human flesh. Without this confession, one forfeits life and connection with the Father.
Test 2: Does Your Confession Lead to Righteousness?
John intricately links faith in Christ to righteousness:
- “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29)
- “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7)
- “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are evident: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10)
John accused the leavers of living unrighteously, marking them as children of the devil. In contrast, his congregation should be characterized by righteousness, identifying them as children of God.
Crucially, John is not advocating for sinless perfection. He earlier establishes grace: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). His point is that those who genuinely confess Christ live righteous lives marked by love.
Test 3: Does Your Confession Result in Love?
John writes, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). He then points to the implication that “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Earlier, he had written: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14). Emphasizing love’s centrality, John declares: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7–8).
Conclusion
These three tests confirmed John’s audience’s faith because they:
- Confessed that Jesus Christ came in the flesh
- Recognized that this confession leads to righteousness
- Demonstrated love for God and others
By contrast, false believers deny Christ’s physical incarnation, live unrighteously, and lack genuine love for God and their neighbors.
[1] As D. A. Carson and Douglas Moo explain, most interpreters of 1 John “agree that John lays down three tests: (1) true believers must believe that Jesus truly is the Christ come in the flesh, and this belief must work itself out in (2) righteousness and (3) love” (New Testament 670).
