These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 (emphasis mine)
1 John is often used as a rebuttal to easy-believism. However, this would would require the final "that" to be replaced with "whether or not" so that it would read:
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know whether or not you have eternal life.
Or one would have to insert "do not" between "have" and "eternal" so that it would read:
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you do not have eternal life.
Many of the statements in 1 John certainly serve the purpose of tearing down that which is false. And it is very right to use 1 John in this way. However, that is not the primary purpose of this epistle. And when the secondary purpose is made primary the result is that true believers fail to get the Spirit's intended comfort. The primary purpose of this epistle is to provide assurance that you are a believer (cf 1 John 2:21). Keeping our focus the same as John's guards believers from holding their breath every time they read this epistle until they successfully pass the tests again. Instead, they will receive the intended comfort that they truly are children of a wonderful, loving Father (1 John 3:1-2).
Thoughts on the Way Home
