The Lessons of Three Hearts, 1: the Truthful Heart

THE LESSONS OF THREE HEARTS
PART 1: THE TRUTHFUL HEART
TEXT: 1 John 3:18-19

SUMMARY: Every believer must learn the lessons of the truthful heart, the condemning heart, and the confident heart, in order to experience a confident and abiding faith.

I. THE LESSON OF THE TRUTHFUL HEART (vv. 18-19):
A. Loving in Deed and in Truth, v. 18.
B. Assuring Our Hearts Before Him (v. 19):

1689 LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION, “Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation”:

1. Although temporary believers, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God and state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish; [Job 8:13-14; Mt .7:22-23] yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, [1 Jn. 2:3; 3:14,18-19,21,24; 5:13] which hope shall never make them ashamed. [Rom. 5:2,5]
2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith [Heb. 6:11,19] founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel; [Heb. 6:17-18] and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit to which promises are made, [2 Pet. 1:4-5,10-11] and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; [Rom. 8:15-16] and, as its fruit, keeping the heart both humble and holy. [1 Jn. 3:1-3]