In the verses we are studying together in this series, John focuses on the test of loving God and loving His people. And if you love God and His people according to Scripture, you will have assurance of your salvation in Christ Jesus.

Like the apostle John, do you genuinely love God and God’s people? Tom Pennington calls every believer to examine their heart, to test themselves, in order to confirm whether one is truly in the faith.

According to 1 John, those actions are the marks of someone who has not trusted in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and salvation from the wrath to come. By way of comparison, the true Christian is someone who has a growing affection and love for God and His people. Not perfection, but direction, with overall consistency.

According to the Scriptures, God demonstrated His love to His people by sending His Son into the world to die on the cross and then to rise from the dead three days later. In response to this amazing act of love, every true follower of Jesus Christ is called to sacrificially give up their life in the pursuit of loving God and loving His people.

Pastor Tom Pennington gives several practical applications from a proper understanding of how God demonstrated His love for His people by sending Christ Jesus into the world to save sinners.

According to the New Testament, the Spirit is given to every believer at the moment of salvation. But the Spirit’s ministry doesn’t end there. In fact, 1 John 4 teaches that the Holy Spirit continues to play a vital role in the ongoing life of the believer.

The heart of the gospel is that God sent His only Son into the world to live a perfect life and to die on a Roman cross—not for His own sins, but for all of those people who would believe in Him. Friend, do you believe that message? According to 1 John 4, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that applies that great truth to us, as Christians!

The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to make believers more and more like Jesus Christ. And what fuels this sanctification process in the mind and heart of the believer is a right understanding of God’s love for us, as Christians.

We’ve been studying together in this series that true Christians are marked in one way by a deep and abiding love for God and His people. Pastor Tom has helped us understand this key reality by walking us through 1 John 4:7–21. Tom compels believers to take seriously the sanctification process—that we, as Christians, must mortify our sin and obey God’s Word.