Isn’t it difficult to not know something for sure? Such as not knowing if you have enough fuel to make it to the next gas station . . . or not knowing where your wallet and keys are. Do you know, and never doubt, where you’re going when you die? Perhaps you grew up in the church, but you aren’t sure if what God said is really true. You’ll want to tune in today!

In our culture, Christians are often made to feel their core beliefs are anchored in nothing more than blind faith and fairy tales. Today Chuck Swindoll reminds us that there are certain things that we as believers can know for sure and stake our lives on. John finished his letter with words of strong assurance about the things we can know and never doubt.

John made his readers aware of “three that testify” in full agreement regarding God’s Son (I John 5:8). All of this deepens our understanding of what it means to be a child of God in His forever family. As we arrive at the last two verses in this section, we come to one of the clearest statements of the gospel found in all the Word of God—worthy of memorization!

God’s people are identified throughout the Bible by various titles. Among them are Christians, disciples, sheep, salt, light, ambassadors, a royal priesthood, and aliens and strangers—just to name a few. Near the end of John’s letter, he introduced two additional titles: “believer” and “overcomer.” Learn more today about your role and position in Christ.

John’s gospel mentions love much more than those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When John recalled the Savior’s final words to His disciples in the Upper Room, he remembered how often Jesus both spoke of love and demonstrated it. In these verses today, John returns to the same subject for the third time in this letter. Clearly, he wants us too to know this perfect love.

John’s gospel mentions love much more than those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When John recalled the Savior’s final words to His disciples in the Upper Room, he remembered how often Jesus both spoke of love and demonstrated it. In these verses today, John returns to the same subject for the third time in this letter. Clearly, he wants us too to know this perfect love.

In a me-centered culture, it’s difficult to remember—and follow—God’s command to put others before ourselves. But of all the things John learned from Jesus during the years he walked alongside Him, love was paramount. The power of Jesus’s love transformed John’s life. We should not be surprised, then, that the main theme of 1 John is to love one another!

As followers of God, we’re called to examine what we hear from the pulpit rather than blindly accept the pastor’s teaching. Today Chuck Swindoll tells us that the proliferation of religious error should not surprise us, because the Adversary fuels its fire. Paul clearly warned that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

According to Chuck Swindoll, the craving for entertainment has crept into our churches . . . and it’s begun to squeeze out the declaration of the true gospel. To make matters worse, thousands of “churches” exist that are led by deceptive but convincing individuals whose knowledge of sound doctrine is dubious. Today, just as in John’s time, we must “test the spirits.”

These days, more and more churches are focused on entertaining their members rather than teaching the truth of God’s Word. To exacerbate the problem, our postmodern times are marked by such an extreme emphasis on tolerance and pluralism that anyone who takes a stand against false teaching is labeled “judgmental.” How timely are John’s words!