In today’s text I want you to note a phrase that occurs three times in these verses. It’s the phrase, “Whoever says,” (vv. 4, 6, 9) and it introduces a series of three tests by which anyone can know beyond a shadow of a doubt whether or not they are a child of God.

You see, according to this text, the believer can and should enjoy the confident assurance of knowing that they are really saved, but that assurance is to be built on an objective source of certainty. This objective source is the result of personal examination that reveals the practical evidence in their lives that John outlines for us in today’s text.