Confidence: You Can Know, and Knowing Changes Everything
There is a quiet crisis that many people carry into their daily lives — not a crisis of circumstance, but a crisis of confidence. Not confidence in themselves, but confidence in what they believe, in who God is, and in whether any of it is actually real. In a world overflowing with competing voices, spiritual influencers, philosophical frameworks, and religious alternatives, the question beneath all the noise is surprisingly simple: Can I actually trust this?
The letter of 1 John was written to address exactly that question. And the answer it gives is a resounding, unambiguous yes.
We Were There
The opening of 1 John is striking in its directness. John does not begin with theology or argument. He begins with testimony. He says, in essence: we heard him, we saw him with our own eyes, we looked at him, and our hands touched him. This is what we are telling you about.
That is the claim of an eyewitness, not a philosopher. John is not offering a system of thought. He is offering evidence. And the evidence is personal. They walked with Jesus. They heard him teach. They watched him heal. They saw him die and then saw him alive again. They were present for all of it, and their testimony is the foundation on which everything else rests.
This matters enormously, because the world has never stopped producing alternative explanations for who Jesus was. In John's day, a growing philosophical movement was teaching that true spiritual knowledge was hidden, that it lived somewhere deep within the individual self, and that salvation came not through faith in a risen Savior but through discovering a special inner wisdom. This teaching, which would eventually become known as Gnosticism, was quietly seeping into the early church and creating confusion, doubt, and spiritual instability.
John's response is not to argue philosophy. It is to say: we were there, and they were not.
The Mystery That Is No Longer a Mystery
Paul, writing to the church at Colossae, made the same point from a different angle. In Colossians 2, he described his goal as helping believers reach "full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ." He then added something that cuts directly against the idea of hidden spiritual knowledge: in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Not within yourself. Not through secret teachings. Not through ancient writings that contradict the apostles. In Christ.
The mystery of God was once concealed, but it has been revealed. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again. He declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. He did not say he was pointing the way to something hidden inside you. He said he was the way. The search ends in him.
This is why 1 John 5 is so clear and so simple. John writes that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son does not have life. There is no labyrinth to navigate, no inner journey to complete, no special knowledge to unlock. There is a person. His name is Jesus. And you can know him.
You Can Know
The word John uses when he says believers can "know" they have eternal life carries with it the idea of certainty, of confidence built on solid ground. This is not wishful thinking or religious optimism. It is the kind of knowing that comes from reliable testimony, from a trustworthy source, from a God who does not hide.
And that is perhaps the most important thing to understand about the God of the Bible. He does not hide. He does not make himself difficult to find. He came in the flesh, walked among people, taught openly, and then sent his Spirit to continue guiding and teaching those who follow him. He made a way, and the way is not complicated.
Hebrews 4:16 captures this beautifully, describing how believers can approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that they may receive mercy and find grace in their time of need. That is an open invitation. Not a maze. Not a test. An invitation from a Father who loves his children and wants them to come near.
The Bible You Can Trust
One of the most practical takeaways from all of this is something that can easily be taken for granted: you can trust the Bible. The letters and accounts that make up Scripture were written by people who were either eyewitnesses themselves or were recording the testimony of eyewitnesses. The early church, not far removed from the apostles themselves, carefully examined which writings aligned with that testimony and which did not. What remains is not a collection of myths or borrowed philosophy. It is the Word of God, confirmed by history, by archaeology, and by the testimony of transformed lives across two thousand years.
This means you do not need anything added to it. You do not need supplemental writings or secret gospels or new revelations that contradict what has already been given. You have what you need. The invitation is to read it, study it, memorize it, and let it shape the way you see everything else.
Joy That Is Complete
John ends his opening passage with something quietly beautiful. He says he is writing these things so that "our joy may be complete." The proclamation of Jesus is not a burden. It is not a system to maintain or a performance to keep up. It is joy. It is the joy of knowing you are loved, that you are not alone, that you belong to God, and that nothing can take that from you.
1 John 3:1 puts it in the most personal terms possible. John urges his readers to see what great love the Father has lavished on them, that they should be called children of God. And then he adds four words that carry the full weight of the gospel: and that is what we are.
Not what we are trying to become. Not what we might be if we search hard enough or learn the right things. What we already are, by grace, through faith, in Christ.
That is the confidence available to every believer. You can know him. And knowing him changes everything.
There is a quiet crisis that many people carry into their daily lives — not a crisis of circumstance, but a crisis of confidence. Not confidence in themselves, but confidence in what they believe, in who God is, and in whether any of it is actually real. In a world overflowing with competing voices, spiritual influencers, philosophical frameworks, and religious alternatives, the question beneath all the noise is surprisingly simple: Can I actually trust this?
The letter of 1 John was written to address exactly that question. And the answer it gives is a resounding, unambiguous yes.
We Were There
The opening of 1 John is striking in its directness. John does not begin with theology or argument. He begins with testimony. He says, in essence: we heard him, we saw him with our own eyes, we looked at him, and our hands touched him. This is what we are telling you about.
That is the claim of an eyewitness, not a philosopher. John is not offering a system of thought. He is offering evidence. And the evidence is personal. They walked with Jesus. They heard him teach. They watched him heal. They saw him die and then saw him alive again. They were present for all of it, and their testimony is the foundation on which everything else rests.
This matters enormously, because the world has never stopped producing alternative explanations for who Jesus was. In John's day, a growing philosophical movement was teaching that true spiritual knowledge was hidden, that it lived somewhere deep within the individual self, and that salvation came not through faith in a risen Savior but through discovering a special inner wisdom. This teaching, which would eventually become known as Gnosticism, was quietly seeping into the early church and creating confusion, doubt, and spiritual instability.
John's response is not to argue philosophy. It is to say: we were there, and they were not.
The Mystery That Is No Longer a Mystery
Paul, writing to the church at Colossae, made the same point from a different angle. In Colossians 2, he described his goal as helping believers reach "full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ." He then added something that cuts directly against the idea of hidden spiritual knowledge: in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Not within yourself. Not through secret teachings. Not through ancient writings that contradict the apostles. In Christ.
The mystery of God was once concealed, but it has been revealed. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again. He declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. He did not say he was pointing the way to something hidden inside you. He said he was the way. The search ends in him.
This is why 1 John 5 is so clear and so simple. John writes that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son does not have life. There is no labyrinth to navigate, no inner journey to complete, no special knowledge to unlock. There is a person. His name is Jesus. And you can know him.
You Can Know
The word John uses when he says believers can "know" they have eternal life carries with it the idea of certainty, of confidence built on solid ground. This is not wishful thinking or religious optimism. It is the kind of knowing that comes from reliable testimony, from a trustworthy source, from a God who does not hide.
And that is perhaps the most important thing to understand about the God of the Bible. He does not hide. He does not make himself difficult to find. He came in the flesh, walked among people, taught openly, and then sent his Spirit to continue guiding and teaching those who follow him. He made a way, and the way is not complicated.
Hebrews 4:16 captures this beautifully, describing how believers can approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that they may receive mercy and find grace in their time of need. That is an open invitation. Not a maze. Not a test. An invitation from a Father who loves his children and wants them to come near.
The Bible You Can Trust
One of the most practical takeaways from all of this is something that can easily be taken for granted: you can trust the Bible. The letters and accounts that make up Scripture were written by people who were either eyewitnesses themselves or were recording the testimony of eyewitnesses. The early church, not far removed from the apostles themselves, carefully examined which writings aligned with that testimony and which did not. What remains is not a collection of myths or borrowed philosophy. It is the Word of God, confirmed by history, by archaeology, and by the testimony of transformed lives across two thousand years.
This means you do not need anything added to it. You do not need supplemental writings or secret gospels or new revelations that contradict what has already been given. You have what you need. The invitation is to read it, study it, memorize it, and let it shape the way you see everything else.
Joy That Is Complete
John ends his opening passage with something quietly beautiful. He says he is writing these things so that "our joy may be complete." The proclamation of Jesus is not a burden. It is not a system to maintain or a performance to keep up. It is joy. It is the joy of knowing you are loved, that you are not alone, that you belong to God, and that nothing can take that from you.
1 John 3:1 puts it in the most personal terms possible. John urges his readers to see what great love the Father has lavished on them, that they should be called children of God. And then he adds four words that carry the full weight of the gospel: and that is what we are.
Not what we are trying to become. Not what we might be if we search hard enough or learn the right things. What we already are, by grace, through faith, in Christ.
That is the confidence available to every believer. You can know him. And knowing him changes everything.
Melvin Vandiver
Recent
Archive
2026
March
April
September
2025
Categories
no categories
Tags
no tags