1 John 5:13 (KJV) Do You K-N-O-W You Have Eternal Life?

1 John 5:13 (KJV)

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The first Sunday of December 1979, Mike Riggs, my partner and ironworker fitter, invited me to attend Cornerstone Baptist Church. It was the church’s second week of existence and met in the pastor’s living room off 10th Street in Kennewick, WA. There were, I think, ten people there.

I had called on the Lord and asked Him to forgive my sins and save me while watching a Sunday morning TV evangelist about two years earlier, but I knew nothing of spiritual things—other than that I believed. After Pastor Fred Scudder preached his message, I don’t remember the topic (although I recall he taught out of Revelation in the Sunday school hour and out of Acts in the evening service), he gave an invitation to respond. I raised my hand to indicate that I was sure I was saved.

When he and I spoke after the service, I told him I understood that I needed to be baptized (Mike had explained that to me that week). Pastor asked if he could come visit me Thursday night, and I agreed.

Thursday night, Pastor Scudder went through the plan of salvation with me to confirm that I understood it and had called on the Lord. He then showed me—for the first time I had ever seen it—1 John 5:13 (KJV):
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

I’ll never forget how he read the verse: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God… Marvin, you just told me you believe on the name of Jesus. Is that correct? … That ye may know, K-N-O-W, know that ye have eternal life.”

I don’t believe I’ve ever shared that verse with another person without quoting it the way my pastor did—“that ye may know, K-N-O-W, know that ye have eternal life.”

I wonder—do you K-N-O-W know that you have eternal life?

#KnowEternalLife #SavedByGrace #BlessedAssurance #FaithInChrist #BelieveAndKnow

Do You K-N-O-W You Have Eternal Life? The Verse That Settled My Salvation

Do you K-N-O-W that you have eternal life? 1 John 5:13 makes it clear—you can have full assurance through faith in Jesus Christ. If you’re unsure, don’t wait another day to settle it. Read the verse, believe God’s promise, and take Him at His Word.

💬 Question for you: When did you first know for sure you were saved? Share your testimony in the comments below so others can be encouraged.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 John 5:13 (KJV) Do You K-N-O-W You Have Eternal Life?

1 John 4:21 (KJV) The Command to Love

1 John 4:21 (KJV)

And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

There are certain things that just cannot be forced. Love is one of them. 

• A man can’t make a woman love him. 
• One cannot be forced, commanded, or constrained to love a country.

On the other hand, love can be won.

And, in the case of family, we love them naturally, almost instinctively, and sometimes inexplicably. It takes major events to turn against those whose blood we share, and even then, I suspect we love them—just not what they’ve done.

Some rare instances of unnatural affection have been cited—people whose wickedness is so strong they hate really everyone, including their family. As iniquity increases in the last days, we’ll see more of this.

Let’s be clear: we cannot command a person to love, but we can expect family to love one another, and we can instruct and direct that family in appropriate evidences of that love.

We don’t love the Lord, the things of God, or the people of God naturally. But Christ won our love on the cross. Having been won, and thus born into the family of God, it is natural to love others in the family.

And it is completely appropriate to be directed in how to show or give that love to our brothers.

#LoveTheBrethren #FamilyOfGod #ChristWonOurLove #BiblicalBrotherlyLove #CommandedToLove

The Command to Love: Christ Won Our Love on the Cross

Loving God means loving His people—plain and simple. Christ won our love at the cross, and now we’re called to show that love to our brothers and sisters in the family of God. How are you living out that command today? Share your thoughts in the comments below so others can be encouraged by your testimony.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 John 4:21 (KJV) The Command to Love

1 John 3:3 (KJV) 3 Fruits of True Salvation

1 John 3:3 (KJV)

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Gill must have been thinking as I am, because he answers the very question that struck me upon reading this:

“…not that any man can purify or cleanse himself from sin, this is only owing to the grace of God and blood of Christ; nor that any man can be so pure and holy as Christ is, who is free from all sin, both original and actual…”

There’s the truth—none of us can purify ourselves. Gill writes further:

“…this must be understood either of a man that has faith and hope in Christ, dealing by these with the blood of Christ for purity and cleansing…”

This hope, of course, is of Christ’s return, His gathering us to Himself, and of His making us into His likeness. This hope is the fruit of true salvation. I cannot conceive of a conversion that would not result in such fruit.

The chapter goes on to describe this “fruit” as having three marks:

First: “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.”
We who are saved do sin—we live in corrupt flesh. But those who abide in Christ cannot abide in sin. Sin strikes us with conviction. I’ve met people who desperately want to be close to the Lord and who hate themselves for their sin. They almost torture themselves over it. But I’ve also seen those who believe they know the Lord, yet live free from guilt over sins they continue in happily. My bet is the former are the saved.

Second: “He that doeth righteousness is righteous.”
Those who have hope in Christ are convicted of their sins and compelled toward following Christ—serving Him, obeying Him. We are made the righteousness of God in Him, and that righteousness will inevitably act itself out.

Third: “…we love the brethren…”
We are no more perfect in this than we are perfectly sinless or perfectly righteous. The brethren, like us, are flawed and fallible, and at times we find ourselves at odds. Still, we are driven toward love for them, forbearance with them, and forgiveness. It’s not always easy or our first impulse, but it is where we eventually land.

Christ—the assurance of His return and of dwelling in His presence—results in a present life that is becoming of Him.

#HopeInChrist #PurifiedByHisBlood #FruitOfSalvation #LoveTheBrethren #AbideInHim

3 Fruits of True Salvation: Sin Not, Do Righteousness, Love the Brethren

If the hope of Christ’s return truly lives in us, it will show in our lives—we will sin not, we will do righteousness, and we will love the brethren. These are not works to earn salvation but the fruit that flows from it.

💬 Question for you: Which of these three marks do you find the hardest to live out daily, and why? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear your story.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 John 3:3 (KJV) 3 Fruits of True Salvation

1 John 2:2 (KJV) Paid in Full

1 John 2:2 (KJV)

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The word propitiation means appeasement, satisfaction. It harkens back to the Old Testament sacrifice—an atonement.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ appeases, satisfies, and atones for our sins. They are covered, paid for, forgiven, and forgotten. The Christian needs to immerse himself in this truth because we know we sin. The more we read the Word of God and learn of the righteousness of God, the more we understand we do not measure up. We know we ought not to sin—the Bible teaches us that. But we do sin, and when we sin we must then lean on our faith in Jesus Christ, our Advocate.

But notice! “And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The sacrifice of Christ covers, pays for, and atones for the sins of the whole world. Every sin ever committed or ever to be committed by anyone in the whole world has already been satisfied in God’s eyes because of Jesus Christ.

There is only one sin that sends a man or a woman to hell—it is the rejection of Jesus Christ. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, and always has been, but one thing: the rejection of Jesus Christ. No one is in hell for murder or any other of a hundred heinous sins. All those sins were perfectly, completely, and righteously covered in the blood of the Lamb. Every soul in hell spends eternity regretting, not the sins they have done, but that they turned away from Jesus.

There are none elected to hell, just as there are none elected to be saved. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient—absolutely—to propitiate for the sins of all mankind: no limit, no restriction. The Calvinist is wrong. His eyes are in the wrong place. He sees what seems to be happening in the world around him and comes to his own conclusion concerning the saved and the lost, but he is wrong. Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. The call to salvation extends to the uttermost parts of the world. Every sin everywhere is already covered.

If a soul goes to hell—and I suspect most do—it is for this one sin: they refused to place their trust in Christ.

#JesusOurAdvocate #SinsOfTheWholeWorld #ChristOurPropitiation #SalvationForAll #TheBloodCoversAll

Paid in Full: No Limit, No Restriction

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not limited—it is sufficient for the sins of the whole world. Every sin, past, present, and future, has already been covered by His blood. The only sin that condemns is the rejection of Christ. Friend, the call to salvation is for you today.

💬 Question for You: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world—including yours? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 John 2:2 (KJV) Paid in Full

1 John 1:2 (KJV) Truth on Trial

1 John 1:2 (KJV)

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

I’m thinking about Exodus 20:16 (KJV): Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. The Ten Commandments of the Word of God are considered the basis of all civilized nations. Even Communist Russia governs under the foundation of these laws. Who can deny such moral truths as, “Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal”? And among them, the foundation upon which all law is built: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

It’s how the work of the police detective is conducted—he seeks witnesses to criminal events and applies reasoning to determine whether that witness is valid. It’s the tool of both the prosecution and the defense attorneys. They seek to either confirm or dismiss a witness’s credibility. To perjure—to bear false witness—is criminal, almost equal to the crime under investigation and litigation.

What a lost world doesn’t grasp is how this rule of law, the witness, reflects the very character of God. I do believe in the resurrection of Christ by faith. But my faith is not blind, ignorant, or superstitious. There were witnesses. Those witnesses proved themselves to be credible. As legitimate as any legal case—more so because we’re dealing with the infallible and omnipotent God—is the evidence of the resurrection of Christ.

Christ lived a sinless life, died a vicarious death, rose again on the third day, and ascended to heaven in the sight of many witnesses. Those witnesses proved to be credible. The One they bore witness of is God, and He promised to return for those who place their trust in Him.

I rest my case.

#EyewitnessToEternity #TruthOnTrial #ResurrectionWitness #GodsMoralLa #WeBearWitness

Truth on Trial: I Rest My Case for Christ

The resurrection of Jesus Christ isn’t just a matter of faith—it’s a matter of credible testimony.
From the Ten Commandments’ command to “not bear false witness” to the eyewitnesses who saw the empty tomb, God’s truth stands unshakable. In a world where lies spread quickly, the evidence of the risen Christ remains the most reliable case in history.

Do you believe the witnesses to the resurrection? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below—I’d love to hear your perspective.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 John 1:2 (KJV) Truth on Trial