John 17.3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Eternal life is knowing God personally. This knowledge of God is real and certain. According to the apostle John, the crux of the test is a spirit’s acknowledgment or rejection of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God. But we must understand that a confession of Jesus involves more than an admission of His identity. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Matt. 8:28, 29 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Mark 1 23,24 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
In both cases, these demons gave a correct acknowledgement of Jesus being The Son of God; The Holy One of God. Those demons are not going to be in heaven because of their acknowledgement of Jesus’ being The Son of God. A genuine profession of faith in Jesus brings a person into a relationship with Him and results in a life of submission to His sovereignty. The Holy Spirit testifies to and glorifies Jesus. Therefore, a genuine confession of faith will proclaim the truth that Jesus is the incarnate Christ, The Son of God.
Doctrinally, this confession of faith will testify to both His full humanity as our Savior-Redeemer as well as His full deity as Lord and Sovereign King. Practically, this profession of the knowledge of Jesus will bring forth the fruit of The Spirit that attests to the fact that a person is indeed abiding in The Vine. Reader, is your knowledge of God in your head? Or is there the compelling evidence of Jesus Christ dwelling in you?
