In these verses, John helps his readers identify their spiritual ancestry in no uncertain terms: If someone does not consistently practice righteousness, they are not part of the family of God. John goes on to say that if you do not love one another, you’re not part of the family of God.

According to the New Testament, habitually practicing sin proves that you are what Scripture calls a child of the devil—perpetually sinning, just as he does. On the other hand, habitually practicing righteousness, according to Jesus Christ and His Word, demonstrates your true spiritual ancestry: that you are a child of God.

In 1 John 3, John gives a test to his readers so that they may have assurance of salvation—the test of obedience to Jesus Christ and His Word. John says that you can know whether or not you have eternal life based on your obedience to Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, many churches have abandoned the core tenets of the Christian faith, and consequently, they have wholesale abandoned the gospel. But for us, as Christians, not only must we boldly proclaim and hold fast to good news of Jesus Christ, we must attend churches that embrace and proclaim the same message.

A church that does not hold to the biblical Jesus and the biblical gospel is not a true church. In today’s message, Pastor Tom explains why the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of the hallmarks of a biblical church.

According to the New Testament, it starts by regularly coming together for corporate worship on the Lord’s day, as well as regularly observing the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s table, two ordinances that Scripture commands faithful churches to administer.

In today's message, we come to the fourth hallmark, and it’s that a biblical church must intentionally structure church life to reflect what the Bible teaches.

A biblical understanding of man puts into perspective man’s condition before a holy God: He is a wretched sinner, one who has rebelled and sinned against a holy God and is thus unable to save himself.

A biblical church understands and embraces what the Bible teaches about man: his nature, problems, and their solutions. While the culture continues to understand man through psychology and other philosophies, we, as Christians, must be committed to what the Bible says about man.

In order for a church to be both biblical and spiritually healthy, it’s essential they have a high view of God’s Word. In other words, they must treat the Bible with the utmost respect as they would God Himself.

Many professing Christians and the local churches they attend proclaim that Scripture is their ultimate authority—but deny it in practice. For a church to be a biblical church, they must affirm that the Bible is God-breathed, it is sufficient, and that it speaks authoritatively for all of life, including how churches should conduct themselves.