How do you know what you know?  Did someone you trust tell you something that they said was true?  Did you see the thing that happened--so you know it is true?   Did you have an experience that caused you to know something?

Most of what we know is not first hand information.  As a result, sometimes what we think we know isn't true at all.  And sometimes we act on false information--which can get you into a world of hurt.

I went through the letter of 1John 1:1-10 with you last week.   In chapter two, John (the disciple) talks about "knowing."

Verse 2 says this:  "...hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that says, I know him, and doesn't keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."  That's pretty clear.

From time to time I hear someone say something like this:  "Well, he (she) made a profession of faith and was baptized so they are saved."  Not so.  Walking down an aisle or quoting some creed or getting sprinkled or dipped in water doesn't save you.  Walking the aisle and being baptized is just a way of informing people of your decision.

The thing is, it all happens inside you where people can't see. You give yourself up to God.  You beg for forgiveness.  You accept the price Jesus paid for your sins.  And then an interesting thing occurs.  You change.  You stop doing things you used to do.  You start doing things you never did before--for other people.  Little by little you become a new person.

Jesus said, "You must be born again."  That is a good description--you become a new person.  Your "want-to" changes.  You want to do different than you used to do.  It is a matter of the heart.

Paul (the disciple) put it this way in Philippians 2:12:  "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Works don't save you.  But God's salvation changes your works.  Check yourself.  Have you become a different person?