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A question you should ask yourself at this point is, How can I tell whether I’ve truly believed in Jesus? Believing in Jesus isn’t the same as merely acknowledging that He existed. It’s not even the same as admitting that He’s the Son of God. Jesus transforms from the inside out. Believing in Jesus will always be evident in the way we live and the things we care about.

Since you’ve believed in Jesus, what has changed about your life?

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John 3:16-18 explains that Christ came to save us, not to condemn us. Anyone who believes in Him is saved, and anyone who doesn’t is already condemned. John went on to describe the difference between people who believe in Jesus and those who don’t by using one of his favorite themes of light and darkness:

This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.

- JOHN 3:19-21

What might it look like to love the light? What might it look like to hate the darkness?

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If the goal of the Christian life is to be like Jesus, your desires will be redirected. What we want and desire should look like what Jesus wants and desires. Because Jesus is light, loving Jesus looks like loving the light, seeking to follow it, and leading other people to it. John continued the theme of light in His first letter to the church:

We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 JOHN 1:4-7

How does walking in the light strengthen our relationships with other people?

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How could walking in the light motivate you to help other people find the light you’ve found?

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Read 1 John 1:8–2:2. How would you use these verses to explain the gospel to someone?

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How can you know the gospel is true and is working in your life? You have new desires. You love the light and hate the darkness. You follow God’s commands to love Him and love others. Whoever belongs to God loves what God loves:

This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands. The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him: The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.

- 1 JOHN 2:3-6

Conclude this lesson by reflecting on the gospel and the ways it has changed your heart. Your actions don’t earn your salvation, but they reveal the desires of your heart. If people looked at your life, would they see Jesus? Are you following Him in a new direction?