That You May Know
You Have Eternal Life

Most of us have experienced it — that moment where something you thought was settled suddenly feels uncertain. You have been walking with God for years, or maybe months, but in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday, the question surfaces: Am I really born again? Does He actually hear me? Is any of this real? The enemy is not creative. He uses the same assault he has always used. And the disciples of the Apostle John were facing the same attack two thousand years ago.

On Sunday, May 3rd, Bishop Beau Barton preached from 1 John 5 at Courts of Praise — a direct response to the doubt, the waver, and the erosion of confidence that so many believers live with quietly. It was a call to know. Not to feel more. Not to have more emotional encounters. To know.

"Faith will not outgrow your knowing."

— Bishop Beau Barton  ·  May 3, 2026

Why John Wrote

When you read through all five chapters of 1 John, a pattern emerges. John is writing to people who loved God — who had encountered Jesus, who had been changed — and yet who were being systematically assaulted in their assurance. They were doubting whether they were truly born again. They were shaken. And John, the apostle who walked closest to Jesus, sat down and wrote them truth.

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."

— 1 John 5:13

His response to their doubt was not to gather them for a prayer meeting or to organize a retreat. He wrote them truth. Because he understood something that we often miss: ignorance is the enemy of confidence. You will not walk in bold, settled faith beyond the boundaries of what you actually know.

The Knowing That Changes Everything

Bishop Beau drew a clear line: the more you know what God has declared, the more your faith will grow. And faith will not outgrow your knowing. This is not a discouraging word — it is one of the most empowering truths in the New Testament. It means that the ceiling of your confidence is not determined by your circumstances, your track record, or your emotional temperature. It is determined by what you know.

This is why John gives his disciples clear, testable markers. Do you love Jesus? Do you love the people Jesus saved? Do you keep His commandments? These are not abstract spiritual questions — John is saying, here is how you can know. Here is how you look the enemy in the eye and say: I know something. And his name is Jesus.

"When you know what God says… the more you know what God declares, the greater your confidence will be. The more your faith will expand and grow."

— Bishop Beau Barton

There are people who have been sitting in church for decades still wrestling with the same doubt they had in their first year. Not because they are not saved, but because they have not taken responsibility to grow in their knowing. They have let what should have been a foundation remain a question mark.

Praying with the Confidence of Someone Who Knows

"This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."

— 1 John 5:14

Notice what this verse does not say. It does not say God hears us when we pray loudly. It does not say He responds when we feel sincere enough. The condition is alignment — asking according to His will. And the guarantee, when that condition is met, is absolute. Nothing in hell is big enough to stop God from giving you what you petition for in alignment with His will.

Bishop Beau was transparent about his own journey in this: in earlier years, prayer was scattered — a list of wants, desires, and needs laid before God with no real intention. But maturity in prayer looks different. It looks like a man who has given himself to knowing what God wants, so that when he prays, he prays with authority. He is not asking and hoping. He is thanking God for what is already guaranteed.

"I want there to be a confidence that I am asking according to His will. I want to stand up with boldness and say, God, thank you for this — not even asking, just thanking."

— Bishop Beau Barton

The Responsibility That Is Yours

"We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him."

— 1 John 5:18

There is a responsibility stated plainly here that the modern church has largely avoided. He keeps himself. Not God alone. Not the pastor. Not the accountability partner. You. The person who has been born again takes an active role in their own holiness. This is not a works-based theology — it is a sons and daughters theology. A father who has given his children everything still expects them to steward it.

And the consequence of keeping yourself is staggering: the wicked one cannot touch you. He can tempt. He can come against you. But he has no authority. No grip. No right. Sin is the door — and sin is the only door. When you close it through surrender, repentance, and a consistent decision to keep yourself, the enemy stands outside with no way in.

"Rebellion and sin is the permission to the wicked one in our lives… He cannot come in until you let him. And if we keep ourselves, the wicked one does not touch us."

— Bishop Beau Barton

He cannot forgive what you will not repent of. He cannot cleanse what you do not release. But when you do come with sincerity — when you turn and confess — He is faithful and just to forgive and to restore. Fully. Completely. And then you keep going.

Maturity Means the Body Matters to You

Bishop Beau did not stay in the personal. He pushed into something harder: most of us never grow out of immaturity in the Kingdom because every major decision we make — where we live, where we work, how we spend our time and money — is made on the basis of personal comfort, convenience, and preference. We make these decisions as if we are not part of a living body that has need of us.

"You are part of a living body. We are part of the church of the living God. He has put us in this body and He has given us things to supply to the body that are like Him. And we are going to be together forever."

— Bishop Beau Barton

The most valuable thing you can give your family, he said, is the presence of God. Not the best school system. Not the most comfortable climate. Not proximity to relatives. The presence of God. Where the Spirit of the Lord is moving — plant yourself and your family right in the middle of it, and stay until He says to do something different.

A Note for This Week

Here is what Bishop Beau left the church with, and it is worth sitting with: you have been given written truth — the Word of God — so that you know. If you will take it and actually digest it, consistently and personally, your faith will grow. Your doubt will shrink. Your prayer life will shift from wishful thinking to bold, aligned petition. And the enemy will find no door.

Three things to do this week:

1. Read 1 John 5 — the whole chapter — slowly, prayerfully. Ask the Holy Ghost: teach me. Give me the knowing.
2. Examine one area of your life where you have not been keeping yourself. Bring it before the Lord with sincerity. Repent. Close the door.
3. Identify one decision you are facing — big or small — and lay it before the Lord asking not what do I want but what is Your will. Then listen.