The Christian walk is a tunnel. At the entrance to the tunnel are these verses:
"He who believes has eternal life." Jn 6:47
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, and your house." Acts 16:31
"By grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that no man should boast." Eph 2:8-9
At the end of the tunnel we have these verses:
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. Matt. 16:24
12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, Phil:2:12
3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
4Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 1 John 2:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10
It would be wrong to equate the beginning of the tunnel with the end of the tunnel. They are different. Most of the NT is written to believers, encouraging them to make their faith mature. 1 John 1:
3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4We write this to make our[SUP]
a[/SUP] joy complete.
John is not writing to believers to get them to test themselves to see if they really believe, that would be condescending, illogical, and preposterous. John is writing to believers to get them to have true fellowship with all believers and with God the Father and to make joy complete in him and them. Having continuing fellowship with God and others is a journey, a process, and we encounter various obstacles and distractions. It's a daily goal and process.
Do you believe? That is a question easily answered. Do you have fellowship with God and others? That is also a question easily answered, but they are not the same question.