One of the major concerns present in Protestant culture, particularly among Evangelicals, is having an absolute personal guarantee of one's salvation.
The Catholic Church, in contrast, says that this sort of certainty is off limits. We can have confidence (not absolute certainty) of being heavenbound in the present moment, but regarding our future... we need to be humble and pray for perseverance.
So there is a conflict of visions between Evangelicals and Catholics on this matter.
Into that conflict comes 1John 5:13:
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
With this verse in hand, Evangelicals will say to Catholics:
"You guys say you can't know where you are going when you die. But here is John the Apostle saying we can KNOW we have eternal life. So why would you say you cannot know you have eternal life?"
So... what do we do with this passage?
