The point is, as always, that people may find solace in believing that they do not have to persevere, but the true ones will indeed persevere. To count yourself among the elect is above our pay grade.
Then how do you interpret these scriptures ...5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Quite simply. That those of us who have the Son, have life.
The point is to look at what "these things" means. By all means, if one reads and puts into play all of the things that were written, then one can be reasonably sure of having the Son and hence Christ.
But to simply consider that he wrote just this one or two sentences and that that is all we need to know "to know" that we have eternal life, is to miss the point.
We need to examine the totality of what is written, not just this excerpt.
And, as always, the very same class of people are addressed, "you that believe." What does that mean? Does that mean those that profess a belief once, or those that show that their beleif is genuine by persevering?
SD