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Presentation 02
Presentation 02
Presentation 02
IntroductionCounterfeit bank notes can be spotted by holding them up to the daylight. Similarly, John says, "The claims of men and women to be disciples of Christ must be held up to the light to see if the watermark of God's grace is really there". While John provides the church with a number of tests to help with authentication, he is also aware that some sensitive souls may be quick to disqualify themselves of any genuine experience of God's grace. And so his very simple and sometimes frightening statements are teased out and their meaning amplified - such is the measure of John’s pastoral care.
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Provision For SinFor example one of the themes running through the epistle describes the Christian as someone who does not make a practice of sinning. The point John wants to make is that the Christian does not habitually sin. Sin is not at home in his new God-given nature. Rather it is an alien thing which he hates and is constantly having to deal with and drive out.
Then in order to balance the claim and before stating that the Christian does not sin [habitually], John first reminds Christians of their sinful natures and of God's provision for their sin.
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Provision For SinWe've already noted in 1v7 the continuous cleansing power of the death of Christ- "the blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from all sin". We've also been encouraged in 1v9 to make regular use of the pathway of confession in order to maintain the enjoyment of our salvation and communion with God.
Perfection is not arrived at in this life, that awaits our arrival in heaven. What is of supreme importance is the direction in which our lives are presently travelling and as far as John is concerned it is that which determines whether or not our Christian profession is genuine. And so in opening verses of ch2 we have three further characteristics of genuine Christianity.
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Provision For SinThe first concerns what we do when we sin. Our behaviour at this point depends upon having a genuine knowledge of Christ and what he has done for us. In 2v1 the Christian is told that he has One who speaks on his defence, an ‘advocate [lit. 'paralclatos'] with the Father.’
The picture is of court of law and Jesus is the counsel for the defence. He doesn't try to prove our innocence or call character witnesses to claim we have acted out of character. Instead, he points to his own sinlessness and to his death on the cross for us- his perfect righteous life bore our penalty of sin. Jesus argues that justice has satisfied itself in him and that as such the case against God's children should be dismissed.
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Provision For SinSin cannot be punished twice, once in Christ and then again in those for whom he died. Do you see the tremendous peace and security which these words should produce in the Christian’s heart? When we sin; we admit it, we confess it and we look to the one seated at the right hand of the Father our advocate in heaven’s court. Alexander Whyte describes the advocacy of Jesus in heaven in this way:
“This intercession is perpetual, unconditional and all-prevailing. It is not carried on by words and pleadings; Christ's simple presence in our nature at God's right hand secures for us the fruit of his death.”
Jesus is the only advocate who takes on guilty clients and who has never lost a case!
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Provision For SinChristians can rest not only in who Christ is, but on what he has done cf v2... The phrase ‘atoning sacrifice’ points to the substance of our advocate’s case. Jesus offered himself upon the cross as a means by which punishment is changed to forgiveness and wrath to mercy. But the word translated 'atoning sacrifice' has a far richer meaning, lit. ‘propitiation’ which means the turning aside of anger. Have you ever done something and thought, ‘when so and so finds out they will be very angry'? You live in dread of being exposed to the heat of their anger! On the cross Jesus not only paid the price of our sin satisfying God's justice, he turned aside God's righteous anger against our sin by absorbing it in his own person. The Christian will never see anger in the face of God because it has all been exhausted in Jesus.
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Provision For SinWhen John says Jesus did this for ‘the sins of the whole world’ he is not teaching universalism [that atonement has been made for every man and woman]? What did Jesus teach concerning the nature of his death? For whom did he die? He spoke of laying down his life savingly for his sheep [Jn.10], not for the goats as well! He spoke of his life being given as a ransom not for all but for MANY. When John speaks of 'the whole world' he is saying Gentiles as well as Jews, there is no category of men too bad or too distant from God whose sin is beyond the reach of Christ's atonement! How can this encourage the Christian? Jesus accomplished all that he came to accomplish through his death - salvation is not conditional upon the strength of the believer's response to God. The security of the believer's salvation rests in the fact that Jesus did not bear his punishment in vain.
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Moral Test - ObedienceSome false teachers claimed that it was possible to have a deep relationship with God through visionary experiences but did not believe it was necessary to take sin or biblical morality seriously.
Some time ago a movement known as the Children of God spread from America exerting great influence in the West. Their leader claimed marvellous visions from God and intimate knowledge of him. But while his followers were out on the streets seeking to expand the movement he was involved in a series of sex orgies with some young women in his movement. His claim to have a deep knowledge of God was completely divorced from morality. He failed John's third test which is a moral one!
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Moral Test - ObedienceIn v3 John links a man's claim to know God with his eagerness to obey him. Knowing God here refers to the ‘knowledge of acquaintance’ rather than knowledge of mere facts. Let me illustrate, I may know many facts about the queen but I don't know the queen personally. – we have never met. John teaches it is impossible to claim to know God personally if there's no sign of obedience to him! When we say, 'actions speak louder than words‘, we mean that actions provide a truer picture of the real person for words are cheap. They easily deceive. Obedience is something that fallen man balks at. He resents being told what to do and enjoys being 'a free agent'. However, the genuine disciple possesses both the enabling and motivation for obedience to God.
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Moral Test - ObedienceGrace does not abolish God's law, it internalises it, by writing it upon our hearts. The Holy Spirit promotes obedience within the believer’s heart. It is very normal for newly converted Christians to discover a growing revulsion of sin that previously they had committed without a second thought! Why? Because the Holy Spirit has created not only a keener awareness of sin but a new delight in the obedience of holiness.
When we refuse to obey God we accept a slander against God's character which lies at the root of all temptation. We are claiming to know better than God and that is another way of saying that we do not know God well enough. To know God is to love him and to love him is to obey him.
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Moral Test - ObedienceThe Christian alone possesses motivation for obedience. He's motivated not by mere duty but by love for Jesus. A responsive love has been awakened in his heart! He is after all involved in a love relationship. Look at any couple in the first flush of love, eager to do anything to please the other. The Christian's love for Jesus and desire to obey him should be no less intense. The Christian wants to do all in his power not to cause his first love any pain. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” Jn.15. Love provides an incentive for obedience which law can never provide. This is what John is driving at in v5... Obedience is the route to growth. We cannot rest content with low levels of obedience in our lives and expect to experience the fullness of God's love.
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Moral Test - ObedienceMany claimed to have a very special relationship with God. But John is saying we cannot divorce that claim from evidence of the life of Christ in your heart - he delighted to do his Father's will. We cannot divorce our claim to have a relationship with God from obedience to the word of God.
We must walk as Jesus did v6. Jesus’ example was to live a life of obedience to the law of God. He delighted in keeping his Father's commandments. Walking in the light is a walk motivated by a love for God. This is how Jesus walked. If a man refuses to travel down that road and walk in His steps, then his claim to know God is false.
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Moral Test - ObedienceJohn says, ‘I am writing a new command to you.’ v8. A command that echoes Jesus’ distilled command of the ten commandments to love God and to love our neighbour. This new command was taught by Jesus but has its origins in Mosaic law and therefore is not really new v7. Jesus did not abolish the law of Moses rather he filled out its meaning. The newness of the command sprang not from its substance but from its practice. God is love and Christ was love in the flesh. In him we see a perfect love for God the Father and for his fellow man.
The truth of this command to love was seen in a new light in the person of Christ. And we find that easy to accept but look at what he says to his Christian readership in v8 the truth of this command is not only seen in Christ but in the believer! That is staggering. But that is what Christianity is all about.
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Moral Test - ObedienceWith the coming of Christ a new age has dawned. Jesus has established a new covenant in which God puts his law in our minds and writes it on our hearts cf Heb. 8.8, Jer.31.33. Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law and made available to us his divine resources and power to live a life of obedience. The weakness of the old covenant was that the law told men how to live but did not empower them to live lives of obedience. But this is precisely what the gospel of Christ does, this is the new thing about the commandment to love. Christians are empowered by the gospel to give God the obedience he requires! And as a result the darkness in their lives is passing away and the light of Christ, the reflection of the family image is seen, albeit imperfectly in them.
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Relationship Test - LoveOne way in which this new life is apparent is in the field of human relationships. Love for others and in particular love for the family of God. Some Christian piety seeks to shut itself off in a hermetically sealed unit from other people even from other Christians. In this way the individual reasons he will keep himself safe from any contamination. He will not be exposed to gossip, backbiting, or behaviour That fails to meet with his approval. He will not be infected by those he considers less spiritual than himself.
But the more the Christian becomes wrapped up in himself, and in the cultivation of his own character and the preservation of his own holiness, the more self-centred he can become and self love takes over. The spiritual recluse fails to love his brother or sister.
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Relationship Test - LoveThere is something suspect about that kind of spirituality which wants to be safe in its own little corner. Some failed to love those they considered their spiritual inferiors - they tolerated all that was said about Jesus’ life and work, but were preoccupied with their own narrow teaching and despised those who did not accept it. They claimed to be in the light but their attitude to others in the fellowship belied that claim. Their so-called light was darkness to them. The absence of a positive active love for others can be as sure an indication of walking around in darkness as can more outward forms of hatred and violence. For John there is no middle ground on which to stand. Men are either walking in darkness or in light. Their lives are characterised either by hatred or by love.
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Relationship Test- LoveThe way in which to test authentic Christian discipleship is to examine a person’s attitudes towards fellow Christians. The man who loves his brother lives/abides in the light v10. The word lives/abides indicates that this love is more than an emotion balanced on a knife-edge. It is a settled heart attitude and suggests a stable life.
The man who loves his brother opens his eyes wide to see all that is good in him. He therefore neither stumbles himself nor causes others to stumble because he makes the best of his brother. He draws the best out of him. Unlike the man in v11 who walks in darkness.
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Relationship Test- Love
The contrast in these verses is between wide-eyed love and a narrowing, darkening hatred. The darkness of hatred is a fearful thing, the man who hates is unwilling to see and closes his eyes to the possibility of good in others. Let me illustrate: it is known that pit ponies who after working underground for a long period of time soon become blind!
Light which is ignored soon ceases to make any impact upon us. A loveless religion causes us to become critical and uncharitable towards every other Christian.
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Relationship Test- LoveSome Christians quickly dismiss other denominations and fellowships. They claim to be zealous for God but their lovelessness blinds them to what God is doing elsewhere. Such a person feels his whole environment threatening and hostile. Fear panics him but when you run in the dark you run into danger.
A climber enveloped in mist should stay put until the mist clears – but the great difference between his experience and the person in our text, is that the latter’s darkness is self-inflicted. The progressive closing of his eyes, causes all rhyme and reason, all rational judgement to be lost in a great thick fog of aggressive and self-destructive fear. As we continues to hate another, our prejudice against them increases until we are incapable of seeing with eyes of true judgement. Our judgement becomes hopelessly warped.
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ConclusionIt is impossible to read through these tests of authentic discipleship without sensing something of the grief and heartache of John for those who have chosen darkness rather than light, hatred rather than love, disobedience rather than obedience, and subjective experiences rather than a true knowledge of God.
John indicates the self destructive nature of those who have rejected the truth as it is found in Christ without any sense of satisfaction or pleasure. These tests are provided for our good to enable us to measure the genuineness of our own profession and surely also to quicken our prayerful concern for those who are in darkness still!
