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“The Fight
Against Sin” • 4.23.20 • Calvary Christian Fellowship,
Thursday Night Study
Intro.
- As we cross into this second chapter in
John's epistle, it's a good practice to remind ourselves of the thoughts that
closed the first chapter.
- John asserts that God is Light, a metaphors
that speaks of His holy character. Those that claim to be in relationship with
Him, must then walk in that same holiness.
- The problem is that we are stained with a
propensity to sin by our nature and by our habits.
- Gratefully, God has countered our nature with
His promise to extend forgiveness to those that confess their sin to Him.
- As we come into this new chapter, that thought
is dominating the minds of his hearers. How is it possible to maintain this
relationship with God? How can I have freedom from sin?
- Let's see what John chapter 2 offers us in relation to this
question. Verse 1.
Text
• I John 2:1 : "My little children,
these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." :
We noted last week that John would have been nearly 90 years old when he penned
this epistle. To him, everyone was a little child!
- He is referring to His children in the faith,
those that he was overseeing spiritually. They were precious to him and the
word he uses expresses tender affection.
- He's speaks to them and says something akin
to, "my darling ones." You and I might find that corny, but this is a
man that has been touched by love itself!
- He is not mad at the church for being naive
or caught up in a spiritual trap. He longs for them and writes because his
loving eye forees their present danger!
- "My little darlings, these things I
write to you so that you may not sin." In light of the promise of
forgiveness, it might have been a temptation to give into sin at any time.
- John wants to be sure that they understand
that they are not to give into a lifestyle or to make a habit of giving into
sin, to falling short of our goal to honor Christ.
- You and I will sin, we will fall short of
God's intentions for us, but that is far different from embracing a lifestyle
where we don't even make an attempt!
- John warns these precious ones to avoid sin
at all costs! I would warn and remind you of the same danger!
- No matter how attractive, alluring or
appealing sin is, it comes with a greater cost than the reward it promises,
each and every time!
- We have a forgiving God, who is faithful and
just, (I John 1:9) but sin will
still leave scars and consequences
that nobody wants.
- Even here, John wants them to know that sin
doesn't have to be the end of their relationship to Jesus. Thankfully, if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate! John is not contradicting Himself.
- We are still sinners with a sinful nature and
while we may not practice a lifestyle of sin, we will despite our best efforts
not to, fail in our desire to walk in holiness. Thankfully, we are not alone!
- We have an "Advocate." This is the
same word that is translated "Helper" in John 16:7.
- The same word translated
"Comforter", applied to the Holy Spirit there is
"Advocate", applied to Jesus here!
- The Holy Spirit is our present helper here on
Earth and Jesus is our Advocate in the courts of heaven where He stands as a
"go-between," a legal defense with the Father!
- On His office door, the nameplate reads that
He is Jesus Christ, the Righteous!
- With every accusation of sin, Jesus stands to
remind the Father of His righteousness that was imputed to cover us! We are
only righteous by our relationship to Him.
- Truly, because we are in Him positionally, we
are declared as if we were actually righteous, but make no mistake: Jesus alone
is the righteous One! Verse 2.
• I John 2:2 : "And He Himself is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world." : He, Jesus Himself, is the righteous One and the
basis for our righteousness because He stands as the sole propitiation for our
sins!
- The Apostle Paul wrote of this same concept
in Romans 3:26, calling Jesus the
"just and the justifier of the one" who has faith in Him!
- When you look up the actual word
propitiation, the definition is the "means of appeasement." To
appease means to "pacify or placate." A secondary definition is to
"relieve or satisfy."
- The NIV, CSB and NET all translate this word
"atoning sacrifice." The RSV employs the word "expiation."
Each of these words imply that there was once no satisfaction or expiation.
- Indeed, prior to Christ's crucifixion, God's
wrath against our sin was an ever present factor! God hates sin, it's affect
upon and through people because it's presence in our lives separates us!
- When Christ died, He took upon Himself the
punishment that our sins deserved, thereby relieving, satisfying and pacifying
the Father's wrath! That is what we are saved from!
- There is one other element that bears
repeating. This same Greek word is used by the translators of the Septuagint
when they described the "mercy seat."
- The ark of the covenant was the only piece of
furniture in the Old Testament tabernacle's Holy Of Holies. Only one priest was
allowed to enter that room on one day of the year.
- On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest
would enter in with the blood of a sacrificial lamb.
- He would sprinkle that blood onto the ark's
covering, the gold plated cover called "the Mercy Seat." In that act,
God's people were atoned for.
- When God looked down upon the sins of the
people contained within that ark, all that He saw was the blood of the
sacrifice! That bloody cover is Jesus!
- This was done for the people who were living
in Ephesus, who had believed upon Christ, but it extends to every place in the
world where the message of Christ has gone!
- The entire globe is the stage upon which God
is glorified in Christ! There isn't a person on this planet that could not be
saved by the perfect atoning sacrifice of Christ!
- Think about this: God has saved people from
all over the world, from every era! Should He tarry for the next 2,000 years,
His One offer of salvation through Christ will still be effective!
- Heaven will be filled with people from all
walks of life and from every race and color that has ever walked this planet,
all of whom have Named the Name above all Names as their Savior!
- Adam will stand next to Abraham, who will
stand next to an unknown farmer from India and an unknown shop keeper from the
streets of London! What a thought!
- There is blood enough for all that call upon
the Name of the Lord Jesus! Our confidence in our relationship with God is
based upon the propitiatory work of Jesus Christ!
- Our fight against sin begins with an
acknowledgement of the victory Christ has won! Verse 3.
• I John 2:3,4 : "Now by this we know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I
know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him." : John has definitively revealed how it is possible
to live in fellowship with God and in the light with Christ.
- There is ample forgiveness in the Lord
because of the righteous blood of Jesus.
- John moves into another area that would
confront Gnostic theology, this time in the area of knowing God.
"Gnosis" means "to know," yet their "knowledge"
didn't add up!
- John wants his children to know that they
know Him, without confusion or doubt! Knowing Him is the point of being a
Christian and also "THE WAY" to combat sin in our lives!
- "By this we know that we know Him!"
This is a very definitive statement to make. There isn't any mystery related to
whether or not a person knows God.
- This is very clear and a person doesn't need
anyone to introduce them to some esoteric knowledge that is outside of the
corpus of Christian revelation. That is what the Gnostics were selling!
- Theirs would have to be incredibly
complicated and involved for the Gnostic. John's test is quite simple and
direct. A person who knows the Lord by experience keeps His commandments!
- This is their habit. This is how you will
find them when you look for them! They will be keeping His commandments as a pattern
of life!
- The person that knows the Lord guards the
commandments of the Lord like one who is given charge of a precious possession.
His eyes are always on it! This is true of a believer!
- They are constantly on alert mentally
refreshing themselves in truth, always looking to live appropriately before
their Lord and seeking to live according to what they know to be His commands.
- Our question then will often be "what
are His commands?" What did John, the first century Jew view as Christ's
commands?
- There are many who will attempt to link the
word "commands" with the 10 Commandments. Still others will wonder
about the commands that were given to Israel as a nation.
- Here is how I answer this question: Whatever
is repeated by the New Testament writers can be considered Christ's command for
His people today!
- We do not have everything that was ever
written by these Apostles, but what we have is a sufficient body of teaching
that would represent the totality of Christian belief!
- Everything that you read in the New Testament
falls under the general category of the Lord's commands. The person who reads,
understands and seeks to see them lived out is a "keeper."
- They are standing guard over their own life,
making sure that the boundary lines of scripture are respected and honored.
That is how you know that you know Him!
- Interestingly, in the last several years,
this has been one of the chief admissions made by those that have
"left" Christianity. "I didn't want to follow all those rules."
- This is the exact kind of person that John
identifies as not knowing the Lord! They can profess their love for Him, but if
there is no heart to keep His commands, they are lying!
- They are lying to themselves, thinking that
they can pick and choose, design and define their relationship by their own
standards, when nothing like that exists in this life!
- As a spouse, you adhere to a rule of law
agreed upon by both individuals when you get married. A marriage ends when one
decides to live by alternate rules!
- As a citizen, you adopt the rules of the
country that you live in. When a person decides that certain rules are not for
them, they move from comfortable homes to crowded prisons!
- The same is true with Christianity! We
receive the love of the Lord and are indwelt by His Spirit, who then causes our
hearts to desire to know and perform His law.
- A true Christian lives from the standards
found in the scripture and will not deviate from it!
- In fact, a Christian not only wants to follow
the Lord's commands, they want to follow His commands more thoroughly with each
passing year!
- God's law is far from being a burden. It is
their very delight and honor to live this way!
- A non-Christian, one without the truth in
them, will simply set these aside and attempt to convince the rest of their
world that their claim is true. John returns to what is true. Verse 5.
• I John 2:5,6 : "But whoever keeps
His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we
are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as
He walked." : This applies to "whoever!" Any
regular person who is keeping, guarding His word proves that the love of God is
perfected in Him!
- It's not related to some special knowledge
that a person acquires, but a simple obedience to what they have already been
shown! Listen to verse 5 in the NLT.
• I John 2:5 (NLT) :
"But those who obey God’s
word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living
in him." : The word "perfected" refers to a finished
project, the proposed goal for it, having been met.
- As you learn to obey His commands, you are
looking more and more like Jesus. What other standard could be pleasing to Him
than the standard set by His perfectly obedient and righteous Son!
- This knowledge of God has led to a love for
Him and to continue to keep His commands makes a person's claim demonstrably
true and logically arrived at.
- After all, the person who claims to live in
Christ, ought to walk in the same manner as He did! That seems to be the
obvious conclusion to the Apostle.
- We become like what we admire! We take on
characteristics, imitate actions and even change speech patterns. Love for
someone usually breeds this kind of natural imitation.
- The love for God, the keeping of His
commandments, will further break our previous allegiance to sin. John continues
on in verse 7.
• I John 2:7,8 : "Brethren, I write
no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the
beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new
commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the
darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining." :
Verse 7 is one of my favorite hallmarks
of Christian teaching. Remember that the Gnostics taught a secret and
mysterious knowledge.
- The church was at some level, willing to
listen to this new set of teachings. This should always be a warning to you: If
your a Christian, if it's new, it's not for you!
- John is telling his audience, the church that
should not sin, that he has nothing new to command them! In fact, he only wants
to tell them what they had heard from the beginning!
- The faith that saves, sanctifies and
glorifies is delivered once for all to God's people! (Jude 3)
- Nothing needs to be added or amended, despite
what our culture would have us believe!
- To some degree, what you hear from me should
be what you have always heard from Pastors like me! If you hear something
" brand new" it may only be in relation to what is new to you.
- In our day, there is a wide spectrum between
seasoned believers and brand new believers. Many have never read certain
portions of the Bible, much less understood them. In that way, it's new.
- In the end, we have a single book to draw
from and that commandment which was heard from the beginning of the church is
just as viable today, 2000 years removed!
- At the same time, what John writes is like
"new" in that it is continually fresh! What is John talking about?
Whatever it is, it is common to Jesus and to the believers!
- John witnessed the outworking of this
"commandment" in Jesus and he is witnessing it in believers, namely,
that the darkness of this world is passing away through them!
- They are progressing in the things of God
through their love for Jesus and the darkness that once held them under it's
power is giving way to light!
- That is the reflective light of Jesus that
radiates through all believers, that identifies them as His children! Every new
generation that embraces Christ freshly manifests this light!
- This brings John to another test of Christian
authenticity. Verse 9.
• I John 2:9-11 : "He who says he is
in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his
brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates
his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is
going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." :
The light of Jesus shines in those who love His word. Let's call this the
"vertical" aspect of a Christian's relationship to God.
- This is the way that we show love to God
directly, but how does that impact the "horizontal" aspect of our
relationship to others who share the same "Name."
- If a person says he is in the light and is at
the same time, in a present state of hating his brother, that person is not
living in light, but is in darkness up until this very moment!
- Love for God issues in love for our brother.
In fact, it is God's love expressed through us toward our brother and sisters
in the Lord. For this person, nothing can cause permanent offense.
- John uses the word "scandalon" from
which our English word "scandal" comes from. The Greeks used the word
to speak of the trigger point of a trap.
- A person walking in the light will see a
person's offense, but will not take the bait to allow it to trap them
emotionally. They will forgive and grant the grace they have been given.
- All of the relationships will flourish
because they will not be trapped in the jaws of offense.
- They will hear what could potentially be
offensive and they won't use the opportunity to make it offensive personally.
- This doesn't mean that there won't be
problems to work out or overcome, but there will not be anything that this
person does that cannot be overcome by love.
- When Peter wrote to the church in Rome, he
noted that the fervent love of God covered over a multitude of sins! (I Peter 4:8) That is the kind of love
that will mark the body of Christ.
- Think now of the the comparison between the
person walking in light against the person walking in darkness. That person
doesn't comprehend his own direction.
- Darkness keeps him from seeing, from
comprehending where his path will lead him. Because he believes that his
knowledge saves or sets him apart, everything is an occasion for hatred!
- That kind of person, who is continually
looking down on those that are no match for their intellect or too judgmental
of their freedom, will never experience the love of God.
Conclusion
- When we consider the basis of our relationship to God and the fight against sin, we begin with the confidence we have in Christ's atoning and advocating work on our behalf.
- When we consider the basis of our relationship to God and the fight against sin, we begin with the confidence we have in Christ's atoning and advocating work on our behalf.
- He died for our sins and He lives to remind
the court of heaven that He has paid the price for the guilty one that has
believed upon Him!
- We continue to fight against sin when we
commit ourselves to His Word, refreshing ourselves often in the words of light,
that issue in our freedom.
- Finally, we continue to fight against sin
when we commit ourselves to our brothers and sisters, loving them as Christ
loved us! With such people, sin has little chance!
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