A Believer s Assurance is Christological

Transcription

1 A Believer s Assurance is Christological Counseling the true believer to exercise Faith In, Love for and Obedience to Jesus Christ Introduction 1 John 5:1-21 Purpose The primary purpose (5:13) o A devotional purpose (1:3-4) o An ethical purpose (2:1) o A familial purpose (2:24,27) o A polemical purpose (2:26) 1 NOTE: The differences between the Gospel of John vs the Epistle of John In John s Gospel - the purpose was (20:31) o In the Epistle, the purpose is In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Christ. o In the Epistle, Christ is. The Gospel of John, the Gospel is at the center of the Christian o In the Epistle, the Gospel is the of the Christian life Background As we have seen, the early church was facing false teachers who John called antichrists (2:18-26; 4:1). o Gnosticism (strict dualism, matter evil and spirit good) possibly early stages o Ebionism o Docetism (dokeo - to appear) o Cerinthus o Not sure which one or combination 2 They denied he was truly human (1:1-2) They denied Jesus was the Christ (2:22) They denied he was both human and divine (5:6) They emphasized knowledge (2:20) It seems like they originated out of Judea (2:19) 1 First John clearly combats a heresy that was perverted in its Christology and woefully deficient in its morality. Donald Burdick, The Letters of John the Apostle, Chicago Moody Press, 1985, There seems to be a danger in two areas: A self-righteousness through a knowledge that allowed for unholy living and a self-righteousness through ascetic practices both were works of the flesh, Edmond Heibert, First John, P a g e

2 Transition In our knowledge of God in a hostile world, how does our faith, love and obedience all relate together for our assurance as a believer in Jesus Christ? o Our Spirit-given beliefs in Jesus Christ (truly divine and truly human) 2 Cor 11:3-4 Faith is demonstrated by our love o Our Spirit-generated and active love (2 Thess 1:3) Faith without love is a o Our Spirit-empowered obedience Our true love will be evidenced/demonstrated by obedience Faith without obedience is (Jas 2:14-26) Romans 1:5 obedience of faith Romans 16:26 obedience of faith Satan s biggest tool is the Christian s ignorance of God s Word 3 DIAGRAM 3 The basis for the efficacy of deceit is its effect upon the mind. For sin deceives the mind. When sin attempts to enter into the soul by some other way (such as by the affections), the mind checks and controls it. But when deceit influences the mind, the chance of sinning multiplies The mind is the leading faculty of the soul. When the mind fixes upon an object or course of action, the will and the affections follow suit. They are incapable of any other consideration. Thus, while the entanglement of the affections in sin is often very troublesome, it is the deceit of the mind that is always the most dangerous situation because of its role in all other operations of the soul. The mind s office is to guide, to direct, to choose, and to lead. if therefore the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23) John Owen, Sin, P a g e

3 1. Assurance from the evidence of true Love (4:7-5:5) This is the interrelationship of faith, love and righteousness (obedience) 4 Question: Can a Christian have a faulty Christology? (5:1) 5 Question: Can someone love God and hate or not love other Christians? (4:20-5:3) Question: What does it mean to love God? (5:3) Question: Can I say I love God but not obey His Word? (5:3a, c.f. Deut 10:12; John 14:21,23; 1 Jn 3:10,22) Question: How can God s commands be carried out and with the right attitude? (5:3b-5) Question: Who overcomes and how? (5:4-5) 6 Question: How does faith fit into this Christian life? (5:4-5) 2. Assurance through the Spirit s witness (5:6-12) Faith takes God at His Word Question: What is the object of this faith? (5:6-8) Question: What does God say about His Son? (5:9-12) 7 Question: Is it so bad to not believe? (5:11-12) 3. Epilogue: Confidence and Certainties of a believer (5:13-21) 8 Question: What if others say, you don t have eternal life through Jesus Christ? (5:13) 9 Question: How does prayer fit in with expressing our trust and confidence in Jesus? (5:14-15) Question: What about praying for the spiritual needs of others, especially if it involves seeing a brother sin? (5:16-17) 10 4 To believe is not lightly to form an opinion, or to assent only to what is said, but a firm, undoubting conviction, so that we may dare to subscribe to the truth as fully proved. John Calvin, 1 John, Dr. Heath Lambert, Jesus Christ is the key to all counseling. Everything we need from God requires us to trust in Jesus to receive it. A Theology of Biblical Counseling, we conquer by faith, because we derive strength from Christ For by faith he means a real apprehension of Christ, or an effectual laying hold on him, by which we apply his power to ourselves. Calvin, 1 John, It is not an idea nor a system of belief nor even a fact that is the ultimate object of faith. It is a person. That person is Jesus Christ. He is to live in us (3:24). His love is to abide and be made complete in us (4:12). We are to live in him (4:13). And this is life eternal. Frank Gaebelein, I John, The progress of thought is clear. Having reached the close of his writing St. John recalls the main purpose of writing it (1:4), which he has fulfilled (5:13); and then illustrates the confidence of the Christin life under two aspects, 1. As it finds expression in spiritual action (:14-17), and 2. As it is realized in inward conviction (:18-20). He concludes by a warning against everything which usurps the place of God (:21). Westcott & Hort, I John, Six times he says We Know; We know that he hears us whatever we ask; We know that we have what we asked; We know that anyone born of God does not continue in sin; We know that we are children of God; We know also that the Son of God has come; We know him who is true (5:13-20) 10 Dr. Lance Quinn calls this Prayer-ification. (Sermon on 1 John 5) 3 P a g e

4 Question: What example does God give in answering prayer for a sinning brother? 11 Question: What is the sin that doesn t lead to death? (5:16, no definite article) Question: What is the sin that leads to death? (5:16) Question: What exactly is sin? (5:17) Question: Can a Christian continue in sin? (5:18) 12 Question: Who protects the believer? (5:18) 13 Question: What about false professions? Can one be deceived by their profession? Question: Can I just know about Jesus and not truly know Him? (5:20, c.f. 2 Cor 3:18) Question: What does keep yourselves from idols mean? (5:21, definite article the idols ) 14 CONCLUSION Brethren, here is the sum of the whole matter. There is one truth on which we can stay our hearts, one God in whom we can utterly trust, the God revealed in Jesus Christ. If we do not see Him in Christ, we shall not see Him at all, but wander about all our days in a world empty of solid reality. There is one gift which will satisfy all our needs, the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. There is one practical injunction which will save us from many a heartache, and which our weakness can never afford to neglect, and that is to keep ourselves from all false worship. These golden words of my text, in their simplicity, in their depth, in their certainty, in their comprehensiveness, are worthy to be the last words of Revelation; and to stand to all the world, through all ages, as the shining apex, or the solid foundation, or the central core of Christianity. This and none else is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Alexander Maclaren, 1 John, 47. We naturally gravitate, it seems, toward anything but Jesus and Christians almost as much as anyone whether it s the Christian worldview. grace, the Bible, or 11 The example of Job praying for his three friends (Job 42); The example of Moses interceding for Miriam (Num 12); The example of Moses interceding for Aaron (Deut 9:13-21); The Prophets praying for the people of Israel; Jesus for the disciples (e.g. Peter that his faith wouldn t fail, Luke 22:32); James 5:15 let them pray the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick Dr. James Boyer listed these points in his Greek Exegesis class notes, Grace Theological Seminary, 1977; These are truths we must recognize; The Christian life is not a life of continuing sin = we should not sin; The Christian life does not have sin removed; God has made provision for complete victory over sin = able not to sin; We still have sin in our lives (sinful flesh) = we are able to sin; The Christian life is a life-long struggle for supremacy on the part of these two opposing tendencies (they never stop in either direction); The secret to victory is reckon to be dead and alive and by the Spirit (Rom 6-8); Cleansing and growth is the Spirit using His Word. 13 Our security is not our grip on Christ but His grip on us. David Smith, The Epistles of St. John, The Expositor s Greek New Testament, 5: An idol is anything which occupies the place due to God. The use of the definite article calls up all the familiar objects which fall under the title. The command to Christians is not generally to keep themselves from such things as idols but from the well-known objects of a false devotion. Westcott & Hort, 1 John, P a g e

5 the gospel. As if they were things in themselves that could save us. Even the cross can get abstracted from Jesus, as if the wood had some power of its own The center, the cornerstone, the jewel in the crown of Christianity is not an idea, a system or a thing; it is not even the gospel as such. It is Jesus Christ. Michael Reeves, Rejoicing in Christ, 10. Overcoming the World 15 5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Testimony Concerning the Son of God 6 This is he who came by water and blood Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. That You May Know 15 ESV 5 P a g e

6 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God [a] will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 6 P a g e