REAL CHRISTIANITY A Study in 1 John

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1 REAL CHRISTIANITY A Study in 1 John Week 3: The Holiness of God, the Reality of Sin, and the Death of Jesus (1 John 1:5-2:2) Part 1 Keeping the Main Idea in View: 1:3, 5:13 To enjoy fellowship with God, giving us a growing assurance that we possess the life of God that is in Jesus. What stands in the way of fellowship with God and assurance in Jesus more than our sin? And what are we to do about our sin now that we ve been brought into fellowship with God through Jesus? Every counterfeit version of Christianity begins with a wrong view of Jesus (which we dealt with last week), but then moves quickly to a wrong view of sin and a wrong view of the nature of true holiness. So, John quickly moves from the Incarnation of Jesus to the issue of sin. At a very basic level, Real Christianity is about dealing with our sins in a way that reflects God s holy and gracious character. Main Point of 1:5-2:2: I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin Summary: Real Christianity is motivated by God s absolute holiness, which leads us to pursue holiness, which includes being open and honest about our lack of holiness, which leads to fellowship with God, which is where we experience the joy of God s ongoing and progressive (& eventually complete) work of cleansing us from our sins (growth in godliness) and of His sure, full, and decisive forgiveness of our sins, which has been secured for us for all time by Christ in His death and ongoing advocacy for us with the Father. Sub-Point: This means that those who show a blatant disregard for God s holy commands (1:6) or who deny the existence of sin in their lives (presently or altogether 1:8, 10), also make light of God s holiness and the saving work of Christ on the Cross, demonstrating that they are not real Christians and are not truly in fellowship with God (1:6, 8, 10). Main Point Breakdown: Real Christianity is motivated by God s absolute holiness (1:5), God is light = Comprehensive description. God is completely and utterly holy. He is in a class completely by Himself. Complete purity, complete knowledge, and complete power. (Not to be understood in a limited sense, as pointing to one particular aspect of God.) Think about how important this issue was to Jesus ( this is the message ). God s holiness = the attribute of attributes (John Howe Puritan Pastor); not one attribute among others rather, a general term representing the conception of His consummate perfection and total glory. It is His infinite moral perfection crowing His infinite intelligence and power. (A.A. Hodge Presbyterian leader, principal at Princeton Sem). It is the glue which holds all of God s other attributes together (Cf. Isa 6; Rev 4:8).

2 It is not merely some generic idea of God who is the source and motivation of Real Christianity, but the one who is like no other majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders (Moses in Exod 15:11; Cf. 1 Sam 2:2; Psa 77:13; Rev 15:4). THIS LEADS US TO which leads us to pursue holiness (2:1a; 1:6) Motivated by his complete purity. 2:1 I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. The things John has highlighted, should lead us to avoid sin. 1:6 Real Christianity is completely incompatible with a pattern of life that is characterized by careless, patently sinful, deceitful, & selfish living. (Cf. 2:4, 9-11, 29; 3:3, 4-10; 5:18 we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning ). A proper view of God s holiness leads automatically to a proper seriousness regarding sin. In fact, without a biblical perspective of God s holiness, none of the other basic terms and categories of our faith, or even the basic message of the Gospel make any sense. The loss of the traditional vision of God as holy is now manifested everywhere in the evangelical world. It is the key to understanding why sin and grace have become such empty terms. What depth or meaning can these terms have except in relation to the holiness of God? Divorced from the holiness of God, sin is merely self-defeating behavior or a breach in etiquette. Divorced from the holiness of God, grace is merely empty rhetoric, pious window dressing for the modern technique by which sinners work out their own salvation. Divorced from the holiness of God, our gospel becomes indistinguishable from any of a host of alternative self-help doctrines. Divorced from the holiness of God, our public morality is reduced to little more than an accumulation of trade-offs between competing private interests. Divorced from the holiness of God, our worship becomes mere entertainment. The holiness of God is the [foundation of reality]. Sin is defiance of God's holiness, the Cross is the outworking and victory of God's holiness, and faith is the recognition of God's holiness. Knowing that God is holy is therefore the key to knowing life as it truly is, knowing Christ as he truly is, knowing why he came, and knowing how life will end. (David Wells No Place for Truth) When you think of threats to your faith, dangers to look out for in your Christian life, does the danger of becoming too familiar with God ever cross your mind? I have come to believe that a casual familiarity with God (as opposed to an intimate familiarity with God) is one of the greatest dangers in the life of a Christian. I came across a message from Phil Johnson (Exec Director of GTY) that he preached at the Shepherd s Conference this month where he made a similar point and said, The greatest threats to the gospel today are not government policies that undermine our values, not secular beliefs that attack our confessions of faith, not even atheists who deny our God. The greatest enemies of the gospel today are worldly churches and hireling shepherds who trivialize Christianity. (Phil Johnson in What Grace Teaches Us, March 9, 2012, Shepherd s Conference) Too many of us want a God that is far too easy to understand; far to easy to be around; and far too much like us. We treat God so casually. The result at best is surface level worship; surface level faith; surface level morality, and surface level relationships; but at worst is blatantly sinful living, empty professions of faith, and rank religious hypocrisy (see 1:6, 8, 10). Our failure to pursue personal holiness stems in large part from a low view of God, and a failure (whether deliberate or ignorant) to see and worship God as completely and utterly holy. So, the holiness of God becomes the great motivation for our own personal purity, and our pursuit of personal holiness but an important point to make is that

3 which includes being open and honest our lack of holiness (2:1b; 1:7-10 to God and others), Motivated by his complete knowledge. 2:1b if anyone does sin aorist subjunctive = likelihood 1:7 walking in the light does not equal sin-lessness, but living in the light of God s holiness seeking to avoid sin, but also being honest about it (1:9). 1:9 confession is meant to be a way of life for us (pre tense - not confessing every sin; rather an attitude notice how forgiveness and cleansing is tied to God s faithfulness and righteousness w/ ἵνα, not our confession). When you compare yourself to others you can look pretty good. But when you compare yourself to God your sin becomes clear. Just ask any of the holy men of God in the Scriptures who were brought into God s presence. Charles Spurgeon: The saint most ripe for heaven is the most aware of his own shortcomings. John Piper: The mark of a saint is not sinlessness, but sin-consciousness The evidence of indwelling truth is the exposure of error. The dawning of God's light in the heart is the revelation of remaining darkness. Martin Luther: This life, therefore, is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being, but becoming, not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified. Tim Keller: the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin. Walking in the darkness does not merely include blatant sin, it also includes hiding/concealing our sins, which is actually a more destructive pattern worse than the sin itself (not the crime, but the cover-up). So, while the Real Christian does not go off and live a life in blatant and patently sinful behavior; the balance John gives is to show that true holiness in this life is also not the blatant and patent denial of our sinful behavior either. This is because true Spirit produced holiness in our lives drives us to measure ourselves against the perfect holiness of God (1:5) which in turn gives us an accurate knowledge of ourselves and brings light upon the sin that remains in our lives (walking in the light) so that we can continue to repent of it and resist it. The quality of our holiness is not measured against anything other than the pure and radiant holiness of God (1:5; Isaiah 6:1-6). The paradox here is that our fight against sin by nature involves our admission of it. This is because true holiness in this life is marked particularly by humility which demands an accurate assessment of God and an honest assessment of ourselves. Holiness in this life is not what it will be in the next. Walking in the light leads us to avoid sin and yet to see it exposed in our lives, while walking in darkness leads us to sin ignorantly (or deliberately) while denying that it exists in our lives (whether in the present 1:8, or at all 1:10). which leads fellowship with God (1:7a),

4 I take we have fellowship with one another referring to us with God not us with one another. (Since it is contrasted w/ v. 6 if we say we have fellowship with God ) If we obey God in this, pursuing holiness while openly admitting our need for grace, we will have fellowship with God. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:21, 23 ESV) Consider the grace in this! Our holy God desires to still have fellowship with us, despite our sins. But catch this: Part of obeying Jesus commands involves coming to Him with our sins, looking to Him for grace and mercy. We miss out on fellowship with God not only because of blatant & big sins, but probably more often because of the sins of pride. ( Many sins can be overcome by the sin of pride. Lewis) Pursuing fellowship with God is not merely about not sinning, but about taking our sins to him in humility, and rejoicing in the sacrifice Jesus made in our place for those sins. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. (Prov 28:13 ESV) Summary: Because God is completely holy, we know that our sin stands in the way of our fellowship with Him, not only in a future eternal sense, but in a present relational sense. So, to deepen our fellowship with God, we need to weaken our fellowship with sin. To weaken sin s hold on our lives requires pursuing righteousness, but that includes being honest and open with God and others about the sin that continues to exist in our lives. This means that if we do not either one we are not truly walking in the light. Where we re going next week - It is in that context (walking in the light = forsaking and confessing sin) where we experience the life of God in fellowship with Him which involves God s ongoing (and life-long) work of cleansing us from our sins and freeing us from the guilt of those sins all of which in turn leads to even deeper fellowship with God. That God can fellowship with us who continue to sin everyday, and even cleanse us from our sins, rather than destroying us for them is amazing, and shocking, and sometimes hard to believe. Yet, this can be true not because God simply likes us, or is impressed with us, but because His righteous Son Jesus Christ has died to remove our guilt before the Father, which has won us an eternal favor with Him. This builds our confidence in pursuing fellowship with God and motivates us to do the things that weaken sin s hold on our lives and that in turn deepen our fellowship with God to turn away from sin, while being open and honest about it with God and others at the same time. Questions for Further Thought & Discussion: 1. What are some passages that you think show us the holiness of God? What do you learn from them about God s holiness? 2. In what ways should the holiness of God impact us in our daily lives? How should God s holiness motivate us to pursue personal holiness, and more specifically, how should it motivate us to be open and honest about our sin with God and others?

5 The Outline of Our Study Week 1: Introduction to 1 John Week 2: 1:1-4 The Incarnation of Christ Week 3: 1:5-2:2 The Holiness of God, the Reality of Sin, and the Death of Jesus Part 1 Next Week (3/25): 1:5-2:2 The Holiness of God, the Reality of Sin, and the Death of Jesus Part 2 Week 5: 2:3-11 Loving One Another Part 1 Week 6: 2:12-14 Encouragement in Spiritual Growth Week 7: 2:15-17 Loving the World Week 8: 2:18-29 False Teachers and God s Teacher Part 1 Week 9: 3:1-10 Children of God and Children of the Devil Week 10: 3:11-24 Loving One Another Part 2 Week 11: 4:1-6 False Teachers and God s Teacher Part 2 Week 12: 4:7-12 Loving One Another Part 3 Week 13: 4:13-21 Abiding in Love Week 14: 5:1-12 Believing in the Son Week 15: 5:13-17 Confidence with God Week 16: 5:18-21 All We Need to Know