The Moral Test Series

Scripture

In his First Letter, John wrote to oppose the false teaching by setting down biblical principles of fellowship with God. He showed how genuine fellowship with God is identified by three different tests. First is the moral test, which is the test of obedience. Second is the social test, which is the test of love. And third is the doctrinal test, which is the test of belief in Christ. John stated, explained, and applied these three tests repeatedly throughout the rest of his First Letter.

In today’s lesson, John addressed the false teachers by stating the moral test, which is the test of obedience.

Let’s read about the moral test in 1 John 2:3-6:

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:3-6)

Introduction

My postgraduate degree was from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). One course during my first semester at TEDS was Biblical Greek I. My instructor was a senior student by the name of Sandy Hull. He was a gifted instructor who had mastered about five or six languages. There were about twenty-five first-year Greek students in Sandy’s class. Our class met four days a week during the first period of the day. Sandy began each class with a brief Scripture reading and a prayer. He also gave us a 5-minute quiz that covered all the material to date. I think that approach helped us stay on top of our studies.

However, we still had a final 1-hour exam in Biblical Greek I at the end of the semester. The day finally arrived, and we took our seats. As usual, Sandy read a Bible verse and prayed prior to our exam. The Scripture passage that Sandy read before our final test was 2 Corinthians 13:5. Now Sandy never read a verse out of context—until that day, when he read this passage to twenty-five nervous students. Second Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” We all laughed. The tension was broken. And then we took our exam.

As I noted, Sandy read 2 Corinthians 13:5 out of context. The Corinthians were thinking of challenging Paul and his apostleship. Instead, Paul challenged the Corinthians to examine themselves, to make sure that they were even true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The study note in The Reformation Study Bible puts it this way, “Paul’s words help clarify the doctrine of assurance of faith. Paul asks the Corinthians to examine their own lives for evidence of salvation.”

John was an elder statesman when he wrote his letters. He was living in Ephesus and was responsible for overseeing the churches in the region of Ephesus. False teachers were infiltrating the churches and teaching that they had a knowledge of God that was given only to the spiritually enlightened. But this knowledge of God did not impact their lives in any way at all. Their behavior did not match their profession of faith.

The reason John wrote his First Letter was clearly stated in 1 John 5:13, “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.” John wrote to give assurance of salvation to those who might doubt whether or not they were truly Christians. So, in our text for today, John wrote that one way to test the credibility of one’s profession of faith was by obedience, or by what has been called the moral test.

Lesson

First John 2:3-6 gives us objective evidence that someone’s profession of faith is credible.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. The Establishment of the Principle (2:3)

2. The Examination of the Professions (2:4-5a)

3. The Exemplification of the Prototype (2:5b-6)

I. The Establishment of the Principle (2:3)

First, let’s look at the establishment of the principle.

John began verse 3 with these words, “And by this….” Most commentators agree that John was beginning a new section here. John was about to present additional teaching about how believers may verify that they were walking in the light and had a genuine relationship with God.

As John continued his statement, I want you to notice that John stated his principle with certainty. He did not write, “we hope” or “we think” or “we surmise.” No. John wrote, “we know.” Now, the Greek word for “know” (ginosko) is most certainly a counter to the false teachers. You may recall that they were teaching an embryonic form of Gnosticism. The word “Gnostic” comes from the Greek word for “know.” So, John was saying that contrary to the teaching of the Gnostic false teachers, “we know” a certain truth.