Introduction:
A. The story is told about a groom, whom during the wedding rehearsal, approached the minister with an unusual offer.
1. “Look, I’ll give you $100 if you’ll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I’m to promise to ’love, honor and obey’ and ’forsaking all others, be faithful to her forever,’ I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave that part out.”
2. He passed the minister the cash and walked away satisfied.
3. The wedding day arrived, and they arrived at the part of the ceremony where the vows are exchanged.
4. When it came time for the groom’s vows, the minister looked the young man in the eye and said, “Will you promise to bow yourself before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life, and swear eternally to not even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?”
5. The groom gulped and looked around, and said in a tiny voice, “I Do.”
6. After the ceremony, the groom took the minister aside and said, “I thought we had a deal.”
7. The minister put the $100 into his hand and said, “Sorry, she made me a much better offer.”
B. “Obedience” – mere mention of the word causes many of us to recoil, doesn’t it.
1. We ultimately want to be our own bosses. There’s a part of us that doesn’t want to obey anyone or anything.
2. That’s true for citizens and employees, and adults and children.
3. And it’s also true for children of God.
4. Someone has rightly said, “Every great person first learned how to obey, whom to obey and when to obey.
5. When it comes to pleasing God and walking in the light, obedience is primary.
C. Glenn’s brother, Tom Olbricht, published a new book last year called “Life Together: The Heart of Love and Fellowship in 1 John.” I want to read a few paragraphs to you.
1. In the preface Tom writes, “A jarring incident toward the end of the first century disturbed the churches in Western Asia Minor where John the aged apostle now lived. A number of the members, perhaps some of longer standing, turned their backs on their fellow believers and departed. We don’t know exactly what these people did when they departed. We do know they were dissatisfied. We know that they disdained the brothers and sisters they left behind. Did the dropouts start new churches? We don’t know for sure, but it seems likely. Some may have completely drifted away and pursued other interests.”
2. Tom continues, “Did the defectors claim superiority over the Christians left behind? The secessionists obviously claimed special experiences and insights. They alleged that they were anointed in a special manner unlike those who remained in these “humdrum” churches. They in turn felt called upon to teach others their superior understandings. They also apparently made claims as to sinlessness since John assures those to whom he writes that they can make the same claim. (But with a whole different meaning.) Those who left clearly did not love their brothers and sisters and in this they sinned despite claiming sinlessness.”
3. Tom concludes, “Do these calamitous developments strike you as exceptionally unusual? Do they cause you to exclaim, ‘I never anticipated anything like that would happen in the first century church!’ In all likelihood you will say instead, ‘It’s unfortunate, but I’m not surprised. I know individuals like that. We had people in our church who insisted that they no longer were being fed. They maintained that we only sing those old standard hymns. They feel that instead they have a real need to be lifted up through praise songs. Some of them left our church and went to other churches. A few started meeting in their own homes and anticipated establishing a congregation to their own liking. So I’m not surprised by these turn of events in the first century’” (p. 7-8)
D. Last week we looked at some of the statements that no doubt were being said by the secessionists.
1. They were claiming to have fellowship with God, but were walking in darkness.
2. They were claiming to be without sin and that they have not ever sinned.
3. And as we discussed last week, John dealt with each of those false claims with sobering and wonderful truths about walking in the light, confessing our sins, and having an advocate who is also our atoning sacrifice.
4. God doesn’t want us to sin, and our goal should be to avoid sin, but when we do sin, we must own up to in through confession, allow God to forgive our sin, and then try to walk in a right manner.
E. In today’s text, John takes aim at another important truth that takes the form of three tests.
1. The section of text that we want to examine this week, is much like the section of text that we examined last week.
2. Both sections begin with an initial affirmation.
a. Last week it was – “God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn. 1:5)
b. This week it is – “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.” (1 Jn. 2:3)
3. And like last week, the initial affirmation is followed by three statements, in this case each begins with the words, “Whoever says…”
a. Verse 4, “The man who says, “I know him…”
b. Verse 6, “Whoever claims to live in him…”
c. Verse 9, “Anyone who claims to be in the light…”
4. Keep in mind that everything in this section hinges on the thesis statement in verse 3, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.”
5. Peterson renders the verse, “Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.”
6. In other words, “Knowing God is evidenced by our heartfelt desire to obey him.”
7. So, let’s spend a moment examining ourselves according to John’s tests of authenticity.
I. Test #1 – Obedience and Knowing God (2:3-5)
A. The first test of authenticity has to do with obedience to God’s word.
1. John writes, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is liar, and the truth is not in him.”
2. We must be clear that John’s choice of words is not accidental.
3. He is intent on stressing obedience, as he challenges those who boast about their knowledge.
4. The Greek term gnosis means knowledge and describes a religious disposition that promoted enlightenment or mystical inspiration as it central feature of faith.
5. As I said in previous lessons, there is no evidence that the formal religion called Gnosticism existed in John’s day, but it is obvious that popular trends in that direction were already at work.
B. John’s important point is that knowing God is more than something intellectual or emotional.
1. Those who truly know God act accordingly by submitting their will and lives in obedience.
2. Knowing God reveals itself in present activity, namely, the continuing reflex to obey God.
3. John concludes that people who say they know God, but do not obey God’s commands are liars, and the truth is not in them.
4. Look at verse 5, the upside, however, is that as we live in obedience to God’s word, - here is the cool part - God’s love is truly made complete in us.
5. As we walk in obedience, our love for God is made complete and His love is made complete in us.
6. I think what John has in mind here is the maturation of the believer.
7. When we have discovered God’s inexhaustible love for us, we love him in response, and this is expressed tangibly in our obedience to His will.
8. So, that’s test # 1 – if we know God then we will obey God.
II. Test #2 – Obedience and the Example of Jesus (2:6)
A. The second test of authenticity has to do with living as Jesus lived.
1. Verse 6 says, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
2. Here we see John holding up the earthly life of Jesus as a model to be imitated.
3. This, of course, indicates that these Christians must have had at their disposal at least some of the accounts of Jesus’ life, because very few of them had seen Jesus personally.
4. Perhaps John is making an appeal for them to imitate the Jesus of his own Gospel account.
B. Anyone of us who would take this test seriously would have to ask ourselves – “Who can live like Jesus did?”
1. Doesn’t this command raise the stakes to an impossible level?
2. All of Jesus’ life demonstrated obedience to God, even to the point of death on the cross.
3. I think the thing for us to learn here is not the necessity of perfect obedience, but for us to follow the example of Jesus who sought to live for one master alone.
4. Jesus submitted himself to God in every way.
5. He said only what the Father told him to say, and He did only what the Father told Him to do.
6. And when Jesus’ desires were different from the Father’s, He said, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
7. That’s is certainly a target at which we should be aiming!
III. Test #3 – Obedience and Love (2:7-11)
A. This third test builds on the first two.
1. Look at verses 9-10, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.”
2. To say we know God, but disobey His commands is to lie.
3. To say we are in God, but to not walk like Jesus is to live a delusion.
4. And finally, to say we are in the light, and to not love our brother, is to be blinded by darkness.
B. John says that this command to love is not a new one, and yet it is a new one.
1. Let’s try to clear up a little of the confusion.
2. In many respects it is an old command. In the OT, the Bible says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18)
3. But in John’s Gospel, he records the words of Jesus, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (Jn. 13:34)
4. There is still something even newer about all this.
5. The ancient command, which we have had since the beginning, has taken on a new form since the coming of Christ.
6. Initially, Christ himself exemplified this love by demonstrating his self-sacrificial love for us.
7. He fulfilled the law of love in a way never before seen.
8. But, here’s the new part, Jesus has enabled this love to be realized in the present age among his followers.
9. The truth of this new command is seen in HIM (Jesus) and in YOU (Jesus’ followers).
10. A new era has dawned in which God’s empowering light can shine in us through obedience and the result is a life of light and love.
C. To know God and to abide in Him means to obey, and to obey is to exhibit Christ-like love.
1. The ultimate test of such obedient love is whether we are able to love the unlovely.
2. John’s severity of judgment is unrelenting: To hate a brother or sister is to walk in darkness and to be blind.
3. Love is truly tested and is proven genuine when we reach beyond our human limits and love someone we don’t want to love.
4. As we apply these truths to the situation to which John was writing, there is a judgment against those who have left, and there is an obligation for those who remain.
5. Those who left and abandoned the church have expressed a hatred toward their brothers. Their actions are clearly wrong.
6. But those who have stayed in the fold must not allow hatred to develop toward those who have left.
7. Just because those who remain may be in the right, it does not give them license to hate.
8. How easy is it to allow something other than love to remain in our hearts toward someone who has rejected us or hurt us deeply.
9. John reminds us that to allow that kind of thing to develop in our hearts is contrary to our relationship with God.
10. The attitude of hatred is incompatible with knowing and loving God.
D. John offers a promise in the midst of this test – If we love our brother, we live in the light, and there is nothing in us to make us stumble.
1. There is a little ambiguity to this promise.
2. The stumbling may refer to the believer’s falling down, or it may mean that there is nothing in the believer that will cause others to fall down.
3. The grammar works perfectly either way, and I think both ways are true.
4. When we love our brothers and sisters, then there is nothing in us to cause us to stumble.
5. And when we love our brothers and sisters, then there is nothing in us to cause them to stumble.
6. Walking in love is always the best way to walk. It certainly benefits others, but it is also a benefit to oneself.
Conclusion:
A. What should we take home with us today from this lesson? Let me suggest three things.
B. First, We Should Ask Ourselves – Am I neglecting the call to obedience?
1. Am I really just making self-deceptive claims like: “I know God…I follow God…I am in the light.”
2. But in reality I am disobeying God, not walking like Jesus, and have hatred toward my brother.
3. Obedience really is important to God.
4. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will do what I command.” (Jn. 14:15)
5. But as important as obedience is, we must be careful not to make it the basis of our salvation.
6. Here’s our challenge – how do we preach such a theme without destroying Christian assurance or making obedience the criterion of our salvation?
7. So this is the difficult paradox: Personal righteousness and obedience are an essential component of our faith, and yet they do not form the basis of our salvation. We are saved by grace not by works (Eph. 2:8).
8. So there is a delicate balance that we must find: On the one hand, we dare not compromise the pivotal doctrine of grace, but on the other hand, there must be a call to discipleship that shows how such a grace has transformed the disciple into an obedient believer.
C. A second thing that I want us to keep in mind is that the call to obey can be abused.
1. Some religious groups, even Christian oriented ones, can abuse the call to obedience.
2. When conformity and obedience become the watchwords, watch out.
3. The controlling tentacles of such calls to obedience can reach into everything from our social life to our financial decisions.
4. Some churches have gone so far as to forbid certain forms of entertainment – like TV.
5. Forbid certain forms of food – like caffeinated drinks.
6. Some forbid women to work outside the home, wear any clothing other than dresses and skirts, and even have specific biblical instructions on breastfeeding.
7. Any who disagree with such teachings are forced to leave the fellowship.
8. As Christian leaders, we must employ restraint when we call our people to obey.
9. Our reflex must always be to point men and women to the ultimate authority of God’s Word, not to our own personal interpretation or application of it.
10. God’s Word is always truth, but not all who teach it are teaching truth all the time.
11. We must obey God, but beware of those who may abuse the call to obedience.
D. Finally, I hope we will all walk away having learned the preeminence of love.
1. We can never say enough about love.
2. However, our problem is that the word is far overused and sentimentalized.
3. Love should characterize all of our attitudes and actions toward God and toward others.
4. Practically speaking, though, love does not mean that Christians won’t have disagreements.
a. A loving marriage is going to have its disagreements, right.
b. The key is to not be disagreeable in the midst of our disagreements.
c. To love even those we disagree with calls for us to show respect and kindness.
5. Love, however, does call for reconciliation.
a. Jesus has taught us that if there is a problem between us and a brother or sister, then there is a problem between us and God. (Mt. 5:23)
b. We should do our best to live at peace with everyone.
c. There are some people who are very hard to love, and they sometimes hurt us and irritate us.
d. But where we know there is a problem – we must quickly seek to work it out.
e. If we have hurt someone, then we should apologize and ask for forgiveness.
f. If they have hurt us, then we should humbly and gently tell them so, and offer forgiveness.
6. Tradition tells us that when the Apostle John was very old, he continued to visit the churches of Asia. And when age and weakness grew upon him so that he was no longer able to preach to the people, he would be carried to the assembly of the faithful by his disciples, with great difficulty; and every time said to his flock only these words: “My dear children, love one another.”
7. The command to love is one we must take very seriously. Loving each other is not an option!
8. To walk in obedience is to walk in love. May God help us do so!
