1 JOHN 2:1-6 [LIFE, LIGHT & LOVE SERIES]
THE BASIS OF OBEDIENCE AND FORGIVENESS
[John 14:23-24]
The Apostle continues discussing the believers condition and conduct which he has personally discovered by walking in God’s light. Having revealed that even Christians sin daily, John goes on to point out God’s remedy for sin and to exhort believers to obedience. [Just because it is inevitable that we will sin and forgiveness is available doesn’t mean that we should take a lenient attitude toward it.] The believer who craves to grow more Christ-like must go to the Advocate and through Jesus' sacrifice find the cleansing and the conviction necessary to leave the horror of sin (CIT). Those who have done so will abide in God’s Word and walk in Christ-likeness.
I. OUR ADVOCATE’S SACRIFICE FOR SIN, 2:1-2.
II. TRULY KNOWING CHRIST, 2:3-6.
The fact that Christ’s blood restores the repentant to fellowship doesn’t make sin any less serious. To protect us from underestimating the impact of our sin John tells us in verse 1 that Jesus must come to our defense when we sin. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The aged Apostle addresses the believers as little children which is a term of endearment translatable as dear or beloved. The elderly Apostle loved and cherished the family of faith who were all young in Lord Jesus compared to his long tenure in serving Christ. Many of these who first received the letter actually were his spiritual children.
Out of his love for them John turns to face the problem of sin head on. He proclaims that the only answer to this killer virus, the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ died for us and bore the penalty of our sin on the cross then He rose from the dead and now He intercedes for us before the Throne of God (Heb. 7:25).
The guilt of falling into sin can weigh heavy on the heart but in order that we may not lose heart over our condition John offers us gracious reassurance. We have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. Advocate is paraklētos, "one called to your side." In a forensic or legal sense it means “one who undertakes and champions your cause,” or “one who speaks in your defense.” In the literature of the day it was used of a friend of the accused person called to speak about his character and win the sympathy of the judge.
The devil, the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), is demanding condemnation because of your sin (Zech. 3:1-5). But Jesus stands up for us in the court of heaven (Rev. 5:6) and speaks in our defense as our Advocate [παρακλὴτος]. You have the best defense attorney in the universe pleading your case. [Jesus is the only one qualified to plead our case in the Father’s presence (Heb. 2:18).] Yes, Jesus acknowledges the fact of our sin, but His appeal is to His death for that sin on the cross. That sin has already been paid for and can no longer be held against the sinner who comes before their Advocate in humble repentance for his crimes against the law of God.
When Abraham Lincoln was President, his son Robert had A CLOSE FRIEND who entered the army as a private. Robert sent word to his friend, saying, "Write to me, and I will intercede with Father and get you something better." A few years went by before Robert heard from the soldier again. When they got together, Lincoln's friend said, "I never took advantage of your offer, but you do not know what a comfort it was to me. Often after a weary march I would throw myself on the ground and say, 'If it becomes beyond human endurance, I can write to Bob Lincoln and get relief; and I would rather have his intercession than that of the President's cabinet, because he is the President's son.'"
Christians have an even greater comfort. We too know a Son to whom we can go for help--Jesus Christ, our Advocate. An advocate is one who can assist us, either by pleading on our behalf or by giving evidence that supports our case. Jesus can do this for us because of His position at God's right hand. Because of our sin each of us needs such a helper. [As God's children we try not to sin, and we know that sin's power has been broken. Yet we still falter and need cleansing. That's why we are told that "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”] [“If anyone sins” is a third class condition meaning very little doubt or “if and we do.”]
We dare not trust in our own righteousness in such a court. Jesus’ righteousness is the only righteousness that will stand up to such investigation. His imputed righteousness will not only cleanse the guilty but free him as well.
When we sin, Jesus pleads His own sacrifice, which covers all sin and restores our fellowship with God. Praise God! We have an Advocate and Friend in the court of heaven.
“The Youth’s Companion” (1827–1929) began as a children's magazine which first promoted the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, which had been written by one of its staff members [Francis Bellamy]. Published for over a hundred years by the PERRY MASON Company of Boston, this magazine was filled with entertaining and inspiring stories. One of its more enthusiastic readers was a boy named Earl Stanley Gardner, who later became a writer himself. When he created a fictional lawyer - one who never lost a case - he named him in honor of the company responsible for the magazine he had so loved in childhood - Perry Mason.
In countless novels, radio shows, and then television programs, Perry Mason always saved the day. No matter how hopeless the case, his clients were always declared innocent in the end.
Of course, no attorney wins every case. None but Jesus Christ. When He becomes our advocate, He defends us by pleading His own blood. There is forgiveness instead of fear; justification instead of judgment. For He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised for our justification (Romans 4:25).]
Verse 2 teaches us that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the payment for all sin. “And He Himself is the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
Man is guilty before God and alienated from God because of his sin. This sin separates man from God. The method of our defense attorney is not to manipulate the evidence for us or to make excuses for our sin. No, our advocate bases His entire case upon the fact that He is the propitiation for our sins. That is, He took upon Himself the righteous indignation of the Father that should have been hurled on us. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 1618]. Jesus’ death is the basis and grounds for God’s forgiveness.
Jesus Christ's death and shed blood on the cross is the atoning sacrifice for sin, and has removed the cause of alienation, our sin (Ps. 103:12). Now a holy and righteous God can bestow mercy upon a believing sinner on the basis of justice satisfied. That satisfaction is propitiation (hilasmos). The Greek says "He Himself is satisfaction." Christ both satisfies God's requirement and removes our sin.
Jesus is the satisfaction not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole world. Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world, the “whole” world. If men do not experience its forgiveness it is not because Jesus death was not for their sin. Jesus stands ready to forgive everyone no matter what they have done.
Who did Jesus die for? Jesus didn’t just die for us or believers. This verse make it very clear that Jesus died “for the whole world.” How glorious it is that we can declare to any person in this world that Jesus died for you!
[Note that sins is in the plural. Jesus' sacrifice satisfies not the only evil of our sinful nature but also the daily sins we are committing.] "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). He is indeed Savior of the World (Jn. 4:42). May the Kingdom of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord (Rev. 11:15)!
II. TRULY KNOWING CHRIST, 3-6.
John provides a way to test the reality of our Christianity in verse three. “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
The test is if know Christ Jesus we will keep His commandants. We will experientially know that we have come to know Christ personally, “if we keep His commandment.” A true living relationship with Christ will be evidenced by the believer putting into practice the commandments of Christ in his daily life. Christ expects us to practice what we know about Him and come to know Him better. Only as you put into practice Christ's commandments will you come to know Him better, or have a better daily living relationship with Him. [The first two occurrences of the word “know” (ginōskō) used 23 times in this epistle. A synonym, oida, occurs six times (3:2; 5:15, 18-20).]
Changed life results in changed behavior. An example of changed practices might be to remember the sabbath and keep it holy or join with the brethren and worship on Sunday. His commandments are not burdensome but free from burden and bondage of sin yet far too many “Christians” rarely “keep His commandments.” [If is a third class condition or very unlikely.]
The verb keep [tēpéō ] was used of a sentry walking his post. It means to keep watch over or to be on guard so as to obey and fulfill God's will in one's life. The verb’s present tense indicates that this should be the daily habit of life.
At an art auction in 1997, VAN GOGH'S PAINTING Portrait of Dr. Gachet sold for the high bid of $82.5 million. And Renoir's beautiful Au Moulin de la Galette was auctioned for $78.1 million. Now, admittedly, these are wonderful paintings. But only a few people in the world can afford to hang one of these on their living room wall.
Both of these paintings are available as reproductions, and you can buy a Renoir or Van Gogh for your home. They are not collector items though, because they are only copies, not originals. They have very little value.
I see a parallel in the spiritual realm. Our world is filled with religion, and much of it appears to be Christian. Many talk about Jesus when it suits them, but they do not have an authentic personal relationship with Him, nor are they listening to or keeping His Word. They aren't the real thing. They are only pretenders.
[In the second chapter of his first epistle, the apostle John gives three marks of a true believer in Jesus: obedience to Christ (v.3), genuine love for fellow Christians (v.10), love for God and not for the world (vv.15-17). If these qualities are not consistently seen in our lives, we may need to examine our faith to see if it is genuine.]
Let's be sure we are true followers of Jesus, not mere imitations. Whose commandments are you living by? Jesus' or yours? What a difference it makes. Apparently all the difference in your eternal destiny.
[When young Michael came home after Sunday school, his mother asked him what he had learned that morning. His quick reply spoke volumes: "Obedience . . . again!"
Although I'm many years older than Michael, I agree that obedience to God is a lesson that we must, some times reluctantly, learn over and over again.
Oswald Chambers wrote: "The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says. . . . If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself."
When we are obedient, we show God that wry love Him and have more faith in Him than we do in ourselves. Arthur W. Pink said that love is "a principle of action, and it expresses itself. . . by deeds which please the object loved." To obey God means to relinquish what we want and to choose to do what He asks.
God requires the obedience of His followers, and Jesus placed great importance on it. He asked, "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). And He issued this challenge: "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Obedience to God is an expression of our love for God.]
The test of true faith in verse 3 is further emphasized and expanded by contrasting the opposite thought in verse 4. “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Obviously a person cannot say he is saved and then do as he pleases. Obedience determines the truthfulness or the falseness of our profession. So John warns us not to think those are saved who don’t keep [tēpéō ] God’s commandments. The reality of their words is not back up by keep God’s commandments in their daily life.
John may have had in mind people who have an intellectual knowledge of God but live as they desire to live instead of following the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ in their daily life. God labels those a liar who claim to know Jesus but not follow His teachings. God says that profession must match up with practice to be real.
Some might even say I love you Jesus for dying on the cross for me, but if they are not keeping His commandments, they are lying. Indifference to God’s Word means they are not talking the truth, therefore, their claims to know the God of Truth are false or based on fabrications.
[You're on vacation and you're TOOLING DOWN THE INTERSTATE on your way to Disney World, cruising along at 85 mph. Suddenly a beeper goes off on the dashboard. You touch the brakes and ease back down to 70 just seconds before you pass the Smokey sitting in the median behind some support columns.
"Nice going, Dad," comments your 10-year-old son from the backseat. "You sure fooled 'em that time!"
The state police officer wasn't the only one being duped. So was your 10-year-old. He's just been fooled into thinking it's okay to break the law as long as your fuzzbuster helps you not to get caught. He's just been given an object lesson in disrespect for authority. Now he knows how you stand on obedience.
Welcome to the world of fuzzbuster parents--a world where wrong is right if you can get away with it. It's a world that's not limited to moms and dads who have a radar detector on the dashboard. It includes those of us who receive too much change back at the store and joke to the children that, "Well, if they can't count any better than that, they don't deserve this money." It includes those of us who watch immoral TV programs in the privacy of the family room because, "As long as no one knows we're watching this, it's okay." It includes any parent who shows his children that no matter what is said about morality, doing wrong hurts only when someone outside the family finds out.
Perhaps you've heard the saying, "What you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you are saying." It's true. It doesn't do any good to tell our children to be honest and have integrity if we aren't willing to demonstrate those traits ourselves. If we are hypocrites, they will know it. Even if they don't say a word, they'll be thinking, "If it's such a good idea to follow the rules, be honest, and respect authority, how come you break the speed limits, cheat on your income tax, try to turn in expired coupons, call your boss a jerk, and watch those crummy soap operas?"
When we teach our children that it's okay to do wrong as long as we don't get caught, we shouldn't be surprised when statistics reveal that 43 percent of the young people in evangelical churches are sexually active by the age of 18--even though 65 percent of these teens admit that premarital sex is wrong. They've been watching us get away with things, and now they're experts. So now they reason that when nobody seems to notice their sin, they must be home free.
And it's not just in their dating life that this philosophy becomes a problem. What about tests at school? Honesty on the job? Talking about teachers and other students behind their back? How can they react properly when we've taught them how clever it is to sneak past the Smokey?
Maybe what has happened to us is that we have failed to realize that our God of love has established some high standards for us--and He knows exactly what we are doing.]
Verse 5 contrasts verse 4 and reveals those who truly have come to Jesus. “but whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him”
The Psalmist said "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (119:105). To keep (pres act subj of tēpéō; “keeps on keeping”) God's Word you must abide in God's Word. You must spend time in God's Word daily to discover His will and obey His instructions. The reason we don’t want to abide in God’s Word is because we have adopted the standards of the world. Our rebellious nature prefers the flexible standards of the world over the absolute standards of God. Yet only through obedience to God’s Word can we live in fellowship with Him.
Obedience to God’s Word results in a rich and full experience of God’s love “in him the love of God has truly been perfected.” An obedient believer develops a fuller, deeper relationship with “God’s love.” To know God through obedience is to know His love intimately, since God is love (4:16).
Obedience to God's Word is proof of our love for Him. There are three motives for obedience. We can obey because we have to, because we need to, or because we want to.
A slave obeys because he has to. If he doesn't obey he will be punished. An employee obeys because he needs to. He may not enjoy his work, but he does enjoy getting his paycheck! He needs to obey because he has a family to feed and clothe. But a Christian is to obey his Heavenly Father because he wants to--for the relationship between him and God is one of love. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).
This is the way we learned obedience when we were children. First, we obeyed because we had to. If we didn't obey, we were spanked! But as we grew up, we discovered that obedience meant enjoyment and reward; so we started obeying because it met certain needs in our lives. And it was a mark of real maturity when we started obeying because of love.
Baby Christians must be constantly warned or rewarded. Mature Christians listen to God's Word and obey it simply because they love Him.
A church in Naperville, Illinois, is basking in excitement about its brand-NEW BELLS in the belfry above its sanctuary. When the church was built they didn't have the money to purchase bells. How ever, for its 25th anniversary they were able to raise the funds to hang three bells in the vacant space. Even though they are stunning, there is one problem: the congregation will never hear the bells ring. Although they look real, they are artificial.
The apostle John wrote his first epistle to encourage believers not to- just look like real Christians, but to prove they are genuine by how they live. The evidence that a person's faith is real is not found in some mystical experience with God. The proof that people truly know and love God is found in submitting to His authority and to His Word.
If we claim that we have been transformed by the gospel and intimately know and love God, we should validate it by our obedience to His Word. Obedience to God is an expression of our love for God.
In verse six we encounter another test of real verses false relationship with Christ. The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
By cultivating agape love we get to know Christ. When we know Christ and abide in His Word we will become like Him. We should aim to be as Jesus is and do what Jesus would do.
Jesus Himself taught His disciples what it means to abide in Him. He explains it in His illustration of the Vine and its Branches in John 15. Just as the branch gets its life by remaining in contact with the vine, so believers receive their strength by maintaining fellowship with Christ. It is the life of the vine in the branch that enables it to produce the fruit of the vine. The life of Christ flows into His people as they abide in Him (Gal. 2:20).
To abide [menō, dwell, remains indicating close ongoing relationship together] in Christ means to depend completely on Him for all that we need in order to live for Him and serve Him. It is a living relationship. As He lives out His life through us, we are able to follow His example and walk as He walked. Paul expresses this relationship as, "Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). You cannot be what God want you to without abiding in Christ.
Many adults can remember when the idea of a man running a FOUR-MINUTE MILE was thought to be impossible. Now, the record for the mile run stands at less than three minutes and forty-four seconds [Hicham El Guerrouj]. The four-minute barrier has been broken countless times since 1954 when Roger Bannister set a new record of three minutes and fifty-nine and four-tenths seconds after more than a hundred years of attempts.
What made the difference? At first glance it might seem that the difference was a mere six-tenths of a second. But it was more than that. That six-tenths of a second symbolized a barrier of the mind that had been overcome. You see, someone had done it; now someone else could believe that he could do it also!
That really is what the apostle John is getting at in this passage. In effect he is saying, "It is possible to live our beliefs. Christ has gone before us, and we have His example. Our hope in Christ can and should lead to an active, vibrant Christian life." What is your spiritual “four-minute mile?” What do you want to do in a better way for Christ? Christ can help you break the barrier!
[If the people in our community were asked about the Christians who live there, what do you think they would say? Would they say they recognize Christians by their love, or because of something else?
Consider these two true situations: In one small town a restaurant decided to close on Sunday nights because the staff refused to work for the after evening service church crowd. The people who came from church were rude, messy, and left small tips.
In another town, the manager of a store that sold concert tickets reported that some of the rudest people she had ever met were several who had bought tickets to hear a well-known Christian singing group.
Sometimes we don't realize it, but the non-Christian world is watching us. Our neighbors and acquaintances and others we encounter notice our behavior. They know that if we claim to be followers of Christ we are supposed to be kind and compassionate. They know that our lives should reflect love and Christlikeness (John 13:35; 1 John 2:6). They know that we shouldn't be so busy with our own interests that we don't love other people.
Let's make sure the people who are watching our lives will want to get to know our Savior. Let’s become more like Him. Nothing is so attractive, as being like Christ.]
CONCLUSION
To "walk as Jesus did" or living as Christ did, doesn't mean choosing 12 disciples, performing great miracles, and being crucified. We cannot merely copy Christ's life. Much of what Jesus did had to do with His identity as God's Son, the fulfillment of His special role in dying for sin, and the cultural context of the first-century Roman world. To walk today as Christ did we must obey His teachings and follow His example of complete obedience to God and loving service to people.
True Christian faith results in love for Jesus and behavior that causes us to abide in Christ's Word and become like Him. Is there that Christ-likeness in your daily demeanor? Is there a daily willingness to be obedient to the Word of God because of your love for Christ?
If not, we’re here for you. You come and let us assist you in your relationship with Jesus. As the Spirit leads you come.
