Today’s Message: Relationship Tested
(1 John 2:3 NKJV) Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
(1 John 2:4 NKJV) He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
(1 John 2:5 NKJV) But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
(1 John 2:6 NKJV) He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
The other day I had a conversation with a woman who thought she was a Christian but by the Bible’s definition, if what she said was what she believed, she wasn’t a Christian.
The foundation of this woman’s “Christianity” was her relationship to her church (she was Catholic). The foundation of this woman’s “Christianity” was not her relationship with Jesus Christ.
I bring this up because many people, like this woman, think they are a Christian, when according to the Bible’s definition of a Christian, they are not.
Some base their “Christianity” on…
Heritage:
* "My mother was a Christian so I must be a Christian."
That's what is called salvation by heritage. That's not very logical. For instance... what if I said, "My mother was married therefore I'm married." I'm not automatically married just because my mother was married. I'm only married if I make the choice to get married, whether my mother ever married or not. So you're not saved by heritage.
Sincerity:
* "It doesn't matter what you believe, just be sincere."
The problem with that is you can be sincerely wrong. I could sincerely think something is water, but if it's arsenic I'd be sincerely dead.
Some of the contestants on American Idol sincerely think that they are good singers…
I read about a guy in an airplane who sincerely flew into a mountain and killed himself. He was sincere. He thought he was higher but he wasn't. You can be sincerely wrong. It takes more than sincerity to get to heaven.
Not sinning:
* "I'll just give up all my bad habits."
That's what is called salvation by subtraction. "I don't do this and I don't do that... I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't cuss, I don't chew.
Service:
* "I'll work real hard and earn it." That's salvation by service.
Religion:
* "I'll go to church." That’s salvation by religion.
John was writing to people who claimed to be Christians. John wanted his readers to know exactly what a Christian is.
There may be some among us today that believe they are Christians. You believe you are a Christian. But how do you know you are a Christian?
Is it because of your church affiliation?
Is it because your parents were Christians?
Did you expect your baptism or confirmation to make you a Christian?
Do you think you’re a Christian because you try to live a good life?
There is a method of evangelism that involves asking two diagnostic questions in order to determine where a person is spiritually:
If you died today, do you know where you would spend eternity?
If you died and appeared at the gate of heaven; Jesus was on the other side of the gate and asked you, “(Your name), why should I let you into My heaven?” How would you answer Him?
I’ve been using that method for almost 20 years and I have heard answers such as:
“I’ve tried to live a good life.”
“I’ve been baptized.”
“I’m basically a good person.”
“I’ve gone to church most of my life.”
“I’ve never murdered anyone…”
The common thread running through each of these kinds of answers is the word, “I.” This tells me that they are banking on heaven because of what they have done or are presently doing not what Christ has already done on the Cross.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Romans 4:4-5 says, “Now when a man works (for his salvation), his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation (which will one day be required of him in full). However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
In other words, God offers salvation to a dying world as a free gift. The price of the gift was paid in full when Jesus gave His life by dying on an instrument of capital punishment we know as “The Cross.”
The Bible teaches that man is in bondage to sin. He is on a spiritual death row because of sin.
The whole reason Jesus died on the Cross was so that the death sentence we were to serve would be served by Him in our place. Jesus died as our substitute so that we would be able to go free.
The Holy Spirit comes with the “key” to your cell on death row. He offers this “key” as a free gift so that your prison bars might be opened and you might go “Scot free.”
The price was paid, the Judge was satisfied and freedom was offered. John 8:36 says, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Are you free? Do you know the Savior?
There are people in the church who think they are right with God but are not. In John’s day it was the Gnostics. The Gnostics believed that all matter was evil and only the spirit of man was good.
As a result, when the Gnostics sinned, they did not take full ownership and responsibility for their sin and blamed it on their body because the body was matter and all matter was evil. Because they believed the spirit of man was good and his body evil, the Gnostic would say “I don’t sin.”
If someone accused them of sinning they would say, “That wasn’t me, that was my body.” If they never sinned, they would never see their need for a Savior.
To refute this false doctrine, John wrote in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” And then in verse nine, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Today, many in the church have been deceived into thinking they are Christian. They have either deceived themselves or others have deceived them.
Many have been welcomed into the church and were never asked once about their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Back in the 70’s my wife responded to an altar call and walked down the aisle and was taken into a room by the deacons who asked her, “Do you love the Lord?” She answered the obvious, “Yes!”
Many like Debbie were received into church membership or baptized and never were given the Gospel and encouraged to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Then you have others who know all the answers, perhaps from growing up in a Christian home.
They know Jesus is the Son of God who died on the Cross-for your sins.
They know that He was raised from the dead on the third day.
They know that He is coming back again.
But something's not quite right.
In the section of Scripture we are about to examine, John is about to give his readers a test. But I must tell you that John’s test only has one question.
When I was in school I appreciated the tests that had a lot of questions and I dreaded those with only a few questions. The more questions, the more opportunity I had to increase my average. A test with 50 questions would only subtract two points per wrong answer but a test with only four questions would subtract 25 points per wrong answer. One question wrong and I get a “C.” Two questions wrong and I get an “F.”
John’s test determines whether or not you are a Christian. His test only has one question. If you get it wrong you not only fail the test, you flunk life for all eternity. Since the passing of this test is so crucial, John attempts to drill the material into your spirit. He uses repetition to indoctrinate his readers with this truth.
Let’s look at the passage of Scripture:
(1 John 2:3 NKJV) Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
(1 John 2:4 NKJV) He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
(1 John 2:5 NKJV) But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
(1 John 2:6 NKJV) He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
The question John would ask his students who studied this material would be: “How do you know that you know Him?”
The word “know” is used 4 times. The word “keeps” 3 times. Reference to the Scripture occurs five times in these four verses.
* “Commandments”
* “Truth”
* “His Word”
* “Abides in Him” (See John 15:7)
John wanted his readers to be absolutely sure they knew God. The one who says, “I know Him” keeps His Word.
The Greek word translated "keep" conveys the idea of a watchful, observant obedience. It is not an obedience that is the result of external pressure, which might cause someone to say, "I have to do this, because I'm afraid if I don't, I'll get whacked by the divine hammer!"
The term is more than just the act of obeying the commands. It is a holy desire to obey God because you love Him. Rather than being a negative fear, obedience is inspired by love to become your heart's greatest desire. You are to keep Christ's commands in the spirit of loving obedience.
Alford's Greek Testament defines "keep" as "guarding, as some precious thing" (Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, vol. 4 [Chicago: Moody Press, 1968], p. 434).
I have talked to couples in counseling sessions where one or both had doubts about whether or not they loved one another. When asked to define “love” they the definition was commonly associated with “feelings.” “I don’t feel like I love him anymore,” one would say.
I would counsel these people that love is not based on feelings, it is evidenced by one’s commitment to the other—like the commitment that was demonstrated by God when He gave His only begotten Son.
Similarly, the Christian can know that he knows God when the great desire of his heart for God is demonstrated by keeping God’s commandments.
The word “keep” is in the present tense implying that we are to continually keep His commandments. The habitual moment-by-moment safeguarding of our obedience to the Word of God is a sign of our salvation.
Obedience to God’s Word is proof of our love for Him.
Did you know 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.
* A Christian is to obey his Heavenly Father because he wants to—for the relationship between him and God is one of love. “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 constantly be warned or rewarded. Mature Christians listen to God’s Word and obey it simply because they love Him. Are you a baby or are you mature?
When people claim to be Christians and then live any way they want in complete disregard of God's command, they undermine their claim to “know Him.”
(1 John 2:3 NKJV) Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
(1 John 2:4 NKJV) He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
For the word "commandments," the apostle did not use the Greek word nomos, nom'-os, which refers to the Law of Moses, but the word entole, en-tol-ay, which refers to the precepts of Christ. We keep are to keep the precepts of Christ.
We can know a Christian because he keeps the precepts of Christ, not because he subscribes to the Law of Moses.
John did not say, "By this do we know that we know him, if we keep the Law of Moses." But if we desire to obey and honor the precepts of Christ, we prove that we have come to a saving knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse four John writes, "He that says, I know him [Christ], and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
The word "truth" refers to Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the truth…” In John 17:17 Jesus says, “God’s Word is truth.” In John 1:1, John writes, “In the beginning was the Word”, the Logos.
In other words, the person who doesn't obey Christ's commands doesn't have Christ or His truth or the Word in his heart.
John's point here is that Christians obey; non- Christians do not. Nonbelievers do not submit to the lordship of Christ; they fulfill their own desires at their own pace. John says they may claim to know Him, but if they do not keep His commandments, they are liars.
Titus 1:16--"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."
The test of whether or not you know God is whether or not you obey God. We live in a nation where over 90% of its citizens will profess that they know God. But the behavior of its citizens say something different.
False believers fail the moral test. They make a profession of faith, but their lives don't support it. Disobedience refutes the validity of such claims.
It reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 6:46—where He said to the multitudes, "Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
I heard of a New York nightclub owner who said, "I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for the Big Man upstairs." All kinds of people claim to know God--but proving it is something else.
Examine your life. Take the test. Remember there is only one answer: Are you keeping the Word of God?
You can know whether you know and love God by testing whether the great desire of your heart is to keep God’s commandments.
Does there exist in your heart that habitual moment-by-moment safeguarding of your obedience to the Word of God?
This is why your pastor constantly keeps in your face things like:
* Church attendance (Hebrews 10:25)
* Attending Bible Study and Sunday school (2 Timothy 2:15)
These habits demonstrate you have a desire to know God more by learning His Word. Peter says it this way, “…as newborn babes, [you] desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow by it, if indeed you have tasted [when you got saved] that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2-3)
This is why we keep emphasizing things like:
* Fellowship – You will want to be around people who love Jesus like you do
* Witnessing – You will want to share with people the Good News that changed your life
While we don’t talk much around here about giving--if you say you know the Lord, you ought to give to the Lord, not tip the Lord.
You should give as a result of both a grateful heart and obedience. The psalmist writes, “What can I render unto the Lord for all His benefits?” (Ps. 116:12) The Word of God says, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7)
Obedience is how you demonstrate that you know the Lord!
In verse 3 the test is given from a positive perspective: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
In verse 4 the test is given from a negative perspective: He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
In verse 5, John gives the test from a positive perspective like in verse 3 but inverts it: "But whosoever keeps His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; by this know we that we are in him."
Verse 3: We know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
Verse 5: If we keep His commandments, we know that we know Him.
In verse five John also uses the word, “whosoever.” Why does he do this?
The word "whosoever" is important because it refutes the Gnostic heresy that claimed that fellowship with God was just for the elite. Remember, they were of the elite “Gnosis.” They believed that the “deeper things of Gaud” were just reserved for their group.
John wants us to know that the ability to keep the Word isn’t restricted to a select few.
The verb "keeps" again (like in verse three) implies a continual guarding of the Word. Whoever's life is characterized by a spirit of loving obedience, has the love of God perfected in him.
When John used the expression "the love of God," he is referring to our love for God, which is perfected in obedience. In other words, we make our love for God obvious or known or perceived by others when we keep His commandments.
Our love for God is made visible by our obedience. Jesus teaches us that this is how we can know who is a true Christian and who is not. He says in Matthew 7, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (vs. 15-16)
He also said in Matthew 23:2-3, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.”
True love for God is not sentiment or some mystical experience. It is moral obedience.
John said this about our love for God and His love for us: "No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.... And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:12, 16).
Love is made manifest in our obedience and our obedience is evidence that we are saved.
In verse six John writes, "He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
Here John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit hits us right between the eyes. He puts it where the rubber meets the road. He makes it as plain as the nose on your face.
The word “abide” is meno, men'-o; it is a verb that means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy)
It means in the modern vernacular, “to hang out.” Do you hang out with Jesus? Do you spend time with Him? You can discover this by asking yourself the question, “Could Jesus hang out with me?
Could He go to the places you go for entertainment and relaxation?
Could He sit with you and watch television?
Could He hang out with you and your friends?
Could He sit at the dinner table for a meal with you and your family?
Could He sit with you while you are on the Internet?
Earlier we learned that abiding in Christ is the same as abiding in His Word. Abiding in Christ is the same as letting His Word abide in you.
If the Word of God is abiding in you it will influence where you go.
It will influence what you watch on television.
It will influence who you spend time with.
It will influence what you do while you are on line.
Psa 119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD!
Psa 119:2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!
Psa 119:3 They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways.
Psa 119:4 You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently.
Psa 119:9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
Psa 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
Are you really abiding in Him? If you are abiding in Him, you ought to walk even as He walked, John says.
The word “walk” is peripateo, per-ee-pat-eh'-o and means to tread all around, i.e. walk at large; fig. to live, to be occupied with. It is the same word used in 1:6 to mean, “to order one’s behavior.”
In 1 John 2:2 John tells us that Christ is the Propitiation (or sacrifice) for our sins
In 1 John 2:1 John tells us that Christ is the Advocate who represents us before God
But in 1 John 2:6 we learn He is also the perfect Pattern for our daily life.
1 John 2:6 - He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
The key statement in verse six is “as He.”
“Because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).
We are to walk in the light “as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).
We are to purify ourselves “even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
“He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7).
Walking as Jesus walked means living here on earth the way Jesus lived when He was here.
This has extremely practical applications in our daily lives. For example, what should a believer do when another believer sins against him? The answer is that believers should forgive one another “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32; cf. Col. 3:13).
Walking as Jesus walked—will affect a home.
* Husbands are supposed to love their wives “even as Christ also loved the church” (Eph. 5:25).
* Husbands are supposed to care for their wives “even as the Lord” cares for the church (Eph. 5:29).
* Wives are to honor and obey their husbands “as to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:22-24).
* Children are to honor their parents “in the Lord.” (Eph. 6:1)
Walking as Jesus walked will affect your behavior in the world…
* Christian employees are to obey their employers following the example of Christ (Eph. 6:5)
* Christian citizens are to submit themselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. (1 Peter 2:13)
Walking as Jesus walked will affect how you conduct yourself in the church.
* Romans 15:7 - “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”
* Eph 5:1,2 – “ Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
* In Hebrews 13:7 are found the words, “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” In the next verse are found the words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
No matter what area of life it may be, our responsibility is to do what Jesus would do. “As He is, so are we in this world.” We should “walk [live] even as He walked [lived].”
So… How did you do on John’s test? One question…One answer.
Do you know that you know him? How do you know that you know Him?
Is your answer?
* “I know that I know Him because I keep His Word.”
* “I strive to constantly obey His commandments because I love Him.”
* “It is the desire of my heart to please Him. I know my obedience to His Word pleases Him.”
* “I obey not because I have to, not because I need to, but because I want to.
That’s how I know that I know Him!
