“BLESSED ASSURANCE” – Evidence #7 – “The Practice Of Righteousness”
1 John 2:28-3:10
INTRODUCTION: We continue in our series on EVIDENCES of salvation that give us the ASSURANCE of salvation.
You can’t base your ASSURANCE of salvation on a PAST experience … it may have been COUNTERFEIT. We are to base the ASSURANCE of salvation on PRESENT EVIDENCES. We see these EVIDENCES in the book of 1 John.
We have seen, so far:
EVIDENCE #1 – A TRUE Christian will have a relationship with Jesus.
EVIDENCE #2 – A TRUE Christian will deal with the sin in their life.
EVIDENCE #3 – A TRUE Christian will obey God’s Word.
EVIDENCE #4 – A TRUE Christian will love other Christians.
EVIDENCE #5 – A TRUE Christian will forsake the world.
EVIDENCE #6 – A TRUE Christian will understand the truth.
NOW … EVIDENCE #7 – A TRUE Christian will PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS.
One of the characteristics of a TRUE Christian, is the PURSUIT of Christ-likeness. He/she will strive to be more like Christ in our daily living. This is called SANCTIFICATION … and it is a life-long process. We will never become “sinless” … but we should get to the point where we “sin less”. While sin will always be IN us, sin should no longer REIGN in us.
The fact that you desire to live a more righteous life, gives you the ASSURANCE of your salvation. If you’re not interested in living a more Godly life … are satisfied in your relationship with Christ … don’t care about what Christ thinks about the way you live … then you should doubt your salvation … probably for a good reason.
Jesus is coming back. This ought to motivate us to life Godly lives. Every Christian will have to give an account of themselves as to what kind of a Christian life they lived. We will be judged for how closely we have reflected the image of Christ.
1 John 2:28 – Not everybody in the “church” will be happy to see Jesus return. Those who “abide in Him” (the saved), are those who have walked in fellowship with Christ. While there may have been times when our fellowship has been strained, we nevertheless have rested in the grace of Christ.
If we want to stand CONFIDENTLY when Jesus returns, we have to keep in close fellowship with Him now.
1 John 2:29 – John tells us how we can know if we are TRULY saved or not … if you “doeth righteousness” = “practice righteousness”.
Christ is righteous … i.e., He conforms perfectly to the righteousness of Holy God. He never sinned … He lived a perfect. Holy, righteous life. To be “righteous” means to be “right” with God. Only Jesus has ever done that.
All Christians are in the family of God …. we are related to Christ by blood … by His blood. As in all families, there should be a FAMILY RESEMBLANCE. If you are TRULY born-again, you WILL bear a family resemblance to Christ … you will “practice righteousness”. You will still sin … but you will continue to “practice righteousness” … or you aren’t a TRUE child of God.
1 John 3:1 – The more you “practice righteousness”, the less the world will understand you. You will be so different from the world, that you will STAND OUT. This can give you the ASSURANCE of your salvation. Would you rather STAND OUT from the world, or BLEND IN with the world? If you are accepted by the world, you will probably doubt your salvation.
1 John 3:2 – Right now, we might look more like the world than we should. We might not be as conformed to the image of Christ as we should. BUT … there’s coming a time when we will be perfectly conformed into the image of Christ … when Jesus comes to take us home with Him.
A great sculptor can see, in the stone, the image he wants to produce. When Michelangelo created the sculpture “David”, he said that he just chiseled away everything that wasn’t “David”.
Within every Christian is the image of Christ … because Christ lives in you. What God wants to do, is to chisel away everything in your life that isn’t Christ. He’s still working on you. This is an EVIDENCE that you are a TRUE child of God.
BUT … When Jesus returns, God will COMPLETE whatever is lacking in your conformity to Christ-likeness. Philip. 1:6 – “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
1 John 3:2 says that “we will be like Him”.
1.- PHYSICALLY – Our bodies will be changed and be made like His glorified resurrected body. Philip. 3:20-21 – “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; [21] who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
2.- SPIRITUALLY – We will be made perfectly HOLY … our sin nature will be eradicated … we will only be able to do that which is righteous and pure. We will no longer be tempted … we will no longer struggle with sin. We will have the nature of Jesus, which is pure and holy. OTHERWISE, we wouldn’t be able to see Jesus … we wouldn’t be able to enter Heaven’s glory.
1 John 3:3 – Having this wonderful hope, should have an effect on our behavior. Since we will be COMPLETELY RIGHTEOUS like Christ in the FUTURE … it should make us want to be more Christ-like now.
If we really believe that Jesus is coming back for us, we should want to be ready for Him. Would you do some housecleaning if you knew that an important guest was going to arrive? (Billy Graham, George or Laura Bush, your favorite athletic star, etc.) If we truly believe that Jesus is coming back, we will do some spiritual housecleaning … that’s an EVIDENCE if you are TRULY born-again.
1 John 3:4 – “commits sin” = “practices sin” … in open rebellion against God … living however you please … having no regard for what God thinks or says … living as if there is no God.
If you are TRULY saved, you won’t live like this. While you & I may periodically disobey God … the TRUE believer won’t “practice sin” as our normal way of life. Do you know someone like this … who SAYS they are a Christian … BUT … they live in open sin as a normal way of life? John says they aren’t saved! The TRUE believer would never do this. They CAN’T … because the righteousness of Christ lives within them.
1 John 3:5 – When Jesus died on the cross, He took away the POWER of sin over you. The PENALTY has been paid … therefore … the POWER of sin no longer can control you. THEREFORE … we don’t need to PRACTICE sin any longer.
If I could play the piano PERFECTLY … and couldn’t do otherwise … why should I PRACTICE? It wouldn’t make much sense to PRACTICE something that is already PERFECT, that can’t get any better. In the same way … if Jesus died to pay my sin-debt … and He gave me His righteousness … and there’s nothing more righteous than His righteousness … and I am “in Christ” … THEN … why should I PRACTICE sin? I may hit a sour note every now and then (when I sin) … BUT … I could never PRACTICE sin if Jesus died to make me righteous.
Sin is still alive within us, but we are dead to the POWER of sin over us. Experiencing the power over sin in your life, will give you the ASSURANCE of salvation.
1 John 3:6-7 – John continues to talk about practicing sin as a lifestyle … like you did before you were saved. If there hasn’t been a CHANGE in your lifestyle since you were saved … if you are still “practicing sin” … then you were never saved.
We are to be forever in the PROCESS of changing … for the better … into more Christ-likeness. We ought to be making PROGRESS. This is a sign that will give us the ASSURANCE of our salvation.
1 John 3:8 – Satan holds the lost in his power … the Christian is held by the power of Christ. When a lost person becomes a Christian, the power of Satan is broken … therefore … the won’t practice sin any longer. John 8:34, 36 – “Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. [36] "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” If Jesus has set you free from the slavery of practicing sin, then you won’t practice sin anymore.
1 John 3:9 – The seed of Jesus has been planted in every Christian. HIS SEED (His holy nature) cannot sin. We have a NEW NATURE … the nature of Christ … that cannot sin. Whenever I DO SIN, it’s my OLD NATURE sinning. When I die physically, my old sinful nature (which is attached to my sinful physical body) will die too. It was sentenced to death at Calvary … but has taken a long time to die! All that will be left is my NEW NATURE.
The LOST only have the OLD nature. Since it has never been put to death and still lives to rule & reign in their heart, it will have to be judged. Their UNRIGHTEOUS SEED is all that they have … they do not have the RIGHTEOUS SEED of Christ within.
1 John 3:10 – John gives clear evidence as to who is saved … and who is not. A good tree will produce good fruit (it’s from the good “seed”). The bad tree will produce bad fruit. The fruit always reveals what kind of tree it is.
When God planted His Divine “seed” in you, it produced a DESIRE to serve, obey and live for Christ. If you don’t have this DESIRE, then you don’t have His “seed” in you.
CONCLUSION:
When Jesus saved you, God planted a new seed in you. It WILL bring forth fruit. The more we see this fruit, the more we will have the ASSURANCE of our salvation.
Has there been a CHANGE in your life since you were saved?
Are you growing more Christ-like the longer you are saved?
Can you see God working in your life?
If you can’t, then you need to examine your salvation. The TRUE child of God will be a GROWING Christian … growing closer to Christ.
STAND – PRAY
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BLESSED ASSURANCE – Evidence #7
“The Practice Of Righteousness”
INTRODUCTION: The TRUE Christian will strive to be more Christ-like in their daily living … SANCTIFICATION.
- The return of Jesus ought to motivate us to live Godly lives.
1 John 2:28 – Those who keep in fellowship with Christ will stand confident in Him when He returns.
2:29 – “doeth righteousness” = “practice righteousness”
- To be “righteous” means to be “right” with God.
- As a Child of God, there should be a family resemblance.
3:1 – If you would rather BLEND IN with the world, rather than STAND OUT from the world, you will doubt your salvation.
3:2 – When Jesus returns, we will be PERFECTLY conformed into the image of Christ.
- NOW, God is working on you, chiseling away everything that doesn’t conform to the image of Christ.
- Philippians 1:6 – When Jesus returns, we will be like Him:
1.- Physically – Philippians 3:20-21
2.- Spiritually – We will have the nature of Jesus.
3:3 – Being completely righteous like Christ in the FUTURE, should make us want to be more like Christ NOW.
- Spiritual housecleaning is an EVIDENCE of salvation.
3:4 – “commits sin” = “practices sin” – the TRUE Christian will not live in open rebellion against God … they CAN’T!
3:5 – Jesus took away the POWER of sin on the cross.
- You can’t “practice sin” if Jesus gave you His righteousness.
3:6-7 – There MUST be a change in lifestyle for the TRUE Christian … making progress … a process of change.
3:8 – John 8:34,36 – Jesus has set you free from slavery of sin.
3:9 – The seed of Jesus has been planted in the Christian.
- It is the old nature in us that sins … not His holy seed.
- At death our new nature, His holy seed, will remain.
3:10 – The fruit reveals what kind of tree it is.
- God’s holy seed has implanted a desire to live for Christ.
CONCLUSION:
• Has there been a change in your life since you were saved?
• Are you growing more Christ-like the longer you’re saved?
• Can you see God working in your life?
These are EVIDENCES of salvation.
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
