WALKING IN TRUTH
1 John 2:18-29
It makes no difference what you believe, just as long as you are sincere!” This is the philosophy of many people today. Does being sincere automatically make something true?
Here is an example that may answer this question. A nurse in a hospital gives some medicine to a patient for pain relief and the patient becomes violently ill. The nurse was sincere in trying to help the patient, but the medicine was wrong and the patient almost died.
It takes more than sincerity to make something true. Faith in a lie will always cause serious consequences. It does make a difference what a person believes. A person who is real builds his life on truth, not superstition, lies, or tradition. It is impossible to live a real life by believing lies.
So far in our study, God has warned the church family about the conflict between light and darkness and between love and hatred. This study looks at a third warning: The conflict between truth and error. It is not enough for believers to walk in the light and to walk in love; they must also walk in the truth.
Does it make any difference what you believe? It makes all the difference in the world! We are living in the last hour and the spirit of antichrist is working in the world. It is important that you know and believe the truth and be able to detect lies when they come your way.
Our text gives three examples of those not walking in the truth.
Departs
1 John 2:18-19
The word “us” refers to the fellowship of believers, the church. Not everyone who is part of a congregation is necessarily a Christian.
The New Testament presents the church in two ways; as one worldwide family and as local assemblies of believers. When a sinner trusts Christ as Savior, he receives eternal life and immediately becomes a member of God’s family and part of Christ’s spiritual body. He should then become a part of a local congregation and begin serving Christ; but the point here is that a person can belong to a local church and not be a Christian.
One of the evidences of true Christian life is a desire to be with the people of God. When people share the same divine nature and indwelt by the same Holy Spirit, they want to enjoy fellowship and to share with one another. The word fellowship means to have in common.
The “counterfeit Christians” did not remain in the fellowship. They went out. This doesn’t mean that staying in the church keeps a person saved; but it does indicate that remaining in the fellowship is one of the evidences that a person is a Christian.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Jesus makes it clear that only those who produce fruit are truly born again. It is possible to be close to an experience of salvation, and even to have some characteristics that would pass for “Christian”, and yet not be a child of God. The people in 1 John 2 left the fellowship because they did not possess the true life and the love of Christ was not in their hearts.
There are many unfortunate division among the people of God today, but all true Christians have things in common, regardless of church affiliation. They believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus is the Son of God. They confess that men are sinners and that the only way one can be saved is through faith in Christ. They believe that Christ died as man’s substitute on the cross, and that He arose again from the dead. They believe that the Holy Spirit indwells true believers. Finally, they believe that one day in the future Jesus will come again. Christians may differ on other matters like church government or modes of baptism; but they agree on the basic doctrines of the faith.
If you will investigate the history of the false cults and antichristian religious systems in today’s world, you will find that in most cases their founders started out in a local church. The were “with us” but not “of us”, so they went out “from us” and started their own groups.
Denies
1 John 2:20-25
The key question for a Christian is: “Who is Jesus Christ”? Is Christ merely “an Example”, “a good Man”, or “a wonderful Teacher”; or is He God come in the flesh? John’s readers knew the truth about Christ or they would not have been saved.
False Christians in John’s day used two special words to describe their experience: “Knowledge” and “unction”. They claimed to have a special unction (anointing) from God which gave them a unique knowledge. They were “illuminated” and therefore living on a much higher level than anybody else. But, John points out that all true Christians know God and have received the Spirit of God and because they have believed the truth, they recognize a lie when they meet it.
Not all preachers and teachers who claim to be Christian are really Christian in their belief. If they confess that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, then they belong to the true faith. If they deny Christ, then they belong to Antichrist. They are in and of the world, and are not, like true believers, called out of the world. When they speak, the word hears them and believes them; but the unsaved world can never understand a true Christian. A Christian speaks under the direction of the Spirit of Truth; a false teacher speaks under the influence of the spirit of error- the spirit of antichrist.
To confess that “Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh” involves much more that simply to identify Christ. The demons did this but it did not save them. True confession involves personal faith in Christ in who He is and what He has done. A confession is not a mere intellectual “theological statement” that you recite; it is a personal witness from your heart of what Christ has done for you. If you have trusted Christ and have confessed your faith, you have eternal life. Those who cannot honestly make this confession do not have eternal life.
False teachers will often say, “We worship the Father. We believe in God the Father, even though we disagree with you about Jesus Christ.” But to deny the Son means to deny the Father also. You cannot separate the Father and the Son, since both are one God.
It is important that you stay with the truth of God’s Word. The Word Christians have “heard from the beginning” is all you need to keep you true to the faith. The Christian life continues just as it began: through faith in the Bible’s message. A religious leader who comes along with “something new”, something that contradicts what Christians have “heard from the beginning”, is not to be trusted. Let the Word abide in you and abide in Christ; otherwise you will be led astray by the spirit of antichrist. No matter what false teachers may promise, you have the sure promise of eternal life. You need nothing more!
If false teachers were content to enjoy themselves in their own meetings, it would be bad enough; the tragedy is that they try earnestly to convert others to their antichristian doctrines. This is the third trait of a person who has turned away from God’s truth.
Deceives
1 John 2:26-29
It is interesting to observe that antichristian groups rarely try to lead lost sinners to their false faith. Instead, they spend much of their time trying to convert professing Christians to their own doctrines. They are out to lead the faithful astray.
Jesus calls Satan the “father of lies”. The devil’s purpose is to lead Christians astray by teaching them false doctrines. Satan is not an originator, he is a counterfeiter. He imitates the work of God. Satan has counterfeit “ministers” who preach a counterfeit gospel that produces counterfeit Christians who depend on a counterfeit righteousness.
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field." So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. "The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.
Jesus and Satan are pictures as sowers. Jesus sows the true seed, the children of God; but Satan sows “the children of the wicked one.” The two kinds of plants, while growing look so much alike that the servants could not tell the difference until the fruit appeared! Satan’s chief plan during this time is to plant the counterfeit wherever Christ plants the true. It is important that you be able to detect the counterfeit and separate the teachings of Christ from the false teachings of antichrist.
How does a believer do this? By depending on the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Each believer has experienced the anointing of the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who teaches them truth.
John has now concluded his message on fellowship and is about to begin his message on sonship. Verses 28 and 29 are a bridge from the fellowship section into the sonship section.
1 John 2:28-29
There are three important phrases we must see in these two verses.
“Continue in Him”: If you are a believer and you find yourself out of fellowship with God, it is because you have disobeyed God and you need to go to God and ask Him for forgiveness so that you can continue in serving Him.
“So that when he appears”: The fact that Jesus Christ may return at any moment ought to be an incentive for us to live in fellowship with Him and be obedient to His Word.
“Unashamed”: There will be some believers who will be ashamed when Christ comes back. How will Christ find you? Are you walking in the truth?
Series: Light In The Darkness [#4]
Sunday Evening Bible Study August 10, 2003
Bel Aire Baptist Church
