Provoking Thoughts From 1 John (5 Of 16)

We discovered that anyone can say that they know the Lord...anyone! All one has to say is, “I know the Lord.”

John used the word, “saith,” numerous times. He referred to it in:

• 1 John 2:4. He said, “HE THAT SAITH, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

• 1 John 2:6. He said, “HE THAT SAITH he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

• 1 John 2:9. He said, “HE THAT SAITH he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.”

Again, John says a person can say he KNOWS the Lord, but that does not mean he REALLY KNOWS the Lord.

The Lord makes us aware of the possibility of this deception in Matthew 7:21-23. He said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

The Lord was saying what John said -- that is that a person can say all day long that he knows the Lord, but that does not mean that person really knows the Lord. John gave us a test to take to be sure that we really know the Lord.

If we can not pass these seven tests, John says our profession is built on a lie. Three of the tests we have already taken are:

I. THE ATTITUDE TEST

That is, if we say we are Christians, John said that the proof was that we would KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. A lot of folks who claim to be saved can not pass this test.

II. THE ACTION TEST

That is, if we say we are Christians, we will walk even as He walked. A lot of folks who claim to be saved do not walk as he walked.

III. THE AFFECTION TEST

That is, if we say we are Christians, we love the brethren. A lot of folks claim to be saved, yet many of these hate, envy, and back-stab the brethren. In fact, the way some gossip and back-stab, you can not find they have an ounce of love for the brethren.

John said if you could not get past these THREE tests, your profession of faith in Christ is no more than a pack of lies.

We are not saved by doing these things, but John said IF ONE WAS SAVED HE WOULD DO THESE THINGS.

Today we want to take the John’s fourth test.

IV. THE ACTUALITY TEST

That is, if our profession is true; if we truly repented of our sins, something marvelous had taken place in our lives -- we have become BORN-AGAIN. This is not something we wished would happen, it is something that ACTUALLY happened. One actually becomes a “new creature.”

2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

This verse is teaching simply that anytime you have BIRTH, you SHOULD ALSO HAVE GROWTH. When we are saved we have ACTUALLY BECOME NEW CREATURES!

When this birth occurs we then go through THREE stages of growth. They are:

• The infancy stage.

• The youth stage.

• The adulthood stage.

Let us look at these THREE stages of growth that all born-again believers should go through.

A. THE INFANCY STAGE

Look at verse 12. John said, “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.”

Notice, again, the reason he was writing to the children of God was because... “...your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.”

The thing that makes those who have accepted Christ as Savior God’s children is the fact we have been forgiven.

Illus: I like the bumper sticker, that we occasionally see on the bumpers of cars, that states, “Not perfect, just forgiven!”

That is what we are, as children of God. We do not claim to be perfect, but we do claim to be forgiven.

The thing that makes us different from the lost world is that the Holy Spirit of God has enlightened us about our sins and we recognized the way we were living was sinful and we wept before the Lord in repentance.

NOTICE, I SAID THAT WE WEPT BEFORE GOD IN REPENTANCE.

Now I know that nowhere in the Bible does it say that we must weep when we repent of our sins, but dry-eyed professions of salvation make us wonder if these people have genuinely repented of their sins.