1 John | Chapter 1

1 John

“Fellowship”


FULL OUTLINE:

Chp. 1:1-4 Introduction: “The Basis of Fellowship”: Fellowship with God

  1. Chp. 1:5, 2:1, 26 and 5:13 Statement of purpose: “The Objectives of Fellowship”:     “These things we write to you”
    • 1:5 “Fullness of joy”
    • 2:1 “Freedom from sin”
    • 2:26 “Foresightedness against deception”
    • 5:13 “Faith filled assurance”

III.  Chp. 1:12-3:16 Main body of teaching:

  1. 1:5-2:14 Conditions of fellowship
    • 1:5-7 Walk in the Light
    • 1:8-2:2 Confession of sin
    • 2:3-6 Obey His Word
    • 2:7-14 Love one another
  2. 2:15-27 Cautions to fellowship
    • 2:15-17 Love of the world
    • 2:18-27 Listening to the Liar
  3. 2:28-5:3 Characteristics of fellowship
    • 2:28-3:3 Practice purity
    • 3:4-12 Remain in righteousness
    • 3:13-24 Confidence in His commandment to love
    • 4:1-6 Testing truths
    • 4:7-5:3 Linger in love lavished on us
  4. 5:4-21 Consequences of fellowship
    • 5:4-5 Victory over the world
    • 5:6-13 Assurance of eternal life
    • 5:14-17 Confidence in prayer
    • 5:18-20 Deliverance from practicing sin
  5. Chp. 5:21 Closing “Fellowships enemy”

 


1 John

Overview

 

 

Introduction

 

Introduction

 

The Bible, as literature, can be compared to great architecture; mathematical and sequential, where each brick, stone or board is placed upon another precisely fitted to enhance the structure and encase the beauty of the building. This is noticed in all the types of writings in the Bible, be that narratives, prophetic, poetry or letters.

The Bible student is benefited by understanding this and noticing the type of building so that they can investigate and interpret properly ensuring the right personal application. With that said 1st John is not your normal letter and isn’t built like great architecture instead it is more like a great work of art with over lapping and layered brush strokes of differing hues painted upon a blank canvas. When you look at this letter you will note many different points of interest and color throughout the whole painting only to see them repeated in other parts of the portrait all perfectly fit. Read it through and you will marvel at its depth of truth while being amazed by its simplicity of structure. First, we will examine seven points about this masterpiece:

  1. Who was used to paint it
  2. Who were the original viewers
  3. Why was it painted
  4. What is the subject matter of the painting
  5. When was it painted
  6. What are the key pigments used in its construction
  7. Where was it painted

The purpose of these questions is so we can understand what the writer was conveying in his work of art! This overview will equip us, I hope, in our study in the richness of this masterpiece, so that we can get his paint all over us. While I’ve employed the normal letter outline and it is available; however, I do so in complete understanding that this isn’t architecture but a work of art and there are far better scholars then I who may come up with far more useful outlines! I will use the above questions as the basis of this morning’s study as if we were in a fine art gallery looking at the painting hung on the wall of Louvre!


Who was used to paint it

While this isn’t the only letter that doesn’t introduce the readers to the writer it is nonetheless one in which the artist didn’t sign the artwork. That said, the internal and external evidence points to the Apostle John and is not doubted by any true scholar. The internal evidence supports this tradition as the writer’s use of words of identification such as verse 1:1-3 where he uses the word “WE” in describing apostles and “YOU” as identifying his readers and “THEY” false teachers, 4:14. The vocabulary of this letter is uniquely similar to those found in the gospel that bears his name, John, as a style of brush stroke is to a painter. They both share phrases not found anywhere else in the Bible. The word “Logos” found in this letter only appears in two other locations when describing Jesus, the Gospel of John and Revelation and serves as a strong indication of the author.

The author also is the only New Testament writer to use the expression found in the gospel that also appears in 1st John 1:8 “have no sin”. This uniqueness of this phrase is in the verb “HAVE” in connection with sin. Other writers write on the action of “committing sin” but say nothing on “HAVING SIN” as he does in John 9:41, 15:24. What the writer means by this phrase is that sin isn’t something that we do, it is part of us as we possess it! Interestingly, John declares the opposite of Jesus in 1 John 3:5 saying in HIM (Jesus) there is NO SIN!

Another word that is common to both the gospel and this letter is the Greek word used for the Holy Spirit “Parakletos” translated “comforter” in the gospel and “advocate” in 1st John but in both cases, it identifies “One called alongside to help” the only difference in the interpretation of this Greek word is how the person experiences the Holy Spirit’s actions in His help. The external evidence is no less convincing, as two of the Apostles disciples, Polycarp and Papias, attribute it to him by quoting as being from John. It is also helpful to compare the first chapter of the gospel of John with the first chapter of the letter 1st John as both similarly lay a strong foundation to the Person and Work of our Lord:

The Gospel: 1:1-5 Christ’s relationship to God the Father. 1:6-3 Christ’s historical manifestation. 1:14-18 The personal appropriation of Christ.

1st John: 1:1 Christ’s relationship to time and eternity. 1:2 Christ’s historical manifestation. 1:3 The personal results.

The main difference is that the gospel of John is concerned with personal faith in Christ whereas 1st John is concerned with our assurance because of our personal faith in Christ.



Who were the original viewers / When was it painted / Where was it painted


There is no clear indication to whom John wrote this letter too. The prevailing view has been to the churches in the province of Asia while not impossible I find it unlikely as Peter addressed those churches in his letters around AD 64 and now 25 to 30 years later John writes to the same area, but I’m certain that in that length of time much has changed in those churches as well as the gospel had expanded and increased the number of fellowships. In 66 AD John and other apostles were forced to leave Jerusalem because the imminent destruction by the Romans.

In John’s case he relocated to Ephesus. Nowhere in this letter does he say he is the founder of this fellowship, but it is clear by reading 1st John that he was very familiar and fond of these saints and the feeling was mutual as he addresses them 7 times as “little children”. Multiple times he refers to them as young men and fathers. Six times he calls them “beloved”, and all of this implies his affection for them as he speaks to them like a “Grandpa” would as John was quite advanced years perhaps close to 100.

 


Why was it painted / What is the subject matter of the painting


A careful reading of this letter indicates that it was written to counter a dangerous heresy as it emphasizes the deity of Christ as well as judges those that deny His deity three times calling them “liars”. John also frequently refers to the “blood of Christ” as well as referring to Him as the “Son of God”. According to the early church who received their information from John’s disciple Polycarp, this letter was written to those in the faith in a “general letter” address them tenderly to counter the false gnostic teaching of Cerinthus who was active in Ephesus during this time. Among his lies and false teaching was that Jesus was the physical son of Joseph and that He became deity at His baptism when the heavenly Jesus came united with him only to depart before his suffering and death. Cerinthus, rejected all the gospels, all of Paul’s letters and only accepted parts of Matthew and Mark. He was a former Jew from Egypt and combined ideas that spiritualized “system of laws and rituals established by Moses”. Cerinthus maintained circumcision and keeping the Sabbath as essential for salvation. Another aspect of this letter is upon to encourage those who are loved by God while being hated by the world, as John repeatedly tells them to stay the course in their affection to God.

Love is also a central theme of this letter.


What are the key pigments used in its construction

 

The Apostle John had discovered in his 20’s that life was best lived not in experiences or things but in a relationship with Jesus Christ, whom he came to understand was the Son of God. He had lived his life for over 70 years in that “reality” without any regrets. First in 1:1-4 reveals to his readers “The Basis of Fellowship”. Then John throughout the letter through the phrase “These things we write to you” found four times in this little letter reveals “The Objectives of Fellowship” which is fourfold:       

  1. 1:5 Fullness of joy
  2. 2:1 Freedom from sin
  3. 2:26 Foresightedness against deception
  4. 5:13 Faith filled assurance

 

From there throughout the main body of the letter will deliver four important truths about our fellowship:


  1. 1:5-2:14 Conditions of fellowship
  2. 2:15-27 Cautions to fellowship
  3. 2:28-5:3 Characteristics of fellowship
  4. 5:4-21 Consequences of fellowship

Next, we will dig into the first 4 verses of chapter one as we take on “The Basis of our Fellowship” 

 

 


1 John 1:1-3

The basis of our fellowship

 

  • Introduction
  • 1-2 What John heard, saw, and handled
  • 3 The reason for it…Fellowship

 

Introduction


Now we start our study into the introduction to the apostle John’s first letter. As noted in our overview of this letter last week John does not share the normal format of ancient letters in his introduction as he does not introduce himself nor who his intended readers were. Such normal formality is replaced with what consumed John; the master passion of his life: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ!

The theme of this letter is “Fellowship”, and John’s aim in the first three verses is to reveal to his readers the “Basis Fellowship” which John joyously remembers from the beginning of his relationship 70 years earlier. Humanity cannot have any lasting harmony with their fellow man if there is no harmony with their creator, so there is no better place to start a topic on fellowship than with what Jesus has done to restore a right relationship. We cannot regain our relationship with God on our works or effort; we are 100% dependent upon God to bridge the eternal separation that existed between a Holy God and sinful humanity. Throughout this letter John is just as amazed at Jesus as he had been since he first encountered Jesus! It is noticeable in John’s use of the words’ “as He” and “even as He” which John uses some 6 times in this letter. Jesus is on John’s heart and mind at the beginning of this letter in 1:1-3 and He is still there at the end of this letter in chapter 5:20. Though not asked, the elderly apostle John answers the question to his readers of “What Jesus is to me 70 years after I last saw Him physically!” In the use of those words “AS HE” we note that those 6 occurrences are arranged into three pairs both inwardly and outwardly:

  1. Jesus Christ our example in relationship to the Father:
  2. 1:7 Inward:
  3. 2:6 Outward:
  4. Jesus Christ our example in relationship to our self:
  5. 2:3 Inward:
  6. 3:7 Outward:
  7. Jesus Christ our example in relationship to others:
  8. 3:23 Inward:
  9. 4:17 Outward:

With magnificent clarity John describes three amazing truths about His Son as THE instrument and “Basis of our fellowship”. Before we look at this notice first that John makes this threefold declaration about Jesus from three different perspectives:

  1. 1 Personal experience: The Jesus John had encountered was, HEARD, SEEN, and INVESTIGATED. Notice that John’s personal encounter and initial perception hadn’t changed or altered even in the 70 years that had elapsed. In fact, what John had HEARD, SEEN, and INVESTIGATED in Jesus during His earthly life and again had done so after the resurrection had become His calling in life and the thing that John most wanted to talk about. So how about it Christian? Has anything changed from the impact Jesus made in the beginning of your encounter with Him? Oh, I pray your love has increased and not decreased!
  2. 2 Personal testimony: John declares that his “experience” has become his “privileged vocation” and for the last 70 years he has “born witness” of that experience. That my dear friends is what every Christian’s truest calling is, to “bear witness” to our encounter with our Lord. And what is that witness? Well John says that it is that “LIFE WAS MANIFESTED” in Jesus. That we began the TRUE purpose and experience of what God had designed for humanity when He created us when we encountered Jesus!
  3. 3 Personal communication: Next John says that he was engaged in this witness by the means of “personal declaration”. It is true of all of us; that which we love the most we talk the most about! In the case of some, the one they love the most is themselves and that is what they speak most on. Other’s it may be a hobby or profession or family! I want to talk about the One that saved my life, the comforter of my soul, my resting place and my only joy, my Lord, Savior, and best friend….JESUS!

The basis of our fellowship is Jesus Christ and here in the first three verses John not only tells us how Jesus impacted him, but in what ways Jesus did so.

  1. 1 “That which was from the beginning”: John’s experience from the beginning conferred the truth to his heart that Jesus was first Eternal and second Divine! Take that in for a moment….John looked upon, listened, and considered all that JESUS said and did for 3 ½ years and then after the resurrection and his conclusion that governed the remained of his over 100 years of life was that Jesus was God and eternal. We must not take such an examination lightly as John speaks of not only the thoroughness of the investigation, but the certainty of it as he spent the remainder of his life dedicated to communicating the FACTS of this investigation. Just consider what evidence it would take for you to come to these same conclusions while looking at a man who in physical appearance looked just like you!
  2. 1a “Concerning the Word of Life”: Second John recognized through his investigation of Jesus that He alone is life giving and unique. John describes Jesus as the “Word of Life” the original word here is Logos the one who “speaks and it comes into existence”. Jesus, John declares is the “Life giver” as well as the “eternal life giver”! Again, think of the handicaps that John had to overcome to come to these conclusions! The years of prejudice and experience…. there had never been one who walked on earth that was God the Son, who was Logos the very one who spoke, and things came into existence! Furthermore, in 70 years of life and experiences, nothing had come into his life that changed or altered that revelation.
  3. 2 “The life was manifested”: Finally, John says that this very Person whom he examined for 3 ½ years that was Eternal and Divine, that is the Logos the Word Life Giver was made visible on this earth and John had to reconcile this reality. The Eternal and Divine became man, took on human form. Paul had also come to this same conclusion in Philip. 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” The incarnation of Jesus is what John writes of here and it is the most amazing reality that has ever happened in all human history!

 

When John wrote his gospel, he started with the Person of Jesus who according to John 1:1 was both Divine and human. In the Gospel John simply calls Jesus, the Word, but here in this letter he says that Jesus is the Word of Life, and we can safely proclaim as John does that Christianity is Christ and our foundation is the fact of Jesus’ Divine Person and Work. The Church ceases to exist, and its relevance becomes insignificant if it ever becomes ununited to their founder Jesus!  

 

Vs.3 The final thing we are given in this section is the reason for this manifestation: The answer is both simple and at the same time extremely profound….it was for the purpose of fellowship!! John says it right here “that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

  • The word “Fellowship” is a word that means things in common. And Paul would ask in 2 Cor. 6:14-17 “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?” That is why God gave His only son and the fact that all redemptive work has in view the necessity of bringing man out of lawlessness to righteousness, enmity to friendship and loneliness to fellowship.
  • Next, we see whom fellowship is with and first it is with the Father, and it includes four things:
  1. Access to His presence: And the access according to the Word of God, is not only in time of need but also when we fail as when we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us ALL our iniquity. We are invited in Hebrews to approach His throne boldly in prayer but not only that we can enjoy the sense of presence in peace throughout the day.
  2. Assurance of His favor: We can know because the redemptive work was based upon God’s goodness and not our own that we are blessed with “every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus”.
  3. Enjoyment of His truth: We can enjoy the Word of God even when it is corrective in attitudes and actions as the Bible tells us that God disciplines those He loves.
  4. Possession of His love: Finally, our fellowship with God purposes the realization that we are loved and belong to the Only one who knows us completely and yet still has chosen to love us completely.
  • Because our fellowship starts with reconciliation with God it can extend to fellowship with humanity. There can be no lasting fellowship with humanity that doesn’t start with fellowship with God and such fellowship with God must be initiated by God. John says that because of the work of God they had fellowship with them. We are in joint relationship with others who are beneficiaries of God’s grace. This in turn has placed us in joint participation in love, labor, and hope all to the glory of God. Our life in fellowship with God is never alone but in union with God and our fellow servants of Jesus.         

 


John 1:4 / 2:1

The Objectives of Fellowship

 

  • Introduction
  • 1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY
  • 2:1 The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS

 

 

Introduction

As mentioned, the apostle John’s first letter doesn’t follow the normal format for New Testament letters. John never introduced himself or his readers and offered no greeting towards them. What John does is to immediately launch into what even at close to 100 years old is still the master passion of his life: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ! Though John doesn’t follow the normal format this letter is simple when it comes to understanding what’s on John heart and mind as the theme of this letter is “Fellowship.”  

 

John’s first objective was to reveal to his readers the “Basis of Fellowship” and he does so by reminding the readers of his unique perspective from his own investigation as well as a teacher of what he discovered in Jesus which John taught for close to 70 years in his life.

 

Finally, it is the longevity of that life that John points towards as it relates to his first experiences with Jesus as in all those years of life’s experiences NOTHING EVER changed the TRUTH that he witnessed as a young man even though such testimony WAS constantly under attack and came at a huge cost of suffering! John’s fixed and certain testimony is that Jesus is THE BASIS of FELLOWSHIP based upon WHO HE IS as John declares that his discovery proved that Jesus is: 

Vs. 1 “That which was from the beginning”: John’s experience from the beginning conferred the truth to his heart that Jesus was first Eternal and second Divine!       

Vs. 1a “Concerning the Word of Life”: Second John recognized Jesus alone is life giving and unique. He is the “Life giver” as well as the “eternal life giver”!    

Vs. 2 “The life was manifested”: Finally, John says that this Jesus whom he describes as the Word of Life Giver was made visible on this earth and John had to reconcile this reality.

That takes us to the second part of the letter that is extremely practical which is what are “The Objectives of Fellowship”? Or perhaps put another way what changes are made if the “Basis of my Fellowship” has changed? This section is the reason why John has written the letter as through the letter he gives “Four differences or benefits of the believers fellowship with God!” I’ll state them at first before we examine each one briefly as we will be looking at them in far more detail as we come upon them in the lesson as they are scattered throughout the letter.

We know right where they are as each time one of them appears John introduces them to us by saying the same phrase: “These things I write to you”. John states that because of Jesus our fellowship with God has changed four things about life:

  • 1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY
  • 2:1 The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS
  • 2:26 The clarity of the Christian life: TRUTH
  • 5:13 The confidence of the Christian life: ASSURANCE

 

1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY

 

Vs. 1:4 What we learn from John’s experience is that John realized a truth that “Fellowship with God through Jesus is the antidote to human loneliness”. You will note that our text uses the word, “your”, in reference to the joy, but in the Greek John uses the word “our” as John’s testimony is that ALL believers of ALL time will share in this characteristic! Furthermore, the phrase “may be full” in the Greek means, “that OUR joy, having been filled completely full in times past, will persist in that state of fullness in present times.” The nature of Joy is in view as it comes from our fellowship with God through Jesus and remains full for three reasons:

  1. It is with the Father: Since it is with the Father it is associated with our pardon, provision, protection, and power all of which comes from Him and is based upon His goodness and not our own! It is because of this that the character of the Christian life can only be JOY!
  2. It is with the Son: Since it is with the Son it is associated with His sacrifice which was made in full understanding of our failings and sin! How can this knowledge not bring joy and awe from us?! This fellowship with Jesus is in full understanding of His divine nature, redemptive work, resurrected life, blessed indwelling Spirit, glorious certainty of His coming again for us. As such the Christian life can only be JOY.
  3. It is with other believers: Because of the fact of the above two we have fellowship with other believers which ought to produce JOY because we have far more in common than we have differences. Fellowship with God has broken the walls that separate people and because of His forgiveness of our sin we can forgive others who have a far less debt than we did towards God. Unity and oneness create JOY with those that belong to Jesus.

JOY is a wonderful by-product of our fellowship with God. It isn’t something that we can manufacture ourselves as it is the opposite of what the world offers. The world offers “happiness” which is based upon favorable “happenings”. That’s why so many in the world that are chasing “happenings” for “happiness” are miserable. The author of Hebrews described Moses’ battle as the prince of Egypt that let go of the temporary pleasures of sin (Heb 11:25). Where Psalms 16:11 tells us that “In Your presence is fullness of JOY; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The Christian life is JOY to which Jesus promised in John 16:22 “Your JOY no one will take from you”. And in John 15:11 promised that “That our JOY may remain in us, and that our JOY may be full”. Both of which Jesus said only hours before His death! These two truths with regards to HIS JOY are facts:

  • Jesus would have His JOY be ours
  • Jesus would have His JOY remain with us

John writes not only that the reader may have Joy but that they would have the fullness of Joy! The phrase “joy may be full” is found 6 times in John’s writing’s, four times in the gospel and twice in his letters.

 


2:1 The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS

 

Vs. 2:1 We now look at the second thing that changed because we now enjoy fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, and it is found in vs.2:1 where we read that John wrote “So that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Now we will look at this verse in full detail later, now we will just peek at it as John proclaims two very powerful truths about the change in our Christian life when compared to our former life apart from fellowship with God. Our path or course in life has changed from “DEATH” to “LIFE”. Jesus not only dealt with the penalty of our sin, but He rose from the dead and now is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. According to Luke 22:32 on the very night that Peter would reject Jesus, He told Peter that He knew that Peter would do so and that “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Then in Roman’s 8:34 right before Paul reminds his readers that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ in verse 35 tells them that it is Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father who makes intercession for us. 

  1. “These things I write to you, THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN:” Jesus’ work on the cross is available to KEEP me from sinning! He not only has paid the penalty for my sins, past present and future but He alone has removed the POWER that sin had over me in my fallen state. I have a NEW nature by which old things have passed away and I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus. As wonderful as that truth is what happens when I choose to disobey and sin? What if in a moment of weakness and stupidity I choose the flesh instead of the Spirit?
  2. “These things I wrote to you, if anyone sins, WE HAVE AN AVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS”. Jesus’ work on the cross NOT only can keep me from sin He can and does also forgive me when I sin. Jesus defends us at the throne against our accuser satan. Jesus is our advocate our defense lawyer whose credentials are listed right here JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS!

Because of this change of fellowship, the Christian life not only has the characteristic of Joy it has the guarantee of Victory. Both the course we are on has changed and even if we get off course Jesus will get us back on course and forgive our getting off course. We will look at how Jesus does this soon enough, but it will require us admitting that we have gotten off course!

            Next, we will take up both:

  1. 2:26 The clarity of the Christian life: TRUTH
  2. 5:13 The confidence of the Christian life: ASSURANCE

 

 

 

1 John 1:4, 2:1, 2:26, 5:13

The Objectives of Fellowship (part B)


  • Introduction
  • 2:1 The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS
  • 2:26 The clarity of the Christian life: TRUTH
  • 5:13 The confidence of the Christian life: ASSURANCE

 

 

Introduction

Now we continue examining what has changed for the believer once they received Jesus as Lord. As I mentioned the Apostle John scatters them through this brief letter on fellowship but gives us the exact location in the phrase “These things I write to you”. These words preface the FOUR BENEFITS OF THE BELIEVERS FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD”. John states that because of Jesus our fellowship with God it has changed FOUR THINGS about LIFE:

  • 1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY
  • 2:1 The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS
  • 2:26 The clarity of the Christian life: TRUTH
  • 5:13 The confidence of the Christian life: ASSURANCE

 

 Let me remind you at this time I have no attention of an in-depth examination of these four things now, as we will that do as we work through the text. Instead, I only wish to give you an overview of them, and we started with vs.1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY.


1:4 The character of the Christian life: JOY


It is here that we realized that John discovered the truth during his time with Jesus that, “Fellowship with God through Jesus is the antidote to human loneliness”. I have personally found that to be true in my life after suffering a tremendous loss, and it was then that I fully understood that God will never leave me or forsake me, (Heb 13:5).  When we examined the Greek, we saw that the phrase is literally, “may be full” meaning, “that OUR joy, having been filled completely full in times past, will persist in that state of fullness in present times.” The nature of Joy is in view as it comes from our fellowship with God through Jesus and remains full for three reasons:

  1. It is with the Father: It is with the Father and is associated with our pardon, provision, protection, and power all of which comes from Him and is based upon His goodness and not our own!
  2. It is with the Son: It is with the Son and is associated with His sacrifice which was made in full understanding of our failings and sin!
  3. It is with other believers: Because of the fact of the above two we have fellowship with other believers which ought to produce JOY because we have far more in common than we have differences. Unity and oneness create JOY with those that belong to Jesus.

The world offers “HAPPINESS” which is based upon favorable “HAPPENINGS”. That’s why so many in the world that are chasing “HAPPENINGS” for “HAPPINESS” are miserable.

John writes NOT only that the reader may HAVE JOY but that they would have the FULLNESS of JOY!

 

The course of the Christian life: VICTORIOUS

 

Vs.2:1 We now look at the second thing that changed because we now enjoy fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, and it is found in 2:1 where we read that John wrote “So that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Now we will look at this verse in full detail in a few weeks but this morning we will just take a peek at it as John proclaims two very powerful truths about the change in our Christian life when compared to our former life apart from fellowship with God. Our path or course in life has changed from “LOSS” to “VICTORIOUS”. The reason for this change in course is that Jesus NOT ONLY dealt with the penalty of our sin; He also dealt with the power sin had over us. Furthermore, but He rose from the dead and now is at the right hand of the Father as we are told that He is NOW at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. According to Luke 22:32 on the very night that Peter would reject Jesus, He told Peter that He knew that Peter would do so and that “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Then in Romans 8:34 Right before Paul reminds his readers that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ in verse 35, he tells them that it is Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father who makes intercession for us. 

  1. “These things I write to you, THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN:” Jesus’ work of the cross is available to KEEP me from sinning! He not only has paid the penalty for my sins, past present and future but He alone has removed the POWER that sin had over me in my fallen state. I now have a new nature by which old things have passed away and I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus. As wonderful as that truth is what happens when I choose to disobey and sin? What if in a moment of weakness and stupidity I choose the flesh instead of the Spirit?
  2. “These things I wrote to you, if anyone sins, WE HAVE AN AVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS”. Jesus’ work on the cross NOT only can keep me from sin He can and does also forgive me when I sin. Jesus defends us at the throne against our accuser satan. Jesus is our advocate our defense lawyer whose credentials are listed right here: JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS!

Because of this change of fellowship, the Christian life not only has the characteristic of Joy it has the guarantee of Victory. Both the course we are on has changed and even if we get off course Jesus will get back on course and forgive our getting off course. We will look at how Jesus does this soon enough, but it will require us admitting that we have gotten off course!

 

 

The clarity of the Christian life: TRUTH

 

Vs. 2:26 Now we come to the third change in the life of a believer as again John identifies it for us by saying, “These things I have written to you” “concerning those who try to deceive you”. Our fellowship with God through His Son Jesus has ended our quest for TRUTH! It was John in his gospel that recorded the words of Jesus when in John 14:6 He heard Jesus say, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Not only does this end our quest for truth, it is the standard for what is truth. We Christians are in need to have the ability to distinguish between truth and error, from right and wrong. There is a lie out there of relativism that says that there are no absolutes, “Nothing is always right, and nothing is always wrong”, they say. That’s a lie!!! There are far too many in churches today that are far more impressed with how something is said than what is being said! The Bible is our sole standard to truth and if what is being peddled as being truth isn’t consistent with what God has in His Word then we can avoid being deceived. Furthermore, I believe that the Bible offers far more then truth, it offers the example of what that truth should look like.

I don’t need to examine every doctrine someone is telling me I need to change to, NO, all I need to do is look at what that doctrine looks like in their own life…Is it causing the person who holds the doctrine to behave like Jesus? Does it cause them to want more of Jesus in their life and less of their own self-centered life? John will use a word in this letter not found by any other New Testament writer, “antichrist”. The word is a compound word that is made up of “ANTI” which means “against or instead of” and “Christ”. There are false teachers who are against Jesus and their method of opposing Jesus is to seduce people with lies. They offer people a substitute to Jesus, a substitute to salvation, a substitute to the Bible. They want to give people something INSTEAD of the Real Word of God. Jesus told us in John 8:44 that satan is the father of lies, he is very talented at lying and doesn’t just lead people astray by obvious lies, but also is very good at using half-truths. He began doing this in the garden when he didn’t appear to Eve in his true nature and instead masqueraded in one of God’s creations.

He further demonstrated his cunningness when he misquoted God where we are told in Genesis 2:16 that God said, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Satan lied when he said to Eve in 3:1, “Has God indeed said, You shall NOT eat of EVERY tree of the garden.” Life has forever changed for us in fellowship with God through Jesus in that we have THE TRUTH that grants us the ability to discern the false from the truth. There is a clarity in the Christian that is different than the rest of humanity. We are not living a life that is a foggy road of changing truths as Jesus is the answer to our need for discernment. Jesus said in John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John will cover this “clarity” more in the 5th and 6th chapters of this letter.

 

The confidence of the Christian life: ASSURANCE

 

Vs. 5:13 The fourth change in the life of a believer John again identifies it for us by saying, “These things I have written to you” but here he first declares the condition that enables this benefit by saying “who believe in the name of the Son of God” before identifying the benefit as “may know that you have eternal life”. In the Greek, the order of this phrase is different as it reads “These things I write to you in order that you may know with an absolute knowledge that the life you are having is eternal or unending life, to you who believe on the name of the Son of God”.

John’s statement after 70 years is the assurance of the believer in Jesus, but not just on the benefits that life in fellowship with God has granted us but the assurance that such life will never end as it will continue into eternity in the presence of the Living God. So much of life in this world is based upon “HOPE SO” which is as about promising is living life of happiness that is determined upon “favorable happenings”. The confidence of the Christian life is that our life will not end, and such assurance is because it is based upon what Jesus has done for us and not our works or effort. Through 1st John he uses the word “KNOW” more then 30 times as he wanted his readers to have certain and fixed assurance. No true follower of Christ that has committed their life to daily following Jesus that is seen in a continual denying of the former life need ever answer the question of their one-day appearance with Jesus in heaven with the words “I Hope So?”

The life Christ has given us is based upon facts as Jesus said in John 8:32 “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” The apostle such as John and Peter didn’t follow “cleverly devised fables…but were eyewitness” (2 Peter 1:16). They gave their lives for what they knew was true not a hoax or a myth.

They simply could not deny what they witnessed in Jesus and the impact He had upon them that forever changed them. Such assurance is not based upon “profession” of faith it is instead based upon “possession” of faith and as such our faith has confidence not just in our destination but also on our journey from faith-to-faith degree by degree.

 

 

      

1 John 1:5-7

Walk in Light

 

 

  • Introduction
  • Vs 5 This is the message
  • Vs 6 If we say
  • Vs 7 If we walk

 

 

Introduction

 

This morning we move onto the main body of teaching in John’s brief letter on fellowship. In my outline the main body of teaching is found in chapter 1:5 – 3:16 where the Apostle John will take up the specifics on the topic that deals with “fellowship with God”. He had already written about the “Basis of fellowship”, (Jesus Christ) and then examined briefly the “Benefits of fellowship with God” or “What has changed since we have enjoyed fellowship with God” which are scattered throughout the letter in the words “These things I write to you”. Now in this the largest section of the letter we will be first looking at four things affect our fellowship with God though Jesus Christ:

 

1:5-2:14 Conditions of fellowship

2:15-27 Cautions to fellowship

2:28-5:3 Characteristics of fellowship

5:4-21 Consequences of fellowship


 

Vs 5 This is the message

 

Vs. 5 Before we start our interpretation of these verses 5-7, we need to first establish the “context” in which they were written. The first thing John starts with is the unquestionable truth with regards to the nature of God. He states the revelation with the words: “This is the message” which previously he said was the life that was manifested to him, and he is now declaring to those he writes to is that the basis of “fellowship” is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all”. The question is what necessitated the establishment of this truth? As everything that follows in verses 6-10 specifically is resting firmly upon that context! John is defining the fellowship of the believer based upon the nature of whom is the cause of this fellowship. The reason for this most likely was due to the heresy known as “Anti..nom..ian..ism” which was held by the Nicolaitans mentioned in Revelation 2:6. The word means “against law” and it is a lawlessness and disregard for truth or law on the part of one who professes to be a true follower of Christ. The teaching lived out resulted in two things both of which John is combatting specifically in verse 5-6.

The false teachings were:

  1. That there is in the nature and character of God evil.
  2. That the person who lives in and habitually practices sin can still enjoy fellowship with God.

 

John makes it clear in this section 8 times alone by the use of the word “SIN” that fellowship with God has ONE primary enemy, our own sin. He contrasts this by using the nature of God “Light and in Him in no darkness at all” with the practice of some that walk in darkness and yet still claim to have fellowship with God. The contrast is simple “God is light” and “sin is darkness”. As you can see the heresy was not hypocritical in nature it was heretical in nature as it sought to change the character of God to fit the practice of sinful man!

Another contrast that is common today is that there is a difference between profession and practice! Five times John writes of this contrast between “saying” and “doing”. John uses the words “If we say” in reference to a person’s profession and the words “if we walk” in reference to a person’s practice. John’s statement here is the life or walk of the believer must not contradict the talk of the believer!          


Verse 5 establishes five things that must proceed any human responsibility:

  • “This is THE message”: John reveal that this is “divine revelation” and not merely his opinion. And neither was it gained by discovery but rather received by divine truth.
  • “Which we have heard FROM HIM”: The source of the message is Jesus Christ Himself.
  • “Which we have HEARD”: The tense of the Greek makes this mean that this once a sound of long ago, but one that was still ringing in John’s ears to which neither the tone nor pitch had diminished.
  • “And DECLARE to you”: This truth was not something that John could or would keep to himself as it was unconcealable!
  • “That God is LIGHT AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL”: This statement is not saying that God is “non-personal” as is the nature of light. The Greek text is without a “definite article” and means that it is to show the quality, nature, or essence of something, and not the personality of something. The light that John is describing here is not “physical light” as John is speaking of “spiritual things” and as such is describing the quality, nature, and essence of light from a spiritual, moral, and ethical nature. John strengths this statement about God’s nature by saying “And darkness does not exist, NOT even ONE LITTLE BIT”! Light is pure and glorious; it is the condition of LIFE. Physically it represents glory, intellectually it represents all that is TRUE. Morally, all that is holy and good. When light is defused by God it does so by the primo of love as its color is she everywhere. And it was in this in Genesis 1:3 that God first revealed Himself! It also here that we see the futility of fallen humanity in its attempts to cover their sin. There is no gray area in regard to sin as far as God is concerned it is either black or white!   

 


 

Vs 6 If we say

 

Vs. 6 John now begins on a series of contrasts: The first is to how fallen humanity has attempted to have fellowship with God who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all” while remaining walking in darkness. The second part of the contrast is show what God has done in true fellowship that continually enables the believer to remain in fellowship with God who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all”. The first thing that humanity has done is revealed to us in the words… “If we say” that we have fellowship with God while “walking in darkness” is that we simple lie about it. We are more concerned what others think about us than we are about the truth that we ARE NOT in fellowship with God. People try to deny the “doing” by covering it up with the “talking”. A person will attempt to communicate that they still “have things common with God” likes and dislikes, attitudes and actions same interests and ideas while their actions are completely opposed to His! It is here that the Apostle John interjects “we lie and do not practice truth”. The question is NOT whether someone can profess to be a Christian and habitually practice sin as that happens all the time. No, the question is, “Can a professing Christian habitually practice sin and remain in fellowship with God?”

The answer to that is an emphatic NO! To make sure we understand this truth John use the word “WALK” it’s reference is darkness and the word in the Greek speaks of a “continual ordered habitual action” which reveals that a person is not saved! No child of God who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all” will remain walking in darkness. If there is no personal “transformation” then there can be no personal “salvation”! Light reveals darkness, where as darkness conceals and hides! The apostle John no doubt remembered Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Fellowship with the God who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all” can NEVER affirm by our actions what is false nor neglect what is true! Integrity is the first casualty to fallen humanity who becomes insincere as they want to maintain the words of fellowship while denying the truth with their actions.

 

 

Vs 7 If we walk

 

Vs. 7 Here is the positive contrast to the person who says, but does not do, a consistent habitual practice of ordering their life around walking in fellowship with God. Here the person is clearly a believer as only a Christian has been transformed to walk with God. We are to walk the way and direction that God who is “Light and in Him in no darkness at all” dwells. The outward conduct of the soul and action will be in harmony and union with the character of God. John makes a statement here in verse 7 that “we have fellowship with one another” the Greek and the context of the passage doesn’t support the secondary “fellowship of believers with each other” though this would be a “added benefit” instead John’s statement refers to the believer’s fellowship with God and amazingly He with us! How is that possible? Well John tells us that it is due to the “blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Not only do we have fellowship with God He reciprocates fellowship with us as the fellowship with God is not one-sided and we are like all true love where we love Him because He first loved us! And while we are having this mutual love fellowship with God the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin of omission, sins of ignorance that we are ignorant about as we haven’t grown enough in grace to be aware of them. These sins would prevent us from such sweet fellowship if not covered by the blood of Jesus. It is God who grants us fellowship and Jesus who maintains our opportunity to enjoy such sweet fellowship. What a great exhortation we have from John to be honest before the Lord as such we can make certain of our fellowship with God. John says, “The person who lives a lie loses the light of fellowship!”   

 

 

 

 

1 John 1:8-9

Confession of sin

 

 

  • Introduction
  • Vs 8 The sin of no sin nature
  • Vs 9 The cleansing confession

 

 

 

Introduction

 

John’s brief letter on fellowship has moved beyond the “Benefits of fellowship with God”:

  1. 1:4 Fullness of joy
  2. 2:1 Freedom from sin
  3. 2:26 Foresightedness against deception
  4. 5:13 Faith filled assurance

To now looking at the four things affect our fellowship with God though Jesus Christ:

1:5-2:14 Conditions of fellowship

2:15-27 Cautions to fellowship

2:28-5:3 Characteristics of fellowship

5:4-21 Consequences of fellowship

 

The context of this section was to counteract the gnostic heresy of the Nicolaitans who had many false teachings, but the one that John addressed last week was “Anti..nom..ian..ism” which was held by the Nicolaitans mentioned in Revelation 2:6. The word means “against law” and the teaching resulted in two things both of which John is combatting specifically in verse 5-6.

  1. That in the nature and character of God evil.
  2. That the person who lives in and habitually practices sin can still enjoy fellowship with God.

 

John reveals to his readers using the word sin used 8 times in this section that the number one enemy to fellowship with God is our own sin. And in the verses before us this morning he will again address a gnostic heresy as well as instruct the believer in what to do with “SIN” when it separates our fellowship with God.

 

 

 

Vs 8 The sin of no sin nature

 

Vs. 8 Again John uses the contrast of what a professing believer says but in this case, it is their confession that is off. Notice that the word SIN is singular where in verses 9-10 it is plural SINS and SINNED. That is an important interpretive observation as the heresy that John counters here is one that was aimed at fallen humanities SIN NATURE.

There were some who professed faith in Christ who denied that they ever had a depraved or sin nature. This left only two possibilities:

  • First, that they never had a sin nature, were born without the effects of the fall upon them. Such a condition would have to mean:
  1. They were sinless which would make them God.
  2. It would also remove the uniqueness of the Son of God.
  3. It would have removed the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as there was no need for His incarnation.
    • The second possibility was that somehow, they had evolved and had now come into a state that no longer battled the flesh. Know that this was Gnostics then perhaps they taught that it was their higher knowledge that enabled them to arrive at a higher state. Either way the above false results would apply as well.  

 

Theologically speaking this heresy is known as perfectionism and claims either that it never had a sin nature or that it has come into a new sphere of complete eradication of a sin nature. Here the problem is far more difficult than deception of others it is self-deception. Others can clearly see their sin, but they can no longer recognize their own fallenness. This point to another more contemporary problem within the body Christ today and that is not necessarily perfectionism”but a spiritual blindness that enables the believer to be ignorant of their sin and the separation of fellowship that it has caused with God. John says that in the case of this heresy that those who held this position were in reality people who “the truth was not in”.

Today I would say that those who held such a lie as this were either unsaved, misinformed or mistaken and ought to be aware of the lie they claim as a truth!

 

 

Vs 9 The cleansing confession

 

Vs. 9 John now instructs the true believer what to do with their sin instead of denying that they have sin or have arrived a sinless perfectionism. There are two things that humanity can do with sin if they wish to enjoy true fellowship with God and the reason for this as there are only two types of people:

  1. Unsaved sinners: Believe in the only begotten Son as we read in Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
  2. Saved sinners: We are to confess our sins that have separated our fellowship with God. The Greek word for “confess” means to agree with another and as it relates to the context of this passage it means that the Christian is to agree with God both to the reason for the separation of fellowship with God is our sin, and agree with God and call it what He calls it, SIN. But that confession also ought to include three other aspects:
  3. Hatred: We need to hate not only the consequences of sin but sin as well. We know the damage that sin will cause, and it is only when we hate it that we will avoid it.
  4. Contrition: It should break our heart as we see the damage that it has caused and the hurt in has inflected.
  5. Determination: The above two it will cause us to not only be more aware but more determined to avoid the temptation.

 

David wrote in Ps 51:17 that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart, these, O God, you will not despise.” There is never a need for our sins to interfere with our fellowship, God has given us instructions on how to reestablish our fellowship. Confession will not only shorten the separation it will increase the honest communication. John reminds the reader that such confession comes with the assurance that God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God will always be faithful and true to His nature and promises so we have no need to delay our confession as such our delay only hurst and delays that which is beneficial too us. God will remit the separation, penalty as well as the guilt if we but agree with Him. Because of our relationship with God our sin and confession is not between a criminal and a judge but between a loving father and his beloved child!

 

 

 

 

1 John 1:10-2:2

Confession of sin part 2

 

 

  • Introduction
  • Vs 10 The danger of denial
  • 1a Appeal

 

 

 

Introduction

 

John’s brief letter on fellowship has now moved to the second benefit of our fellowship with God 2:1 “Freedom from sin”. I believe that the context of this section was to counter act the gnostic heresy of the Nicolaitans, but it also reveals our primary enemy to fellowship with God as Paul uses the word sin used 8 times in this section.

 

 

Vs 10 The danger of denial

 

 

Vs. 10 Once again John uses the words “if we say” but this time at issue is the denial of the action of committing sins and NOT the denial of a sin nature. This reveals yet another hindrance to fellowship with God due to our sin and that is the denial of the specific acts that have caused separation in fellowship. Here the issue is that the person has committed sin and then lies about them saying that they didn’t. The outcome is even worse than just the sins we committed as our denial of sin is equivalent of calling God a liar. Doing this is an argument with God and His word as He says sins separate us from His fellowship and we are saying that it doesn’t. The primary reason for this is a disregard to God’s Word as John writes, and His word is not in us. The contradiction to the truth of the Word of God is calling Him a liar so we can say we aren’t a sinner. This person doesn’t have the Word of God in them and is a nonbeliever no matter what their profession is.   

 

 

Vs. 1a Appeal

 

 Vs. 1a Notice the sudden change in tone in John’s appeal as it becomes very tender as he addresses them as “My little children”. This is also seen in John switches from the formal to the personal, as he had previously addressed them by the formal word “WE”, now he addresses them in the personal word “I”.

I wonder if John is remembering the words of Jesus to His disciples 70 years earlier when He addressed them so personally and tenderly. The use of that phrase sets the tone of this warning as to make it easier to them to respond towards.

Second notice John’s “appeal” as it defines what will next be his “assurance” as John says that the purpose of his writing this was that they, “may not sin”. It appears John foresees the possibility of a twofold perversion of His teaching of the character and nature of God in verse 5 that in the Godhead there is only light and not ever even a little darkness.

  1. The peril of presumption: Here the “peril” is since the escape from sin in the form of forgiveness is so easy, why fear falling into sin? We have an insurance plan in Jesus according to verse 9 that offers to both cleanse usand in 2:1 to be our advocate.
  2. The danger of despair: This would affect the believer by saying, “If we can never in this life be done with sin why strive for holiness?” Why bother? It’s useless, sin is just an abiding reality…an illness that we just must learn to live with!  

 

John’s counter to this is to let them know what his purpose was, “That they may NOT sin”. He was not encouraging them “to sin” but rather to “NOT SIN”. Even if someone was to view John’s truth about Jesus in 2:1 as an insurance policy; such a view isn’t so we can have no regards to driving safety or a disregard to personal driving habits and go out to deliberately crash our car. Instead, it assumes that the driver is fully aware of the danger of driving and is applying every safety precaution and exhibiting every good habit they can to ensure safety. But just in case of an unexpected accident that we know we are covered.

John wasn’t writing to discourage personal pursuit of holiness and to encourage a reckless life in pursuit of the things that will destroy your fellowship, personal relationships with others and life. Paul addressed a similar question as this in Rom 6:1-4 when he wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

It is a reckless person who thinks that there is any certain security if our life is lived to practice sin! That is NOT the behavior of a believer to be careless and live with a flippant disregard to the obedience of Christ. Instead, it ought to cause the true believer to live in more watchfulness with diligence to live in holiness. The first provision God has granted the person who has trusted in the finished work of Christ is the possibility of no longer being a slave to sin that had removed us from fellowship. Why would anyone who has truly tasted the goodness of God choose to go back and dine on the slop of the world? A person who chooses to continue to dine on the slop of the world indicates by their diet that they never truly tasted the “Goodness of God”! The Christian is NOT expected to continue to practice sin, the plan of the gospel alleviates the possibility of being a slave to sin any longer. Jesus has transformed the believer as old things have passed away and all things are made new. There is a difference in “sin nature” and sins!

  • God has changed our root and this ought to be visible in our fruit.
  • God has changed our character and this ought to be visible in our conduct.
  • God has changed us in principle so that it ought to be visible in practice.

 

If the root does exist, then we will be abiding in Him and there will be fruit and in this we need not fear!