1 John 2:1-6 : Freedom to Obey
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
There is a certain scene in a great parenting movie called Like Arrows where a struggling dad is trying to make his child eat the rest of his food in order to get dessert. There is a definite tension in the air during this interchange. The dad’s friend’s family is at the table and you can see the embarrassment starting to build as well.
We don’t always have it together all of the time do we parents!
The dad’s friend does something very interesting here. Agreeing with the child’s parents, he lets the child know that all of his food has to be gone before he gets dessert. Then he reaches over and takes the last bit of food and he eats it for him. With the food gone, the child asks his parents for a Popsicle and the parents, knowing that the food is gone and seeing this whole interchange, justly give the boy the Popsicle.
This is a picture of the mercy and grace that we get from God the Father through our advocate Jesus Christ.
Jesus is our advocate and the atoning sacrifice for our sins. By His work on the cross He provides us the freedom to begin obeying Him. Without His grace and mercy through salvation and deliverance, we continue to be slaves to sin and enemies of God. But through His wonderful grace and mercy, we can be free to obey.
Read Full Scripture:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Prayer
Today we are going to discuss three reasons how Christians are freed to obey Christ. Our first point is...
We are free to obey God because we...
I. We Have an Advocate in Jesus (2:1)
I. We Have an Advocate in Jesus (2:1)
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Last week we discussed this verse in light of the end of chapter one. This beautiful chapter continues and this verse also segues into the next section. I want us to spend some more time discussing this word advocate that is seen in this great verse. As we discussed last week, John is clear that we all will sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we say we don’t sin we are liars and the truth is not in us. Meaning that we cannot be saved if we say we do not sin. But what is the difference between a believer who continues to sin and an unbeliever who continues to sin?
The great former Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon said:
You may drive the swine and the sheep together side by side. They come to some mire, and they both fall into it, and both stain themselves. But you soon detect the difference in nature between them: for while the swine lies and wallows with intense gusto, the sheep is up again, escaping as soon as possible from the filth. So with the Christian: he falls, God knows how many times, but he rises up again. It is not his nature to lie in sin. He abhors himself that he should ever fall to the ground at all, while the ungodly goes on in his wicked way until sin becomes a habit, and habit like an iron net has entangled him in its meshes.
Again, we clearly see that we will continue to sin after salvation. But there is a blessing that believers have. They will not continue to wallow in the mire because they are freed from their sin. No longer do they have to be slaves to sin. They can be freed to obey Christ. And in that freedom they have another blessing as well.
In verse one we see:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
...That believers have an advocate with the Father. What does this really mean in light of Scripture?
The Greek word, paraklētos, describes an advocate as someone who pleads on our behalf. They intercede for us. They speak for our defense.
It means that we have an intercessor. Christ is presenting us to the Father on our behalf. As Christ presents us, He takes a unique role. An advocate doesn’t make up stuff or stretch or fabricate the truth like a defense attorney today may. Christ doesn’t present a false truth to the Father on our behalf. He presents the whole truth.
God is just and our sins deserve wrath and punishment. Yet God’s wrath has been satisfied through Christ’s death on the cross and His justice has been appeased! Now God the Father sees us through the lens of Christ and sees us as spotless once we have put our faith and trust in Jesus!
Praise God for that amazing truth!
Although we are undeserving, God is reconciled to us through the work of Jesus Christ. We just have to put our faith and trust in Jesus and repent of our sins!
Have you ever had someone be your advocate. Maybe it was a legal issue. Maybe someone came and stepped up on your behalf. Maybe it was a teacher stepping in to advocate for you getting into a college. Maybe it was your boss advocating for you in regards to your employer. Each of us has likely had a parent or someone else advocate for us.
Some advocates do so voluntarily, yet some do so because of a benefit they might be given.
However, Christ’s advocation for us did not benefit Him, personally, at all. He is God.
25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
What can we really do for God. God created everything. He has spoken things into existence without lifting a hand! Everything is His already. So why in the world would Christ be our advocate?
Because He loves us.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ loves you and me. He loves us so much that He was willing to undergo the harshest death imaginable. He loves us enough that he was willing to temporarily give up His glory in heaven and take on the form of a servant on earth.
So what is your response to your Advocate? What is your response to Jesus? Do you say thanks but no thanks? Do you reject Him because you don’t want to submit yourself to this wonderful Advocate, namely Jesus? Or do you appreciate and embrace the advocacy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? I pray that you accept this free gift of eternal life from Jesus.
We are freed to obey because we have an advocate in Jesus. We are also freed to obey because we have....
Scripture References: 1 John 1:8, Acts 17:25, John 3:16
II. We Have Atonement in Jesus (2:2)
II. We Have Atonement in Jesus (2:2)
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Building off of verse 1 and moving into verse two here, Pastor John Stott says that Christ qualifies as our advocate on three accounts:
His righteous character
His propitiatory death
His heavenly advocacy
His righteous character
He is perfect. There is no sin in Him. No accusations can stand against the perfect Christ.
His propitiatory death
This is a big word that we see here in verse 2. Propitiation. It emphasizes the effect that Christ has on our reconciliation to the Father. Through Christ’s death in our place as an atoning sacrifice for our sins - God’s wrath is appeased (or satisfied) and so we are now able to be reconciled to God the Father!
You see, our relationship with God was broken in Genesis 3. Adam and Even sinned and the close and intimate relationship that man had with God was fractured. God is a perfect God and cannot look upon sin. However, God knew this would happen and already had a plan to come down to earth in frail humanity as the Person of Jesus Christ to reconcile this broken relationship. All of the Old Testament sacrifices point to the coming of Christ who is the perfect sacrificial lamb.
2 Cor 5:21 - 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Through this glorious work of Christ on the cross, we can be reconciled - or made in a right relationship with God. We have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and the wrath of God has been satisfied! No longer are we enemies of God, but we are considered friends of God!
John 15:15 - No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
That is difficult for us to wrap our heads around isn’t it! The God who has created everything calls you friend! How amazing is that!
His heavenly advocacy
As we discussed in our last point, Christ stands at the right hand of the Father and advocates for us. While Satan continues to hurl condemnation after condemnation, Christ stands in the way and blocks them as Romans 8:1 shows us.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Getting back to verse 2 we see at the end of this that this propitiation for our sins was for the sins of the whole world!
Some might say - Aha! See all people are saved because of what Christ did! This is called Universalism. This is the belief that all people are saved through what Christ did no matter what they do. Because Christ is so kind, He would never send anyone to Hell and thus all people are saved. Eat, drink and be merry and do what you want because we all end up in heaven anyway.
Friends, this is such a dangerous and blasphemous false teaching. The Scriptures are clear that this is false.
The death of Christ is sufficient (or enough or able) to cover all of the sins of the world. Yes, there is no deficiency in Christ and His work. Yet, it is only effective for the sins of the elect - namely those who come to a saving knowledge of Christ. (Repeat)
The Bible is clear when it discusses those whose sins are not effectually covered by Christ’s blood. Those who reject the free gift of salvation. Those who reject the Lordship of Christ and worship themselves or other false idols.
The New Testament mentions a literal place called Hell at least 162 times. Jesus, Himself, is referenced to speaking about Hell at least 70 of these times!
Jesus, Himself, said:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In the book of Acts we see Luke write:
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Saved? Saved from what? Isn’t it interesting how infrequently we hear a preacher or person ask that question. We hear church people talk about being saved all of the time. Yet what are people to be saved from? They are to be saved from Hell! Brothers and sisters, there is a literal place called Hell that Jesus warns us about time and time again. If we reject the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, we will suffer an eternity in a real and literal place of torture apart from God called Hell. This isn’t a popular subject to talk about, but it is a real place that needs to be understood as such!
Don’t believe the world today that preaches that God is love without justice. Yes, God is love. But no loving God can be without justice. We have been given a choice my friends. God loves us so much that He has given us the capacity to make decisions. He draws us to Himself, and we have a choice of whether we are going to respond to His drawing. Friends, don’t resist Him. Respond to His calling on your life. Give your life to Him. He is your advocate. He has paid the penalty for your sins and reconciled you to God the Father.
And once you place your trust in Him - you can be freed to obey because
Scripture References: Gen 3, 2 Cor 5:21, John 15:15, Romans 8:1 , John 14:6, Acts 4:12
III. We Have an Admiral in Jesus (2:3-6)
III. We Have an Admiral in Jesus (2:3-6)
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
John writes four different verses here nailing down an important point. True believers obey their admiral. True believers keep the commandments of Christ.
True believers know Christ. Let’s focus on this idea that true believers know Christ, first, as seen in verse 3.
This isn’t just a simple phrase that means they know about Him. There is a difference in knowing about someone and knowing them. You may know a lot about an athlete or movie star but you may not really know them. True believers know Christ. This phrase ‘to know’ means to be intimately acquainted with. It implies fellowship and communion with God. This phrase looks back at a past action, namely salvation through Jesus Christ, that has continuous results in the present. Jesus must not just be a historical person of whom we read about in the pages of the Scriptures. He must be a real person in whom we speak with and are united to Him in love. He must be a real Lord to us and we must be fully dedicated to our relationship with Him.
Because true believers know Christ, they obey Christ. Why is obedience so important?
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Do you see a common theme here? Those who love Christ obey Christ.
Are you obeying Christ’s commands? Are you walking in the truth of Christ? Are you reading His Word regularly so that you know His commands? Do you really intimately know Christ in the first place?
These are important questions to ask ourselves. We need to examine our hearts and see where we are with Jesus.
I’m afraid that many of us have allowed our culture to keep us from truly knowing Christ.
So often people feel lost today. They don’t know the purpose of their life. They are confused over what they are supposed to do and not do. They search for truth and meaning but seem to come up empty. And all the while, people have a disdain for authority. Our country is riddled with disdain for any type of authority.
In other words, people want to be told what to do but don’t want to be told to do it. (repeat)
We are in quite the confusing dilemma my friends. People go to Youtube to figure out how to fix something at that their house. They turn to a book to figure out how to parent their children. Yet if their neighbor, their parent, or their friend tries to offer help in any of these areas they are quick to balk and not heed that advice. Who are they to tell me how to do my job anyways?
I’m afraid that as a culture, we have gotten to a place where we are only ok with authority on our own terms. If we go to that Youtube video - we are able to pick and choose what parts of the authority we take, and we can stop it at anytime if we don’t want to hear the rest. If we read a parenting book - we may get to a hard part that addresses a real struggle of ours, and we can skim that part or skip that chapter so we don’t have to deal with it.
This line of thinking has affected the church immensely, brothers and sisters. So many read the Bible and come to a teaching that they don’t want to sit under. It is a difficult teaching. So they ignore it or they run from it. They may even run from the church. They don’t want authority. The pastor preaches a sermon that is offensive to them. Maybe it addresses a sin that they are struggling with. So they decide that church isn’t for them. Even though God is clear that we all need to part of a community of believers (Heb 10:25). We want to pick and choose what authority we sit under.
I’ve got news my friends. God doesn’t work that way. Jesus is our commander. He is our admiral. He tells us what we are to do. But unlike any earthly commander - everything He tells us to do is for our good. He desires good for us. Don’t confuse good with easy or enjoyable! Sometimes what is good for us is very difficult! But it is good.
4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Looking to these last three verses in this section...John nails down the commands of our Admiral or Commander Jesus Christ.
To not keep His commandments and say that you know Christ is to be a liar. One can be a liar without ever speaking a word. They can tell lies even when they hold their tongues. As we addressed some last week - is your conduct congruent with your profession? Do you practice what you preach? My friends, our confession and our conduct must align.
But those who keep his word (namely his commandments) the love of God is perfected. The keeping of Christ’s commandments is not a condition of knowing God or earning favor from God. It is a sign that one does know God. We do not earn our salvation through our works. But those who are truly saved do works! Salvation in Christ puts us in a reconciled and perfected love relationship with God. Our relationship with God is completely unhindered from sin through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The love of God is perfected in us through Christ’s work. By keeping Christ’s commands, we show the perfected work of Christ and complete love of God in our lives.
Through this we are able to abide in Him and walk with Him. We are freed to completely obey Christ. To abide means that we are able to remain with Christ. We are able to be in constant union and joined to Christ. As we are joined to and with Christ - we are able to walk as He walked.
Scripture References: John 14:15, 15:10, 14:21; Hebrews 10:25
Conclusion
As we come to a close I want each of us to think about where we are with Christ. Are we freed to obey Him? Or are we slaves to the sin of this world. These are the only two choices. As we discussed last week, we can walk in the light or we can walk in darkness. John gives us two other similar options here. We can be freed to obey Christ and set free from sin to walk in the light. Or we can be slaves to sin and walk in darkness. Christ is our advocate and our atonement. He paid the price and intercedes for us. However, in order to enjoy the privilege to have Christ as your advocate and atoning sacrifice, you must call Him your admiral.
He must be number one in your life. No longer do you do what you want to do. No longer do you walk in the flesh and satisfy the sinful desires of your heart.
Instead, you humble yourself before Christ. You accept the free gift of salvation. And you walk by faith.
Prayer
Have a blessed week!