Faith,
Obedience, and Assurance
1st
John 2:1-17
Introduction
It was nice to have Bishop Mouneer with us last
week. I’m always impressed when I meet
someone of status who is so humble and approachable. I think we would have felt the same way
meeting the Apostle John. Those
fortunate enough to live in Ephesus around the end of the 1st
Century would certainly have known a man humbled by grace and enlightened by
personified Wisdom. If we had lived in
Asia Minor, we doubtless would have recognized the competing worldviews that
took shape in her most prominent cities.
It was a complicated climate of blended religious
beliefs. It was well known that some Jews,
enraged with jealousy at the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, had been challenging
the early church by seeking to blend the practices of Judaism with the beliefs
of Christianity. Obeying the commands of
God in Judaism had become a self-justifying moralism that resulted in a sense
of spiritual superiority. Additionally,
some Hellenistic Jews or Gentile converts sought to blend the beliefs of
Gnosticism with the practices of Christianity.
Obedience within Gnosticism took the form of unrestrained freedom that
sought a mystical encounter with the divine through self-discovery. Believers in Ephesus and beyond were struggling
with the polemical nature of these two worldviews in light of their relatively
new-found Christian beliefs. And then
the Apostle John, the old man who had been with Jesus, wrote a letter to
confront this impure mixture of belief and practice in the church. Though many outside the church – and even
some elders within the church – had been teaching false doctrine, the grand-fatherly
Apostle had corrected them in this letter that outlines the role of obedience
in the life of faith. Through these
corrections, we hear the voices of the false teachers, as outlined in the chart
below:
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The
Voices of the False Teachers in 1st John
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The False Teachers were saying…
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The Apostle John corrected, saying…
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1:6 = We have fellowship with the light (with
God).
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They “walk in darkness.”
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1:8 = We have no sin.
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They “deceive” themselves.
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1:10 = We have not sinned.
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They “make him (God) a liar and his word is not in
[them].”
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2:4 = We know him (God).
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They do not “keep his commandments.”
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2:9 = We are in the light.
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They “hate” their brothers and remain “in
darkness.”
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3:7-8 = (Implicitly) We are righteous.
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“Whoever practices righteousness is righteous…
[and] whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.”
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4:20 = I love God.
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They “hate” their brothers and are liars.
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As we come to this morning’s text, we recognize one
element of this false teaching being corrected; and it relates to the link
between righteousness and keeping the commandments of God. It appears that the opponents of the church –
and probably even some within the church – were claiming to have a relationship
with God that had nothing to do with one’s external and visible way of
life. And John’s correction takes this
shape:
Obedience serves the believer’s faith; it does not
create faith, but itself, having been created by faith, in turn creates assurance;
and all these (faith, obedience, and assurance) are anchored in Christ. Thus, as we will come to see, there is a
causal succession in the development of the passage. The first step – that obedience merely
reflects an inward reality (faith) – is fairly easy for us to recognize. We have the framework for understanding…
Visible signs
confirm inward realities.
They do not create the inward reality, but point to the existence of
that inward reality. Everyone wearing a
wedding band this morning is aware of this concept. The ring itself is a symbol, an external
reality that points to an inward reality.
You are not married simply because you slipped a ring around your
finger. You are married because you took
solemn oaths before God, a minister, and a group of witnesses. As I recall, it is only after the oath ceremony that you slip the ring on the finger of
your beloved.
Visible signs
confirm inward realities.
They do not create the inward reality, but point to the existence of
that inward reality. Everyone who has
ever had children is aware of this concept.
The ultrasound images or the billowing belly speak of an inward reality:
there is a baby about to be born. The
images themselves are not the baby, but only point to the reality that there is
a baby and he/she is coming relatively soon!
Visible signs
confirm inward realities.
They do not create the inward reality, but point to the existence of
that inward reality. Everyone who has
seen a hurricane report knows that the swirling cyclone on the radar is not the
actual storm, but it points to the reality on the ground. The beleaguered reporter on the ground
testifies to the reality that the image reflects.
Visible signs
confirm inward realities.
But when we come to the biblical text, we find there is a deeper
significance between specific signs and realities. This is particularly true in the book of 1st
John.
1. The
visible sign, according to the Apostle John, is clearly obedience to the
commandments of Christ – namely, loving the Lord God with the entirety of one’s
heart, soul, mind, and strength and subsequently, loving one’s neighbor as
oneself.
2. The
internal reality, again according to the Apostle John, is the transformation of
the heart by the power of the Gospel and the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the essence of what John calls the
“New Birth” in chapter 3 of his Gospel.
It is faith, or belief, or the restored sight of the spiritually blind
that is the gift of God imparted as a result of the obedient life, sacrificial
death, and awe inspiring resurrection of the Son of God.
3. And
the relationship between the two is increasingly apparent in this short little
letter: the sign and realities are necessarily inter-connected. In other words, there is a fundamental –
almost symbiotic – relationship between the two. It is not sufficient in John’s mind to say
that obedience to the command of Christ simply points to the existence of faith
and heart transformation. Indeed, for John,
such transformation creates obedience.[1] In fact, the two cannot exist independently
of one another, such that the obedience validates the inward transformation.
As one old sage put it, “We are saved by faith
alone. But the faith that saves is never
alone.”
Secondarily
then, obedience to the command of Christ creates a third organism in this chain
linking salvation and sanctification: it creates assurance of faith in the
believer’s life. So we move from
salvation to obedience to assurance. But
what we must not say is that the reverse is true. For the Apostle John, and indeed the larger
biblical witness, it would be heretical to say that obedience creates salvation. Works do not create; they validate. They confirm.
So the order is absolutely crucial.
Now
that we have drawn these conclusions, let’s walk together through the text to
find out how and why we arrived at them.
The Apostle
John is very clear about his intent for writing. He appears to have four significant reasons
for addressing the beloved churches of Asia Minor:
1. Primarily, “so that you may know
that you have eternal life” (5:13). This is a complementary purpose to that of
the Gospel of John. The initial concern
of John, as revealed in his Gospel – that you might believe and have life in
Christ’s name – is complemented by the second purpose of John, as revealed in
this epistle – that you might have assurance of that salvation. This is a faithful example of one who follows
the Great Commission; he engages in evangelism and then in discipleship.
2. And additionally, “that our
(your) joy may be complete” (1:4). So we can see by the bookends of the epistle
that John is concerned with ASSURANCE
& JOY. Assurance and
joy. We further recognize the connection
between these two concepts: they are related in terms of causality. Assurance causes joy. This joy is the same joy that Jesus spoke
about (John 15:11) in the context of abiding in Him, as in branches abiding in
the vine that results in the production of fruit. There Jesus teaches that abiding in Him (or
in His love) means keeping his commandments… abiding, by keeping the
commandments, leads to full or complete joy.
The parallel is striking, for John writes in this, his first epistle,
that assurance, which comes from keeping Jesus’ commandments, leads to the same
fullness of joy. We will see how this
works in our passage this morning.
3. John is also writing about those
who are trying to deceive the faithful (2:26). We have already highlighted the content of
these false teachers in some depth, but it is important to see that John
recognizes and directly confronts the issues that threaten the church. It should also be noted at this point that he
is also addressing the implicit question about why some, who have already
fallen prey to that deception, have gone out from the church. Some have left the fellowship and the
Apostolic Father explains not only how they departed, but more importantly, why
they went out. They were not part of
us. In other words, they had not been
transformed by the gospel such that they belonged to the elect of God.
4. And finally, the Apostle John is writing
“so that you may not sin” (2:1).
(2:1) This is the beginning
point of our section. Note here that he
addresses his congregations as “little children.” This is not to say, “You all are a bunch of
babies!” No, instead it is probably the
most appropriate address to communicate deep affection, sincere concern, and
tender care. And the children have
embarked on a journey of dependence upon Christ and his unique merit. The Christian life is about following Christ
and living a life of obedience to the commandments of God. But this is not a journey of sinless
perfection. The Apostle John is keenly
aware of human nature, even redeemed human nature. So he is a good shepherd of the sheep, a good
pastor emeritus for the churches of Asia Minor.
The journey of faith is to be firmly anchored in Christ. John calls him “Jesus Christ, the Righteous.” There has only been one human being who
perfectly kept the law and the commandments of the Father, and that is
Christ. He now stands, his blood having
cleansed all who trust in him, as an Advocate.
Let us not make the mistake that Jesus is trying to convince God to keep
loving us, keep supporting us, keep showering grace upon us… as if God is
discontented with the people Jesus has purchased and is at every moment just
waiting to damn them to Hell. No. This advocacy is for our sake. Jesus standing before the Father is an image
of glory that ought to be always on our
minds. Our weakness that leads us to sin
no longer results in judgment, but mercy.
Because of justification and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness,
God is totally for us and never against us.
Note how this relates to the following verse.
(2:2) Jesus is the
perfect advocate because he is the propitiation for our sins. By his perfectly obedient life, his sacrificial
death, and his vindication in the resurrection, Jesus has purified from sin and
has removed the wrath of God forever.
This is why we can definitively say that Jesus in his advocacy is not
trying to eternally placate the Father. The
Father’s wrath has been removed and thus, his disposition toward his people is
one of perfect love. On a note of
secondary importance, the death of Christ for the “whole world” is not an
indication of universalism – neither does it negate Particular Atonement – but
simply reveals the impartiality of God.
The term “world” here, as in many biblical passages, is probably best
understood as “Jew and Gentile people groups,” or the ethnic peoples of the
world.
What is of utmost importance, however, is that Christ as the Propitiation for sins is
the foundational reality of the believer’s salvation; it identifies the means
by which we have been justified and declared righteous. And Christ
as Advocate is the foundational reality of the believer’s walk of faith –
from sanctification to ultimate glorification.
Because he is our advocate, we know that we will never be under God’s
wrath again. John clearly and powerfully
states that performance has nothing to do with these realities, for he maintains
that sin does not negate the advocacy or the justifying propitiation.
Do you see the
freedom in verses 2:1-2?
Since Jesus has removed the wrath of God and cleansed his people from
all their sins… and eternally stands as the Advocate of the believer, there is
tremendous freedom. And this underlying
proposition creates one of two responses:
1. The
Ungodly Response: says we are saved and, as a result, we can live like the devil
until our glorification, or…
2. The
Godly Response: says we are so shockingly and thoroughly loved by God that we
want to offer ourselves as living sacrifices; we want to offer the praise of
lips that have been purified; we want to offer hands in showing compassion,
feet in bringing the good news of salvation, and hearts as nothing less than
the throne of the King. And we offer
these things imperfectly, but in freedom – trusting that the Savior who made
our hearts acceptable to God also makes our efforts a fragrant aroma before Him.
(2:3-6) Moving
forward, verse 3 leads to the conclusion that works validate; they
confirm. Note the verb tenses here in
the English translation: we have come to know Him, if we keep his
commands. The first is a perfect tense
(indicative, active: Greek egnwkamen)
that speaks of a past action that holds present consequences. The second is a present tense (subjunctive,
active: Greek thrwmen). And the verse is couched in the context of
assurance: we “know” that we have come to know him. In verse 4, we are assured of knowing God by
the validating and confirming presence of command keeping works: by faith in
action. Likewise, we are assured of the
identity of false teachers by the absence of such things. Verses 5-6 conclude this section by saying
that, just as the Love of God was perfected in the sacrificial death of Christ,
so also the Love of God is perfected in the lives of believers who walk the
Calvary Road with Spirit-empowered faith, love, piety, obedience, and
self-sacrifice. This pattern of life
provides assurance that we belong to God through Christ. We have come to know him. We are “in Him” and have evidence of these
things by the Christ-like lifestyle.
(2:7-11) We might
initially be confused at the presence of an old command that is new and a new
command that is old. But let’s try to
get our minds around this in the next few minutes. The old command appears to be the first and
greatest commandment that Jesus identifies in the context of Mark
12:28-34. Love the Lord your God with
all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.
The second, Jesus says, is to love your neighbor as yourself. The Jewish Shema, or confession of faith, was
found in Deuteronomy 6:4ff and was recited morning and evening by pious Jews as
well as at the start of every synagogue service. Thus, it was truly from antiquity. However, John continues by saying it is a new
commandment because, in Christ, it was renewed in John 13:34. Not only was it renewed by Christ, but it was
also made possible by the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Thus, the old commandment that was impossible
because of the unregenerate heart became a new commandment that was possible
because of the New Birth. This is what
John means by the qualifying phrase “which is true in him and in you.” The commandment to love God and neighbor is
true in that Christ perfectly obeyed and accomplished it. It is also true in John’s hearers because
Christ, by His Spirit, is in them. He is
accomplishing the perfection of God’s love in them as they demonstrate it as
light in the darkness.
The darkness is passing away and the light is
already shining. The NASB does something
interesting with the word “light” both in the Gospel of John and the Epistles
of John that the NIV and the ESV do not.
The capitalization of “Light” in the NASB personifies the noun – and, I
think, rightly so – associating it clearly with Christ. The Apostle John communicates that his
hearers are in a transitional phase in which wheat and weeds, good fish and bad
fish, good soil and rocky soil, sheep and goats grow up together in the same
kingdom (according to the parables of Matthew 13). The reason that the new command is “true in
Him and in you” is that the morning of redemptive history had already
dawned. The Light of Life in Christ is
already shining, but it has not yet completely overtaken the darkness. At first, wheat and weeds are relatively
indistinguishable. But the longer they
grow, the more the difference becomes apparent.
This is the point of the following contrast. One can grow to distinguish children of the
light and sons of darkness by “love” and “hate.” Though the kingdom is an impure mixture now,
children of the light necessarily endure to the end (they do not stumble until all
is revealed for what it was). The
contrast is developed further in 2:11 to show the desperate plight of the
self-deceived. They are in the darkness,
blinded by it, and unable to alter their destructive path.
(2:12-14) Poetic
Encouragement: this section does not need much exegesis or explanation, but
simply a word of observation. John
appears to engage in poetic encouragement here in order to confirm the faith of
his audience and to stimulate their endurance in that faith. Remember, he has just drawn a contrast
between those who love and are shown to be in the light and those who hate and
are thus shown to be in darkness. He
brings them the encouragement of assurance in these phrases, regardless of the
stage of their spiritual journey (the fathers are further along, the young men
are moving toward maturity, and the children are perhaps just beginning the
walk of faith). Regardless, assurance is
founded here not upon the validating presence of visible signs, but the
fundamental realities the signs point to – namely, salvation itself. In salvation, their sins had been
forgiven. In salvation, they had come to
know the eternal God (repeated twice more, indicating emphasis). In salvation, they had overcome the evil
one. In salvation, they had become
strong because of the indwelling Word of God.
There was no fear, no condemnation in sinning, for they were standing on
the Rock of salvation with an eternal Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous One.
(2:15-17) We recognize
the exhortation to seek what is deepest in fullness and what is longest in
duration. If we are tempted to love the
world (or the things of the world), we need only to look to the fact that it is
passing away. Its pleasures are not only
fleeting, but they are fundamentally empty.
Thus, the encouragement is to love God – and that, by doing the will of
God – because His pleasures are deepest in fullness and longest in
duration. If you could present me with a
religious alternative that was deeper in fullness of pleasure and longer in the
duration of that pleasure, I would convert to it from Christianity. I’m safe in saying this because I’ve studied
the major world religions and none make this kind of claim; none offer this
kind of perfectly deep and eternally long pleasure. All our desires should therefore be directed
by and toward God. This yields the
eternal blessedness of all who follow him and abide forever.
Conclusions
We’ve spoken much about obedience as the work that
creates assurance. It is to be anchored
in Christ, just as our faith is rooted in Him.
So how can we know that our obedience is rightly balanced? We can recognize this balance in one simple
way: has the measure of our worth become the quality of our work? Have our successes in obedience created pride,
as if they were the reason for our acceptance before God? Or have our failures in obedience created
depression, as if they were so powerful as to alienate us from God? Both success and failure need to be handed to
Christ, so that he is the source of our success and the propitiation for our
failure. This is the balance we so
desperately need. So we circle back to
our opening conclusions in order to bring finality to our study:
1. Heart
transformation (new birth to justification) creates obedience.
2. Obedience
only validates or confirms heart transformation.
3. Obedience
without heart transformation is impossible.
4. Heart
transformation without obedience is biblically unthinkable.
5. Heart
transformation with obedience leads to genuine assurance of salvation.
[1]
This conclusion is based on the word τελειόω which is used in
the perfect (indicative) tense three times in 1st John: first in 2:5
where the love of God is “made complete/perfect.” In 4:17, love is “perfected” in us so that
there is no fear at the final judgment.
The maturation of love – the very work that John is proclaiming – speaks
of stages that “unfold” until functioning at maximum capacity, or that develop
from infancy to maturity.
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