Back To 1st John - Another Test

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:9-11

As we return to our study of 1st John we come to the next test of genuine Christianity - love for fellow Christians. You will notice in these verses that once again John is making a contrast between light and darkness. If you remember, back in chapter one John told us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5) and then he went on to say that if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie an do not practice the truth (1 John 1:6).

Now John gives us another test to show us if we are truly walking in the light - if we love one another we are in the light, but if we do not love we are in the darkness, we walk in darkness, and our eyes have been blinded. And to take this back to the truth from chapter 1, we are out of fellowship with God as well.

So what does John mean here when he says love? And for that matter, what does he mean when he contrasts this with hate, is not loving your brother or sister in Christ the same as hating them? Let's look at both of these words and see what we can learn. First, the Greek word translated as hates in verse 9 & 11 is the word miséō, which means malicious and unjustifiable feelings towards others, whether towards the innocent or by mutual animosity. In the Greek language this word is the exact opposite of agapáō, the word that is translated as love in this passage. In order to better understand what John is teaching us here let's look at agapáō to see how Christians are to treat one another.

The Greek word agapáō, the strongest of four Greek words translated as love in the English versions of the New Testament, can best be understood by looking at how the apostle Paul defined it in 1 Corinthians 13; he wrote:

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NASB)

As we read through this passage we see that the overriding characteristic of agapáō is that it is concerned with the welfare of others and has the best interest of the other person as its foremost motivation. This is the same word that John uses here in the passage that we are looking at today, and he says that if we do not have this type of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ then we are not walking in the light. This is the same word that Jesus used when He said:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love [agapáō] one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love [agapáō] one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

And then:

This is my commandment, that you love [agapáō] one another as I have loved [agapáō] you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. 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. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love [agapáō] one another.

John 15:12-17

So what can we take away from these few verses today; what is our practical application here?

We can all use this as a measuring stick to see where we are in our walk with Christ; these verses say here that if we say we are in the light and yet we hate our brother we are not in the light - we are still in darkness. John said that followers of Jesus love, Jesus said that as we love one another the world would know that we belong to Him, and Paul showed us what that love should look like.

You say you are a Christian, do you love your brothers and sisters in the Lord? If you can't answer yes to that question you had better check your salvation because this passage tells us that you are not walking in the light. And since that is where God is, you are not walking with Him.

Is There Any Such Thing As A Carnal Christian?

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (NKJV)

These verses, quoted here from the New King James Version, have led to quite a misconception of the Christian faith over the past few decades - that is the idea of what is commonly referred to as the Carnal Christian. A Carnal Christian is one who, although they say that they have had a "saving" encounter with Jesus Christ still continue in a lifestyle of sin. The proponents of this teaching claim that a person can "accept Jesus into their heart" and continue to live any way that the want and that their salvation will remain intact (i.e. they will still go to heaven when they die), and those who teach this use the above verses for their justification in this teaching. They say that Paul addressing the Corinthian church as being carnal proves that you can be a Christian and still live in a lifestyle of sin. But is that what is being taught here?

Paul is writing to this church to correct some problems that they were experiencing within their congregation, and he is merely telling them here that they are not growing like they should be because they are not submitting to the direction of the Holy Spirit and are therefore still babes in Christ. Does this mean that they we not saved? No, but is doesn't necessarily mean they were either. Paul is just telling them that because of the profession of faith that they made, and the amount of time that had passed, that they should be more mature in their walk than they currently are, and he calls them out for their lack of maturity. The question that we must first answer here is this, were the people that Paul was writing to in this letter really saved? I don't think that we can answer that question with any certainty, but I will point out that in his second letter to this same church he said:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

2 Corinthians 5:13

Paul did not assume that these people were Christians; he urged them to test themselves to see if they were truly in the faith. And what did he say? Jesus Christ is in you - unless you fail the test! This means that there are those who believe that they are a follower of Jesus Christ who are deluded and who, if tested, will not pass and so prove that their salvation is not real. Jesus Himself warned us of this very thing in the Sermon on the Mount, where He said:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus said that the person who will not get into heaven is the person who, even though they claim to know Him, continues in a lifestyle of sin. I believe that what Jesus is saying here is that no person who is truly saved will not continue to live in unrepentant sin. But neither does the Bible teach that a truly Born-Again person will ever achieve sinless perfection on this side of Heaven; however, there are those today who teach that to repent of your sins means that you will never fall again, and this is just not true (see 1 John 1:1-10).

So what then do we make of this doctrine of the Carnal Christian that is so popular today, can a person be a Christian and still continue to live in sin? The answer is no! In Ezekiel 36 God gives us a picture of what happens when a person is truly Born Again, He says:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 36:25-28

There are a couple of very important things that we must see in this passage if we are ever to understand our salvation. First of all notice how many times God says that He will do something, He says:

1. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness
2. I will cleanse you from all your idols
3. I will give you a new heart
4. I will put a new spirit within you
5. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh
6. I will put My Spirit within you
7. I will cause you to walk in my statutes and to carefully obey my rules
8. I will be your God

Then in verse 32 He reminds us that He is not doing this for our sake, we are told to be ashamed and confounded for our ways. So why then does God do this? If you look back to verses 22 & 23 He tells us that it is for the sake of His holy name and to vindicate His holiness.

So my question to you then is this, how can you continue to live in a lifestyle of sin if God has given you a new heart, written His law on it, and placed his Holy Spirit within you? I would contend that you cannot. But again, let me make it clear that this does not mean that a Christian is perfect and that they never sin (again, see 1 John 1:1-10). It does, however, mean that when the Holy Spirit makes you aware of a sin in your life that you stop right there and you repent of it immediately.

A Christian then is one who lives not in a lifestyle of continuing sin but in a lifestyle of continuing repentance, and if this is not true in your life you need to do as Paul suggested in 2 Corinthians 13 and examine yourself, because the evidence is not in your favor.

My Words Will Never Pass Away

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."

Matthew 24:35 (NASB)

Jesus tells us here that Heaven and Earth will pass away. This is nothing new to the Christian; we have all been taught that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and the letter to the Romans tells us that this creation groans and is waiting to be remade (Romans 8:18-22). 2 Peter 3:10-12 tells us that the heavens will pass away with a roar and will be burned up, as will the earth. But we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).

But the promise that Jesus makes here is not that the heavens and earth will pass away. The promise that He makes is that even though everything we know in this world will be burned up, we can depend on His word because it will never pass away. This promise should give us security and hope because this means that all of the promises of God's word will endure forever. Here are just a few of them:

• God says, "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)and His word will never pass away.

• God says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13) and His word will never pass away.

• Jesus said, "I am going to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2) and His word will never pass away.

• Jesus said, "I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me." (Revelation 22:12)and His word will never pass away.

• It is written, "What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what has never come into a man's heart, is what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). And His word will never pass away.

These are just a few of the many promises in the Bible, so the next time you are feeling discouraged, or feel like there is no hope, open your Bible and read the promises that God has made to each and every one of us who has put our faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away.

The Assurance of Salvation

The following is from the weekly devotional "Desiring God" by John Piper. I thought this was too good not to share, and it is my prayer that through this you would be able to walk in the assurance of salvation God that wants us to have.

Helping People Have the Assurance of Salvation
John Piper

Full assurance is God's will for us. "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end" Hebrews 6:11.

Assurance is partially sustained by objective evidences for Christian truth. "To [his apostles] He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days" Acts 1:3.

Assurance cannot neglect the painful work of self-examination. "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Assurance will diminish in the presence of concealed sin. "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long" Psalm 32:3.

Assurance comes from hearing the Word of Christ. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" Romans 10:17.

"These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" John 20:31.

Repeated focusing on the sufficiency of the cross of Christ is crucial for assurance. "Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith" Hebrews 10:21-22.

We must pray for eyes to see the truths that sustain assurance. "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe" Ephesians 1:18-19.

Assurance is not easily maintained in personal isolation. "And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'" 1 Corinthians 12:21.

Assurance is not destroyed by God's displeasure and discipline. "Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness" Micah 7:8-9.

We must often wait patiently for the return of assurance. "I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD" Psalm 40:1-3.

Assurance is a fight to the day we die. "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life" 1 Timothy 6:12.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7.
Assurance is finally a gift of the Spirit. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God" Romans 8:16.

"The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself... And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" 1 John 5:10-11.