Authentic Christianity Part 5 1 John 5

Today we will wrap up our series exploring authentic Christianity.

We’ve been studying the book 1 John.

A quick recap will remind you that John of Ephesus wrote a letter to a group of

believers to assure them of their faith that they may know the joy that comes

from fellowship with God.

A teacher by the name of Cerinthus has really caused members of that faith

community to doubt their relationship with God.

Cerinthus followed a Gnostic interpretation of the gospel,

Which denied the incarnation,

Disregarded sin,

And stressed secret enlightenment that

would prepare the believer for

eternity.

Through out his letter, John has refuted these teachings of Cerinthus.

He has given the congregation three tests of authentic Christianity.

Those tests are the moral test of obedience,

A true believer obeys God’s commands

The social test of love,

A true believer self sacrificially meets the needs of

others.

And the Dogma test of the incarnation,

Jesus is fully God and fully human, fully both at

the same time.

We know that right belief results in living a holy life, a life style of love,

And that living a life of obedient love is the result of believing

correctly.

Having introduced and examined each test separately,

John begins to connect them all together,

To demonstrate that they are all interconnected,

Enmeshed with one another,

So you pass all or none at all.

Today in Chapter 5 we are going to see all three tests combined.

John will again refute Gnostic teaching about the nature of Jesus.

We again will be assured that our faith is true if we pass the tests.

And then we are going to struggle with two verses that truly

remain a mystery to me having defied my understanding.

At the end of out time together I expect that you will leave struggling with this

mystery,

but none the less walk out of here knowing that you are living out

authentic Christianity,

assured of your faith and your eternal destiny.

The way we are going to try to reach that goal is for you to wrestle with the text.

I am going to ask you a question and

then direct you to read what John wrote,

your task is to get into groups and discuss your thoughts on a

possible answer to the question.

That means you can talk, move around.

And if you see someone not in a group invite them to dialogue with you.

Now if this is just not your cup of tea, then I give you permission just

to sit with a smile on your face and think it through on your

own.

So we turn this auditorium into a research center and you are the

researchers looking for assurance of your salvation.

Let’s get into the letter

Here’s the first question—

How can we be assured of our salvation?

1 John 5:1-3 (MSG)

1 Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. If we love the One who conceives the child, we'll surely love the child who was conceived. 2 The reality test on whether or not we love God's children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.

How can we be assured of our salvation?

Answers and Observations:

--We believe that Jesus is fully God and fully human fully both at the same

time.

--We prove that belief by our actions of love for our brothers and sisters,

And love for God.

--We prove our love for God by obeying His commands.

--His commands are not troublesome because the Holy Spirit empowers us

to fulfill them, to carry them out.

You can be assured that you know God because you believe that Jesus is God

incarnate, who has reconciled you to the Father,

You can be assured that you are saved if you keep God’s commands.

You not only believe that Jesus is your savior you acknowledge Him

in thought word and deed as your Lord, as the one in charge, the one calling the shots.

You can be assured that you are eternally secure if you love God’s children.

You are willing to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters even if it

comes at a self-sacrificial personal cost.

Questions?

To understand verse 6 through 12 you need to remember what Cerinthus taught

and something about the legitimacy of three witnesses.

Cerinthus taught that God emanated an aeon, known as the Christ Spirit.

Think of it this way, our sun emanated light energy known as photons.

The Christ spirit is not God but rather an emissary of God.

The Christ spirit descended on the man Jesus at his baptism in the

Jordan River.

Empowering the man Jesus to teach the secret knowledge

about God.

At the crucifixion, the Christ spirit departed from the man Jesus at the

moment Jesus called out “My God, why have you forsaken

me.”

Concerning the legitimacy of witnesses,

The Old Testament (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15, applied also in 1 Tim 5:19)

Instructed that a person’s testimony,

If corroborated by two or three witness,

Was to be considered true.

The question is this:

What are the three witnesses?

1 John 5:6-10 (MSG)

6 Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God's presence at Jesus' baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. 7 A triple testimony: 8 the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement. 9 If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God's testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God's own testimony regarding his Son.

Answers and Observations:

--water at the baptism

--blood at the cross

--Spirit convincing us by the resurrection,

By an inward witness, we become convinced.

Deny this and you are not a believer, thus Cerinthus is refuted.

Jesus in a unity not separate humanity and divinity.

--water and blood are a historical witness

--Spirit is an experiential witness

The water symbolizes Jesus baptism, where he was revealed by God as His Son,

Commissioned and empowered for His ministry.

Luke 3:21-22 (MSG)

… Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life."

We know from Luke’s account that Cerinthus account of Jesus and the Christ

Spirit is incorrect.

We know from the Luke that Jesus was the Christ at his conception—

The angel told Mary his mother

Luke 1:35 (MSG)

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.

The blood symbolizes Jesus death which made it possible to reconcile us to God.

To the life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Holy Spirit has

convinced us of its truth.

With the water and the blood we have two historical witnesses and with the Spirit

we have an experiential witness.

Questions?

Knowing the context makes verse 4-5 and 11-12 that much more powerful

1 John 5:4-5 (MSG)

Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. 5 The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:11-12 (MSG)

This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. 12 So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.

Faith in the testimony,

Results in faith in Jesus,

In Jesus we overcome the world and its ways,

Deceptions and traps.

In other words we are obedient to God,

The result then is eternal life.

“Three important truths are taught in these verses about eternal life.

First, eternal life is not a prize which we have earned, but an undeserved gift.

Second, eternal life is found in Christ,

and we know it is God who both gave us and gives us His Son,

Third, eternal life in Christ is a present possession.”

And we live in the in between times as heirs waiting to inherit.

(Stott, p. 183)

John has told us the truth, expecting that in hearing the truth we will believe,

And in believing the truth we will live it out,

And that in living it out we will know,

That we have eternal life.

Questions?

John has already given us the tests that if we pass with a clear conscience we know

we are living in a right relationship with God.

In Chapter 4 he slipped in another test,

The test of hearing the Spirit’s voice demonstrated by accepting the

Apostle’s teachings about Jesus.

In verse 14-15 John gives us another sign to assure us of our salvation.

Here’s your question—

What additional sign of assurance does John give us?

1 John 5:13-15 (MSG)

My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. 14 And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. 15 And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.

Answers and Observations

--answered prayer

Some people try to get off the hook by saying God always answers the

prayer of a believer with a YES, a NO, or a WAIT

But I am more inclined to think that answered prayer means that my

request is granted.

This poses a personal conundrum for me.

I have asked to win the lotto, win publishers’ clearing house,

Inherit from some unknown relative,

And I even attached dates to the request.

The requests were not granted.

Again someone might say, well God answered, HE said No.

HE said no because you did ask according to His will.

But then that makes prayer a real slippery critter.

This is just my opinion---

Answered prayer means granted petition.

Yet we fall into a trap if we do not consider the wider context of

John’s teaching.

Maybe if we will see something else if we read a little further on

Here’s your question:

In what context is are we to expect answered prayer if we are living our lives

to the full?

You may have questions about what John means by fatal sin,

Hold off on that for this question well get to it next.

1 John 5:16a (MSG)

For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I'm not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is "fatal," leading to eternal death), we ask for God's help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. …

In what context is are we to expect answered prayer if we are living our lives

to the full?

--- the conditions of prayer.

a). We receive whatever we ask because we keep his commandments (1Jn 3:22).

b). If we abide in him and his words abide in us, we will ask what we will and it will be done for us (Jn 15:7).

c). pray in his name is a condition of prayer. If we ask anything

in his name, he will do it (Jn 14:14).

—Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

It seems to me that the context is intercessory prayer.

Praying for those in our faith community.

That if they are messing up our prayers to help them get

back on the right track will not go unanswered.

This kind of intercessory prayer is interceding for the one who

is straying from God,

who is walking down a path of spiritual danger.

Comments?

Now let’s consider this fatal sin.

From what we have read so far in this letter what do you think fatal sin is?

1 John 5:16b-19 (MSG)

There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I'm not

urging you to pray about that. 17 Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal. 18 We know that none of the God-begotten makes a practice of sin—fatal sin. The God-begotten are also the God-protected. The Evil One can't lay a hand on them. 19 We know that we are held firm by God; it's only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One.

What do you think fatal sin is?

--Apostasy, Mortal sins, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Habitual

sinning, Physical death, Spiritual death

http://www.biblebb.com/files/j90-11-1.htm

--willful transgression of God’s commands,

i.e. the high handed sin of a proud heart

Hebrews 6:4-6

--pros thanaton θάνατος

“sin which is going towards death, the sin whose end is death,

the sin which, if continued in, must finish in death.”

Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

I think fatal sin from the context is believing and living like Cerinthus.

Rationalize away obedience,

Excuse your ill treatment of others,

And do not believe in the God’s Son.

It’s living in a state of habitual sin.

We know God’s will yet we refuse to do it,

we revel in our rebellion.

Now here’s what confounds me: Why am I not to pray for them?

John writes:

There is such a thing as a fatal sin,

and I'm not urging you to pray about that.

What do you think?

The only thing that I think may fit the bill is to understand that John is writing to

the koinonia, the faith community.

Living a life of habitual sin,

Excludes one from the community of faith.

One who was a member and now has disqualified

themselves from membership are beyond the community’s prayers to

help bring them back.

Let me restate that

For those who have left the koinonia through disobedience, hate and

disbelief, are beyond the resources of the church to help.

Intercessory prayer is being the middle man,

Its seeing the need of one and going to God who has the

resources to meet every need,

and then receiving from God,

being the one who meets the need.

Intercessory prayer is more than just asking,

Its interceding and that means getting your hands dirty.

One of the keys for understanding hard to understand verses is once having

examined the verse in context, take you understanding of it to the wider

context of the Bible itself.

We have 2 similar references in scripture:

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 1 Timothy 1:19-20

Where we are encouraged to turn the one who has left the koinonia to

Satan.

1 Cor 5:4-5 (NIV)

When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

1 Tim 1:19-20 (NIV)

Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

The purpose of turning them over to Satan is that they are

immediately enrolled in the school of hard knocks.

The suffering the experience outside of the koinonia,

Is the last tool God uses to bring them back to

Him and the community.

It’s just beyond our capabilities,

to bring such a person back by our actions.

So what do you think?

What holes do you see in my observations?

What have I not considered?

Well we had better finish up.

John has told us that we can be sure that we are practicing authentic Christianity

When we know that it is our desire to be obedient to God’s commands in

every area of our lives.

When we know that we are being self-sacrifical in meeting the needs of

others.

When our lives reflect the belief that Jesus is fully God, full human, fully

both at the same time, that Jesus is Lord.

And we can be assured of our right standing with God when we see God

answering our prayers.

John closes his letter with these words:

1 John 5:20-21 (MSG)

And we know that the Son of God came so we could recognize and understand the truth of God—what a gift!—and we are living in the Truth itself, in God's Son, Jesus Christ. This Jesus is both True God and Real Life. 21 Dear children, be on guard against all clever facsimiles.

Questions?

Let’s pray

BACK

Authentic Christianity Part 5 1 John 5

A true believer obeys God’s commands

A true believer self sacrificially meets the needs of others.

A true believer acknowledges that Jesus is fully God and fully human,

fully both at the same time.

How can we be assured of our salvation?

1 John 5:1-3 (MSG)

What are the three witnesses?

1 John 5:6-10 (MSG)

Luke 3:21-22 (MSG)

Luke 1:35 (MSG)

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.

1 John 5:4-5 (MSG)

1 John 5:11-12 (MSG)

This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. 12 So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.

eternal life is not a prize which we have earned, but an undeserved gift.

eternal life is found in Christ, and we know it is God who both gave us and gives us His

Son

eternal life in Christ is a present possession.

What additional sign of assurance does John give us?

1 John 5:13-15 (MSG)

In what context is are we to expect answered prayer if we are living our lives to the full?

1 John 5:16a (MSG)

It seems to me that the context is intercessory prayer.

From what we have read so far in this letter what do you think fatal sin is?

1 John 5:16b-19 (MSG)

There is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I'm not

Living a life of habitual sin, excludes one from the community of faith.

One of the keys for understanding hard to understand verses is once having examined the verse in context, take you understanding of it to the wider context of the Bible itself.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 1 Timothy 1:19-20

1 John 5:20-21 (MSG)