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The Nature and Knowledge of Faith
A sermon on 1 John 5:1-12 preached at Christ the King Church on 6~/11~/06
 
*Prayer:  *Father, bless the reading and preaching of your Word.
And assist us now by your Spirit to see Jesus and to acknowledge Him as both Lord and Christ, and to live lives worthy of that name.
We pray this in His name.
* *
*Introduction:  */“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”/*
*I added that verse to the Scripture reading this morning because it is both the perfect summary of the purpose of this whole Epistle, and also because it is the perfect summary of the points addressed in 5:1-12, our text for today.
What I mean is this.
The first part of v.13 (*“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God…”*) with its talk of faith and with its emphasis on the object of faith, namely Jesus, reflects well the themes of vv.1-5.
And the second part of v.13 (*“that you may know that you have eternal life”*) encompasses the two themes of vv.6-12--assurance and life.
So while I offer you no intriguing or entertaining introduction this morning, I do offer you, nevertheless, an adventure to come.
With v.13 as our compass we will guide our way through vv.1-12, exploring first at /the nature of faith/ (in vv.1-5) and then /the knowledge of faith/ (in vv.6-12).
The nature of faith and the knowledge of faith:  Those are the two topics we will adventure after today.
!!!!
The Nature of Faith
* *
So first, what is the nature of true Christian faith?
Well, let’s see with the Word of God has to say.
Open your Bibles again to 1 John 5, and read along with me, starting in v.1.
*“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome.
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith.
Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  *
 
The nature of faith, according to these verses, involves three things.
John likes the word, ‘things,’ so I’ll stick with it.
What are the three ‘things’ of faith?
Well, first we have the object of faith, then the author of faith, and finally the effects of faith—(object~/author~/effects).
On Monday I visited Jon Dennis, who is renowned for being both Geoff’s brother and a pastor at Holy Trinity Church, our sister church in Chicago.
Jon took me across the street from his office to the cafeteria of the University of Chicago Business School.
Inside this sleek silver edifice of higher education, as we were waiting to buy some coffee, Jon (surely with a wink in his eye) asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up.
I responded with a wink of my own, saying, “When I grow up, I want to graduate from the University of Chicago Business School and then make lots of money.”
Now, the cafeteria cashier, overhearing this remark, gave a shy but sure smile.
That same smile surfaced again as Jon paid for our drinks with his church credit card, and as she thus discovered we were pastors, not aspiring businessmen.
This woman’s name was Porsche.
She spelled it, so her nametag displayed, with an “A” at the end, rather than with the “E” of the luxury sports car.
“Porsche, do you go to church?”  Jon asked, making the most of the opportunity.
“No,” she said, “But I am a believer, and [pointing to her heart, with depth of sincerity] what I believe is in here.”
Now, Porsche’s name may be novel, but sadly her perspective on faith is not.
Most people have ‘faith.’
Some might say, “I have a strong faith,” and go on to describe their spirituality.
Others might say, “I have faith, but not as much as I would like.”
You see, to most souls in our society ‘faith’ is an abstract idea, usually based on some kind of religious experience that provided for an individual some meaning or authenticity to life.[1]
But, I want you to know this morning that this is not how the Bible talks about ‘faith.’
No, the apostle John’s definition is so different.
Look at the first part of v.1.
And notice that it /does not/ read, *“Everyone who believes *[in whatever or whoever]* has been born of God,” *rather it reads, *“Everyone who believes /that Jesus is the Christ/ has been born of God.”  *Then look at v.5.
There we read, *“Who is it that overcomes the world except *[or only] *the one who believes *[believes what?
Believes] *that Jesus is the Son of God?”*
You see, to John, as it is to all the Bible writers, faith is not some abstract and internal idea (purely internal idea).
No.
To him, it is “not the subjective experience of believing” that matters most in the matters of faith, rather it is the object, the object of our faith.[2]
“What is the object of your faith?”
That’s the question raised here.
Is Jesus and Jesus alone the object of your faith?
Do you believe that He is the Christ (the promised Messiah)?
And do you believe He is the Son of God?
For you see, if your faith does not have an object and if that object (that entity, or in this case, that person) is not Jesus, as He is identified in Scripture, then whatever you may call yourself, you ought not to take upon the name ‘Christian,’ for a Christian, first and foremost, has faith in Christ, he or she believes that Jesus is “God’s one and only Son and that He was anointed by God’s Spirit to preach the gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead, die on the cross for sin, and rise from the dead to become the Savior”[3]- the Savior of all who trust in Him.
What is the nature of true Christian faith?
True Christian faith has Christ as the object of faith.
That’s the first ‘thing.’
The second ‘thing’ involves the author of our faith, who, according to our text, is God.
If you sense a theme that we are not the center of attention this morning, your sense is right.
Look again at v.1.
*“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of /God/, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of /him/.”
*
 
Now from this verse the question naturally arises:  What comes first:  the act of believing or the event of being born of God?  Well to me, the answer is as simple as asking, “What comes first, the birth of a baby or a baby’s first word?”
Birth comes before belief!
Now, tell me, preacher, how is this so?
Well, it is subtle but sure here in our text.
The New Testament was originally written in Greek.
And so, in the Greek the word “believes” or more literally “the one believing” is in the present tense, which indicates a present, continuing activity.
The word “born” or as our English translation does a nice job with “has been born” is in what is called the perfect tense.
The perfect tense indicates a past event with continuing consequences.
So, what does this little lesson in Greek grammar mean?
It means this:  Our present, continued belief is a result of a past event, our rebirth, our being born *“/of /God.”*
Think of it this way:  “It is God who takes the initiative in the new birth, or the work of salvation, faith being both its gift and the first active sign of the new life.”[4]
When my sister was in college, she invited me (at that time a recent convert to Christianity) to visit her, telling me her roommate had some questions about the Christian faith.
When I arrived, I basically gave a little sermon on the third chapter of John’s Gospel, which contains that discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus instructed this old, knowledgeable, religious leader that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again or born from above (or as our passage puts it, *“born of God”*).
Now what happened was quite unexpected, at least to me.
This humble homily I gave was directed directly at Anne, my sister’s roommate.
To be honest (as older brothers often do), I barely acknowledged my sister’s presence.
Yet, what happened?
Well, it was God’s good pleasure to use my talk to Anne to bred life into my sister.
For you see in time it was Julie (the same Julie here today) who responded in faith to God’s work within.
Now that illustration is not an anomaly.
It wasn’t a glitch in grace.
No, at a basic level, the way she came to Christ is the way everyone comes to Christ.
The scenario is this:  Someone shares the gospel, and God (if He so chooses) opens the heart to believe.
Do you recall what Paul wrote in the second chapter of Ephesians?
Didn’t he teach that everyone, all human beings, are *“dead in* [our] *trespasses and sins”* (2:1) and thus *“by nature children of wrath”* (2:3)?
But, didn’t he also teach in vv.4-8 (speaking of Christians), *“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ….
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And /this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God….”/ *God is the gift giver!
God is the author of our faith!
He births in us belief, and thus to Him be all the glory!
The nature of authentic faith is threefold.
We have looked at the object of faith and the author of faith-- Jesus being the object, God (God the Father) being the author.
We come now to that final aspect, the effects-the special effects of faith.
I think we could make a lot of self-professed Christians happy (happy, in a superficial sense) if we affirmed only the first part of v.1, *“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”  *If we simply stopped there, I think nearly every churchgoer would smile, smile with confidence of conscience, for a faith in Jesus (no strings attached) sounds nice.
It sounds nice and easy.
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