Believers Assurance

AUGUST 19, 2020 STUDY NOTES I JOHN 2:3-6 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES BELIEVERS ASSURANCE INTRODUCTION How can we be sure that Jesus Christ is everything to us, just as John has already described? How can we be sure that Jesus is our “Advocate,” standing before God for the believer? And that Jesus is the “Propitiation” for our sins, having satisfied the wrath of God against us John is now going to show us how to live within the truth of those promises Living in the assurance of our salvation and the assurance that our sins have been forgiven Christians will experience the truth of those promises by obeying His commandments Christians will experience the assurance of His promises by walking even as He walked Obeying and walking is putting into practice what we have been promised And through obedience we come to know that what we know is more than knowledge We will have the assurance of our personal daily experience with Jesus John now expounds upon truths that were presented in chapter one We can have the assurance of walking in fellowship with God and walking in the light One of the great old hymns of the faith is, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!” Which goes on to say, “O what a foretaste of glory divine!” The message of that song is what John wants us to get out of his message in this passage The “Believers Assurance” is the purpose of John writing this letter, 1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. John says that we can have the assurance that will come through obedience ASSURANCE OF OBEDIENCE 1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. We can interpret “Hereby” as “this is how I know,” as Christians we must “know that we know” Do you know for sure that you know God? Can you know for sure that you know God? Many time’s people say, “If I only knew for sure,” John shows us the truth of assurance John does not begin with, “I think so” or “I hope it’s true,” he begins with, “we do know” we do know that we know him, Listen to John, “WE DO KNOW THAT WE KNOW,” John likes this word “know” The Greek word translated “we know” is found 25 times in this letter What John is telling us, is not “hear say,” it is “know so,” it is a known fact, you can be sure As a Christian, you know that at a particular point in your life, you came to “know” Jesus That is the time when you were “born again,” salvation is something that you can be sure of Salvation is not an academic knowledge, it is a personal and experiential knowledge of Jesus John is showing us that from that point of salvation, knowing Jesus is a “Progressive Knowledge” Knowledge that we are to be gaining on a daily basis as long as we live We know how we came to know Him and we know that we do know Him We know that we still know Him and we know that we can learn more about Him And that is exactly what John is showing us, John reveals to us a continual learning experience Learning more and more day by day, a continuous experience of “knowing Jesus” John is not talking about someone who is lost coming to know Jesus as Savior He is talking about a Christian who is continually coming to know who Christ is One who is daily coming to know what it means to be a Christian and who we are “in Christ” 1|Page To “know Him” means more than being saved, it means the same as to have fellowship with Him To walk in daily fellowship with God is to “know God” “Knowing God” implies that we are learning more about Him through study of His Word Knowledge that can only come through the experience of being obedient to the One we “know” Our Assurance comes from “Keeping his commandments” (verse 3) “Keeping his word” (verse 5) and “Abiding in him” (verse 6) “We know Him,” it doesn’t matter if the reference is to God or Jesus God cannot be known apart from knowing Jesus, we can only come to know God through Jesus The Christian life is to be a daily experience of walking with the life of Jesus Christ To know Jesus is to know that we have fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ John tells us that there is a way to be sure, there is a test that we can take, the test of obedience if we keep his commandments. “If we keep” means, “if we keep on keeping” The word translated “keep” means more than “to obey” The thought is “keeping close watch over something,” as when we are “carefully guarding” it We are careful to watch over and guard those things that are of great value to us We keep watch over the things that are meaningful and precious to our life What about “His commandments?” There should be nothing of greater value to our life We must be sure that we are safeguarding the Word of God “If we keep” also presents a strong desire not to disobey any commandment of the Lord Making sure that we are not going to disobey what we have learned “Keeping His commandments” naturally comes with “knowing him” “We” who are saved are the ones who know Him and must daily obey Him We did not keep his commandments in-order to be saved, that is impossible We keep his commandments because we are saved Salvation makes it possible to keep his commandments, obedience comes through salvation “Commandment” is another key word in 1 John, being used 14 times in the letter “His commandments” includes all the precepts and teachings of Jesus Christ Which is now known as, “Bible Doctrine” or the teaching that Christians are to follow The book of Acts continues the teachings of Jesus, Act 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, The teaching of Jesus is the doctrine that the Apostles taught the early church, Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. The church of today must continue to “keep His commandments” We must continue to teach and preach His commandments, Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. “Keeping His commandments” is the evidence of “Knowing Him” Obedience is the only way that a Christian can prove to others that he truly is a Christian Just to “say-so” does not make it a “know-so” ONE WHO SAYS I KNOW HIM 1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Throughout the book of 1 John we learn that John loves the use of contrast Such as light in opposition to darkness or obedience in opposition to disobedience Such as what one says compared to what he does Here we have another claim that a person may make It actually-is another test and the result of that test “He that saith” is a person who is saying one thing and doing another thing What he is doing is not what he says that he is doing, in fact he is doing the very opposite 2|Page They are not speaking the truth, they are opposing the truth John speaks of the person who keeps on saying, “I know Him” I know him, When this person says that “he knows him,” he is saying “I know Him through our fellowship” He is saying that he has a learning relationship through his fellowship with Jesus He is a person who says, “I know Him through “walking in the light” But if he says, “I know him” and is not keeping his commandments--and keepeth not his commandments, Keeping His commandments is the test If he is not keeping the commandments of Jesus, he fails the test The verse actually says, “he keeps on not keeping” his commandments If he is not keeping the commandments of Jesus, he is not walking in fellowship with Jesus So, John says he is a liar is a liar, That is the result of the test, the real truth is that what he says is “a lie,” but what is the lie? That you can come to know God and fellowship with God without keeping his commandments The truth is you cannot truly know fellowship with God without obeying His commands For one to keep on saying, I know Him, and to keep on not keeping his commandments is a lie So, John says--and the truth is not in him. This does not mean that he is not a Christian, it does not mean that he is a lost person It means that the truth of being a Christian is not being witnessed in his life What the person claims to be true, cannot be true, unless he keeps the teachings of Jesus The life that is being lived is a lie, the truth of Christ is not seen in a life of disobedience The True Christian Life is the life that is faithfully obeying the teachings of Christ John gives us that truth in verse 5--WE KNOW WE KNOW HIM 1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. “But whoso keepeth” has the meaning of, “He keeps on keeping His Word” “His Word” is all that Jesus taught and we are obligated to obey all of “His Word” “His Word” is that which is called, “His commandments” in verses 3 and 4 It is also the “truth” referred to in verse 4 The truth is His commandments and His Word, they all have the same meaning “Truth” is obeying his commandments, “Truth” is keeping His word The believer in verse 5 is not a “say-so” faith Christian but a “do-so” faith Christian He is carefully watching his life and guarding against being disobedient against Jesus’ teaching So, verse 5 is actually another test with the results given The results of the test, is a manifestation of God’s love John now tells us that when the Christian lives the truth-in him verily is the love of God perfected: “Verily” means, “to speak in truth,” John speaks with the certainty of truth “In him” refers to the Christian who keeps on keeping the commandments of Jesus The truth in his life is that the love of God has been “perfected” This is the first time we find the word “love” in this letter, but not the last time 3|Page “Love” is another very-important word for John, he refers to love 46 times in the letter John speaks of “the love of God,” love originates in God, not in man The “love of God perfected” means that God’s love is made complete and has reached its goal It means that God’s love has accomplished what God intended for it to do Man receives the love of God by believing in Jesus Christ When you are saved you begin to learn the truth of God’s love Until you are saved you don’t really “know by experience” that God loves you Only after you are saved do you really know what John 3:16 means You read that God loves the world, but you learn from a personal experience that God loves you As you begin to love God in return, the Love of God teaches you to love the brethren Only after you have learned to love the brethren can you learn to love your enemy, Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; As a believer continues to keep God’s Word, he continues to learn the truth of God’s love As we learn more about God our love for Him grows The more that we love God, the greater His love becomes within us The more that we experience His love, the more love we share with others An obedient Christian is promised a special experience of the love of God and the Son When we love and obey, Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Through love and obedience, we learn and experience more about God An experience that cannot be known apart from loving and obeying God It is love for God that keeps on obeying the teaching of Jesus, Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Through love and obedience, we know that we are “In Him” and that He is “in us” hereby know we that we are in him. “Hereby” means we find the answer to the question, “How do we know that we are in Him?” Not by merely a “say-so” conversation or not by a lot of talk, but by “our walk” BECAUSE I KNOW HIM 1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. We have another claim, another test, and the results of the test The claim is that “He abideth in him” Which expresses more than a position, it represents the experience of a relationship John is going to show us that something must be true in-order for your claim to be true John likes the word translated “ABIDE,” it is found 23 times in 1 John It is found 41 times in the Gospel of John, it is found 12 times in one chapter, John 15 Basically, the word “abide” means, “to be at home” and “to be in harmony” John uses this word to teach the Christian to “stay at home,” you belong to God, stay with him Don’t live away from home, don’t get out of place, stay in your place by walking with God Don’t say you that you “abide” in Him unless you “walk” with him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. “Ought,” means that as a Christian we are “bound by duty” We are under an ever-present obligation, we have a moral responsibility We have a personal responsibility because of who we are, we are a “Child of God” “So to walk” presents our responsibility as a “Child of God” Parents get excited when they see their baby take their first step 4|Page They call the grandparents and all the family members and friends, and everyone is excited A child walking is very strong evidence that the child is growing and maturing The same is true for the Christian, walking as Jesus walked is the evidence of spiritual growth But the Christian duty is not limited to taking those first steps, our duty is to keep on walking Our walk is not a spasmodic step every day or so Our walk is not to be limited to a Sunday morning trip to church Our walk is to be the daily conduct of our life, the very habit of our life John writes to us and tells us what he saw in the life of Jesus, he knows how Jesus walked We must study the Bible in-order to “walk even as he walked” CONCLUSION From these verses we must ask, do I really know Jesus? How well do I know Jesus? We must realize that there are degrees of acquaintance We know our spouse, we know our children, we know our neighbors, we know our friends We know some people that we see in town, but we don’t know their name What are we saying, when we say, “I know Jesus?” To what degree do we know Jesus? John gave us some tests that we can take in-order to answer our questions The test of our real and truthful knowledge of Jesus is our “Day by Day obedience” John defined obedience to God in three ways for us We were told to Keep God’s Commandments (verses 3-4) We were told to Keep God’s Word (verse 5) We were told to walk as Jesus walked (verse 6) We should be singing the old chorus, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey” Listen to the song 5|Page