1 John 2:1-5

Introduction

John continues to prove to the skeptics that Jesus is the true Messiah and to miss it you had to not want to see it.

In the first chapter of 1 John, we saw Christ as the Word of life that was made clear to those on earth at the time. We also saw him as the light of the world, and that there is no darkness in him. The we saw that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin and unrighteousness. It is clear that we are all sinners but can be sanctified through Christ finished work of the cross.

This morning we are going to see Christ as our payment for sin and see how we should live as a christian.

Verse 1

My little children

Here John is not necessarily writing to little children, but rather young Christians. Remember a lot of this book was written to combat the Gnosticism that was creeping its way into the church.

These things I write unto you

John was about to give them some more truth about Jesus, but he wanted there attention first.

That ye sin not.

As a believer we shouldn’t want to sin, we shouldn’t be a habitual sinner as an unbeliever is.

Because of our flesh we can’t be sinless, but because Jesus has come to live inside of us we can sin less.

John here is reminding these believers of this.

One commentary said this “We who were once dead in sin are now dead to sin, positionally and so far as God is concerned. But there’s more to it than that. The Lord Jesus not only gave His life for us, He now gives His life to us.”

Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

All of us are going to sin because of the nature, but we have an advocate with the father.

Advocate- Someone who pleads in favor for

Jesus Christ the righteous is pleading in favor for us with the father.

Jesus is the only righteous one

Our righteousness is as filthy rags, but his righteousness advocates with the father.

When Satan comes to accuse us, telling God all of the bad things we have done, he is met by Jesus Christ our Advocate.

Satan tries it on Job

Job 1:6–12“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”

In Rev 12:12 Satan is called the Accuser.

When Satan our accuser comes to God he is met by Jesus our advocate who intercedes with the father for us

Verse 1 Shows Jesus as our advocate

Verse 2

And he is our propitiation for our sins

Propitiation- The act of appeasing wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person

Aren’t you thankful that Jesus appeased the wrath of the Father through his death on the cross.

He appeased all the wrath, this doesn’t give us a license to sin, but should keep us from sinning.

Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

When Jesus payed for our sins, he never could forgive to many people.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Phillips said this “ We are not called upon to placate (to appease) an angry God. On the contrary, God in his wonderful grace has provided the expiation, atonement and propitiation in the person and work of His son. Thus, the words used for propitiation point to the ground upon which God shows mercy to the guilty, namely, the finished work of Christ. The Lord Jesus is both the propitiator and propitiation.”

While the sacrifice of Jesus, has the ability to pay for the sins of all mankind, it is only effective for the individual when it is accepted by faith.

Verse 2 shows Jesus as our propitiation

Verse 3

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments

Its one thing to say that we know someone, often times when we say it, we may have met someone one time and we say that we know them.

When I was working at Chick-fil-A in Roanoke, TX Jason Witten who was a Tight end for the Dallas Cowboys would come through the drive thru from time to time. I could say that I know Jason Witten, but I don’t really know him, but i could recognize him.

Here John is telling them that top really know Jesus, you must keep his commandments.

He is likely remembering back to when they were in the upper room with Jesus, as Jesus is getting ready to be crucified and Jesus tells them this

John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

As believers we get to know Him better and better, trust Him more and more, and consequently, obey him in all matters great and small.

Verse 3 tells us that we get to know him better by reading and keeping his commandments

Verse 4

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Here John is pretty much saying “Obedience to the Lord is what separates the true believer from the false professor.”

We can think about some of the commandments the Lord gave us

For the church we have the commandment to keep the two ordinances until Jesus calls his church out of here

Baptism and the Lords Supper

As believers we are commanded to be active in our attendance to church

In the Gospel Jesus gives us two simple commands, yet sometimes hard to follow

Love God

Love others

As believers we shouldn’t be habitually breaking Gods commandments, Keeping them is a mark of a true believer.

Verse 4 tells us that if we don’t keep the commandments of God, we don’t really know him.

Verse 5

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.

In verse 3 John tells us that we know that we know God by the way we keep his commandments, verse 4 tells us if we don’t keep his commandments, we don’t actually know him.

Here in verse 5, the Bible tells us that if we keep the word of God, the Love of God is perfected in us.

We God’s word gets in us God’s love radiates out of us. If we are lacking in our love for others its likely because we are not keeping his word.

If we want to share the Love of God we must know the love of God and we do that by keeping his word.

Hereby we know that we are in him

The way we love shows either that we are in God or we aren’t in God.

Remember how Jesus told us to love

Matthew 5:43–48 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Corrie ten Boom is a great example of loving like Jesus

Corrie ten Boom once saw the man she hated in a church in Munich. The year was 1947, and she had come to a recently defeated Germany from Holland, a country that had known the full rigors of German occupation and Gestapo rule.And she had come to proclaim the message that God loves and forgives. She recognized the man, recognized him at once. How could she ever forget him? He had been one of the most brutal guards at the Ravensbruck concentration camp where she had been imprisoned and where her sister died.

At the close of the service- at which she had been speaking of the love of God and of His willingness to forgive-the man approached her. He wore a brown hat and an overcoat, but her mind's eye saw him as she had last seen him— in his black uniform and wearing the cap with its skull and crossbones. Her blood ran cold.

He came up to her and spoke. "I have become a Christian," he said. She dragged her mind back to the present. "God has forgiven me for all the cruel things I did in that camp. I have come to ask you to forgive me, too."

It seemed to the missionary that time stood still as she struggled with her heart. How could she forgive this man, when her sister's dear, emaciated face came between them. She thought of the cruel death that her sister had died, and a coldness lay an icy hand upon her heart. The man held out his hand, and the seconds seemed like centuries. Then the indwelling Christ prompted the response.

She reached out her hand and took his. Warmth, supernatural and sublime, flooded her heart. Tears came to her eyes as she said, "I forgive you, my brother—with all of my heart."

Conclusion

Jesus is my advocate and propitiation, is he yours?

We know we are his by our obedience to his commandments, and our love for others.

Hows our obedience to his commandments?

How is our love for others?