1 John 2:3-14: Living What You Claim

Introduction

https://medium.com/@h.ahanisyan/the-story-behind-febreze-4978d4aedbc4 - The failure of Febreze - People don’t pay attention to the evidence of their stench. P&G had to come up with a competely different way to market the product if it was going to be successful. Febreze as a reward for the hard work of cleaning - to add “freshness” after a clean. NOT solving a problem, but a reward.

John writing to help us to examine the evidence of our salvation because we’re the kind of people that don’t often consider the evidence of our salvation. However, we need to examine the evidence so we might KNOW that we are saved.

Evidence of your salvation is your willingness to do what Jesus says. It’s living out what you claim - that Jesus is Lord of your life.

Question: Are you committed to Jesus? Most of us would claim that we are. Many of us would say that we have surrendered our lives to Jesus, but what’s the evidence in of your faith? Do you live what you claim? That’s the question that John is calling us to ask of ourselves today, because the way we answer that question says a lot about who we are in Christ.

John writes this letter so we can know that we are saved (1 John 5:13). He’s told us that people who are genuinely saved have experienced the truth, are honest about their sin, and reject sin as a lifestyle. In these verses, a third way we can know that we are saved: we live out the faith we claim.

As we walk through this passage, I want to give you three warnings you need to heed if you claim to be a follower of Jesus.

Be careful of saying you follow Jesus if you won’t do what He says.

vs. 3 - Straight forward - keeping the commands of Jesus is evidence that you belong to Jesus (John 14:23-24).

John NOT saying (nor is Jesus) that keeping the commands is HOW we come to know Jesus. Think back to Exodus. One of the purposes of the OT Law was to show us that we can’t measure up. We need a Savior.

Hudson entering manhood trip - “2/3 of a man to a man…” Steps to manhood vs. becoming a Christian - then a lifetime of growth into your identity.

John IS saying that obedience is how we KNOW we have come to know God. Obedience is the evidence of salvation, not the means to salvation.

vs. 4 - If you do not keep the commands of Jesus, you do not know Jesus no matter what you claim - you are a liar.

Simply put, people who have experienced salvation WANT to obey God because we know how much He loves us. He shows His love for us at the cross!

Not simply an external obedience: “This is what I must do for God to love me…” BUT an internally motivated obedience that leads to outward fruit… “Because God loves me, I want to honor Him because I know He wants what’s best for me.”

What are the commands of Jesus? Remember our series from Exodus. We’re not under the law… BUT, God has changed our hearts and placed His Spirit in us to empower us to obey. God’s commands are that we believe in Jesus and do what He says, and this letter in particular highlights Jesus’ command to love one another. (John 14:15: If you love me, you will keep my commands.)

vs. 5-6 - The love of God is made complete (or is made mature) in the lives of those who keep HIs Word. Our obedience demonstrates that we actually love God. Love is action. vs. 6 - The one who loves God walks as Jesus walked. How did Jesus walk? In obedience to the Spirit of God. However the Spirit led Him, Jesus did it. THIS is an obedient life - hearing the Spirit speak to you through the Word of God and doing what He says as an act of love for God.

You need an obedience audit. (Plane check before takeoff… Every pilot does it to avoid disaster. Need to check your obedience to avoid disaster.) Phrase often heard: “I want to do big things for God.” The big thing God wants you to do is to obey Him in the ordinary things of life. Putting sin to death? Denying yourself? Renewing your mind? Forgiving others? Confessing sin? Abiding in Christ? Sharing the Gospel? Being generous?

You need to close the gap between what you say and how you live. If you take an audit, where are the inconsistencies? Where are you currently struggling with obedience? Ask God to help you obey, then step in faith.

You need to count the cost and trust the Lord. Obedience is NOT easy, but it’s worth it. It will cost - cost your desires, a rearranging of your life, relationships, etc. However, as you obey the Lord trust that God will be faithful to you. No follower of Jesus regrets obedience, but we often regret disobedience.

Be careful of saying you love Jesus while despising the people He died for.

vs. 7 - John gets specific - Repeatedly in this letter John’s going to come back to the command to love. Jesus said the greatest commands were to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40). John not giving his readers anything new, but something old. Or, something these believers have been taught ever since they came to faith in Christ. He wants them to master the most basic command of the Christian faith - Love like Jesus loves.

vs. 8 - Not a new command, yet a new command? It’s an old command, yet it was new (John 13:34). Why did Jesus call love a new command? We see the love of God on full display in Christ. In Christ, we see sacrifice, mercy, forgiveness. Certainly, God demonstrated His love in the OT, but we see the love of God most clearly in Jesus. In Jesus, we see the command to love God and love others lived out in a way that no man has ever seen. In that sense, it’s a new command because we finally see it lived out perfectly in a person: Jesus Christ.

This love that has been seen in Jesus can also be seen in you as you walk by the Spirit (which is true in him and in you).

vs. 9-11 - The true light is shining into the darkness - the love of God has shined through Christ and it continues to shine in a dark world as we point people to the love of Christ in the way that we love. John’s argument is simple: If you hate your brother or sister, you are in the darkness until now… (or, still in darkness). Apparently, false teachers didn’t practice the kind of love John is encouraging these followers of Jesus to practice. On the other hand, if you love your brother or sister like Jesus did, you are in the light, and no cause for stumbling - OR, able to see clearly so we don’t have to stumble into sin. We’re walking in the light - we see others from the perspective of Jesus. We know how to treat each other with love as we walk in the light - We don’t stumble in the way we treat each other if we stay in the light of the love of Jesus. On other hand, if you walk in the darkness, you don’t know where you are going. You stumble often and make a mess of your relationships.

Love is the way we treat others in light of how we’ve been treated - a wiling self-sacrifice for the good of someone else. When you love someone, you genuinely want the best for them.

These verses reminding us that evidence of salvation is obedience, specifically, obedience to Christ’s command to love as He loves.

You might feel like you’ve got this one down pat. Perhaps you think of yourself, “I’m a loving person. I’m not hateful!” But… not only do an obedience audit. Do a love audit.

Do you hold grudges?

Do you secretly want to see someone fail? Want ill for someone instead of good?

Withholding forgiveness?

Someone you constantly insult/tear down?

Someone you are jealous of instead of happy for?

Someone you ignore or avoid?

Do you justify your ill feelings toward someone?

I was hurt…

I need to protect myself…

I have righteous anger…

Real love is Spirit-empowered that is a result of knowing Jesus’ love for you. Real love is demonstrated in the fruit of the Spirit. Pray for it. Practice it. Practically:

Name and pray for those you avoid. Be honest about who it is that you’re avoiding because of your resentment and hatred. Pray for that person. Pray for their good. Pray for their salvation. Pray that they would experience a work of God in their own hearts. It’s hard to hate someone when you are praying that God would do a good work in their lives.

Kill silent resentment. Pray for your own heart. Pray that God would help you see that person that your heart is cold towards with the eyes of Jesus. Confess your resentment. Repent.

Be careful of claiming Jesus as Lord while forgetting what He’s done.

It will always be challenging to obey Jesus’ command to love if you don’t regularly remember what He’s done.

The Gospel is the motivator of love. When you see how much you’ve been loved, you grow in your desire to love.

vs. 12-14 difficult to understand because they seem more poetic, and also because John addresses children, fathers, and young men. Is he using three different words to refer to all believers? Is he referring to different age groups? Or, is he referring to people who are in different stages of growth.

I think that John is referring to believers in different stages of growth. There’s a word here for those who are children in the faith, those who are fathers in the faith, and those who are young men in the faith because the reality is that regardless of your spiritual age there’s a temptation to forget what Jesus has done for you and stray away from the light.

Little children, your sins forgiven - don’t go back to it. Easy to turn back to sin when you’re new in the faith. Don’t forget what you have been saved from.

Fathers - those who have been in the faith for a long time - don’t forget that you know God. Look at the progress you have made. Look at the work God has done in your life over the years. As you age in the faith, easy to forget your first love. Easy to grow dry in your faith. Don’t forget that you know God. Don’t forget the Gospel - you still need Him.

Young men - you have overcome - don’t forget why you have overcome - the work of Jesus on your behalf. For those who have seen some growth but there is still much more ahead for you, easy to lose your zeal. Stay zealous for the One who died and rose again.

Your lack of obedience is often directly tied to your lack of remembering. When you fail to remember the love of Jesus, you fail to love like Jesus. Perhaps, the reason why you hold on to some of your hateful ways is because you have forgotten how loved you are.

No matter your spiritual age, keep telling yourself Gospel truths.

The more you tell yourself Gospel truths, the more you will be fueled to live your life as someone who has been changed by the Gospel.

Gospel truth: You have nothing to prove.

Gospel truth: You have nothing to fear. (No need to fear the wrath of God or the wrath of man.)

Gospel truth: You have no need for despair. (People can hurt you and hurl insults at you, but no one can separate you from the love of God.)

Gospel truth: You are accepted by God. (What people think of me is nowhere near as important as what God thinks of me.)

Gospel truth: Your identity in Christ is secure.

Gospel truth: You have purpose in the mission of God. (How can you live on mission when you harbor hate?)

Being confident in who you are as a follower of Jesus frees you to love like Jesus loved because what do you have to prove? What do you have to lose?

Never forget what Jesus has done. If you are not a follower of Jesus today, embrace what Jesus has done. Believe that He died and rose again for you. Repent of your sins and turn to Him by faith.