Life in His Commands

Text: I John 2:1–14 Preached by Dr. Kevin Wilson Westover Church – Greensboro, NC

Introduction

Acknowledgement of 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independance

Two points:

Not a state church (seperation)

Religious freedom to express however our conscience allows

Point listeners to the Mid-week podcast

So gathering together in this place reminds us of the provision God has given us, for us its like having a main house and the air goes out and we have to spend the night in the guest house

Beloved, John writes this letter not as a distant theologian, but as a spiritual father. You can hear it in his words—“My little children.” This is pastoral, personal, and practical. In these verses, John gives us three anchors for a faithful Christian walk:

Our Advocate when we fail

Our Assurance that we know Him

Our Identity as those who walk in the Light

This passage reminds us that Christianity is not just what we profess—it is how we live, grounded in who Christ is.

Big Idea: Jesus is all the help you need 

I. Our Advocate When We Fail (vv. 1–2)

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

John begins with both holiness and hope.

The goal is .that we do not sin

But the reality is .that we will sin

his primary purpose was to instruct and was to warn against sinning just like the heratics who believed they could be sinless I John 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

1 John 1:10 ESV

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Yet we are not left in despair. John says we have an Advocate—a legal representative, one who

stands in our defense.

Paraklete: one who comes along side

Key Truths:

Jesus is not only our Savior , but our Advocate .from sinin sin’s aftermath

He is called —meaning He alone is qualified to stand for us.“Jesus Christ the righteous”

1 John 2:2 ESV

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Not only our sins, but the sins of the whole cosmos…we have to know what this means, God is just, but he can’t turn a blind eye to sin…our sins and the sins of the world.

Why? The example of victim impact statements

Verse 2 reminds us He is the —the atoning sacrifice that fully satisfies God’s wrath.propitiation

Jesus stands alone as the propitiation for our sin…let’s define that term

Propitiation refers to making atonement for sin through an acceptable sacrifice.1 More broadly, to propitiate means to appease someone’s wrath or anger such that the one making the appeal avoids punishment or gains favor.2

In Christian theology, propitiation centers on Christ’s death and its relationship to God’s wrath.1 The concept emerges from Old Testament sacrificial practices, where sinners identified with the sacrificial animal through the shedding of its blood.2 Jesus’ death at Passover parallels this imagery, as his shed blood delivers his people from death.2

The theological significance involves two key dimensions. First, propitiation renders God propitious—making it consistent with his character to pardon and bless sinners.3 However, propitiation doesn’t create God’s love but rather makes it possible for him to exercise that love toward sinners.3 Second, Christ removes God’s just anger against sin and the sinner through penal substitution, vicariously taking the penalty we deserve.2

Some modern theologians have resisted this terminology, viewing it as importing pagan concepts into Christian doctrine. They reject the idea that God can be appeased, as if he might be bribed into favor.4 However, God’s wrath throughout Scripture must be considered in how sin is forgiven, and the Bible presents God as capable of anger—a concept neither Greek philosophy nor modern skepticism should dismiss.4 When the New Testament uses “propitiation,” it means Jesus’ death on the cross put away God’s wrath against his people once and for all.4

Application:

When you stumble, don’t run from God—run to him!

Your standing with God is not based on your perfection, but on Christ’s righteousness.

Basic truth, if you “sin” then you have an paraclete, one who goes to the Father for you…so what do we do

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Big Idea: Jesus is all the help you need 

II. Our Assurance That We Know Him (vv. 3–6)

We begin, now by this and John is going to address another issues, he is going to address how do you know you are walking in the light and not the darkness

Here we begin to see our title worked out Know/Known key themes in the Scriptures

Other biblical authors used these concepts as well

Philippians 3:10 ESV

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

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

He is not saying that your works saves you, no you have an advocate that does that, but your obedience authenticates that you are the real deal. “Foakley’s”

John moves from comfort to confirmation.

The question is not: Do you know about God? The question is: Do you truly know Him?

Forty-two times in this epistle John uses a form of the word “know”here he doubles down on the knowledge of being know by God

Evidence of Knowing God:

Obedience to His commands

A lifestyle that reflects His character

A walk that mirrors Christ Himself

John is clear—knowledge without obedience is deception.

It is the clear that the knowledge of God is not intellucutal, Knowledge of God is intelluctual, moral, and spiritual and these components can’t be seperated.

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar…”

John is convinced that the indivdual can’t keep the deception up for long, what is internal will eventually come to the surface, the truth is absent from this life

We don’t have the energy to keep up the fascade, its only the active divine grace that gives life and light

“the statement this is how we know we are in him

is an example of the theological concept of the immance of God

THe Christian is in God thorugh Jesus, God is in the CHristian in and through Jesus, this to be in is found some 35 times, its abiding or staying close to God thorugh the resurrection.

Key Insight:

Faith that does not transform behavior is not biblical faith. God is not only about information, but transformation. Have you been transformed?

Application:

Examine your life: Is your obedience growing?

Christianity is not perfection—but it is direction.

We don’t have to abandon God’s law in order to embrace the life we have in Jesus. These concepts are not in obs with each other.

Jeremiah 31:33 ESV

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Law and Gospel right there, behavoir and belief, community and commitment

Big Idea: Jesus is all the help you need 

III. Our Identity as those who walk in the light (vv. 7–14)

again, a new thought

John highlights a central command: love one another.

THis is not some new noval idea springing up in a new community

It is —rooted in God’s law.old

It is —demonstrated perfectly in Christ.new

It is indeed the good news found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus but also instruction on how to live well in this fallen world

The love is found and established in and through Jesus Christ

“He that loveth his brother abideth in the light…”

Two Conditions:

Love = Light

Hatred = Darkness

In the dark, which is passing away..there is confusion and no revelation or knowledge of God so we live in the light where there is understanding, fellowship with God and with one other

Example of the comfort of the dark , don’t run there…you can’t hide there.

You cannot claim to walk in the light while living in relational darkness.

Key Truth:

Spiritual maturity is most clearly revealed in how we treat others.

1 John 2:10–11 ESV

Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Application:

Is there bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness in your heart?

Love is not optional—it is essential evidence of salvation.

He has moved for knowing God, to abiding in God, and now living in the light as a new creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

IV. Our Identity in Christ (vv. 12–14)

John ends with a poetic affirmation of the believer’s identity:

Some say this doesn’t belong, but It does connect

Three Challenges

– Your sins are forgivenLittle children ( all the church)

Your sins are still effectivley forgiven (perfect tense) a complete action in the past that is still effective in its action and purpose

They are forgiven on account of the name

2. – You know Him who is from the beginningFathers

Keep the church’s eyes on Christ…we need spritiual fathers

1 Corinthians 4:15–16 ESV

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

3. – You are strong and have overcome the wicked oneYoung men

have overcome (perfect tense)

This is a fight, and its a struggle,n that will be present within your life

Hide yourselves in Christ

Colossians 3:3 ESV

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

This is not about age—it is about spiritual maturity.

What John Affirms:

You are forgiven

You know God

You have victory

Final Challenge:

Are you relying on Christ as your Advocate?

Is your life marked by obedience?

Are you walking in love?

Are you growing in spiritual maturity?

Closing Encouragement

Church, we are not called to live in uncertainty or defeat. Because of Jesus:

Our sins are forgiven

Our relationship with God is secure

Our path is illuminated by His light

So let us walk in that light—with confidence, consistency, and Christlike love.

Next Steps: How can you know Christ better in your particular life stage?