Untitled Sermon (16)

28 Καὶ νῦν, τεκνία, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ἐὰν φανερωθῇ σχῶμεν παρρησίαν καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ. 29 ἐὰν εἰδῆτε ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστιν, γινώσκετε ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται. [1]

And now children, you must remain in him in order that whomever may have boldness and will not be disgraced from him in his coming.

28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

- The call for confidence at seeing Jesus

This is again talking to believers whom need to have a godly lifestyle that reflects an anticipation of the savior.

There will be two reactions that are addressed in seeing Jesus at His second coming, either confidence or being ashamed.

Some have said that confidence is speaking of a believer looking forward to seeing Jesus while shame is addressing the unbeliever.

I say that the word for “confidence” παρρησία is one that is also used in “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Clearly, this isn’t speaking of believers and unbelievers but the boldness because of Christ to approach Jesus for help on the basis of confidence on what Jesus has undergone on earth.

Similarly, I see that our reliance on Him brings about confidence to see Him because we have been relying upon Him in our day to day living.

- The key here is that it requires abiding in Jesus.

* We run into the idea of “abiding” again in this verse which was also present in 1 john in other verses, most notably in the preceding verse.

We are “in Christ” when we have been given forgiveness of sins: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

The issue that is clear in the Romans verses as well as here is that walking in “newness of life” is a possibility but doesn’t just happen automatically. This is where abiding in Jesus is so important in our life. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

29

29

Whomever may know that he is righteous, you know that each who does the righteousness out of being born of him.

29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

- What to expect from abiding

Since Jesus is righteous, then the fruit of righteousness is what comes from those that are born again from Him.

Thus, abiding in Him will produce a righteousness that can easily highlight the true nature of being born again.

This addresses the fundamental problem of not thinking that behavior mattered in displaying one’s heritage. If righteousness was what marked Jesus Christ, then it certainly would be what marks his children, who are born of God.

3.1 ἴδετε ποταπὴν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ἵνα τέκνα θεοῦ κληθῶμεν, καὶ ἐσμέν. διὰ τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν.

You see what sort of love the father has given to us that we may be called children of God, and we are children of God. on account of this the world doesn’t know you because it doesn’t know him.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

- Those born of God are done so by means of His love.

If you are called a child of God it came about through God’s love lavished upon you.

The term “how great” is unusual. In looking at the definition of it we see this: ποδᾰπός, ή, όν, from what country?: hence, generally, whence? where born?

As John Stott says about it “The expression how great translates potapēn which meant originally ‘of what country’. It is as if the Father’s love is so unearthly, so foreign to this world, that John wonders from what country it may come.”

- The world doesn’t recognize this reality in us.

The world is identifying those whom are lost and under the power of the evil one.

Those of the world don’t know God or have experienced the power of His love, thus they don’t recognize anyone who has been changed by it.

In light of this reality, approval by the world should not be desired because what is desirable in the world doesn’t take into account God’s desires.

Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 122). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., Jones, H. S., & McKenzie, R. (1996). A Greek-English lexicon (p. 1426). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

2 ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν.

Beloved now we are children of God and it isn’t revealed what we will become, we know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.

2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

- Being children of God looks forward to Jesus’ coming.

If one is a child of God, that doesn’t mean all the change has fully happened.

The total transformation doesn’t occur until we see Jesus at His second coming.

This takes us back to 2:28 that looks forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. Almost as if to say that if you will be more complete at that time, then you should want to be confident rather than ashamed in how you have used your life.

- Our transformation is tied directly to Jesus

Maybe this is obvious but the transformation is tied to seeing Jesus.

Jesus will be seen in His full divine glory. Something that wasn’t possible for humanity at the beginning because of sin. Remember the conversation by Moses in “8 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

The picture here is that believers are able to see Him which means a transformation has taken place. In fact, the picture seems to be that seeing Jesus will simultaneously bring about transformation. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

3 καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἔχων τὴν ἐλπίδα ταύτην ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἁγνίζει ἑαυτὸν καθὼς ἐκεῖνος ἁγνός ἐστιν. [2]

And each who has this hope upon him purifies himself just as this is pure.

3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

- Hope is the motivation for purity

The word “hope” means to desire something and expect it to happen. In this case, the desire is to be conformed fully into the image of Christ with the expectation that it will happen.

Since, hope for Jesus’ second coming is found in the believer then the motivation leads to wanting moral purity in life.

In other words, if a believer will eventually be fully pure without sin when he/she meets Jesus then it should motivate them now to start living that way.

4 Πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία.

Each who is doing sin and he does lawlessness, and the sin is lawless.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness

- The reminder about sin

If you are sinning, you are practicing lawlessness. One the one hand, the term for lawlessness can also be understood as wickedness.

If you are sinning, you are practicing lawlessness.

On the other hand, the general attitude of wickedness is found in those that disregard the law.

As Dr. Tom Constable notes “It means rejection of law in its broadest concept, flagrant opposition to God, rather than just breaking specific laws.”

This is attacking the idea from those that taught within the church saying that “sins” were really no big deal.

5 καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἐφανερώθη ἵνα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἄρῃ, καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν.

And you know that this will be revealed in order that sin may be taken away, and sin is not in him.

. 5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

- Jesus’ purpose of the incarnation was to handle sins

The reference to “appearing” is speaking of Jesus’ entrance into the world as the messiah.

“taking away sins” is the language used for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

Jesus came to the earth to be the sacrificial lamb for an atoning sacrifice because sins needed to be punished.

Yet, Jesus’ didn’t have any sin in Himself. Thus, his dealing with sin was only to remove the punishment of it rather than accept it in people.

6 πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν.

Each who abides in him doesn’t sin. Each who sins doesn’t see him nor know him.

6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

- The issue of not sinning requires abiding

Since John has already said that those who claim to not sin are liars, then we have to be careful to not say that this is speaking of sinless perfection.

One approach by evangelical Christian scholars says that the present tense conveys the idea of “continually sinning” or “habitual sinning”.

The problem is that treating the present tense as speaking of a habitual activity is pushing the category of tenses farther than would be expected.

A better explanation is to understand this as saying that when one is abiding they are not sinning.

- How does this abiding thing work?

I believe that the picture of abiding is the picture of being in fellowship with God.

The second part of the verse may seem to say “if you sin then you haven’t really seen Jesus as your savior or know Him for being forgiven of your sins.” However, I think that last part is emphasizing what is occuring at the time of sin.

In other words, we are not actively involved in fellowship with God when we are engaging in sin. As Dr. Tom Constable puts it “ The abiding believer never repudiates God's authority over him by doing anything that resists God's law or will—while he is abiding in Christ. If he does, his fellowship with God suffers; He no longer "knows" God in that intimate sense. He no longer "sees" God because he has moved out of the light into darkness.”

7 τεκνία, μηδεὶς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς· ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην δίκαιός ἐστιν, καθὼς ἐκεῖνος δίκαιός ἐστιν·

Children, let no one deceive you. The one doing righteousness is righteous, just as this is righteous.

7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

- The reminder about righteousness.

The reference to deception is a reference to those who left the church and what they were teaching. Their teaching was that righteous behavior is separate from being righteous in spirit.

Righteousness doesn’t stay tied up in a person’s spirit/soul without expressing itself in behavior.

The righteousness of Jesus Christ in all aspects of His person doesn’t just apply as a model to follow but also as the fruit that occurs in believers that abide in Him.

8 ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστίν, ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ὁ διάβολος ἁμαρτάνει. εἰς τοῦτο ἐφανερώθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἵνα λύσῃ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ διαβόλου.

The one doing sin is from the devil because from the beginning the devil sins. Into this the son of God was revealed that he will destroy the works of the devil.

the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

- The behavior of sin shows closer kinship to Satan.

Notice it doesn’t say “born of Satan” as if one is a child of the Devil. However, it does suggest that when one sins it shows a kinship with Satan because this has been his mode of operation from the beginning.

I see that this really is attacking the teaching of those who had left the church but left behind the deceptive teaching.

John exposes the teaching for promoting a lifestyle that reflects association with the adversary rather than with Jesus.

- Sin is the antithesis of what Jesus came to destroy

If Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan, then we should be careful to not associate our lives with the devil in our behavior.

As one commentator puts it, all the works of the devil revolve around rebellion against God. In specific Colin Kruse says this: “This can involve tempting people to sin (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ), inciting people to sin (; ; ; , ; ), hindering the work of God (, ; ; ; ), deceiving people (; ; ; ; ; ), oppressing and harming people and the church (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ), and accusing people before God (; ; ; ).”

The point is that nothing should be comfortable about sin because that is what Jesus had come to destroy.

9 πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ, ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει, καὶ οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται.

Each who has been born from God does not sin because his seed remains in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born from God.

9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

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10 ἐν τούτῳ φανερά ἐστιν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ τέκνα τοῦ διαβόλου· πᾶς ὁ μὴ ποιῶν δικαιοσύνην οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ. [3]

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 3

3.1 ἴδετε ποταπὴν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ἵνα τέκνα θεοῦ κληθῶμεν, καὶ ἐσμέν. διὰ τοῦτο ὁ κόσμος οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν. 2 ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν. 3 καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἔχων τὴν ἐλπίδα ταύτην ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἁγνίζει ἑαυτὸν καθὼς ἐκεῖνος ἁγνός ἐστιν.

4 Πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία. 5 καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἐφανερώθη ἵνα τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἄρῃ, καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν. 6 πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν. 7 τεκνία, μηδεὶς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς· ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην δίκαιός ἐστιν, καθὼς ἐκεῖνος δίκαιός ἐστιν· 8 ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστίν, ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ὁ διάβολος ἁμαρτάνει. εἰς τοῦτο ἐφανερώθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἵνα λύσῃ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ διαβόλου. 9 πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ, ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει, καὶ οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται. 10 ἐν τούτῳ φανερά ἐστιν τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ τέκνα τοῦ διαβόλου· πᾶς ὁ μὴ ποιῶν δικαιοσύνην οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.

In this visibility is the child of God and the child of the devil. Each who doesn’t do righteousness is not from god and the one who doesn’t love his brother.

10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

[1] Holmes, M. W. (2011–2013). The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (). Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature.

[2] Holmes, M. W. (2011–2013). The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (). Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature.

[3] Holmes, M. W. (2011–2013). The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (). Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature.