Hindrances to Fellowship with God (2)

1 John 2:1–11 NLT

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

1 JOHN 2:1-

1 John Hindrances to Fellowship with God (1 John 2)

Hindrances to Fellowship with God

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition hindrance

hin•drance \ˈhin-drən(t)s\ noun

(1526)

1 : the state of being hindered

2 : IMPEDIMENT

3 : the action of hindering

1 John A. Fellowship and the Problem of Sin (2:1–11)

A. Fellowship and the problem of sin [2:1–11]

1 John 2:1a NLT

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

1 John 1. A Purpose of John in Writing This Letter: That You May Not Sin (1a)

1. A purpose of John in writing this letter: that you may not sin (1a)

1 John 1. A Purpose of John in Writing This Letter: That You May Not Sin (1a)

i. John previously rebuked the idea that we can become sinlessly perfect (1 John 1:8). At the same time, he wants to make it clear that we do not have to sin. God does not make the believer sin.

1 John 1. A Purpose of John in Writing This Letter: That You May Not Sin (1a)

b. That you may not sin: This is God’s desire for the believer. If sin is inevitable for us, it is not because God has decreed that we must sin. All the resources for spiritual victory are ours in Jesus Christ and that resource is never withdrawn.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

2. Help for the sinner and the restoration of fellowship (1b–2)

1 John 2:1b–2 NASB95

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

1 john 2:1

Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Atonement

that God has provided a way for humankind to come back into harmonious relation with him,

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

We have an Advocate: God’s desire is that you may not sin. Yet if we do, there is provision made—an Advocate, a defense lawyer on our side. Our Advocate is Jesus Christ Himself.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

We have an Advocate: Jesus is our defender, even when we sin now. God is not shocked by human behavior. He has seen it all in advance. He didn’t forgive us at one time to later say, “Look what they did now! If I would have known they would go and do that, I would have never forgiven them.” His forgiveness is available to us now.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

Then the Judge turns to our Advocate, and says, “Son, you said this one belongs to You. I release him into Your care. Case closed!”

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

A human defense lawyer argues for the innocence of his client. But our Advocate, Jesus Christ, admits our guilt—and then enters His plea on our behalf, as the one who has made an atoning sacrifice for our sinful guilt.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

Jesus Christ the righteous means that Jesus is fully qualified to serve as our Advocate, because He Himself is sinlessly perfect. He has passed heaven’s bar exam, and is qualified to represent clients in heaven’s court of law.

Revelation 12:10 NASB95

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

We need Jesus as our Advocate because Satan accuses us before God (Revelation 12:10). We need to distinguish between the condemning accusation of Satan and the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

Propitiation has the idea of presenting a gift to the gods, so as to turn away the displeasure of the gods. The Greeks thought of this in the sense of man essentially bribing the gods into doing favors for man. But in the Christian idea of propitiation, God Himself presents Himself (in Jesus Christ) as that which will turn away His righteous wrath against our sin.

1 John 2. Help for the Sinner and the Restoration of Fellowship (1b–2)

Alford on propitiation: “The word implies that Christ has, as our sin-offering, reconciled God and us by nothing else but by His voluntary death as a sacrifice: has by this averted God’s wrath from us.”

Leviticus 16:34 NASB95

“Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.

lev 16:34

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

3. The fruit of fellowship (3–6)

1 John 2:3–6 NASB95

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 john 2

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

A simple, loving obedience is a natural result of fellowship with God.

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

We have a gracious Advocate in heaven. We have an open invitation to restoration through confession.

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

We have a gracious Advocate in heaven. We have an open invitation to restoration through confession.

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

A perfected (the idea is mature) love for God will show itself in obedience, and the presence of this obedience and love gives us assurance that we are in Jesus (By this we know we are in Him).

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

Mark it, when one becomes a Christian, there is a change in his relationship with sin. Sin is not eliminated in the believer until he comes to glory, but his relationship to sin is changed when he truly become a Christian.

1 John 3. The Fruit of Fellowship (3–6)

• A Christian no longer loves sin as he once did.

• A Christian no longer brags about his sin as he once did.

• A Christian no longer plans to sin as he once did.

• A Christian no longer fondly remembers his sin as he once did.

• A Christian never fully enjoys his sin as he once did.

• A Christian no longer is comfortable in habitual sin as he once was.

1 John 4. The Absolute Imperative of Love (7–11)

4. The absolute imperative of love (7–11)

1 john 2

1 John 2:7–11 NASB95

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who 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.

1 John 4. The Absolute Imperative of Love (7–11)

• Wide enough to include every human being.

• Long enough to last through all eternity.

• Deep enough to reach the most guilty sinner.

• High enough to take us to heaven.