CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST

As we progress through this letter of John, I think it might be important to discuss the main focus of it. John is writing this letter to call believers back to the basics. That is, the aged apostle, the disciple whom Jesus loved, as he often referred to himself in the his Gospel account, is writing to his “little children.” Far from being a term of derision, it is a loving word describing the fatherly affection he has for his readers.

He is writing to believers to anchor them in the true doctrines and practice of the faith. These initial readings were beset by several problems that become apparent in this letter. For one, enemies of the faith were questioning the bodily existence of Jesus. They were also facing the discussion of a special gnosis, or knowledge, that was needed to be truly saved. They were also facing the difficulty of disconnecting God’s love from daily life. In addition, they were facing deceptions from false teachers (spirits).

So John, as a loving father, writes this letter to help bring his children back to the right beliefs (about God and man) and practices (how we relate to God and people).

We have arrived to our focus this morning: Confidence in Christ. Confidence, that is, “the mental attitude of trusting in or relying on a person or thing; firm trust, reliance, faith.” (OED, confidence)

When we discuss our relationship with Jesus, we often forget about the frequent bouts of doubt. In particular, as we look at our lives, comparing them with the Scriptures in 1 John, we are often given to points of despair.

For example, when we read 1 John 2:7-11, we may be tempted to question whether or not we are abiding in Christ because we do fail to love our brothers and sisters in a Christ-honoring way. Or, consider 2:15-17. How often are we guilty of loving this world? We could go on, but the point is that when reading an epistle such as this, we can be tempted to fret because we are given to temptation and sin all-to-frequently.

In particular, our previous passage discussed the self-sacrificing love of Jesus Christ. When compared to this, we all fail so frequently! It is almost as if John anticipates the doubt from his readers, and in an effort to bring them back to the basics, he discusses Confidence in Christ.

We, as believers, have confidence, we have that mental attitude of trusting in and relying on the Person, Jesus Christ. That is our focus this morning. John presents to us the means by which we can get confidence: Jesus Christ.

We will look at three points this morning: The Basis of Our Confidence, The Objectivity of Our Confidence, and the Benefits of Our Confidence.

I. THE BASIS OF OUR CONFIDENCE- 1 John 3:19a

The title of my sermon, and the focus of this passage, and the entire Bible is about Jesus. He is the basis of our confidence. Now, as we will see, there are good aspects that God has provided to the believer to increase our confidence, and this will be our focus for the next few moments.

A. THE BASIS OF OUR CONFIDENCES RESTS IN CHRIST ALONE—that we are of the truth

The basis of our confidence, or to borrow a term from our present chapter, the origin of our confidence, is in Christ Jesus. Please note that John says “of the truth.” When we discussed 3:1 and 8-10, we noticed that there are two groups of people: those born of God and those born of the devil. Now, in our present verse, John uses the same word of, as in the source of. The basis of our confidence rests in Christ alone.

John says, See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God. John says, If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. John says, He laid down his life for us.

We have confidence, brothers and sisters, In Jesus Christ, the righteous Son of God and our Saviour!

As we will notice momentarily, it is easy to swing to a self-based confidence. “I do this,” or “I did that,” and we misplace the focus from Christ’s work for and through us to our work. We are saved by grace! And as my favorite pastor-theologian once said, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” J. Edwards The basis of our confidence rests in Christ Alone.

B. THE BASIS OF OUR CONFIDENCE IS FOUND IN OUR CHANGED LIVES—we will know by this—i.e. tangible love

Remember what we discussed last Sunday? Christ’s tangible love that then moves believers to tangible love. And John says this tangible love provides confidence. In other words, the means for our confidence is a changed-life.

While we examine our lives, do we see evidences of self-sacrificing love for our brothers and sisters in Christ? This, John says, provides confidence. Because Christ saved us, our lives are different.

Now, consider how John phrases this: we will know. In other words, as we look to the future, our lives should be changing. We should, on the basis of Christ’s work alone, be experiencing change into the image of Jesus Christ which extends to outward, self-sacrificing love for our brothers and sisters.

The basis of our Confidence, John tells us, rests in Christ alone, and is strengthened by our changed lives. As we love one another, as Christ loved us, we will have confidence. But there are times in which we feel condemned. Our lives are not as squeaky clean as we would like, we remember that time we were unloving to a brother or sister in Christ. We dwell on the that instance where we closed our heart to a brother or sister who was in need.

In this case, what do we do? We consider the objectivity of our confidence!

II. THE OBJECTIVITY OF OUR CONFIDENCE- 1 John 3:19b-21

Whereas the basis of our confidence is in Christ, we also need to remember the objectivity of our confidence. John writes, “and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us.”

I think it is important to consider several aspects of the objectivity of our confidence. Now, just to make sure we are on the same page, I am using objective as opposed to subjective. Subjective is individual based, not impartial or literal, it is personal. I prefer the Dallas Stars hockey team. I think they are the best. That is a subjective statement. Objective, on the other hand, is a judgment that is free from the influences of personal feelings or opinions. Thus, an objective statement would be that the sky is generally blue.

The objective exists in the realm of truth, of a fact irrespective of feelings or opinions. The reason this is important is that John is describing the objectivity of our confidence. In other words, our confidence is not based on our own personalities or even feelings, which is vitally important.

When we understand that the basis of our confidence is in Jesus Christ, we can then enjoy the objectivity of our confidence. I want to consider a few points about this.

A. THE OBJECTIVITY OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEMS FROM OUR FOUNDATION IN CHRIST ALONE—we are of the truth

I mentioned earlier that of truth calls to mind our origins: we are born again by God. So I will not belabor this point. However, it does bear repeating because it is from this Christ-centered source that the objectivity of our confidence flows.

B. THE OBJECTIVITY OF OUR CONFIDENCE PROVIDES ASSURANCE—we…will assure our heart

The basis of the objectivity of our confidence provides assurance. The word assure, or reassure (ESV), describes a confidence that is gathered from persuasion. It is like having a conversation with someone about how the Dallas Cowboys are a better football team than the Washington Redskins. You discuss how the players for the Cowboys are more athletic, have better numbers, etc. You mention how cool the Cowboys logo is compared to the Redskins logo. You even make the argument that because the Cowboys are America’s team, to cheer for anyone else would betray your nation. You convince them, you persuade them to become fans of the Dallas Cowboys.

Now, though that is a humorous thought (because even Cowboy fans have to convince themselves to be Cowboy fans), the same principles apply to our consciences. You see, we have consciences that are given by God. But like everything in this world, it has been tainted by the fall (through our sin).

This is where the idea of objectivity comes into play. You see, when we are dealing with our consciouses, we are dealing in the subjective. Let me give you an example. My conscious is quite different than Hannah’s conscious. While she can walk outside of the lines on a crosswalk, I cannot. I feel terrible if I do so. My conscious is not based on anything objective, nor is Hannah’s. It is just how our consciouses work.

Another example would be when we find ourselves saying something like, “I could never do that!” That is because it bothers our consciouses, and our consciouses are different because they are subjective. Likewise, when dealing with our consciouses before Christ, we are often prone to subjective thoughts. We remember sins which we have committed (whether in thought, word, or deed), and our consciouses tell us that we cannot be of the truth. But John tells us to assure ourselves, to persuade ourselves of the truth!

Dwell on the objective, John says, think about the grace of God by saving you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Think not of your own subjective feelings, meditate on the facts of God’s Word. Assure your hearts, spend time working through the objectivity of our confidence, that through Jesus Christ and Him alone do we have confidence! And this leads us to an applicational thought given by the aged Apostle.

C. THE OBJECTIVITY OF OUR CONFIDENCE APPLIED HOLISTICALLY—in whatever our heart condemns us

John tells us that, as we take the objective truth of our confidence which rests solely in Jesus Christ, our hearts can be assured regardless of what condemns us in our consciouses. Now, we must examine why we can have this objective confidence.

First, note the phrase “condemns.” The idea here is one accused, or charged. When one brings an individual to court, there is a charge. A crime or some other illegal action has taken place. This is the basis for the condemnation. Now, we still sin. This is not a debatable point. Regardless of what Wesleyan perfectionism teaches, there is no point in which a believer will not sin prior to his or her heavenly transformation. With that said, we must remember 1 John 1:9 and 2:1-2. Our sins have been paid for, and as we confess them, our relationship with our Father is wonderfully restored. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus is how Paul describes it in Rom. 8:1.

Second, note the word “whatever,” or “if,” as some translations offer. This is not the whatever of the sassy seven-year-old girl. It means if our hearts condemn us, or in whatever our hearts condemn us. The objectivity of our confidence is holistic, it applies to whatever may cause our consciouses to doubt the true work of Christ.

Now remember this is in connection with our love for our brothers and sisters. He says we should love in deed and truth, not in mere words or tongue (i.e. speech). But it is based in the objective work of Jesus Christ, and this provides us with holistic confidence.

D. THE OBJECTIVITY OF OUR CONFIDENCE IS STRENGTHENED BY A BIBLICAL VIEW OF GOD—for God is greater than our heart and knows all things

The objectivity of our confidence gains strength when we have a biblical view of God. Consider the words of C. H. Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers,

“Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.”—C. H. Spurgeon

God is indeed greater than our hearts because He is infinite, incomprehensible, utterly beyond our mental capacities! His holiness knows no bounds, His love is unrivaled! Be much on meditating on our Triune God, and your conscious will take second place to His unbreakable truth.

There is so much more we could say here at this point, but I want to continue moving in our passage. We have discussed the Basis of Our Confidence, that it rests solely in Jesus Christ as evidenced by our changed lives. We also examined the Objectivity of Our Confidence, that as our confidence rests in Christ alone we gain confidence because it is objective, separated from the untrue feelings of our subjective consciouses, offering a holistic confidence. Now we are going to observe the Benefit of Our Confidence.

III.THE BENEFIT OF OUR CONFIDENCE- 1 John 3:22

Having established the basis of our confidence and the objectivity of our confidence, John moves on to the benefits of our Confidence.

When we are free from condemnation from the subjectivity of our consciouses, we have confidence before God. We live, at all times, before Him.

As such, John tells us we can have confidence upon the work of Jesus Christ and the evidence of said work displayed in our love for one another.

A. THE BENEFIT DESCRIBED—whatever we ask we receive from Him

The benefit is that we can pray! We can come before God (verse 19 and 21) and ask Him with the knowledge that we will receive it.

Now, it is important to offer a biblical clarification. First, what we ask, John tells us, aligns with His commands and what pleases Him. That is, this is not a blank check from which we can ask for material goods for our own personal benefit and consumption. The “name-it-and-claim-it” mentality has no place in the Scriptures nor in the heart of the true child of God. I will say more on that momentarily.

For now, rejoice in this blessed benefit! The London Baptist Confession of Faith reminds us of the mode of prayer,

“But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the Name of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his Will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue.” (LBCF, XXII:3)

That is the benefit described.

B. THE BENEFIT’S DEMAND—because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight

I mentioned this briefly in our last point, but John anchors our prayers squarely in the Word of God and what pleases our Father. There are two points that we must consider when praying to our Father.

1. Our prayers must be shaped by His Word—because we keep His commandments

God’s Word provides the impetus for our prayers. Like a fence that keeps the wild dog from roaming the neighbor, the Word of God keeps our wants, desires, and even well-intentioned requests from entering our prayers. We keep His commandments, we obey them, we observe them, and this in turn helps to form our prayers. But there is another point which we must consider briefly.

2. Our prayers must be shaped by a right desire—do the things that are pleasing in His sight

It is not enough to simply observe the commandments of God. The pharisees were experts at keeping the Law. They observing tithing in minute detail (of course they failed to observe the weightier matters of the Law, see Matthew 23:23). It is the same thought found in Matthew 7:21-23. These individuals did the commandments, so to speak, but their hearts were not aimed at pleasing God. Another biblical way to look at this is what Jesus says, quoting from Isaiah 29:13, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.”

When we keep His commands and aim to please Him, we can expect to have our prayers answered. That is because our prayers are shaped by the Word of God and a life that is in submission to Him. These commandments are summarized by John in the next verse (23), but for now let us reflect on our discussion this morning.

Conclusion

We can have confidence, but only in Christ. Our lives, when lived in accordance with the Word of God provide additional confidence. While we focus on the confidence we have, we must remember that it is objective, it is based in Christ Jesus, offering us assurance to the entirety of our beings, irrespective of the subjective doubt and condemnation we often experience at the hands of our consciouses, further strengthened by a biblical view of God. When we enjoy this Christ-honoring, God-strengthening confidence, we also enjoy the benefits of praying, in accordance with God’s Word and Will, and can enjoy answered prayer.