Sin, Commandments, and Love

Introduction

Last week we revisited the glorious truth of Christ’s intercession between us and God, and how his righteousness brands us as righteous and causes God to see our sins as done away with at the cross. We saw how the two seemingly paradoxical truths, that God’s people cannot walk in sin and that we cannot say we are without sin, meet at the cross. Now the first six verses of chapter 2 of the letter of 1 John thematically repeat a lot of what we looked at in chapter 1:6-10. The contrast between those who walk in the dark and those who walk in the light was made plain in verses 5-6. Since God is light, no one can say that they know God, that their eyes have been opened, if they are still walking in the darkness of sin and spiritual ignorance. That truth is repeated here, but it is taken from a bit of a different angle. Today, I want to look at two clarifications that this text gives us, and how they help us apply this distinction of walking in the light and walking in darkness to our lives as Christians. First, I want to look at how this text establishes a firm relationship between forgiveness and obedience. Then I want to look at how this text defines the word “commandment” and why it is important to the message of the Gospel that we understand exactly what John has in mind when he uses that word.

The Forgiven and the Obeying

First, lets look at this relationship between forgiveness and obedience. The challenge that is often raised against the Gospel is that it is too free. If forgiveness is granted simply by faith and is not predicated on any works on our part, then that means we can sin all day every day. We have already looked at one reason why that is wrong, because sin is essentially acting out ignorance of God and his character, and as Christians we claim to be exposed to the truth, to the light of who God is. Therefore, we cannot walk in darkness if we claim to know the truth, since that would be illogical.

But in our text, I want you to notice the close relationship that exists between the fact that Christ is our propitiation and the fact that if we have come to know him we will obey his commandments. While in chapter 1, John was refuting two extreme beliefs about sin and the Christian, here he seems to be making a direct connection between this forgiveness and obeying the commandments of God. What is this connection? Well, let us follow the logic of these verses. John told his readers that the purpose of him writing is so that they may not sin. You may notice that this is a sort of negative way of saying that he is writing so that they would keep God’s commandments, since sin is only active, but passive if we refuse to do what is right. So in a sense, John is saying the same thing twice. What he puts in between these two statements is this truth about forgiveness. Yes, he is writing this letter so that we will not sin and so that we will keep his commandments, and the fact that if we do sin we will be forgiven does not take away from that purpose. In fact, it strengthens it.

How? Well Jesus explained how to a Pharisee named Simon in Luke 7. While Jesus is at this man’s house eating a woman who was known as an immoral woman came and honoured Jesus with an alabaster flask of ointment. When the Pharisee showed his disdain for both the woman and Jesus for letting her honour him, Jesus starts to talk about forgiveness through a parable. The lesson Jesus leaves him with is that those who have been forgiven much love much and those who have been forgiven little love little. This is the connection that forgiveness has to obedience.

Let me ask you this, do you think that the woman went back to her immorality after that encounter? Do you think she went back to her sin after this display of honour done to Jesus? I can assure you she didn’t, because if there is one think Jesus hated it’s hypocrisy, and Jesus knows what is in someone’s heart. Why didn’t she go back, do you think? What else may make us so sure that she had turned away from her sins? It’s in Jesus own words, she loves much. It’s not that she was a worse sinner than Simon, it’s that she saw herself as the worst sinner in the room, and she had heard of the forgiveness Jesus was preaching in the Gospel, she had heard the message of repentance, and she believed that Jesus was the Christ and she treated him with the honour she knew he deserved. Forgiveness was valuable to her, and there is no way that after she had experienced such love in her heart for Jesus that she would go back to sin. Obviously doesn’t mean she never sinned again, but she was walking in the light.

That is the connection between forgiveness and obedience. Sin only makes sense if we don’t love, and if we don’t love we cannot say we know God. We cannot say the Gospel is of any real value to us. When Jesus saves someone, he changes their heart and the first thing that changed heart is aware of is sin. It hurts. It burns, and the forgiveness preached in the Gospel becomes such a sweet aroma and the smile of God becomes so valuable that love overcomes the power of sin through the changed heart of one who knows God.

That is something a Pharisee cannot understand. You see, a Pharisee doesn’t love much because they havn’t been forgiven much. And the only reason they have a problem with free grace is that they know they would abuse it, because they don’t love. They cannot imagine having that kind of freedom and using it for anything other than sin. When someone has a problem with free grace because they think it will give people a licence to sin, that belief says more about their heart than anything else. They would abuse it, but those who receive it don’t because, like that woman of the city, they love much.

So we know we have come to know God if we obey his commandments.

The Commandment and the Word

And that brings me to the second point of this text I want us to focus on, what does “commandment” mean?

Commandment is a word that Christians can sometimes feel contradicts the idea of free grace. Whenever terms like commandment or duty are mentioned in evangelical circles, an accusation of legalism is sure to follow. But it is important to understand what “commandment” means to John and to the other biblical writers. As we’ve been going through the psalms on Wednesdays, we’ve looked at this a bit. When we read about the law in the book of psalms and how the authors often rejoices in meditating on the law, it is important for us as Christians to realize that the law isn’t limited to the commandments of the first five books of the Old Testament. Everything God has written, he has written for our instruction. In fact, in verse 7 John talks about writing of commandment to his readers, And in verse 8 he says he is writing a new commandments to them. The word used in the Old Testament for commandment is not the cold impersonal law, it is rather the instruction of a father talking to his child. All of scripture is this to us. Everything God has revealed he has revealed so that we may grow in The knowledge of him and in walking in a way that reflects his character. We should read commandment here as synonymous with God’s word; the entire Scriptures. In fact, John does this explicitly. Look at the end of verse 5. Whoever keeps his word in him truly the love of God is perfected. This is contrasted with the one who does not keep the commandment and does not have truth abiding in him. word and commandment are synonymous.

Obeying God is not legalistic, and it never could be. Legalism is loveless. Legalism is by the books, by the letter. The letter makes us a slave to sin by taking advantage of our sinful nature, but love frees us from the desire to sin and binds us to a new desire, a desire to serve God. So the one who says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is proving that they don’t actually love God, and therefore don’t truly know him. However, the one that keeps everything that God has revealed in his word and practices them has the love of God perfected, that is to learn to perfectly love God is the same as to learn to completely obey him.

This is the test that John says proves that we are in Him, and notice how the love of God being perfected is an event that happens to those who know God. There is no one who knows God and does not love God, and there is no one that loves God that does not know him. Those who walk in light of God’s word out of love truly know God, the freedom of grace excites love in our hearts and that love is expressed in consistent and zealous obedience. but those who don't walk in a manner that is consistent with God’s word and yet claim to know God are lying. We know this because we experience it in our own human relationships. We know that if someone claims to love us and yet continues to intentionally hurt us over and over again is lying. They can’t possibly be telling the truth, because if they truly loved us they would be willing to change their behavior in order to do what's best for us. While God knows everyone’s heart, our actions are very telling of where our love lies.

Verse 6 says “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” Here John is connecting a theoretical participation in God’s grace with a practical participation. If we read this statement closely, it seems like a an almost needless statement, like saying “whoever says he loves the outdoors should go outside.” The focus is on the word “says” Throughout this entire text, there is a heavy emphasis on what we say. What is clear is that it is not good enough to say you are a Christian. It is not good enough to say the right things, to go to church, to put on the act. Saying you abide in God is going to affect your life. If you say you are abiding in God, John challenges you to prove it! How? By walking in the way in which he walked. Again, we see that the opposite of sin is not blind, cold, impersonal obedience. It is loving, devoted imitation of the glorious character of God. This character is reflected in God’s word, in his commandments, and thats why keeping his word is so important to us.

If I really want to abide in God, I am going to be reading this book all the time. I’m going to be studying it, memourizing it, thinking about it, and actively challenging my own life with it. That it what it means to keep his commandments. And all the time you are driven, not by pride, or self-righteousness, or habit, or tradition, or shallow confession of Christ. You are driving by love, a love that produces joy in serving God and joy in walking in the way in which he walked and joy in all that he has to say to us in the Bible. Like the woman at Jesus feet, we long to show him the honour that we now know he is due and we are so overcome by the free grace we have recieved that there is nothing we want to do more than bury ourselves in a life that radiates who he is, that says to the world, “hey everybody, come look at this God and the free grace that saved me from all of my horrible sin.”

Conclusion

In the end, if there’s one thing clear about the gospel to those of us who have truly believed it’s this: Free grace is the most beautiful thing in the world. Grace that was bought by the most precious resource in the universe: the blood of Christ himself. And free grace awakens a love that is beyond any love we have experienced for anything or anyone before. That grace makes no sense if it is not followed up by obedience. And likewise, true loyal faithful obedience is not sustainable without this free grace and the love that it awakens in us. So I hope there is no question in your mind about the relationship between forgiveness and grace and obedience. They are woven so tightly but in a way that only makes sense to those of us who are believers and have come to know and understand what this love is really like. Have you experienced that love for God? Has the weight of your sin Impressed itself on you to such a point that the prospect of forgiveness is more valuable than anything else. And has the blood of Christ and its value and worth so overwhelmed your heart that no words can describe the love it awakens in you for God. You know what, a lot of people would say yes to that question, but their lives show no fruit of it being true. Does your life look like one who keeps the word of God out of love, or does it look like someone who keeps the law of God except when they can get away with breaking it? Or except in that one sinful habit that you enjoy too much to give up? That sin you make excuses for so you don’t have to deal with it? The answer isn’t to try obeying more, it isn’t to grit your teeth and try harder. That is the way of the pharisee. The answer is in the cross and in that cleansing blood. Seek his face and allow your heart to be overwhelmed with the depth of your sin and the infinitely greater depth of God’s free grace in Christ through faith.