AUTHENTIC FAITH

Last week we looked at the idea of the centrality of God in the believer’s life. It is astounding that the Triune, unimaginably holy God would work to bring about our salvation, and yet Scripture tells us just that.

We come to the next portion of John’s epistle, written to believers with a call to focus on the Basics of Believing. He wants his readers, as well as believers today, to know and to see what Christians should believe and how they should act.

We just discussed the centrality of God, which has implications for our salvation, our life, and even our relationship with the world.

This present passage addresses something important: certainty. It focuses on knowing that what we believe is actually true. Have you ever had a doubt about the Bible? Have you ever wondered, “Am I right in believing the Bible?”

I would imagine that most of us, at one time in our lives, have reached this point. We question whether or not we are true believers, whether the Bible is truly God’s Word, or whether there is even a God.

Perhaps you believe, but your faith is wavering. In the midst of this tumultuous times, when truth is considered relative, where historical facts are dismissed because they do not fit a certain narrative, you may be wondering if the Bible you have so long held to may not be true.

Or, you may feel that it is true, but you may not be able to articulate why you feel.

If this describes you this morning, then our passage will be a delight. It will demonstrate the trustworthiness of Jesus and the Scriptures. That is, Authentic Faith, is the focus of our time this morning in 1 John 5:6-12.

We will look at...

I. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BUILT ON THE TRIUNE GOD- 5:6-8

II. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BETTER THAN MAN’S WITNESS- 5:9-10

III. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BENEFICIAL TO THOSE WHO HAVE IT- 5:11-12

I. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BUILT ON THE TRIUNE GOD- 5:6-8

The first witness (or authentic) to our faith is the Triune God. Just as God is central to our salvation, life, and victory, He is also central to the authenticity of our faith. That is, God is the reason we have assurance of our faith.

This is seen in the life of Jesus Christ:

JESUS’S BAPTISM AND DEATH-He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ

The emphasis here is not on baptism, though that is included, it is on the death of Jesus Christ. You can read about Jesus’s baptism in John 1:29-34. You can read about Jesus’s death in John 19. In fact, we will be remembering the death of Jesus when we observe communion.

The Scriptures attest to this. The Old Testament predicts the coming birth, life, and death of Messiah. The Gospels display the birth, life, and death and resurrection of Messiah. And the epistles distill the ramifications of that for daily life.

Jesus’s life and death are witnessed, confirmed, authenticated, by the Spirit. A look at the Gospels will demonstrate this. Now, as ______ read this morning, the OT Law required two or three witnesses to confirm the testimony (i.e., witness). Do we have two or three witnesses about the life and death of Jesus Christ?

We do! We have the Triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) as well as the Spirit, the baptism and death of Jesus. These bear witness to the truth. The Triune God provides authenticity to our faith.

Chapter eight of The London Baptist Confession of Faith provides the Scriptural basis of the Trinity’s work in salvation (i.e., God the Father planned our redemption, God the Son procured it, and God the Spirit applied it). Our faith is built upon Truth Himself, the Triune God who through the riches of His grace saved us.

We call it authentic, first, to distinguish between the false views of those whom John repeatedly warns. And second, it provides assurance (authenticity) to our faith in Christ. It is placed squarely on the shoulders of the Triune God.

And this leads us to our second point of authentic faith.

II. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BETTER THAN MAN’S WITNESS- 5:9-10

Authentic Faith is better than man’s witness. This is a fact of Scripture. John discusses several points that deserve our attention this morning.

A. PEOPLE BELIEVE HUMAN WITNESSES- 5:9a

John makes a statement that stands true, even during this day and age. We believe people. We believe “the witness of men.” This is true in all sorts of aspects. We believe each other when we discuss different things (food, service, sports).

We also believe our teachers, we believe the news media (though we should be much more cautious about that!). In courts of law (the term witness conveys this idea, grounded in Deut. 17:6 as an example) we accept the witnesses of individuals. Our judicial system requires a trial among the accused peers. Witnesses are called to the stand to provide testimony.

We accept their testimony. Now, John raises this point to demonstrate the superiority of the witness that is better than man’s witness.

B. GOD IS THE GREATER WITNESS- 5:9b

We accept the witness of men, as I have mentioned. But John reminds us that God’s witness is better. But why?

First, men are sinful, fallen creatures. Though we operate within a natural framework of truth as we bear God’s image in our lives, we are also given toward deceit. How many individuals have been wrongly accused on the basis of false testimony?

How many individuals have been deceived by “false prophets”? Many, and many today are begin deceived by terrible worldviews such as communism, socialism, atheism, Marxism, and we could go on.

God’s Witness is truth itself. His Word, as Jesus Christ declares, “is truth” (John 17:17). God’s witness is indeed greater. Though men and women have attempted to disprove God and His Word, He has stood immovable. Try as they might, all of God’s enemies eventually pass while His Word, His Church, and His truth marches on. Heaven and earth will pass away before the truth of God, and His witness, passes away.

What is interesting about God’s witness in this passage is that it centers upon Jesus Christ. His person and His work provides the authenticity of our faith. Authentic faith is better than man’s witness because it is salvation through Jesus Christ. God’s witness is greater because God’s witness is centered on Jesus Christ.

But this brings us to our third and final point this morning, that Authentic Faith is beneficial to those who have it.

III. AUTHENTIC FAITH IS BENEFICIAL TO THOSE WHO HAVE IT- 5:11-12

Our final point is perhaps the most significant, at least to us personally. We accept that authentic faith is built upon the Triune God. It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who provide true faith in the first place.

We accept, second, that Authentic Faith is Better than Man’s Witness. The Scriptures have demonstrated themselves to be superior to the harshest enemies of God and the most intelligent contradictions to the faith because it is God’s witness.

But now we come down to the practical results of authentic faith: it benefits us now and in eternity.

John discusses eternal life six times in this epistle, three we have already examined, once in our present passage, and then two more times before he ends.

Authentic faith is beneficial to those who have it. They enjoy “eternal life.” This, John tells us, is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.

When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we have authentic faith and enjoy eternal life in Christ. And continuing with John’s contrasts, he plainly states that to have the Son means eternal life, and to not have the Son means to not have eternal life.

It is plain and simple. Without authentic faith, we cannot have eternal life.

That is why Jesus came, as John has been and will tell us.

We are going to observe the Lord’s Supper this morning at the conclusion of the service. As we do, we focus on the means by which we have life in the Son: through His death. In fact, when we observe Communion, when we partake of the elements of bread and wine, we “proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Do you have life? Then search the Scriptures offered to us by the Triune God, they present more authenticity than any witness from man. We are sure, not based upon our own wit, but upon the truthfulness of the Word of God.