A True Believer’s Heart

Introduction

Review:

-Pick up where we left off.  Now several months. God is Light and God is Love.

– We are continuing in Chapter 3 and the shift to Show how God is Love. Here as expressed in in verses 16-18. How we love is a reflection of Jesus and how He cared for us.

PASSAGE BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT INFORMATION

This verses reflect on the assurance of our salvation, related to how we are to love one another. Which fits into the book’s goal of showing how God is love.  John’s culture would know all to well by the regulations of ceremonial cleanliness, as related to helping our fellow man in certain occasions. Jesus even tells us a parable about the “Good Samaritan” to illustrate what brotherly love actually looks like. Even using a Samaritan to shame His Jewish culture in the process.

1 John 3:18

EXPLAIN THE TEXT

This verse is very straight forward.

Don’t just follow Jesus in just words alone. Again because of the culture John comes from it was all to easy to just help people because the “Law” told you too. Our relationship with Jesus is not a checklist of things to do or not do. It should be who we are. Which is why the second part of this verse is the BIG idea of the section. We should love by our deeds as well; because of what Jesus has done in our hearts.

ILLUSTRATION

The family(older couple) that was sleeping in their car in Hayden. He had gotten a temporary job helping resurface the interstate. But he had no place to stay and had not gotten paid yet. A lady had noticed the car and eventually got around to asking about them. Once their true need was realized, she got the whole community involved and not they are taken care of til the end of the month. 

1 John 3:19

Explain the Text

Here we see the contrast we have known to expect from John in the previous chapters. This is the assurance we all look for. And quite simply, if you sincerely act out of love for your fellow man in the ways described in the previous verses, it is another marker in your life that shows who you Lord and savior is.

We all should put ourselves in the very reality that one day we will stand before the Father in heaven and sincerely ask ourselves how we would feel. Assured of our salvation. or Doubtful for lack of proof.

The point of 1 John by the way.

Assurance is essential- who wants to wait until it is too late to know if they are really saved or not?- David Guzik

1 John 3:20-21

Explain the Text

Here John seems to making a plea on our humanness. And he has two points in these verses. First, Sometimes doubt can creep in for no apparent reason. In our weakness, we can get discouraged and loose sight of who’s victory we work from. Jesus saves us. Jesus claims us. Jesus holds us. Jesus secures us. No one can take us away from Him if we are truly His. So John tells us and encourages us here that God knows our true heart. So, take courage when we seem to get down on ourselves.

i. Condemnation can well up inside us that has nothing to do with our standing before God. It may be the work of the enemy of our souls (who, according to Revelation 12:10 accuses the brethren), or the work of an over-active conscience. At those times, we trust in what God’s Word says about our standing, not how we feel about it.- David Guzik

“Sometimes our heart condemns us, but, in doing so, it gives a wrong verdict, and then we have the satisfaction of being able to take the case into a higher court, for ‘God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.’ ” (Spurgeon)

The Second point being the other side of the equation. If we are doing the work of the Lord out of sincere love for our fellow man, and our heart doesn’t condemn us or conscience is clear. then take heart and know you can stand before God with confidence knowing that Jesus has bore your sins and now the Father can only see His son in you.

APPLICATION

We simply need to ask ourselves. If we have the means to help out our brother and don’t, why?  

1 John 3:17 tells us-But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

Conclusion

Don’t just talk a good game. Walk it too.