Confidence in Christ
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In Focus this past semester our theme was Confidence.
Confidence is defined as the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.
Confidence in Self
To have confidence in what you know, makes a big difference, doesn’t it? When you’re doing a job where you are really not sure what you’re doing, you struggle through it. Like when you begin a new job and you don’t know everything yet you make mistakes and you learn. As you learn you get better at your job and your confidence in your ability to do your job grows. But we are not always at our best, and over time confidence in our abilities start to fade.
Confidence in Others
Kids when they are young have a lot of confidence in their parents. Ethan is coming out of the stage of life as a toddler when they are fearless. Which as a parent I am relieved that he is starting to gain a healthy fear of things for his safety (like play to close to fire, or water). But as a dad I am a little disappointed because some of his fun confidence in me has faded as well. He is not so quick to jump into my arms from a high place anymore (maybe because I have dropped him). We all have people in life that we place confidence in and sometimes that’s good and sometimes not so good. Why? because can and do fail us. Relationships change and confidence in another fades as a result.
But as we have learned this semester their is one that we can place our confidence in, Jesus Christ. We can have confidence in God, in Jesus, and God’s Word. This semester we put an emphasis on confidence in God’s Word, and confidence in our witness. Tonight, we are going to look at a few thoughts from 1 John 3 that will help us know the why and how to have confidence in Christ.
Read 1 John 3:1-8 Read verse 28 of the last chapter to get the title.
Before we go to far into our text I want to give a little background, to help us understand better why John wrote this part into his letter to the church.
Purpose for John’s letter: John wrote through the inspiration of the Spirit with two main purposes.
So they might know a way of salvation.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
2. John wrote to defend the faith and to strengthen the church against false doctrine. That down-played the deity of Christ. This false doctrine was called Gnosticism which taught that the human body was evil. This view branches into two main thoughts.
One of those said that what you did with the body mattered little, for it was evil and doomed to death. Therefore if a person took care of his spirit, he could eat, drink, and be merry and do whatever else he wanted with his body and he would be fine. Now that we know why this will better help us understand when we get to verse 6.
Now in order to be confidence in Christ we must first understand who Christ is.
Jesus is God. Jesus puts Himself on equal ground with God.
I and my Father are one.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Jesus has always been God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
I could spend all night expanding all the Christ is, but I think we can agree tonight, that we can have Confidence in Christ because He is and has always been God.
If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ you can have confidence in Him because he is God and the sinless Son of God. Who paid the price for your sins so that we can have a home in heaven and be placed into the family of God.
It is because of Christ that we have confidence in our position toward God.
Position in Christ
Position in Christ
Verse 1-3
If you have trusted in Christ as your Saviour say, “amen.” Great! You can have confidence in that because he has made you to be joint heirs with Christ.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Those that said you have trusted Christ as your Saviour, you have can have confidence in your position in Christ. Because you are royalty and you are a child of God.
This concept of being was foreign to me until I became and dad. I am from a split home, my parents divorced when I was young. My mom soon remarried. But I didn’t met my dad until I was about 8 or 9 and to this day I struggle calling him dad. I know he has regrets and he wishes he could go back to have a better relationship with me. But as a result it took me until my son was born to really understand what it meant to be a child of God and joint heirs with Christ. To me I had no confidence in what a father looks like. So how could I trust that God could be any different? One my earthly father is not God.
But secondly, I can walk in confidence that God will never leave me. I can understand this now as a father. I remember when Ryan was young and just learning to walk. I started a job working nights so I had to leave for work while he was awake and he never wanted me to leave. Once I was headed out the door, and he made a sound so I turned to look and he had his hand out, as if to say don’t go. I ended up driving away in tears because I didn’t want to leave either.
But Christ has yet to leave me in the time of need.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
As I sure many of you could testify, God has always been there by my side, whenever and wherever I am.
why? Because I am a child of God.
Place without Christ
Place without Christ
Verse 4
As God shows us the position we have in Christ. He also shows the place we have without Him.
Without Christ we are dirty rotten sinners destined for a Christ-less eternity.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
You see, we are all sinners. The Bible tells us that everyone of us have sinned. But I love how John explains what sin is here in our text.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
This is to show that sin is a transgression against God’s law. Not man or man’s law. yes, It is good to have laws and rules but they should be established with principles from the Word of God.
Why? because only a holy and righteous God could set the standard.
When we sin we are deliberately disobeying God’s Law. When we steal something for instance we are breaking one God’s laws in the ten commandments
Thou shalt not steal.
And God tells us in James that if you break one law you are guilt of all.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
We cannot therefore, hold up to God’s standard.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Without Christ we are hopeless. Tonight, if you could not with a clear conscience and with confidence say “amen” when I asked if you know Jesus. You are in a bleak and dark place without Christ.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But there is hope!
Plan through Christ
Plan through Christ
Verse 5 & 6
Salvation
Salvation
Your hope as a lost sinner in found in one three letter word BUT.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yes, we have transgressed against God. But thanks be to God, He didn’t leave us lost and hopeless state.
God gave us His Son.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
If you have never trusted Christ as your saviour His plan for your life is that you will be saved and come into life through faith in Christ.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Sanctification
Sanctification
But there is also, and plan here for the believer. Before I go into verse 6. If I can say that there is a false doctrine taught from this verse that is called “sinless perfection” that is to say if you are truly saved you will no longer sin. That is a lie. As we have already established we are all sinners.
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
If that doctrine were true this verse would not say, “go restore such one...” but go lead them to Christ.
Yet the meaning of verse 6 is found in the tense used. It is not saying if you sin at all after salvation that you were never saved. But John is suggesting that if someone lives a life full of sin, never repenting, nor never wanting to maybe they were not saved to begin with.
rather John is pointing to the believer who has had this Gnostic belief taught to them. That says, “oh, it’s okay to just have fire insurance.” John is saying , if there are some who can go into that kind of lifestyle without any remorse or regrets that they need to check there salvation.
but there is another part to this verse that speaks to the theme of the book of 1 John, that is fellowship. If you read 1st John you will see the word “abiding” all over. Pointing to the idea of sanctification. That if we abide in Christ we can have freedom from our sins. That we can have victory over sin and have confidence in his plan for the believer. It is not God’s plan that you have fire insurance.
Paul speaks of this is Romans 6.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
It is God’s plan that you have an abiding relationship with Christ. and with that Confidence in Him.
For both the lost and the saved alike tonight, it really comes down to a choice that is summed up in one verse.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
God wants to have a relationship with you. If you have never opened the door to your heart to Him, He is standing at the door knocking wanting to come in. But if you have opened the door and let him in but you have gotten up from the table He wants you to come back into an abiding relationship.
Through that you can have Confidence in Christ. But will you?