Help for the Sinner

1 John: Believing, Loving, and Obeying the Savior  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:55
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God is perfectly pure, and we are utterly flawed. But Christ is our Advocate in the court of Heaven. He defends our cause on the basis of His blood.

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1 John 1:5–2:2 ESV
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Prayer

We have been looking at the truth that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
The past two weeks we have been looking at the implications of this truth.
The first week was the implication about hypocrisy and the need for the true Christian to remove his mask and walk in the light.
Last week we looked at the deception of believing that we can perfect in and of ourselves, but the necessity of being perfect before God.
This week we turn our attention to another claim by the opponents of John.
I hope you’re seeing that John is not just addressing false claims but he is simultaneously showing us what he means by “God is Light”
As John addresses theses false teachers, he is teaching us more of what God is like.
The Vanity of False-Guilt
The person who coined the term false-guilt was Freud.
He believed that all guilt was “false-guilt” and he taught that guilt was a BAD thing.
He taught that it was a bad thing because there was NO God so that meant that people were not actually guilty.
Or they weren’t under condemnation.
It is called false guilt, functional guilt, neurotic guilt, punitive guilt, or guilt feelings."
Most people you talk to on the street would classify this guilt as a generally bad thing.
“I just can’t forgive myself” The Journal of Biblical Counseling: Volume 14, Number 2, Winter 1996 (The Popular Notion)
The concept of “forgiving yourself” has become common in our day.
There are many people stuck on a treadmill of “I just can’t forgive myself.”
Pop psychology stresses the importance of forgiving yourself.
Many Christians embrace this same idea.
But have they identified their real problem?
Or has she become stuck in one particularly unpleasant symptom of an as-yet-unidentified root problem?
Is self-forgiveness the solution?
Or is there a deeper solution to a deeper problem?
may be expressing an inability or unwillingness to grasp and receive God’s forgiveness
(hypocrisy) may not see or be willing to acknowledge the depth of his depravity
(legalism) may be trying to establish his own standards of righteousness
Or maybe…
May have ascended to the throne of judgment and declared themself to be their own judge
In this case the expression “I can’t forgive myself” is equivalent to saying, “I’m in the role of Judge and will dispense forgiveness as I decide.” Such a person has convened the court, rendered a guilty verdict upon himself and now believes that he must grant the needed pardon!

Unbelief: The Epicenter of All Sin

Again, we see John’s pattern...
Claim
Reality
Truth
1 John 1:5–10 ESV
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Claim - “We have NOT Sinned”

Claim - “We have NOT Sinned”
Reality
Truth
Now there is a slight distinction from what was just expressed in verse 8.
In verse 8, the opponents are putting forward a sinless life after becoming Christians.
But in verse 10, these opponents are actually claiming to have never sinned all together.
The claim of these opponents are similar to the claim of “false guilt” which is essentially…
“You feel guilty because of your childhood upbringing, you’re not really guilty of anything.”
“You feel guilty because of other people’s expectations, you’re not really guilty of anything.”
This has been the posture of humanity’s heart since the rebellion of man.
Always pushing away guilt and judgment.
Wanting to shift the blame elsewhere.
Listen to what John’s evaluation of this person is....
1 John 1:10 ESV
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Reality - You Believe God is a Liar

Claim - “We have NOT Sinned”
Reality - You Believe God is a Liar
Truth
Now let me state the obvious...
These opponents can no more make God a liar than a child can stop the sun from shining by shielding their eyes.
John is NOT saying that they actually make God a liar.
He IS saying that these opponents are actually showing what is in them by their confession.
When they confess they haven’t sinned, they are actually declaring their own theology.
They are declaring that God is a liar because God has already spoken and they don’t believe it to be true.
Romans 3:10–11 ESV
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
John’s evaluation of these people...You Believe God is a Liar
Romans 3:4 (ESV)
Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
This is what happens every time believer and unbeliever alike experiences guilt.
Since the unbeliever's conscience operates in the same way as the believer's conscience, the unbeliever's guilty conscience is also caused by his own personal sin before God, whether he admits it or not.
This awareness that he is wrong and his sense of guilt, in fact, are designed by God to enable him to see his need for the savior and to drive him to Him for forgiveness (cf. Acts 2:37).
This guilt is meant to draw people to their knees.
It’s meant to show them their desperate plight.
Since they believe that God is a liar, they show what is really in their hearts.
Here is John’s evaluation of this person..
1 John 1:10 ESV
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Truth - The Truth Is NOT in You

Claim - “We have NOT Sinned”
Reality - You Believe God is a Liar
Truth - The Truth is NOT in You
John is saying that this person does not have the Word in them.
They are so warped to the world, so given over to sin that the Word of God does not even dwell in them.
If you’re a non-believer here today…
I want you to know that this general sense of guilt that you feel is not an accident.
It’s not something brought about from childhood experience.
It is the reality of your life under sin.
It’s not meant to be minimized.
It’s not meant to be ignored.
It’s meant to be repented.
Now if you take verse 6-10 as a whole, we see three bleak categories for sin.
We have HYPOCRISY, which is the masking of our sin. (verse 6)
We have PERFECTIONISM, which is the seeking to earn favor as a cover up. (verse 8)
We have DENIAL, which is refusing to acknowledge sin at all (verse 10)
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin....
Though a temptation may be understandable, it is NEVER PERMISSIBLE.
Though a temptation of HYPOCRISY, PERFECTIONISM, and DENIAL of sin are understandable.
They are NEVER excusable.
John is very clear, he is writing so that these believers would not walk in sin.
We should never take a posture of accepting sin because it is understandable.
Romans 6:1–2 ESV
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
But how does the assurance of forgiveness actually lead to holiness? Is not the opposite the case? If we know that we are forgiven in advance, will we not feel free to sin? The objection sounds logical, but it is not.
In fact, it is contradicted by human experience. Actually, the knowledge of such a great love and of such undeserved forgiveness makes the Christian earnestly desirous not to sin against them.
The person who truly understands grace knows that a response of sin is never an appropriate response.
“It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands.”
So with all of these different paths for sin, what is the assurance of the Christian?
John is not dismissing the difficulty of the path of following Christ.
But John knows humanity all too well…
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin...
He knows that they will eventually sin.
He doesn’t give any exceptions for it.
He doesn’t give any feel goods about it.
Evidence
Reality
Truth
John knows that these little children will indeed sin.

Christ Our Advocate

Evidence - When We Sin

Evidence - When We Sin
Reality
Truth
To understand this rightly we need to understand what happens when we sin.
Scene of a Court Room
God the Father - Judge
Satan - The Prosecuting Attorney
Jesus Christ - Our defense attorney
Now we don’t do this based off of how we feel.
We don’t do this because of how we want it to be.
We do this off of what is revealed in Scripture.
There are moments in Scripture that the curtain of heaven is pulled back enough for us to view what is happening behind the scenes.
In Revelation 12:10, Satan is referred to as “the accuser of our brothers..”
Revelation 12:10 (ESV)
for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
He is often times referred to in the Scriptures as the Accuser.
And what he does every day and every night and all times is accuse.
That word is always used in a legal setting, specifically when charges are brought in a courtroom.
We see a picture of this in Job 1:6-7
Job 1:6–7 ESV
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
At this point you have many questions…like...
Why is Satan in the courts of heaven?
What situation happens that Satan can just waltz up to God?
And my answer and basically the answer of Scripture is...
We DON’T know.
But what we do know is it is present.
It’s hear and we see that the accuser is Satan and he spends all of his time and effort accusing the child of God.
He spends his time standing in judgement over believers.
Job 1:7 ESV
7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
His judgement over believers is simply pointing to our own rebellion and point out the fact that we deserve condemnation.
There is no such thing as false guilt.
There is only a legal sense of charge or ground for complaint.
For the believer, this was our position.
GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.
Before all humanity, GUILTY.
This is extremely bad news.
But we have to have the bad news before we have the good news.
So John gives us the good news....
1 John 2:1 ESV
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Reality - Christ Our Advocate

Evidence - When We Sin
Reality - Christ Our Advocate
Truth
Contrary to what popular evangelical circles would say, we don’t defend our own cause against Satan.
We don‘t name it and claim it and bind satan.
What is an advocate?
The word which is translated advocate is the same word that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit in John 14:16
John 14:16 ESV
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
In John 14, it is translated as Helper.
But here in 1 John 2, John is highlighting the legal representative nature of Christ.
Some definitions were, ‘one who is called to someone’s aid’
In the few places where the word is found in pre-Christian and extra-Christian lit. as well it has for the most part a more general sense: one who appears in another’s behalf, mediator, intercessor, helper
One definition cautioned from using it in this sense because most countries refer to attorney’s as “professional liars”
But I think we are right in seeing in this a legal defense on behalf of His people.
1 John 2:1 ESV
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
We have ONE who stand on our behalf before the Father.
Notice too that the text does NOT say when we have cleaned ourselves up.
It does NOT say when we have become sorry enough.
It says that “if anyone does sin”...
In the moments of the MOST need, frailty, in the midst of our weakness.
We have an advocate.
We have ONE who speaks a better Word on our behalf.
What is our advocate like?
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Christ Jesus: The Righteous One

He is NOT crooked.
He is NOT seeking ill gain.
He is NOT lying.
He is complete pure and righteous in every way.
Arise my Soul, Arise (Charles Wesley)
He ever lives above, For me to intercede, His all-redeeming love, His precious blood to plead; His blood atoned for all our race, His blood atoned for all our race, And sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Hebrews 7:23–25 ESV
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
What this means is that Christ is currently sitting at His Father’s right hand making intercession for His people.
And in moments of weakness and sin, He advocates for HIS PEOPLE.
What does this mean for Christian maturity?
Christian maturity is NOT a destination.
It is not a destination which means that NOBODY arrives at this location.
It means that Christian maturity actually has more to do with growth in true sensitivity to sin in one’s own life and an intense desire to eliminate all things which displease God.
To boast of progress in the Christian life is to ignore what John has been saying to us

On the contrary, a growth in holiness will mean a growth in a true sensitivity to sin in one’s life and an intense desire to eliminate from life all that displeases God. Instead of boasting in his progress, the person will be increasingly ready to acknowledge sin and seek to have it eliminated.

This means for the Christian that he can approach the throne of grace with confidence.
1 John 2:1–2 ESV
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Truth - Wrath Bearing Sacrifice

Evidence - When We Sin
Reality - Christ Our Advocate
Truth - Wrath Bearing Sacrifice
Christ is not only our Advocate.
He is also our Propitiation!
By that we mean that Christ has saved us from God‘s wrath toward sin and has made us pure in Himself.
He is the atoning sacrifice as well.
He pleads on behalf of sinners, NOT encouraging His Father to just accept them.
Or NOT just trying to overlook what they are like.
But he actually pleads with His Father in what He Himself has done on their behalf.
He is the propitiation for His people.
Not simply an advocate, but an advocate who provides the means to come forward.
Arise my Soul, Arise (Charles Wesley)
Five bleeding wounds He bears, Received on Calvary; They pour effectual pray'rs, They strongly plead for me: "Forgive him, O forgive, " they cry, "Forgive him, O forgive, " they cry, "Nor let that ransomed sinner die!"
Why the wrath? Why not just the love?
Jared Wilson said this about a wrath less cross…l
The Devil loves this development, because if he can get us to stop thinking about God’s wrath at the cross, he can get us to stop thinking about how our sin is an offense to God, which means he can get us distracted from God’s holiness and, thus, our need for salvation.
1 John 2:2 ESV
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

John goes on to say that Jesus dealt with not only “our sins” but also the sins of “the whole world.” Some have suggested this means that all people will be saved whether or not they repent of their sins and trust Jesus. However, the burden of this letter is to discern true believers from false ones. John’s letter would be pointless if all are redeemed anyway. John has declared various groups of people to be out of fellowship with God, not recipients of the propitiating work of Christ. He is, then, not contradicting himself here. The point, rather, is that Jesus is the one sacrifice available for the world. The message of this salvation is not to be restricted to one group but is to be proclaimed boldly to all people everywhere.

The Letters of John A Note on Truth

We might suggest that Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world because his death was sufficient to deal with the sins of the whole world, but that his sacrifice does not become effective until people believe in him.

Do not minimize your sin or excuse it away. Raise no defense. Simply take it to the one who is already at the right hand of the Father, advocating for you on the basis of his own wounds. Let your own unrighteousness, in all your darkness and despair, drive you to Jesus Christ, the righteous, in all his brightness and sufficiency.
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