Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.54LIKELY
Disgust
0.13UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.64LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.74LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.02UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.94LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.68LIKELY
Extraversion
0.09UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.47UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.65LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
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
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....
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.
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..
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.
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?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9