Sermon Tone Analysis
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Prayer
I want us to begin by refocusing a little on the entire aim of this book.
In the opening chapter of 1 John, he says that “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”
The last couple weeks, we have been focusing in on Christ’s coming.
We have been talking about a lot which may give the impression that joy really isn’t the aim anymore.
But as we have seen Christ’s coming, and even the antichrists, joy is being extended to us.
When we abide in Christ, not only will truth reigns but that will be maximum joy.
The guarding of deception will be for maximum joy in God.
Joy and assurance that when we abide in Christ we will have confidence at His coming.
And John just kind pauses again this week, like we have seen before, and again he is extending to us JOY.
The Crushing Effect of “Ought to”
When you think about your own journey of abiding in Christ, what comes into your minds?
Is that a joyful experience?
Is it an experience which you would recommend to your neighbor?
I once heard an approach to abiding in Christ described as “the tyranny of oughts”
“I ought to read my Bible more.”
“I ought to pray more.”
“I ought to stop looking at those websites.”
While most of those ‘oughts’ may be true in and of themselves, they lack a power to change anyone.
They create burdens and expectations without providing the power to do anything about it.
“I should pray with my family”
“I should evangelize more”
“I should have healthier habits”
And honestly, pastors are the worst at yoking people with these “should’s”
“You should read your Bible more”
“You should pray more”
These “ought to’s” and “should’s” concentrate on the behavioral matters.
While real, lasting change is from the inside out and through the grace and power of God.
I want to talk to you today about the fuel and the heart from which all real change comes from.
Since we are the children of God, our lives will be marked by familial love, and unfriendly rejection.
Remember, this abiding is what John has been calling us to do.
He has called us to abide so that when Christ comes we may not shrink back and be ashamed with guilt and fear at his coming.
He is calling us to have a joy filled confidence for the arrival of our Savior.
But again, John is not just calling us to “abide” without giving the power and the strength to do it.
So like we saw in 1 John 2:12-14, he pauses his thought process to remind us the very heartbeat of our ability to abide.
We will be attempting to define that phrase “familial love”
The Children of God
“What We Are”
John is more or less saying that “Since you know that Christ is righteous...”
We would expect him to say, “since you have been born of him who is righteous, practice righteousness”
Notice the way this verse is structured, he says that those who have been born of God will imitate the one whom they are born to look like.
What does John mean by righteousness?
Is he just referring to good morals?
Is he just referring to living a good life?
If that is the case, anybody on the street can practice righteousness.
There are plenty of people who are outside of the Christian community who are quite moral and decent.
There are plenty of people who do good things outside of the church.
Morality ONLY is NOT what John has in mind.
Righteousness means the quality of life that was lived by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The righteousness that John is referring to is a righteousness that is by faith.
It is a righteousness which does produce moral purity, but it is so much more inclusive than simply outward purity.
If you want a good demonstration of righteousness, go read the Sermon on the Mount.
The righteousness that John is talking about is righteousness which begins in the heart.
Being before Doing
Familial love entails “being before doing”
Another way you could say it is identity always proceeds action.
The one who has been born of God, will practice righteousness.
Born of God
Once while Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who came to Jesus at night.
Jesus told him that if a man is not born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
John 3:5–7 (ESV)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
What Jesus is saying here is that a person does not be become a member of the kingdom of God by physical birth.
They don’t enter because they were born into the right family.
They don’t enter because they went to church or was baptized.
They ENTER the kingdom of God because they have been born from above.
In the same way a child cannot be born of his own choosing, those who are born again does not come from their own doing.
As John has said, being born again proceeds the actions of righteousness.
Being comes before Doing.
The Roots Comes Before the Fruit
The Root of the tree ALWAYS proceeds the fruit.
John is trying to stress to us that doing what is right is the consequence of spiritual birth.
Doing what is right is NOT the cause of spiritual birth.
This means that a person can be moral and upright, but still not be a child of God.
They may be moral and upright, but it doesn’t flow from the heart.
This is the connection between the OBEDIENCE test and the BELIEF test.
If you DON’T believe rightly then you will NEVER obey rightly.
I think our problem is though, we try to get the doing before the being.
What happens when we get the DOING before the BEING?
This is where we get the concept of moralism.
Moralism
I obey to be accepted
A kind of self-effort which tries to “white knuckle” its way to obedience.
When we start with ACTION and then move to IDENTITY, every failure will crush you because you’re working for your identity.
Perfectionism
I must obey perfectly
Your success will produce in you pride and self-confidence.
You will try and find strength from the “ought to’s” and the “should”
“I should do this… or I should do that.”
An obedience which stems from behavior modification rather than faith working through love.
And brother and sisters, we must flip this around.
We must begin with out identity.
We must begin by seeing that we earn nothing, but God in Christ Jesus has given us everything.
Who you are, produces what you do.
What is that identity?
Since we are the children of God, our lives will be marked by familial love
But John goes on to describe the origins of the children of God.
1 John 3:1 (NKJV)
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