Light test

Let us go back to last week quickly. In the message we discussed the light and darkness. We discussed that we cannot both walk in darkness and also walk in light. We discussed three people that are found in the scripture based on the scripture. There is the Faker, who lies says that he is a believer and then lives in sin. There is the Follower, who follows in the light as Jesus did. Then there is the Fool, who has lied to the point where he believes his own lies. At the center of this issue is the acknowledgment of sin in our lives and turning away from sin.

As I started to review this weeks passage, I found that our discussion moved into 1 John 2:1-6. Let’s read the text.

1 John 2:1–6 (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.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

As we discussed in our group, John first reminds his readers that the purpose of his writing was so that they would not continue to sin. With the coverage of grace, one might conclude that we can now commit sin without consequences. They could nowdo whatever they want. John is telling them that this is not the case. The goal for Christians is to live a life without sin even though grace covers our sin.

He then reminds us that when someone does sin, that God has already forgiven them of that sin. As we discussed last week, there is an importance for the individual to acknowledge that they commit is sin. The acknowledgement allows us to truly repent and turn away from that sin. We are able to turn away from sin in our lives because of Jesus’s death on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We receive the Holy Spirit through the repentance and acceptance of Jesus’ sacrificial offering on the cross. John uses the word propitiation, an old English word that means appeasement, or acceptable offering. This connects Jesus to being the acceptable sin offering. Jesus dying on the cross covered our past, present, and future sins.

John then introduces what we call the light test. In verse 3 John tells us that “ if we know him.” if we know Jesus, if we know that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we know the light and walk in the light. “ we keep His commandments.

However, And verse 4 speaks of the fakers who say, “‘I know Him’ but do not keep His commandments.” John calls them liars. I don’t like being called a liar, Do you? John says that if you say you know Him, but are living a life of sin, your living as people in the world who do not know him, then you are a liar. Now it sounds alot like John is saying that we have to conform to the Law. I want you to know, that is not what he is saying. But we should conforming to the commands that Jesus gave.

This is a light test. What are the commandments that Jesus gave. As we discussed last week. Jesus was in the temple in Matt 22, and the pharisees and Sadduccees were attempting to trick Jesus to commit blasphemy. So they asked him to pick the greatest commandment. Picking one over the rest would have blasphemous. Jesus chose to reply with the commandment first given by Moses, Matt:22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 (ESV)

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38 This is the great and first commandment.

39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The Light test asks:

Is God your greatest love? Are we putting God above our stuff? Is God above TV? Your games? Your phones? Is God above School or work? Does God comes before your friends? Your Family? Are there things that we put first in our lives over God.? Jesus calls us to love God above everything else. If we love God and put God above everything else, then we are going to be obedient to Him above all else. We are going to follow his commandments. We will study the Bible and we will be obedient to the commands we find. We will be obedient, not out of fear, but out of love for what He has done for us. The Holy Spirit will speaks to us, teaches us and convicts us; and we will be obedient to the Holy Spirit because we love Him. Jesus say in John 15:9-10

John 15:9–10 (ESV)

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

His obedience to the Father reveals His love for the Father. Our obedience to His commands reveals our love to Him. Our obedience keeps us in the light.

As we look back at the text John continues by stating this is not really a new commandment. He says, 1 John 2:7-8

1 John 2:7–8 (ESV)

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

John seems to contradict himself in these two verses. But pay close attention to what John is saying

At first John says that this “new” commandment is what the law was supposed to teach us. The law was intended so that the Israelites would place God first in their life. That the Israelites would love God first. But that they would also love each other. That they would treat each other in loving and respectful ways. In this it revealed the areas where the Israelites failed to Love God and love each other.

However this is also new in the sense that we are not held to the law, but given grace in Christ. We have been forgiven. Because Jesus gave us grace and forgiveness, we can show love through grace instead of holding to strict laws. We can offer forgiveness in love as Jesus loved and forgave us. This is the true light. That in grace and mercy that we received from HIm can be displayed in love because God showed us grace and mercy out of His love for us.

This brings us back to the next part of the light test.

1 John 2:9–11 (ESV)

9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

John reveals here that if we are in the light, we love our brothers. We demonstrate love to others. But in darkness we find hatred. It reminds me of Star Wars. When the evil emperor is trying to turn Anakin into Darth Vader he tells him to feel the hate. Give in to the Dark side. This is a tool that Satan uses against us. He wants us to hate each other. He wants us to hate those in the world around us. If we allow hatred to creep into our lives then we begin to walk in the darkness of this world.

On the other side, when we live in love we will walk in light. We will love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We will love people we do not want to love. We will love people that hate us. We will love people that persecute us. When we do these things, we can walk in light.

The second part of the great commandment Jesus mentioned was to love your neighbor as yourself. In John 13:34 Jesus expands on this to his disciples say:

John 13:34 (ESV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

The disciples saw Jesus demonstrate what it means and looks like to Love one another as yourself. They walked with Him for the last three years, watching how He love them and How He loved sinners and how He loved saints. For us, we are able to read and study how Jesus loved others. We read stories of the Woman at the well, Lazarus, and the man lowered through the roof. One of my favorite displays of Jesus’ love is on the cross He says offers forgiveness to his persecutors.

Let’s be honest, it’s not easy to love our brothers. Or the people that don’t love us back; or the people who hate us and make fun of us. It is not easy to love people. This is the importance of our prayer life, and bible study and connecting with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, love someone means praying for you and them. Sometimes, we find ways to love people in our bible study. Sometimes, It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can still show people love after what they have done to us. And sometimes, we fail and the grace of God still loves us in our weakness.

John concludes this test with words of encouragement for the church, For those that are new to the faith and for those that have matured in their faith. 1 John 2:12-14

1 John 2:12–14 (ESV)

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Notice the three levels of maturity he addresses; children, young men and fathers.

Children does is not an identification of kids, but those that are new to faith. What he reminds these immature Christians is that their your sins are forgiven. God forgives you. Jesus died on the cross in forgiveness of sins. We don’t have to feel guilty of our sin because of that forgiveness. We do not need to continue in sins because we are forgiven.

The Young men are a little more mature in their faith. HE reminds them that through Christ and keeping God’s word within them that they have overcome Satan and the Sin that was in their life. They overcame Satan because they kept the word in their heart and maintained obedience to the Word. By keeping God’s word in us and being obedient to the word, we overcome the temptations of Satan.

For the Fathers, the most mature, he reminds them that they know the truth from Genesis to the end. They understand the gospel from Genesis and the problem of evil to the solution in Salvation through Jesus’ death, burial and Resurrection. Keep teaching and the gospel from beginning to end. Keep teaching this truth so that the children and young men will continue to grow in the light.

As we move to groups, are you walking in the light or darkness. Do you love God above all else or are other things coming before God? Are you able to love others or is there hatred in your heart.

If you say you are walking in the light, then I ask you to abide in His love. Live in His word. Continue to grow and mature.

If you feel that you are in darkness. Then today is the day to turn away. I want you to seek God’s love. Experience it first hand so that you can then walk in His love. Talk to me or Dave or Raymond today. Let us help you take the steps to walk in the light.

In the first 6 versus of chapter 2, John calls Jesus and Advocate and the propitiation or acceptable sacrifice. Why do we need an Advocate or a Sacrifice?

Verse 6 say whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. How do we walk like Jesus walked?

Throught the lesson we see the old commandment (the law) and the New Commandment (love and grace). What is the point of studying the Old commandments. What do they reveal to us today? (sin, love, grace, mercy, God’s heart)

How has the New Commandment changed the old commandment?

How does living in light and darkness affect our lives?

For the immature Christian, what is the importance of being reminded that our sins are forgiven?

For the maturing Christian, what is the importance of being reminded that we have overcome sin?

What is the importance for the mature Christian to be reminded that they have known God from the beginning?