The Epistles of John Week 5 – 08 Nov 2011 Miracle Life School of Power Ministry

Outline of 1 John The Great Testimony of John : The Son of God has come to earth 1:1-5 The three misconceptions of man 1:6-2:2 Misconception 1 Man can fellowship with God and still walk in sin 1:6-7 Misconception 2 Man is not totally Sinful and depraved 1:8-9 Misconception 3 Man can become sinless and righteous on His own 1:10-2:2

Misconception 3 Man can become sinless & Righteous on His Own, 1:10-2:2 1.We can become righteous & sinless on our own 2.The truth : We are sinful, but we should not sin 3.The Provision is made if we do sin a.Jesus Christ, the Advocate, the one who pleads for us b.Jesus Christ, the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, for our sins.

Misconception 3 There is the great provision. The believer is not to sin, but if he sins he has the most wonderful provision – that is Jesus Christ, the son of God himself. 1.Jesus Christ is our “advocate” the one speaks to the father in our defense. 2.Jesus Christ is the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Introduction

Our Advocate Advocate or defender : someone who is called into standby the side of another. The purpose is to help in any way possible. –Picture of a friend called into help a person who is troubled or distressed or confused –Picture of a commander called into help a discouraged and dispirited army –Picture of a lawyer, an advocate called into help defendant who needs his case pleaded 1

Our Advocate One word that can adequately translate “paracletos” The word that probably comes closest is simply helper Sin causes the believer to be distressed and confused, discouraged and dispirited. Sin separates the believer from God and makes him guilty of transgression and worthy of condemnation and punishment. But Jesus Christ is the believer’s advocate Jesus Christ stands before God and pleads the case of the believer 1

Our Advocate What is that gives the Jesus Christ the right to plead the case of the believer? Jesus Christ is the righteous one. He is the son of God who came to earth and lived a sinless life as man. He is the one who secured the perfect and ideal righteousness for man Therefore, Jesus Christ is the only person who has the right to stand before God. Why? Because God is perfect, and only perfect person can stand in God’s presence This is the reason man must approach God through Jesus Christ: He alone is perfect and righteous 1

Our Advocate He alone has the right to stand in the court of God as the Advocate and Attorney to represent man. There is no other righteousness, no other goodness that is acceptable to God; only the perfect and Ideal righteousness of Christ has been approved to stand as the Advocate in the court of Heaven. Meaning : God will never turn down a person who has Jesus Christ as his advocate. The person who has Jesus Christ to approach God for him will never be turned down, for Jesus Christ has the right to stand as the Advocate before God in the court of heaven. 1

Our Advocate What is that gives the Jesus Christ pleads? He does not plead : –the reputation of the believer –Good works of the believer –Not guilty, that the believer did not commit sin –Personal righteousness of the believer –The believer has been as good as he can be He pleads His own righteousness. How can He do this? Rom 8:34, Heb 2:17, 4:14-15, 7:25-26, 8:1, 9:24 1

Atoning Sacrifice Means to be a sacrifice, a covering, a satisfaction, a payment, an appeasement, for sin. To turn away anger or to make reconciliation between God and man. Remember God is Holy and Just. He is perfect love, but He is also perfect holiness and justice. Therefore he must execute justice against the sinner. He must judge and condemn sin. His justice must be perfectly satisfied : His justice has to be cast against the perfect sacrifice. if there was a perfect and Ideal man, then that man could accept the guilt and punishment for sin. The perfect man could step forward and bear the punishment for sin and satisfy the justice of God. 2

Atoning Sacrifice This is the glorious gospel, the wonderful love and provision of God. Jesus Christ is the ideal and Perfect man. Therefore, He sacrificed His life for man and His sacrifice covered all men. As the ideal man, Jesus Christ accepted the guilt and punishment of sin for all men. He died for all men. When He died, He died as the perfect sacrifice for sins. Therefore, God accepts His death….as the sacrifice, covering, satisfaction, payment for the penalty for our sins, appeasement of His wrath against sin. 2

Atoning Sacrifice When Jesus Christ carries a man’s case before God, he pleads His own righteousness and death, and God accepts His righteousness and death for man. It is by this, by the sacrifice of His death for our sins, that we become acceptable to God. Jesus Christ is the propitiation the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He is the eternal son of God, ideal and perfect man. All that he ever did covers eternity. His sacrifice for sin covers the first man ever born and spans all of time over to the last man, and then continues right on throughout all of eternity. 2

Atoning Sacrifice Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin for all sinners of all generations. He died for the sins of all people, no matter who they are or what they have done. Vital fact : A person has to come to Jesus Christ and trust Him to be His advocate before God. Jesus Christ is the only person who has the right to stand as an advocate in the court of God’s perfect justice. He is the only person who can present man’s case before God and have man declared righteous. Therefore, a person is not covered by the advocacy of Christ unless he comes to Christ and has Christ represent him before God. Heb 2:17, 1 John 4:10, Luke 18:13. Deeper study : Atoning Sacrifice 2

Section III The proof that one really knows God : Seven Tests 2:3-29

Do we really know God? How do we know if we really know God? We live in a day when people are not even interested in knowing God. They could care less about knowing God They want to live like they want and get all the possessions and enjoy all the pleasures of the world they can To know God is the furthest thing from their minds But this is dangerous ground, for if God really exists then the rejecters of God are going to miss out Introduction

Do we really know God? They are going to miss out on the purpose, meaning, and significance of life; they are going to miss out on real love, joy and peace and the abundance of a rich and full life both now eternally. If God really exists and they fail to know Him, they are going to miss out on all of what life really is. God created life and He knows what life should be Therefore, if we do not know God, God who gave us life, then we miss out on everything that God meant life to be. This is not all Introduction

Do we really know God? If God exists, then it means that all those who reject Him must face His holiness and justice. They must stand before Him having rejected Him and face His judgment. We must know God. But how can we tell if we really know Him? There are seven tests that will show us. Introduction

Seven Tests 2:3-29 a.Test 1: Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 b.Test 2 : Loving one’s neighbour 2:7-11 c.Test 3 : Remembering your Spiritual growth 2:12-14 d.Test 4 : Not loving the World 2:15-17 e.Test 5 : Guarding against Anti-Christ’s or False teachers 2:18-23 f.Test 6 : Letting the Gospel remain in you 2:24-27 g.Test 7 : Continuing, Abiding in Christ 2:28-29

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 1.The Test : Do we obey God’s commands? v3 2.The professing man : Says he knows God but does not obey His commands v4 3.The obedient man: Obeys God’s Word v5 4.The responsible man : Lives up to his profession v6

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 How do we know if we really know God? There is a test that will show us. Do we obey God’s commands? Man faces an enormous problem, a problem that any thinking and honest person can see. If God really exists, man can never know it – not by his own reasoning and energy or effort. No matter how much thought or creative thinking and inner feelings man may have, man can never know for sure if god exists. There is a clear reason for this. Man lives in a physical and material world, and the physical and material world cannot penetrate or cross over in to the other world.

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 If man is ever to know the spiritual world, if he is ever to know God, then God has to enter the physical and material world and reveal himself to man. This is exactly what God has done. God has sent His son Jesus Christ into the world to tell man the truth. This is exactly what Jesus Christ and His followers said time and again. No man has ever crossed over into the spirit world and returned, no man but Jesus Christ. John 3:13, 6:33, 38, 6:50-51, 8:42, 13:3, 17:5

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 Jesus Christ came to save man from perishing and to give man a full, abundant life both now and eternally. John 3:16, 3:36, 5:24, 10:10 Jesus Christ said that God has sent Him to make God known. John 5:38, 6:29, 7:28, 8:26, 12:45, 14:7, 16:15, Col 2:9, 1 Tim 3:16, Heb 1:3. This means something very significant : if we are to know God, we must know Jesus Christ. God has revealed himself and made himself known through Jesus Christ and through Christ alone.

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 If we know Jesus Christ, then we know God. V3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands 1 John 3:23 God’s chief command is this : that we believe in the name of His son Jesus Christ and love one another

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 1.To know God we must believe on the name of His son Jesus Christ. If we believe in Christ, then we come to know God, for Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal God. By believing in Jesus Christ we keep God’s commandments

Test 1 : Obeying God’s commands 2:3-6 2.To know God we must love one another. Love covers all the commandments of God. If we love one another, we will not hurt or cause pain for one another. We will not offend or sin against one another. We will be obeying all the commands of God. Rom 13:8-10

How do we know if we know God? Take a test Do we obey God’s commands? Then we believe in Jesus Christ, that He is God’s son, and we love one another. We surrender all we are and have to Jesus Christ and to loving one another Unless we are doing these two things, we do not know God. No matter what a person may say, he does not know God if he has never given his life to Jesus Christ

How do we know if we know God? Take a test And He does not know God if he criticizes, grumbles, and back-bites his brother and commits adultery, kills, steals, lies, covets, or does anything else against his brother. If a person really knows God, he wants to please God. He wants to know more and more about God, and the only way he can know more and more about God is to follow God. He has to do the things that God does, to walk and love as God walks and loves. If we obey His commands we know Him. John 7:16-17, 8:31, 8:51, Hosea 6:3

How do we know if we know God? Take a test Some people seek to know God. They seek after God, but they do it in the wrong way. Some speculate about God. This is the route most people take in trying to know God. They imagine what God is like and hold that image in their mind and try to live by what they imagine. They have their own teachings and their own images of what god is like, and they govern their lives by that image. Some try to seek and know God by mystical or emotional experiences They seek to know the spiritual world and its focus through spiritists, astrology, magic, and a host of other man made mystical experiences.