The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith

1 John, Part 6 – The Precepts of True Christianity

When I was a teenager, the cars that I learned to drive had something in the center of the hoods by which I could line up securely with the edge of the shoulder to ensure that I was properly placed in my lane and would not drift into the way of oncoming cars. The 1953 Willies had a crease down the middle of the hood with a hood ornament pointing forward. The 1964 Impala had a central chrome trim down the middle of the hood that was also easily lined up with the edge of the road. All I have on my hood now are two separated windshield washing liquid spray dispensers and I have to approximate where the sideline should be in my line of sight.

What does this have to do with 1 John? John’s epistle leaves no doubt about what is expected of us as Christians and we don’t have to “eyeball” it, unlike my current car’s hood configuration, to make sure we are on the right path. Scripture acts as the definitive position, like the hood ornaments on old cars, to line up with what pleases God in our lives and what we are clearly called to be as Christians. We are saved, not by works, but by simply believing the Gospel. These precepts of Christianity recognizably present in our lives are our assurance of that salvation that God already gave us when we believed:

1. 1 John 1:7. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This verse describes three interconnected aspects of our Christianity. First, we are called to walk in the light which He inhabits. Second, from this residing in the light of God’s presence and Word comes the fellowship we have with one another; the fellowship between us is an outcome, then, of our individual fellowship with God.
2. 1 John 1:9, 2:1. The third aspect from 1 John 1:7 is that we are cleansed from sin. 1 John 2:1 reminds us to not sin, but recognizes that we do tend towards sin so that, not only is Jesus our advocate before the Father, but He also cleanses us of all sin, an ongoing process as supported by 1 John 1: 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3. 1 John 2:3, 3:23-24a. “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments … And this is His commandment; that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another … He that keeps His commandments dwells in Him, and He in him.” 1 John 5:2-3. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God; that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous.”
4. 1 John 2:5. “But whoso keeps His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”
5. 1 John 2:6. “He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” Note that the context does not refer to Jesus’ outward signs of His Jewishness, but to the outpouring of the perfected love of God as a result of keeping His Word as described in 1 John 2:5 above. See also 1 John 2:10 below.
6. 1 John 2:10. “He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.” An additional outcome of walking in the light is that because of God’s Word and Holy Spirit in us, we live intuitively in such a way that we are not the source of stumbling and error in our fellow Christians.
7. 1 John 3:13-14. “I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” 1 John 5:4-5. “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
8. 1 John 2:17. “And the world [with all the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life which characterizes it] passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that does the will of God abides forever.”
9. 1 John 2:20, 27. “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. … But the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you. But the same anointing teaches you of all things, is truth and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him.” 1 John 3:24. “And he that keeps His commandments dwells in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us.” 1 John 4:13. “Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” 1 John 5:6b. “And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”
10. 1 John 2:21. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
11. 1 John 2:24 and 28. “Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. … And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at his coming.”
12. 1 John 2:29. “If you know that He is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of Him.”
13. 1 John 3:2-3. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.”
14. 1 John 3:6-7. “Whosoever abides in Him [does not persistently sin]. Whosoever [persistently practices sin] has not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.”
15. 1 John 4:6a. “We are of God. He that knows God hears us. He that is not of God hears not us.” In other words, the person who knows God possesses a teachable attitude.
16. 1 John4:2, 15. “Hereby know you the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God … Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and He in God.” 1 John 5:1. “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loves Him that begat loves him also that is begotten of Him.”
17. 1 John 5:9-13. “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. This is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that believes not God has made Him a liar because he believes not the record that God gave of His Son. This is the record; that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

In a nutshell, those who believe in Jesus walk in the light as demonstrated by fellowship, forgiven sins, love, righteousness, overcoming, belief in Jesus as the Son of God, abiding in Him, doing the will of God, knowing the truth, the presence of the Holy Spirit, hope, a teachable spirit, and the life that God gave us through His Son. This is how we know we are truly saved.

Update/Prayer Request: Dan and I feel like we are being truly and deeply tested. The drug interaction that left Dan with excruciating joint pain for several weeks, appears to have rendered his joints vulnerable to injury as well. The pain in both his shoulders is now keeping him awake nights, exacerbating his debilitation with continued exhaustion. On Wednesday he began to get some relief with a prescription anti-inflammatory. An MRI of his right shoulder done on Wednesday revealed a torn rotator cuff with tendon damage. Dan has been referred to a surgeon and so now we wait to get an appointment. Please pray for healing and for continued peace for both of us in the midst of a situation in which Dan is not able to physically do needed repairs around the house.

 

•