Christians Walk in His Commandments

If you haven't already, you're going to want to make your way in your Bible to 1 John, the first epistle of the apostle John, and chapter 2 as we continue our series in the book of 1 John. I do have a plan at the end of 1 John to do 2 John, and then at the end of that to do 3 John. So I'm just going to do the epistles of John all the way through.

Well, if you weren't here for the beginning of the series, I'll just reiterate or remind you or refresh you or get you up to speed that one simple way of understanding the epistle of 1 John is the tests of true Christianity. It's an easy way to understand it. If you open up the book of 1 John, you can think of it as a diagnostic tool to see whether or not you're the real thing or someone is the real thing. Are they real Christians? How do you know? How do you know what real Christianity is? How do you know what a real Christian is?

Well, you could take 1 John and use it like a measuring stick or a diagnostic tool or any sort of system that you would use, a computer to apply to the thing, and then if the thing does the things that a real Christian does according to John, then you can say they've passed the test. And one of those areas is very clear in today's text. Oh my goodness, this is one of those areas where it's so crazy to me. I've been a Christian 30-plus years, 30— 3 or something like that, I don't even know anymore, and I've been a pastor 22 of those and senior pastor 12 of those.

It's crazy that after all these years there is nothing that still, after all these years, causes more, I don't know, confusion and difficulty than the subject of the Christian's relationship to the law. It's still hard for people to understand the idea that law and grace and the way they interchange with each other and how it works. It's all over the map. You talk to 10 people on the subject of the law and grace and you'll get 42 opinions. It's just the craziest thing.

Spurgeon says this. Back in Spurgeon's day, Spurgeon says, "There is no point upon which men make greater mistakes than upon the relation which exists between the law and the gospel." So Spurgeon was saying it. So you would think after 100-something years, 200 years, however long it's been since Spurgeon died, that we would have figured it out by now. And the truth is, no, we haven't.

Now, I actually think I have the answer. You might think, "Well, who do you think you are, Sloan? Like all of a sudden after all these years you're going to make sense of it?" Yeah, I think that. I do think that because I think it's easy to understand. I think the confusion comes when we take the Bible, we set it aside, and then we go over here and have a conversation about what we think on things. And whenever you do that, you're always going to get in trouble.

So I'll lay it out for you as simply as I can, especially if you're a young Christian in the room. If you'll take what I say right now and put it in your pocket— by the way, when I say young Christian, that means I don't care how old you are as a person. I just mean however young you are in the Lord, you're learning the Christian faith. If you'll take what I say here in a moment in some way, put it in your own words if you have to, put it in your pocket, you'll never get in the trouble that people seem to get in.

And I can tell you, side note, I don't want to insult anybody that struggles with these things. What it really does boil down to, in my opinion now, is that over the centuries there's a lot of argument and debate based on theological presuppositions that come from traditions. So if you come out of a Roman Catholic background, you're going to have a certain view of the law and grace. You're going to misunderstand grace. If you come out of various Protestant backgrounds, you're going to have a certain view. Lutheran views, different view. Episcopal views.

Usually it's the traditions that are having the theological debates at the highest theological level, and that kind of filters down to people in the churches. But I can tell you the Bible is actually pretty clear on it. In fact, there will be a line in today's section of 1 John that really almost says it. It practically says the simplicity. It lays it out in a simple way, and I'll mention that when I get there.

But to make it as easy as possible, forgive me if this sounds condescending. I'm not trying to be condescending. I'm trying to say it the way it should be understood is that what is the relationship between the law and the gospel, or law and grace, Or what is a person's relationship to the law? How does the law affect a person? And the simple way to figure that out is, which person? An unbeliever or a believer? That answers all of the questions.

What is the law and its relationship to people? The first thing you should say is, which people? Unbelievers or believers? And if you can separate that in your brain, you can forever understand the relationship you as a Christian have with the gospel.

When you are an unbeliever, the law is a mirror reflecting the character and nature of God and how you fail at it. That's it. The law condemns us. That's what it does. It condemns us as not like God. We're not like God because we covet. We're not like God because we lust. We're not like God because we lie, right? So that's what the law does to an unbeliever.

But then what does God do? How do you become a believer? Does it have to do with the law? No, it's the gospel of grace. God takes a person who violates his law, chooses to give him grace, draws him out of his sin, opens his eyes, regenerates him, brings him into the faith, changes his heart. Now he sees, I broke all that law, but the law condemned me. I am now condemned. And then the gospel says, I, Jesus, go— will go to the cross and pay for all your law-breaking, and I will save you by my grace, free grace. You can contribute nothing to it. You just accept that you're a sinner, that the Savior died for you. You receive that forgiveness, that His blood covers all of your sin. He forgives all of your sin. All of those violations of the law get nailed to the cross. You are now a believer.

So what is the believer's relationship to the law? That stuff that used to condemn me is now beautiful to me because I see the character and nature of my God in it. I see that my God is always faithful. So I would never want to commit adultery. I see that my God is always truthful. I would never want to tell a lie. I see that my God is loving and all the things that the law says. He's the best Father. I want to honor my Father in heaven, just like he tells me to honor my father on earth.

So the law now, instead of condemning you, becomes the thing you love because it's the character and nature of God that you can display in your obedience. It's so simple. I don't know why that's so hard to understand. Maybe you can explain it to me afterward. Tell me why that's so hard to understand.

Unbeliever, law condemns me. I've broken it. I'm a sinner. I don't have any grace. I haven't been saved. All I am is a sinner. I'm now a saved person. I've been covered in the blood of Christ. He gives me His righteousness. I'm declared righteous before God. Now I see the law as a beautiful thing that instead of condemning me, tells me how to live for the Lord. Why is that so hard?

So from now on, if you're in a discussion, what's the Christian's relationship to the law? The law was never ever designed to make you right with God. Ever. Not even in the Old Testament, the law wasn't designed to make you right with God.

When was the law given? Exodus chapter 20. How does the law of God start? The Ten Commandments. How does the Ten Commandments start? The first line of the Ten Commandments is not, "You shall have no other gods." That's not the first line. The first line is, "I am the God who brought you out of Egypt." They were already His people, right? He had already rescued them, already delivered them. He didn't say while they were in Egypt, "If you have no other gods before me, I'll get you out of Egypt. If you honor your father and your mother, then I'll get you out of Egypt." No, he had already given them grace, taken them out of Egypt. They were already his people. He was already in a relationship.

So the law is not to make you right with God. The law says you have either been made right by God by grace, or you're not right with God in your condemnation. So if you have any questions about that, talk to me later. If you have trouble understanding that, talk to me later. I'm okay if you have trouble understanding it, by the way. It's okay. It can be difficult. That's not the problem. The problem is, is that the Bible clearly says it and we can understand it.

So are you a Christian? If you are, then you love God's commandments. Are you an unbeliever? If you are an unbeliever, God's commandments should scare you because they condemn you in your sin. Okay? So we will see today who John is talking to. He'll tell us in this text who he's talking to, unbeliever or believer.

Let's pray. Father, now as we open 1 John, would you help us see that the law or commandments is a thing that you have given for two purposes. And the purpose in our text today, Father, is very clear. It's very, very clear. If we think that we know you, if we say that we have been given grace and ignore your commandments, we have not been given grace.

Would you help us see the clear teaching from John this morning? And I would even ask, Father, that if there's someone in the room First of all, who doesn't know you that is under condemnation, that they might come to know you by faith and be saved from their sin and their condemnation. But also, I really— my heart is heavy for believers, Father, who think that the way they get right with you and stay right with you is commandment keeping. Would you remind us that it is grace that makes us right with you? Would you empower us with grace to overcome and to be strong and to keep your commandments out of love for you, because we love you, because you've loved us. Would you help us see that even from this text this morning? In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, you're in chapter 2, verse 3, or should be. And I've said that in the series, because it's the test of Christianity or true Christianity, I'm essentially— except for the first message, the introductory message, all the messages are entitled something with Christians do or Christians are or Christianity is, it's essentially me trying to emphasize the idea that the book itself, 1 John, is really emphatic on this idea of what a real Christian is or what a real Christianity is.

And so you can see in my notes, I already am starting out that way where it says, Christians know, love, and reflect. I'm just trying to push that point home. How do you know you're a real Christian? How do you know what a real Christian does or is?

Verse 3, now by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Now, I could just send you home now. Do you want to sing and go home? Don't say yes to that. Let me preach the sermon. Don't say, yes, let us out of here, Sloan. It's so clear. Now, even though it's clear, and it stands on its own, and it's sensible by itself, and you don't need me to preach it, I'm going to preach it a little bit anyway.

There's two words for no here. Well, there's two occurrences of the word no. And that word "know," usually, not always, but very often in the New Testament and the Old Testament means intimate knowledge. It means familial knowledge. Like when the Bible says Abraham knew Sarah, it didn't mean they went to coffee, okay? It's intimate knowledge. So that idea of saying you know God doesn't mean you know about God. It doesn't mean you only know God academically or according to knowledge. It means you know him in intimate relationship, intimate fellowship, family, close.

So when John is giving us the condition here, the condition is me saying as a Christian or a non-Christian, a liar, I could be a liar too, but it's me saying I have intimate fellowship with God. I am in a relationship with God. So if you want to paraphrase John here, now by this we know that we are in a relationship with God. That's what you could paraphrase the word "know" here to mean.

Again, it doesn't just mean know. That's like me saying, "I know my wife, but I have no idea what she likes to eat." That would be an academic knowledge. But when you know somebody, you know them personally, intimately.

So the first thing I would say to you is, do you know God in the room? Do you know Him, or do you just know about Him? I'll talk about that tonight, that God is not a theological proposition. He's a person. Do you know the person God? Do you know what He's like?

So these people that John is talking to, he's saying, "Now this, by this we know that we know if we keep his commandments." So it's really clear here. Now, again, I have another verse that's going to say it in a second. But right now, out of the gate, do you see that it says, "We know him if we keep his commandments"? Do you notice it doesn't say, "If we keep his commandments, we might get to know him"? Do you notice it's not reversed?

Just like what I said before, he's saying Christians know Him. If they are Christians, they know Him. And if they do know Him and they are in a relationship with Him, they keep His commandments. And you're going to see in a moment the commandments, a synonym for commandments is the word. This is going to happen over and over again with John. It's just like if you read Psalm 119, we always talk about it. Psalm 119, every line of Psalm 119 has some reference to the word of God. But it'll say commandments, statutes, all those things are essentially saying the same thing, the word of God. That phrase that we use for the Word of God, and the Word of God is His commandments. It's all of it. It contains all of the Word of God.

But the important part of this is, "If we say we know Him." Another way of saying that is, "If we're in a relationship with Him." Another way of saying that is, "If we are Christian." If we are Christian, we keep His commandments. And if anybody, verse 4 says, "Says," and this is a theme, isn't it, in the book of 1 John? It is possible to say one thing and do another, right? It's very possible to say, "I know Him." But if you say you know Him, whoever says, verse 4, says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, what is he called according to John? A liar, and the truth is not in him.

That truth that's not in him is also the commandments he hasn't hidden in his heart so that he might not sin. He doesn't have the truth of God internally. He doesn't have the Word of God internally. But it doesn't say he's okay and that God loves him anyway. Do you notice that? The text does not say, "It's all right, God loves everybody," and you know, You don't even have to— don't be worrying about your obedience because that's legalism.

If somebody tells you to obey God and keep commandments, that's legalism. That's the way people say it. Well, just so you know, when people try to do that, when they try to say, don't talk about obedience, don't talk about commandments, the technical word for that, if you don't know that word, is antinomian. An antinomian is somebody who is against God's law.

So what they have done is the thing that so many people do. Modern Christianity is very, very prevalent. This is a big thing to say. Since we are no longer under the law but under grace, that the law has no bearing on us at all. We don't need to worry about the law anymore. That's the idea of antinomianism, is it says that since we're a Christian, the law doesn't affect us.

Someone gave me an analogy. I always remember we were right here in between these two aisles when they did it. They're not at our church anymore. And that person gave an analogy, and his analogy was so good that it helped me with my analogy that I think is a great analogy. So I'm stealing half of it from him, where he said, I don't want to— his exact words were, I don't want to turn my children into Pharisees who just think all they have to do is obey. And his idea was that if we're only ever talking about obedience, we're being legalistic, elevating the law, elevating commandments.

Now again, I already told you that you can't obey commandments to become right with God, right? So you all know that I don't believe in legalism. I'm not a legalist. So when he's talking, he said it would be like somebody who has a slave girl that lives in their house. And there are 10 things, 10 tasks this slave girl is tasked with doing in the home. But then the owner of the slave and the owner of the home falls in love with this girl. And now that he falls in love with her and marries her, she's not a slave anymore that has to do the 10 tasks.

And then I said to him right there, I said, "The laundry's still got to get done, man. Whether I love her or not, laundry's got to get done." And what I mean by that is the tasks are tasks. Is it always a task to not commit adultery whether you love God or not? Is it always a task not to lie whether you love God or not? So it is true that he marries her and loves her and is in a relationship with her, but she now does the 10 things out of love instead of out of obligation.

So the things still get done, but they get done out of a heart for the master in that case, in that analogy. How do you know you know him? You keep his commandments. And why do you keep his commandments? Because you know him. That's the idea, is because you know him, because you love him. So it comes out of that.

He's saying it over and over again, this theme of saying, saying, saying, and doing, doing, doing. You can't say you know or are in a relationship with God and then not keep his commandments. That's a problem in our day. It's been a problem since the church growth movement of the '70s, the easy-believism, if you want to use that language, or cheap grace, that you can just pray a prayer and you're right with God and he doesn't ever expect any change from you.

But the idea is if the Holy Spirit indwells you, If you've been changed out of darkness into light, if you've been changed from an enemy to a friend, from under wrath to under grace, and to say that God could touch somebody to such a degree that they would go from enemies to friends and then say they won't change, I actually think that's an insult to God, not only an insult to the commandments. It's saying He doesn't have the power to change people, that He doesn't actually change them with the Holy Spirit.

So we believe if God indwells somebody with the Holy Spirit, They desire holiness. They love it. And they keep His commandments. And the truth is in them. If you say you know God, I'm going to say, where's the proof? What do you mean proof? I'm not supposed to give proof. Well, it sounds like James where he says, if you show by your works, that's how you know. That's how you declare that you know God, by commandment keeping.

Now let's see if there's evidence that we have been loved by God.

Verse 5, but whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

Do you see it again? Do you see the love precedes the obedience? Does everybody see that? That this is how you know you know God when you're keeping His commandments. And what does it show? It shows that His love has been— ah, you know this word. You know the word perfected? Do you know what the word perfected is here? It's the exact same word Jesus says from the cross when He says, "It is finished." Not only does He use the same word, "tetelestai"— does He use the same word? But it is a perfect tense verb, meaning that the love of God that is in us is was given to us. It is currently in us. It will always be in us. The love of God will be. And not only that, but it's a passive voice verb, which means God gave it to us. We did not attain it.

So again, back to my very first point of the morning: it is not your obedience that makes God love you. It is God loving you that makes you obedient. So get those in order. That's exactly what he's saying. This is how you know that you have had the complete love of God implanted into you by grace.

How do you know that God's love is in you? Because you show your love back to him by obedience. This is how we know. This is our evidence. This is our test. How do you know you're a Christian? Because you obey the one who saved you. Not the other way around. I obey so I know I'm a Christian. No. I'm a Christian so I will obey and I know it. He's changed my heart. He has given me new affections, new desires. I want to honor him. I love him. This is how I can show you and show him that He is in me.

He has given me His love, and my response to His love is faithfulness. I'm not gaining it by obedience. It's passive voice. He gave me His love. He completed His love. His love is finished, as it were, finds its ultimate purpose and goal in my life when I respond with obedience. I don't have half of God's love with the other half depending on me. God doesn't build half bridges to Himself, right? So I have it. And if I'm going to prove I have it, I'm going to obey His commandments because I love those commandments. I love them. I love God's character. I love truth. I love faithfulness. I love honor. I love working. I love worship. All the things that are in the Ten Commandments, I love.

Verse 6, "He who says he abides in Him," or is in Him, in Him, that's the idea of union with Him, "ought to—" or sorry, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk," just as he walked.

You say you're in Christ? Can you say you're in Christ and then walk differently than Christ walked? Can two walk together unless they be agreed? What does the Psalm say about who you walk with, who you make your paths with, who you sit down with? So if you say, I love the Lord, I know the Lord, but I'm walking the way the enemies of God walk, Is that a consistent walk? I'm walking with blasphemers. I'm walking with the kind of people that want to crucify my Lord. Those are the people I walk with. But I know Him and I'm friends with Him. I just love spending all my time with His enemies.

Now there is an important word in this verse, in verse 6, that I love so much. I remember this. When you're taking Greek, sometimes words jump out at you. Like there's a word, pempo, that I think is a funny word. And it's just, I remember it because it's funny. It doesn't even mean— the meaning of the word is not all that important. Or the word I told you before in one form, I think that's when it's in the accusative case, is the word allelon means one another. Like the irony of that. That's how I remembered it in seminary, right? Allelon means one another.

Well, here's another one of those words because have you ever met anybody named Ophelia? Have you ever heard that name before? Ophelia. That's a Greek word. And the word means ought. Should. So I don't know, that's a strange name, isn't it, to call somebody a should? Like, so everywhere she goes, people should do what she says. Is that what it means? I don't know how you apply the name, but the word Ophelia, or in this case, Ophelo in the verb form, it means ought or should. And it has the idea of obligation. You're obligated to do it.

Now, the question I have for you is when you think of grace, and especially given the modern evangelical world we live in, which is so grace— it's not even grace-focused. It's love-focused. The idea is that you are the object of God's love to such a degree that it almost doesn't talk about our sinfulness. It almost doesn't talk about the need for grace, the favor of God, and that we don't have any merit for His favor, right? The idea of mercy is kind of a foreign concept in the world we live in. And so when you have that as your constant drum being banged in your head of love, love, love, love, the idea of ought or must or should becomes more and more foreign and distant from true Christianity.

So if I were to ask the question, is there expectation on people to have a Christ-like walk? Does God have expectations of people to walk like Christ? Do you want to know what the answer to that is? Yes. Yes. We were predestined to be conformed to His image. We are supposed to be changing. The gospel is supposed to make us Christlike. And the reason we were enemies of God is because we were not Christlike. We were only Adam-like. So the gospel is supposed to change us from one to the other.

And so when the text says, "He who says he abides," I say, "I live, I abide, I remain in the Lord. I am speared in the love of God. He owns me. He's my God. He's my King." He who says he abides in Him should, ought, must, walk like he walked. So are Christians required to have a Christian walk? The answer is yes. Yes. And to deny it is to deny the plain teaching of Scripture.

Now, that doesn't mean you don't fail. That doesn't mean it isn't hard. That doesn't mean that this world doesn't pummel you with every possible temptation and difficulty. And it certainly doesn't mean you don't have seasons of your life where you're in failure or fallen or outright backslidden. But one thing's sure, if God touches somebody, they are touched. And His touch always has an effect, always. Don't shortchange the power of God to change people. And also don't shortchange your ability that God gave you through all that grace, the sovereign grace of God through salvation, through everything He did for you and choosing you and everything else and saving you and redeeming you and applying the blood of Christ to you and separating you and calling you and bringing you into His family, all that empowers you to walk like Christ.

Grace is sufficient not just for us to be okay with the thorns in our side, but also for us to live for him and obey him and honor him. So does God expect a Christlike walk? Yes, it says, "Ought." If you say you abide in him, then you should show it by your walk. Your actions should show what you say.

Now let's go right into more commandment-keeping language.

Verse 7, "Brethren."

Now I want to take a quick timeout there. Who's he talking to? Say it. I don't usually expect response. I'm not Pentecostal style. But who is he talking to? Christians. Okay, you got that. So remember back to my introduction. What's the relationship between law and grace? What is the relationship? What relationship do people have with the law? And what did I say? It depends on which people, unbelievers or believers.

For the believers, the law is the condemnation that shows them that God is perfectly righteous and they are perfectly unrighteous. Right? It condemns them. It's our schoolmaster. It tells us, "You need a Savior." That's what the law does for us. But who is John talking to? Believers. What is their relationship to the law? It's the perfect nature and character of God. I love it.

He changed my heart. I used to hate it. It condemned me. But now I love it. And I want to obey Him. And I love Him. And I have a heart that says His righteousness is beautiful. I don't think of obeying God as this, "Mmm, white-knuckle painful thing. Oh, be holy. I can't be holy." No, you say, "I get to be holy." I couldn't before. I was condemned before, but now I get to. I couldn't be righteous before, but now I get to. I could only do the works of the flesh before, but now I have the fruit of the Spirit. I get to do God's things. It's a joyful, excited, victorious walk, or should be. That's the way it should be characterized.

So now, brethren, Christians, you who not only say but do, okay, you real Christians, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. So John's saying pretty bluntly, this ain't new. What I'm telling you is not new. I didn't just come up with some fancy new doctrine for you. This is the old doctrine.

Now the question is, does John mean the Old Testament or does John mean since Jesus came? It almost doesn't matter which of those is the case. I'm going to kind of refer to the Old Testament because I kind of think that John is doing big picture stuff here. So something like you read from Psalm 112, "Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments," right? That's Old Testament. Does that sound like legalism to you? Like staunch legalism, obedience or else? Or does that sound like somebody delights in the law of the Lord? Got it? That's Old Testament. Psalm 119 that I referred to earlier, "Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, yet Your commandments are my delights." Is it only a New Testament idea that the commandments are awesome and beautiful and good?

Psalm 16:3, "As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight," the psalmist says. I love God's people. So the idea of loving God and loving His people is not new to Christianity. It is what God always expected through all time of His people. If He chose a people, why do you think all the commandments have so much to do with how you treat your neighbor, how Israel was to treat their neighbor, and in lawsuits and violence and everything else? The commandments were always an exemplary of God's love and our needed love for each other. So it is not a new idea. It is not a new commandment that God expects people to love people. It's an old commandment. It's not new. It's been around since the beginning.

What was Cain's problem? He didn't love his brother. That was his problem, right? So the idea of not new commandment probably means big picture thinking, what I'm doing right now, sort of giant umbrella over everything, that God has always expected humans to be good to humans. He's always expected people to love Him and to love each other. And so this is not a new commandment in the sense that it is not something John is coming up with for the first time, to love, to walk in His commandments. This is not new. To say you love God, to say you know God, to say you're in a relationship with Him, and then walk contrary to His commandments has always been a problem.

Where did the passage come, "They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." Is that New Testament or Old? It's a trick question because you know it's in both. So the idea here is I'm not writing new things to you. You might— this might sound new to you, but it's not new. This is what God has always expected for His people to obey His commandments. Operative word being His people obey His commandments, right? His people are always supposed to keep His word, to love Him, to love their neighbors, to walk in the light. This has always been expected of God's people of all time. It's not new.

Then he says what looks like a contradiction in verse 8. This is the kind of thing that atheists like to try to key in on. "See, your Bible is full of contradictions. You Christians, you believe a bunch of contradictions." Because he just said, "I'm not writing a new commandment to you," in verse 7. "I write no new commandment to you." And now in verse 8 he's saying, "A new commandment I write to you." "See, see, your Bible is contradictory, Christian. You should give up the Christian faith because there's a contradiction right there." You think I'm being silly. People really do that. What I just did right there, people really do that.

Remember when Paul says to bear one another's burdens, and then a few verses later he says each one has to bear his own load? Contradiction right there in the Bible. I tell you what, the Bible writers are really, really dumb if they put their contradiction in the very next verse. Or it's not a contradiction. It's a play on words. You do not answer a fool according to his folly. What's the very next word— verse? Answer a fool according to his folly. This is a device. That is making a point.

The first point that John makes is, I am not telling you a new thing to say that walking with God actually means obeying His commandments and that you know Him intimately. That's not new. It's been around since the beginning. God has always expected consistency from His people. I'm your God, now don't have other gods. I'm your God, don't make other gods. I'm your God, keep my name holy. I'm your God, keep my day holy, right? That has always been the case. It's not new.

But then he says, "And again," or in verse 8, "A new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." What I think he's saying here now is this is now a present reality because of what we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That you who are beneficiaries of the gospel, who now— who is the light of the world? Who's come into the world, right? Who is the one who has conquered darkness? Who is the one who sheds the light to the people of earth now? It's Jesus. He has come. So that's why it says, "This thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away."

Now there is question as to what that darkness means. Does it mean like the darkness as in the Old Testament, you know, the lack of understanding or lack of clarity or lack of brightness in the Old Testament is passing away in favor of the New Testament? Or is John speaking to the darkness that he's already alluded to in his book in the previous verses? That people, instead of walking in the light, they're walking in the darkness? And that darkness, maybe John right now is kind of threatening the people who are continuing to walk in darkness? I don't know the answer to that, whether he means the Old Testament, because you know this, I think you know this, don't you? That mysteries, the idea of mystery is something that was hidden and then becomes revealed in the Bible, right?

When Paul, for example, talks about the woman and men in marriage, that the love that Christ has for his wife and the submission she has for the husband is a display of the gospel. And then he calls that— this is a mystery, but now we understand it— that marriage is a picture of the gospel, right? We understand it now. We didn't understand it, but now that we do, this idea that something we didn't know that was in the Old Testament, not darkness as in sin or evil, but just lack of understanding, maybe ignorance, maybe not full revelation yet, not full understanding yet. Illumination, I mean? And maybe now they understand that? Or is he speaking to the darkness that is evil in the day and the people living against God and the people who say they love God and don't and walk in darkness? I don't know, but whatever, whichever one it is, this text applies to both of them.

So the darkness of the Old Testament and any ignorance and anything that had not yet been revealed or understood or illuminated is passing away because Jesus came. In former times he spoke by the prophets, in these latter times He has spoken by His Son. So Jesus came on the scene. So the Old Testament, if it's dark, is passing away because the light of the world is Jesus, right? That's true. But also, the darkness of this world and the people denying God and the people saying they walk with Him and the people walking in darkness, that's also passing away. And so John is essentially saying, you Christians are walking in the light, or you should. I'm telling these things to you. It's not a new commandment. You should know it more than anyone because we have the light of Christ. We have the love of Christ. We know this idea that He came to save us and to empower us to keep commandments.

These are not new, but we have them in the newest sense. They're things that are not new in the theological or philosophical sense, but they are things that are new practically because of the New Covenant because we understand them fully now in Christ. So it's not a new commandment to keep commandments, but it might be a new commandment that you know you're empowered by Christ to do it. Because we have him, because we're in him. It says that this thing is true in him and in you. We have a special relationship to God now, post-Christ, post-resurrection. We walk with him in newness because of the gospel. I think that's what it could be saying.

It can be a little confusing because John— I don't know, John will go from like saying things like little children to full-on apostolic strength and authority. Like, think of John saying to these Christians here, the brethren here, "Little children." He'll say that over and over again. But then think about the way he talks in 3 John about Diotrephes. "When I come, I'll set him straight." Right? So the same John that is tender and sweet and relatable and down to earth, that same John will hit hard when the time comes for real truth. So does he here mean big picture or does he mean immediate? And I think that's the answer. I think the idea is Jesus has come and the darkness is passing and will be passing away. All the things that were against God, all the things that were unclear before have— and by the way, it could be both. Both of those things could be true.

So he— and by the way, he does say now there. In a moment, we'll see the word now, I think. Yeah, in verse 9. So I think he's really emphasizing the present state of these believers with their relationship to the Old Testament. All right. So the brethren— now, this is not a foregone conclusion. How well do you get along with your blood siblings? Does everybody— why are you laughing? So that makes a point for me. I ask that question because it is not a foregone conclusion that somebody can be your sibling and have it be a good relationship. Right? It's not a given that you can have a blood relationship with someone and that relationship automatically, because of the blood of familial genetics, be good. I can say that too, by the way. I, for the most part, get along with my siblings, but I do know that there can be tension. So just because John has called these people brethren does not mean that they always act like brethren.

Okay? That's why we get to verse 9, where he says, "He who says he is in the light instead of the darkness." And again, now we could probably apply it to the darkness that's passing away. Instead of walking in darkness, you walk in light. That darkness that's passing away. In other words, the things that are not connected to God, the things that are not empowered by God, the things that are not God-related, the things that are earth-related but not heavenly related, those things are passing away. And we Christians are not supposed to be like those things passing away. We're not supposed to walk in darkness. We're not supposed to love darkness. We're supposed to love the Lord. We're supposed to love the light. We're supposed to love Jesus, who is the light of the world. We are the light of the world, right? We're supposed to be shining the light. The light is the thing that displays the truths of God.

So the— he who says he is in the light, and then look at the qualification here, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. Now the until now might give you the impression that that's going to change. But I actually think he's more connecting it to the idea of the darkness that's passing away. If you hate your brother, you're in that passing away darkness right now. I think that's sort of the way you would say it emphatically. Like, if you think or say that you love God or know God, you have to keep his commandments. And now he gives a sort of specific commandment about loving your brother. If you say you are in the light, if you say it with your mouth, I am a child of light. I am no longer in the darkness. I am a child of light, but I hate my brother. John just says, you're not a child of light. You're still in darkness, even now. Like right now, if you hate your brother or sister— and by the way, you know, this is not your blood family, though it applies to your blood family. This is about Christians loving Christians.

So is it required at all times for Christians to love other Christians? Yeah, it is, 100%. You know, I often tease folks who use 1 Corinthians 13 at Valentine's Day? Because 1 Corinthians 13 just so happens to be in 1 Corinthians. And that book is not a happy book. It is almost 100% corrective of a church that was just messed up. So they were doing so much wrong. And one of the things they were doing very, very wrong was love. So the Apostle Paul has to say, you people clearly don't know what love is. You want to know how I know? Because I just said a couple chapters ago that you guys are having love feasts instead of communion, and there's people hungry in your church that you're not feeding. So you're not even inviting the poor people to your love feast so they can get food. So you don't even know what love is. All you're doing is using gifts and everything for selfish purposes.

So he has to give this corrective— it's discipline. 1 Corinthians 13 is discipline to get love right so that you know what it is, right? So when you read 1 Corinthians 13, yeah, you can put a quote in a Valentine's card, but please get the main point. So I'm gonna challenge you, if you're up for it, do it on your own. If you want to know what verse 9 of 1 John 2 means, go read 1 Corinthians 13. Because that's what he's talking about. He who says he's in the light and hates his brother. And you might think, well, what if I just— you know, people say this all the time, "I love my husband, but I don't always like him." Have you heard that? Do you know not liking your husband is sin? That's all it is, always. Because there are commands that say, "Be kindly, affectionate to one another." That isn't sacrificial agape love. That's kindness. That's familial friendly love. So Christians have to love each other. Spouses have to love each other.

Now, I'm saying all this in a context of brethren. Just so you know, I'm not trying to apply that love to everybody in the world. Everybody outside the home. I'm not telling you to hate anybody outside the home, but I am saying this is a specific familial Christian congregation believer context, okay? So that's where it applies. Sometimes people think that this text is saying for me to be loving. No, it's not. It is saying to be loving, but it's saying to be loving toward your brothers, to Christians, to be good to the household of faith. That's what it's saying. And anybody that says they're in the light and hates their brother, They're not. They're in darkness. And the kind of darkness I think that's passing away.

Verse 10, "He who loves his brother abides in the light," remains in the light. His home is in the light. "And there is no cause for skandalizomai in him," or skandalon, scandal. What's a scandal? Do you ever use that word in your daily life? Scandal's an old-fashioned word, isn't it? A scandal is getting caught in something like a trap so that you stumble. Like a tripping hazard. That's the idea. So listen, if you say you know God but you hate your brother, if you say you walk in light but you hate your brother, you say you are a Christian but you don't keep commandments, if you say all of that and do that, do you know what you are? You're a landmine to everybody around you. You have potential to destroy everybody around you.

I've heard it so many times over and over again. One of the biggest arguments against the Christian faith is our hypocrisy. And instead of us all saying, "Yeah, I could see that," you know what we all say? "Well, uh, the evidence in the Bible in the—" And we don't own our hypocrisy. Hey folks, we're hypocrites. The sooner you admit it, the better off you'll be to overcome being a hypocrite. We mess up, we sin, we fail. And instead of saying, "I never fail, so you shouldn't stumble," we should say, "If I'm ever the cause of your stumbling, I'm sorry. I don't want to be. I'm trying to live righteous."

I know somebody very dear to me who had spent, I don't know, 10 years, 11 years as a Christian. They had been faithful in their walk, working hard to be a faithful believer, and they happened to work in an office environment. Right? 10 years. I knew them. They did lots of stuff for our church. They were faithful in their ministry. And they were faithful in their office, telling the truth, being helpful, constantly serving other people. And one time, that person slipped up and the old them came out and they said a bad word. Because I think it was even stereotypical that the copy machine didn't work. I think that's what caused it. And they said a bad word out loud. And somebody was in the office with them. And they, the person who I know, apologized profusely. Ah, I'm so sorry I said that. I don't— that's not me. I don't— I'm so sorry.

Do you know what the other person said? That other person said, no, I'm glad to hear it because now I don't feel so uncomfortable around you. Now I know the real you. So 10 years of faithfulness out the door. Now, let me tell you something. That person in the office, not our friend, was wrong to think that, okay? So they were wrong. That was a bad judgment. They were not— that's— you're never justified in thinking that way of a person. Oh, your one bad moment is all you are. That's not a way to do it. So I'm going to tell you, they drew the wrong conclusion. But I'm just trying to show you how powerful a failure of character can be to those watching. I'm not telling you that if you're perfect, everybody will get saved. I'm not even telling you that their salvation depends on you being a lack of a hypocrite. But I am telling you, you do not want to be the stumbling block. You do not want to be somebody that in your life and in your behavior gives people a good reason not to follow Jesus Christ.

He who says he loves his brother abides in the light. He who loves his brother abides in the light. A real brother lover, somebody who actually truly loves biblical love, Christian love, their brother, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. So if you hate your brother, you have the potential to trip people up and give them reasons to not honestly acknowledge the faith. Again, ultimately, sometimes people will say things like that. I will tell you on a more theological side, okay, apart from the practicals here, theologically, somebody will tell me, and they do all the time, "I would become a Christian except for all the hypocrisy." I always say, instead of saying, "Well, there's not all that hypocrisy. It's not as much as you think." I don't try to defend our hypocrisy. I'll say, if every single Christian was a hypocrite, Christianity would still be true. Because the truth is the truth, and Jesus is who He said He is. All right? So it isn't that you have the power by your consistency to change any heart. The gospel is the gospel. God has to do that work anyway. But the Bible does hold us accountable for causing stumbling, doesn't it? What does Jesus say about people who cause stumbling? So don't be one of those. Avoid millstones.

So we're not talking about the ultimate result. We just want to not be people who don't love God's people and who cause stumbling. Again, back to commandment keeping. Do you love his commandments? Do you love him? Do you love the idea that instead of a stumbling block, you become an encourager to the Lord? Somebody that does live consistently, somebody that does love him, somebody that shows by your life that he is worth following. When you walk around, are you radiating the light of Christ? Or is your head down like everybody else's in the darkness of this world? Do you love His commandments? When somebody says, "Hey, I notice you don't cuss all the time." Do you say, "Mm, mm, mm, I don't want to fit in." You say, "Yeah, no, I would never want to blaspheme my Lord. I would never want to say things that are unbecoming." "Yeah, I notice all the time you always tell the truth on your time card. You always tell the truth." "Yeah, because God's a God of truth and I love Him." I want to reflect Him on earth.

I always love this story. It means so much to me because it was hard for me to do. Some of you know this. I bought a truck. And my friend actually did the deal for me because he was with the truck and then brought it to me. And it was one of those deals where they didn't fill out the bill of sale amount, right? You know what I'm talking about? Where like the bill of sale I got to present to the DMV that says how much I paid for the car. And then that amount is what they base the registration fees and taxes on, right? So there I'm going— by the way, I did not know that until I was standing in line at the DMV. So I'm standing in line at the DMV. I got the paperwork in my hand. And I unfold it. And it's— and there's the bill— the amount paid is blank. So if you don't know what that means, first of all, good. I'm glad you don't know what it means. But some of you know what it means, which means I can put whatever amount I want in there. I could say I bought that truck for $100. And my registration fees are going to be really cheap. Might even save on insurance. And every year, the insurance is going to be— or the registration is going to be cheaper, right?

Well, who cares? Everybody does that. So there I am thinking about it. And of course, I wasn't tempted. Just so you know, I didn't actually have an, oh no, I should put something down. We get up to the thing, and the lady sees me do this. The lady at the counter sees me. I go, hold on. And she sees me fill it in. And I said, this is what I actually paid for it. Real quick, can you tell me? What my registration would be if I didn't pay this. So I think the amount was like, at that time, this was years ago, 15 or 20 years ago, it's like $250 because of the amount I did pay for it, right? And I said, if I had put another number down there, say like $500, how much would I have saved? And she said ultimately the amount was about $200. And I thought, I would feel like $237 for some reason is the number in my mind. And so she said, would it cost you, you'd save $237.

And I said, so you're telling me that the price to pay to sleep at night and have a clear conscience is only $237? And she's looking at me kind of funny. And I said, "That's all it costs to have a clear conscience? Do you know how much I would pay? I'd pay 10 times that for a clear conscience." And she said, "I don't know if I understand, but okay." And I said, "Let me tell you, I'm a Christian, and I have to tell the truth. And I don't ever want to apologize for something I'm doing just because I could have gotten away with it and nobody was looking." And that lady at the DMV started crying. She just uncontrollably started crying. And I said, "I thought I said something wrong. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" She said, "No, I'm a Christian too. We have an RV and we can barely afford to keep it registered. And every day people come through this line and lie. And my husband and I try to tell the truth and it's so hard. And it's so encouraging to see somebody stand for the truth." I didn't mean to do that. I'm bragging about it now to my church, but at the time I did not mean to do that to display anything. I was going through it, and I was going to go through it out loud and maybe get an opportunity to say something about the Lord. That's all I was thinking. No stumbling. I didn't cause that lady stumbling. I didn't say, "Ten dollars and I'm a pastor." I love that. I have a clear conscience because of that day. At least in that thing. I've messed up a lot, plenty. But I do want you to see no hypocrisy there so that I could not cause stumbling.

Verse 11, "But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. That doesn't know where he is going part really struck me because I don't meet a lot of people in life who act like they don't know where they're going. Most people I meet act like they know where they're going. They act like they have a clear plan in their life and they're fulfilling their passions and they have direction and they're meeting their goals and They seem to have it all together, at least in their own minds they do. They can tell you what's important to them, but if they're hating their brother and thinking they're all right in life or all right with the Lord, this text says they're in darkness and they don't even know it.

I always say this, that no one ever drifts or floats toward the Lord. No one ever stumbles toward the Lord. No one ever accidentally becomes more faithful. I'm saying that to you because it's possible that you have had some kind or level or amount or type of hatred for the brethren, for Christians, a lack of brotherly kindness, a lack of affection, a lack of sacrifice and service, a lack of service to the household of faith, of being good to the household of faith, resentment, bitterness, anger, judgment, criticism, whatever it is. Toward God's people and think you're right with him. And you might be thinking you're right with him while stumbling around in darkness. I'm fine with God. Look at me, of course he likes me. I'm faithful. I've served him all these years. I go to Sunday school. I tithe. Of course I'm right with him. How are you treating the brethren? How are you showing love for the brethren? This is grace in us, the grace of salvation in us being worked out. Folks, that should look like grace when it's coming out of us too. It should be grace going in where God says, "You were a sinner, you hated me, you killed my Son, but I'm gonna love you anyway." That's what that should look like coming out of us toward the brethren. Grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, acceptance, reconciliation. Peacemaking, no judgment, not criticism, love. So how are you doing in your Christ-like love for the brethren? Because you're supposed to be walking the way He walked. How did He walk with His brethren? When they were failing, how did He treat them? When they were blowing it, how did He treat them? When they were crucifying Him, how did He treat them? How are we doing?

Oh, I love God. I'm a Christian. I'm totally a Christian. Just don't ask me questions about the people I go to church with. Oh, I'm a Christian. Totally a Christian. Don't ask me. Don't let my husband hear how you and I are talking on the phone behind his back. It says it so clear, "He who hates his brother is in darkness." Now, obviously, that means hate-hate, right? That means despising. That means wanting ill, maligning, right? That's the idea of directed hatred. I think that's the main idea here. But in our context, I do think it's safe to say a lack of love in this case is hate because the contrast is what's found before it. "He who says he's in the light and hates his brother is in darkness." So you're walking according to darkness, not according to light.

So simple question, are you keeping his commandments? First of all, back up, are you a Christian? Have you ever trusted Christ as your Savior? Have you ever been saved? Have you ever repented, turned from your sin, acknowledging that you violated God's commandments and the God of the commandments? Have you ever done that? Have you ever accepted Christ as your Savior so that now you know without any question you are a Christian? No one ever became a Christian by keeping commandments. So have you accepted the grace of violating commandments? After violating commandments, now that you are a Christian, how are you doing with commandments? How are you doing with telling the truth? And remember the way Jesus interpreted the commandments. Is adultery just a physical act of adultery, or is it lust? Is murder the physical act of murder, or is it anger or hatred? How are you doing at exemplifying the character of God in your Christ-like walk? Because he says you ought to walk like he walked. How did he treat people who failed? How did he treat people who said they were Christians and weren't? He uses language like "brood of vipers." So how are you doing? How are you doing with the brethren? Man, John really gets into our backyard, doesn't he? I don't know if John would be the funnest guy to hang around with all the time because he says it like it is.

Let's pray. Father, now as we close this service, we would ask that we would do the self-examination that John calls us to do where we might be saying things but we haven't really thought through them. It is possible, Father, for us to talk without thinking. We do it all the time. And maybe we haven't done the introspection. We haven't done the examination of examining ourselves by Scripture. And I just ask, Father, that we would do that, and that if we look at your word, we would find not only that we would be not found wanting, but living for you and loving your word and your commandments and walking in them. We love honoring you as you're displayed in those commandments. And then also, Father, for our love for each other, would you help us be a loving people, not a hating people or causing any stumbling. We need help with that, and help us instead of judging or condemning, find forgiveness and love for each other. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.