“Summer of Love” // 1 John 2:1-11
The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at our Crosspoint Church-Bellaire Campus. To view the sermon in full, check out the link below.
I want to make sure I provide you some context and a bit of review. One of the things that is important to have a grasp of the message of the biblical writers is to understand the purpose of their writing. So, there are a lot of genres of literature in the Bible. There is:
- History and the giving of the Law
- Wisdom literature
- Prophetic Literature
- Poetic Literature
- The Gospels — good news accounts of the life of Jesus
- Acts — the history of the early church
- Pastoral Epistles or the Pastoral Letters
- Apocalyptic Literature
1st, 2nd, and 3rd John are a part of the Pastoral Letters. These are letters primarily written to churches to address struggles, challenges, heresy or other doctrinal issues that are being taught, as well as to offer encouragement.
1St John is primarily written to deal with the heretical teaching of Gnosticism. The word “Gnosis” is the root word here, and it is Greek for KNOWLEDGE. Apparently there was a teaching that was being both taught and embraced that proclaimed two core things:
- All Flesh is Bad or Evil
- Salvation is Earned through a Special Knowledge that only a few will be given
That’s why John starts off his letter with a statement that sounds something like this:
“Hey Church,
I’m about to tell you a bit about what I personally know…I’ve seen, smelled, heard, touched, and walked with the man, who was fully God and fully man, Jesus of Nazareth. I was one of his first disciples and I was in his inner circle of the three. If there is anything that I have KNOWLEDGE of it is this — He was God who came and took on FLESH.”
As we have studied over the past two weeks, John was confronting a heresy — a false teaching — in the church.
The implications of their false teaching would lead to a few conclusions naturally. One, that salvation is found in a different way, as the atoning death of Jesus wouldn’t be sufficient to pay for our sins. The second implication of this false teaching lead many to consider their flesh…the functions and appetites of their bodies in one of two ways. Now, remember their view was that all flesh was evil. Therefore, they would either:
- Indulge their appetites of the flesh in all sorts of drunkenness, orgies, and immorality…or…
- They would punish their flesh, trying to purge our their evil appetites…acting as if they were imprisoned in their flesh.
This was a major problem, as the out-croppings of this teaching led to “BONDAGE” — A bondage to license or a bondage to legalism.
There was also a sense of moralism — that through being good, one could atone for their own sin and not need any sacrifice for sins. This moralism went so far as to claim that they were so moral, that they didn’t ever really sin.
So, John writes, verse 10 of chapter 1.
1 John 1:10
“If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
This is where we left off last week. Let’s pick up here remembering that this is a letter from a Pastor/Teacher to a congregation he has deeply invested in. Let’s also remember this context — Gnosticism and Moralism are the backdrop. John is now probably somewhere between 75-85 years of age, so listen to how he addresses this church.
I almost hear him as a Grandfather, communicating Simple Truths to His Grandchildren. Let’s listen in…
1 John 2:1-11
“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. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 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. 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. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 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.”
Let’s unpack this Grandfatherly wisdom together and let’s use this simple outline.
John’s Grandfatherly Wisdom Addresses:
- The Sin of the Believer
- The Walk of the Believer
- The Love of the Believer
You see, the Apostle keeps it really simple for us.
Let’s look at this first one.
I. The Sin of the Believer
Let’s look at verses 1-2.
1 John 2:1-2
“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. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Notice very plainly, the goal for the believer — that we might not sin.
In chapter 1, verse 8 says…
1 John 1:8
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
John has lived enough of life to say, “Don’t claim you don’t have sin. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to stumble and fall. You are going to miss the mark living out this life. And to claim you have no sin, you are only lying to yourself and you aren’t really a believer because the truth is not within you.”
As a matter of fact, because you are a believer, you are going to absolutely know that you sin. Though our goal is not to sin, because you have the truth, the Spirit of God in you, you will be convicted of your sin.
Again, the goal is not to sin. But why might we sin?
Well, it’s really simple. You see, you have three forces working against you.
- Your Flesh
- The World and its System
- Satan
Let me say a word about each of these for a brief moment.
- Your Flesh — Your flesh has appetites. You like to eat. You like to drink. You like to have sex. You like the clothes you wear. And the truth is that God has given us food, drink, sex, clothing, and the things that we like, for our enjoyment.
But, we take these good things that God has given to us and we pervert them. We abuse them. So, we are given to gluttony. Or we are given to drunkenness or drug use and addiction. Or, we engage in sex before or outside of marriage. And we violate the standards that God has given, because our flesh wants this. Our flesh cries out for satisfaction.
And when we give way to the flesh, if we aren’t careful, we will mar our testimony and disqualify ourselves from influencing others into the Kingdom.
You see, if Satan can convince you to gratify the flesh, he can put you in bondage, mar your testimony, and render you impotent to impact and influence anyone for the kingdom.
That’s why the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 that, “I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
2. The World — Our second enemy is the world and its systems. The Scripture says that Satan is the Prince of this World. The world and its systems are set up to create oppressors and those who are oppressed. It’s the history of mankind and it’s devastating.
3. Satan — Many of us blame Satan. And sometimes, that’s pretty accurate. Satan is a tempter, a deceiver, and he masquerades as an angel of light…trying to get you to take a bite of forbidden fruit. That’s who he is and what he does.
The Scripture calls him the Adversary. Did you know that if you follow Jesus, you have an adversary? He hates you. He wants nothing more than to ruin your life so that you will proclaim that God is not good. Your adversary loves to author pain in your life. Your adversary loves to tempt you to go places you know you shouldn’t go and do things you know you aren’t to do and then tell you that if God was good, he wouldn’t allow you so many problems, heartaches and difficulties.
As a matter of fact, Satan was the first gnostic. Remember his claim to Eve in the Garden? Did God really say, “…”?
Then he claimed this “Special Knowledge” available to Eve if she would but partake.
Look at it in Genesis 3:4-5.
Genesis 3:4-5
“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Your enemy, the Adversary, tells us that we need to ignore what God has said and instead seek a special knowledge that can only be found by going against what God has said. He invites you to come and get a certain experience…a certain knowledge…that God is withholding from you. You have an Adversary who is trying to ruin your life.
But I have really good news for you. Can I share it with you?
You also have an ADVOCATE.
You have an Adversary who uses the systems of the world, and the weakness of your flesh, to tempt you to sin. He invites you to sin, because again, he is trying to ruin your life.
But listen to the Grandfatherly Wisdom of John — You also have an ADVOCATE…one who represents you to the Father.
- One who claims you as His own.
- One who has put his name on you.
- One who has marked you with His spirit.
- One who is worthy to argue for you before the Father.
And He is a Worthy Advocate for you. Do you know why?
He is a worthy advocate for you because HE IS THE RIGHTEOUS ONE!
He is Righteous. He is one in whom there is no sin. He was fully God and fully man and in him was no sin.
More than that, we also see here that he is our PROPITIATION.
This simply means the sin offering that satisfies the wrath of God.
We discovered in our study of the book of Romans that Paul uses the same term of Jesus — the NIV says, “Atoning Sacrifice.” The ESV, that I am using, says, “Propitiation.”
You see, in the Roman Polytheism, people would go to the various temples and take an offering to the various gods that they might satisfy the wrath of the deity. They never had a security that they were satisfying that gods anger. No, instead, they had to guess. They had to offer a sacrifice that they thought would satisfy the anger of the gods.
That’s what the propitiation was — the offering that satisfied the wrath.
The Bible teaches us that we have a worthy advocate, Jesus, who was completely righteous and he was the sin offering that would satisfy the wrath of God. So, since He, Jesus, is that offering that satisfies God’s wrath, He can advocate for us…and not just us. No, he is the propitiation for the entire world.
So, when you sin, and you will, don’t dismiss it. Don’t excuse it. And Don’t let it overwhelm you. Instead, do what we learned last week — CONFESS IT and be CLEANSED OF IT.
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.”
Are you feeling convicted of sin? Confess it to the Lord. Thank him for his forgiveness and allow him to cleanse you. It’s such an important discipline in the life of the believer to confess their sin.
Let’s look at this second part of John’s Grandfatherly Wisdom.
John’s Grandfatherly Wisdom Addresses:
- The Sin of the Believer
- The Walk of the Believer
- The Love of the Believer
Let’s consider the…
II. The Walk of the Believer
Look at this challenge in verse 6.
1 John 2:6
“…whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
So, let’s evaluate ourselves in this light?
First, it’s hard to live up to the life of Jesus. But do we even try? Because the context of this that John is address are those who truly are believers. You see, throughout the New Testament, there is a tension of those who profess Christ and those who truly know Christ.
Those who profess Christ try to check the boxes…said the prayer…yep. Even got baptized…yep. But I’m living however I want because I’m my own man!
The question is do you really know Jesus?
Look at verse 3.
1 John 2:3
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Look at that word, “KNOW.”
Remember, there was a “secret knowledge” being taught by the Gnostics.
John says, “My grandkids, listen to me. You can know that you know him!”
In 1 John 5:13 it says…
1 John 5:13
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
John is saying, “You can know that you know God and have been forgiven by him. You can know that He accepts you.”
You know something? No other religion of the world offers that. Did you know that?
Ask the devout Muslim if Allah will accept him or her? They do not know. Ask the Buddhist if he is sure he will enjoy Nirvana. He doesn’t know. Ask the Hindu if she will be reincarnated to a higher state…she doesn’t know.
But this grandfather in the faith says, “You can know that you know.”
Look at verse 3 again of chapter 2.
1 John 2:3
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Now, in the New Covenant, God promised to write his commandments on our hearts. So, evidence of our knowing him is a desire to keep his commandments…his standards…his statutes.
If you claim Christ as your Savior but live like the world, are you sure that you are saved? Evidence of your salvation for yourself is that you take a look into your heart and ask if you desire to keep God’s commandments. If you despise his commandments…if you despise his word…if you despise His will and His way, there is a really good chance you don’t know Him, you aren’t His, and He isn’t your Advocate.
He wants to be, but let’s not kid ourselves.
John is so clear on this he says it this way in verses 4 and 5.
1 John 2:4-5
“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him…”
John says, “Hey, it’s really simple. The one who claims Christ will want to put on His jersey and play on His team.”
You can claim him, but if you aren’t at all motivated to keep his commandments, you are living a lie.
So, can I ask you:
- What does your walk say?
- What does your life show?
- Are you striving to live and look like Jesus?
- Are you trying to model his heart and exemplify his character and ethic?
Let me finish up with this. Let’s look at our third bit of Grandfatherly wisdom from John.
John’s Grandfatherly Wisdom Addresses:
- The Sin of the Believer
- The Walk of the Believer
- The Love of the Believer
III. The Love of the Believer
Look at verses 7-11 with me.
1 John 2:7-11
“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. 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. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 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.”
This is where the rubber meets the road. You can fool a lot of people by your words. You can fool a lot of people with your pious platitudes. You can even fool yourself.
But John says, “Listen, do you want to know that you know Jesus? If so, it’s going to show in how you view and treat others.”
Now, the contrast here is between light and darkness and love and hate.
To walk in the light is to walk in the knowledge and revelation of the way of Jesus. It’s to exemplify love, grace, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, walking the extra mile, and loving your enemies.
Y’all got that, right?
To be in the light is to know this and understand this. It’s been revealed to your heart and you know that this is the way of Jesus and what He requires.
In verse 9 it speaks of abiding. It speaks of remaining.
It’s the new Tom Brady Hertz commercials. Y’all know the one I am talking about?
He is in the parking garage at the airport and there are Electric Vehicles all around him. And he is there to recharge. The EV Charger is plugged into this Chest.
That’s this picture of abiding and remaining. We are plugged into the vine. We are simply the branches and the sap of the vine is coming to us to nourish us and then it bears fruit in our lives out to others.
John says, “You can’t claim to abide in Christ and be plugged in him and still hate your brother. Nope…that’s a massive disconnect.”
That would be like trying to run your Electric Vehicle on gas. And I’m not talking about a hybrid vehicle here.
No, I’m talking about an EV Chassis. It doesn’t have a gas tank. It doesn’t have a gasoline engine. It doesn’t run on gas online, it runs on battery powered electricity.
And you and I can act like a Tesla but still be a Ford Taurus or Escape.
So, let me ask you…what do your relationships with others reveal about your relationship to God?
Let me close by challenging you in a few ways.
Let’s listen to the words of this grandfather today. Let’s hear him tell us that we shouldn’t sin. But if we do, we can allow our Advocate to forgive us and cleanse us. For you who know that you know Christ, this is an appropriate reminder for you. Spend some time this day searching your heart and asking God to reveal your sin to you that you might confess it to Him and be cleansed.
Others here you don’t know that you know Jesus. You don’t have assurance of your salvation. Do you know that you know Jesus? Ask Him to come into your life and take up residence and change your heart.
Some of you are striving to follow Jesus but your are living in sin…
Are you living in sin? Do you care about keeping the ethic and way of Jesus? If not, do you realize that your heart exposes what you truly believe?
Some of you today have come to the realization that the Scripture indicts you and that you aren’t a follower of Jesus and you want to come to Christ.
Bring him your heart today…