As we continue in our study of 1 John, we are looking at line of reasoning which John has been presenting concerning the reality of our faith.  The great concern of his as he is writing this epistle has been the false teaching that has arisen in the church.  That false doctrine is what is called Gnosticism.  Gnosticism comes from the Greek word ginōskō which means to know.  John uses the word know 26 times in this epistle, and introduces it in the verses we are looking at today in vs 3-6.  For instance, John uses it twice in vs 3, saying, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 

Now in the previous chapter, John identified three ways in which one professed to know God, but in actuality they showed by their actions that they did not know God. He said in vs6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; …and in vs 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” … and in vs10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Now in chapter 2 vs 4, John adds another false claim to know God, saying, “ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”  Once again, as in the previous three, the claim is of an intimate knowledge of God which is not supported by one’s actions or behavior.

So one of the positive things that John is doing here is giving us assurance of our salvation.  But at the same time, on the negative side, he is revealing the false claim of the imposter, or someone who is really not a Christian.  And this is important in our day, just as much if not more than it was in John’s day, because in our culture there are many, many people that claim to know God, claim to be Christian, and yet their lives are evidence that what they claim is not true. John says if they say they know God and not keep His commandments then they are a liar. 

You know, our Christianity is not evidenced by what church we belong to.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by how many Bible studies we attend a week.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by what spiritual gifts we may exhibit.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by whatever theological degrees we may hold. Our Christianity is evidenced by our obedience to God.

Now in chapter one, the emphasis John made was on the claim of knowing God and yet practicing sin being incompatible with being a Christian. If you claimed to know God, but lived a life in which you practiced sin, then John says categorically, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. You may say you are saved, but you are deceived.  You may say that you know God but you do not.  You may say that you know the word of God but the truth is not in you.  John is pretty direct about that.  The proof is in the pudding, as they say. A Christian cannot, will not, live in sin, and if you do, then John you are not a Christian, period.

But in this chapter, John shifts gears somewhat.  He says, a Christian is not just known by what they don’t do, but what they do.  You know, when I was growing up, we used to sometimes hear this expression, “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.”  I guess down in the part of North Carolina I grew up in, we had a problem with girls chewing tobacco. I don’t know how the expression came about really. Maybe it was the lyrics to an old song, I don’t know.  But the thought behind it was that good Christians didn’t do certain things.  And sometimes that list was pretty long.  In the church I grew up in, we didn’t go to movies, we didn’t listen to rock music, we didn’t go to dances, men didn’t wear long hair, and  we didn’t smoke, drink, or chew tobacco.  And unfortunately, we oftentimes validated our Christianity by whether or not you kept that list.  

So rather than just saying what a Christian doesn’t do, in this passage John introduces some positive proofs of Christianity. He says this is what a Christian does. A Christian does not practice sin, but a Christian practices righteousness.  So John provides certain positive tests to our claim of knowing God.

Now these are tests by which we show we know God, not the means by which we come to know God.  We know that salvation is by grace, it is the gift of God. We know that we receive eternal life through the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, and that gift of eternal life does not depend upon our good works, or by our attempts at righteousness, but simply by the free gift of Christ’s righteousness which is reckoned to our account. So we are not saved by our works. But make no mistake, the miracle of grace produces a change in us. The miracle of grace produces a conversion, a transformation in us.  So that I no longer am the same man I used to be.  But by believing in what Christ has done for me, I am born again, I am a new creation.  And so because I am a new creation, I have a new way of living.  A lot of preachers emphasize that because of grace we show gratitude.  And yes, of course we should.  But that is not entirely it.  What happened is that the grace of God changed me. The gift of God changed my heart, it changed my desires.  I no longer lust after the things of the world, but I love the things of God.

Consequently, because I am a new creation, I have a new behavior.  So that John can say in vs 3, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

Now let’s break that down a little bit. John says,  “By this we know that we have come to know Him.”  If you look at that statement, you have to recognize that the apostle believed it was possible to know God, and secondly, he believed it was possible to know that you know. In other words, it is possible to know God, and it is possible to have assurance of that knowledge.

So how may I know that I know him? Because I had some experience? No. Through signs and wonders? No. Through speaking in tongues? No. Through hearing voices from heaven or because God supposedly spoke to me? No, John says it’s we have assurance that we know God because we keep His commandments.

The word keep in the Greek is tēreō.  It was a word often used to speak of a sentry or a guard,  so it suggests that we should be on guard to obey God’s will.   Strong’s definition of “tereo” is to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard, to observe.   That reminds me of the way God spoke of His commandments to the Israelites in Deut. 11:18-21 God said, “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,  so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens [remain] above the earth.”  That’s the idea behind keeping the commandments, or keeping the word of God.

So what John says simply, “I may know that I know him by the practical test of obedience to the commandments.” Now remember, the basis for our salvation is found in vs 2, Christ is the propitiation for our sins. And we receive forgiveness and His righteousness by faith through grace. But the evidence of our salvation is found here in vs 3, if we keep His commandments. We’re not saved by obedience, but our obedience evidences the salvation that we genuinely have.

The question arises then, what are the commandments? I can’t help but think that just asking that indicates a desire on our part to escape any obligation on our part, doesn’t it?  That’s what the rich young ruler asked.  Remember the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, ““Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And Jesus said, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” And the rich young ruler replied, “Which ones?”  That question reveals his heart, doesn’t it? All the commandments of God are good. Paul said the law is good.  They all must be kept. 

John helps us to understand this principle  in vs 5. Notice in vs 5, John says, “whoever keeps His word.” Now up to this time he has been saying whosoever keeps His commandments.  Now he shows that the “word” is interchangeable with “commandments.”  So, he is speaking of more than just the 10 commandments. He is speaking of keeping the word of God, which encompasses the whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

But let’s try to summarize the commandments of Christ.  We can find a succinct statement by Christ to that point in John 15:12.  Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.”  Now at first glance that sounds simple enough, but it’s actually a lot more comprehensive once you consider it.

There was a lawyer who came to Jesus to test Him and he asked of Him the question, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” 

Now the point I want to emphasize there is that these two commandments encompass the entire law.  It’s not that we don’t consider the rest of the law because we only have these two that are in effect in the new covenant.  But it means that all the law can be summarized in these two.  

For instance, if you love your neighbor you will not commit adultery with his wife. If you love your neighbor you will not steal from him.  If you love your neighbor you will not covet what he has.  As Paul said in Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of [the] law.”

Love isn’t some new law, it’s the same old law.  It’s just a new way of looking at the law. John goes on to say in vs 7, “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.”  And as John gets further along in his letter, he is going to say a lot about the law of love, and how we need to think about it.  Love is not sentimentality, it’s not an emotional response, it’s not even predicated on whether or not you like someone, or whether or not you are attracted to someone.  Love is what you do for someone, how you act towards someone.

So John presents this truth of how we know that we know God by both a negative statement and a positive statement.  It’s one sentence, split over two verses.  Once again the translators did a disservice in their numbering of verses.  John gives the negative part of the statement in vs 4 and continues in vs 5 with the positive part of the statement.  “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”

Once again, notice the correlation between the commandments and His word.  John makes them synonymous.  But then notice he says the person who keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.  Now what does he mean by perfected?  Does this mean that we should reach some level of perfection where we no longer sin? Is it possible for a Christian to be perfect? 

Well, John answered that in the last chapter saying,  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” So perfected doesn’t mean obtaining perfection, but rather completion.  The word translated perfected would be better translated completed.  And what that refers to is this.  John said in 1John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.” Because God first loved us, it produces love in us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But then a few verses further Jesus says what the love of God produces in us in vs21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  That indicates that the response of the new life is a new way of living, a life in which our deeds are manifested as having been wrought in God.”  It’s like a circle, we love, because He first loved us, and that love changed us, so that we have His desires and do His will, and His will is that we love one another.  Our response of love completes what God initiated.  So “whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”

Then in the second part of vs 5 and continuing through vs 6, John gives the second way we have assurance of our salvation.  He says, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

It’s interesting that John changes the paradigm from knowing God to being in God. To be “in Him” is a curious expression, but one which refers to having our life in Him.  We are made alive in Him, we are made righteous in Him, we have eternal life in Him. It refers to our union with Christ. He is our federal head. In Him refers to Christ being our representative, our substitute, our propitiation, which was talked about in vs 2. We are joined to Him, in much the same way that a husband and wife are joined together in marriage so that they become one.

Paul speaks of being in Christ in 2Cor. 5:14-15, 17 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. …  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” So we died with Christ, we live in Christ, so that our works  are wrought in Christ. To be in Him is what it really means to know God.

Notice also that John uses the word ought in vs 6. He says “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Ought is a good old fashioned word that means a moral obligation. Isn’t it funny that John doesn’t distinguish between love and ought, or you might say between love and duty or responsibility. 

You know, I love my wife.  So I married my wife because I love her.  I stay married to her because I love her. I’m faithful to her because I love her.  Some mornings when I wake up I don’t feel very loving. But simply because I don’t feel love doesn’t mean I am no longer married to her.  It doesn’t relieve me of my vow to God to love her until death do us part. I have a responsibility to love her, to treat her as I would like to be treated, to do what is best for her. Love is a commitment that is not dependent upon how I feel, but on how I treat her.

So the claim: he who says he abides in Him.  The responsibility: “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” To walk indicates behavior.  Our behavior should be the same as the behavior of Christ.

I’ve quoted from Peter in regards to this topic many times.  Peter was a person who knew the Lord, but he also knew what it meant to walk after the Lord.  He knew that there was a cost to following Christ.  He knew there was a sacrifice in following Christ.  But even better, Peter knew that there was a great reward in following Christ. Peter says in 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  The Greek word used there for example is hypogrammos, which was a writing tablet used to teach children the alphabet.  They would trace over the letters in order to learn how to write.  That’s what it means to walk as Jesus walked. To imitate Christ in our daily lives.

I shouldn’t have to detail for you the way Jesus walked.  But I can tell you this; there was no fault found in Him.  He broke none of the laws of God, and in fact, He fulfilled the law.  He followed the Father’s will explicitly in every respect.  He was the spotless, blameless, Lamb of God. And we are to follow Him so closely that we imitate Him, we mirror Him, we reflect Him to a watching world.

So John gives us two assurances of our salvation. One,  we can know that we have come to know Him if we keep HIs commandments.  And second,  we can know that we are in Him because we walk as He walked.  If that is true in our lives, then we have assurance of our salvation.  But it’s also a test, isn’t it?  It’s the evidence of our salvation by which we examine ourselves.  If we do not keep his commandments, then we are a liar. If we do not follow Him, then we do not know Him.  You can’t claim to know God if the evidence of your life does not show it. 

I urge you therefore today in light of this truth from God’s word that you examine your faith in regards to these tests of our faith.  Jesus said you will know them by their fruits.  Is there fruit of your faith that gives evidence to a new life in Christ? If not, then I urge you to call upon Jesus to save you, confessing Him as Lord of your life, and surrender to Him that you might be remade, converted, transformed into a child of God.  Today is the day God has given you to turn to Him.  Do not let this invitation to know God pass by without your commitment today.

At the time of the writing of this epistle, this letter to the churches, John is about 90 years old.  His writing, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is brilliant.  His writing is pure, divine truth. He pens one statement of absolute truth after another, in a cyclical fashion, each statement building upon the other, oftentimes restating the same truth but from a different perspective.  It is really brilliant stuff that deserves our careful study and contemplation.  And it must be careful study, because even though every word that he writes is inspired truth, there are certain statements that if considered in isolation, taken out of context with the whole of his writing, can lead a person into false doctrine.

And that is exactly what John is writing to avoid.  In the seventy years or so since Christ’s ascension, the church had gone adrift from the sure anchor of the gospel.  The church had suffered many attacks from false teachers and false doctrines that threatened to shipwreck the faith of many. It doesn’t take a seismic change in doctrine to lead one to spiritual shipwreck.  It may only take what seems to be a minor change of course to lead one further away from the truth and eventually cause shipwreck.

Now John wrote this epistle he says in the first few verses of chapter one, that we might have fellowship with God and with Jesus Christ His Son, and that our joy may be full.  That is the purpose of the gospel, that we might know God, to be known by God, that we might have life in Him, that we might have fellowship with Him, and that our joy might be full. 

Then in chapter 2, vs 1 John says that he is writing that they sin not. And at the end of the letter, he says that he is writing that they might have eternal life. It’s interesting to note how all of these purposes work together, synchronistically. Our fullness of joy comes from our fellowship with the Father. Our fellowship with the Father is dependent upon our being cleansed from sin. And so, he now writes to them that they sin not.  Because sin breaks that fellowship we have with God, and that results in a loss of our joy.

So the area in particular that John is concerned about is sin.  He reveals sin as a hidden reef which threatens our faith, that robs us of fellowship with God, and takes away the joy of the Christian life. You know, the enemy tries to tell us that sin is not really a problem.  That sin isn’t really sin.  Or that God doesn’t really care about sin.  Or that you can live in sin and still have fellowship with God. But John argues conclusively in chapter one that such thinking is a lie.

For instance, in the previous chapter, John said this is the message, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  Darkness is a metaphor for sin.  God is pure, God is holy and righteous, and there is no sin in Him at all.  God cannot tolerate sin.  God cannot condone sin.  He cannot have fellowship with sin.

So based on that truth about God, John says that you can’t walk in darkness and have fellowship with God. You can’t live in sin and have fellowship with God.  Sin breaks fellowship with God.  1John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”  Sin prohibits our fellowship with God. By living in sin, we quench the Holy Spirit.  And God says His Spirit will not strive with man. God is light, and He cannot participate with darkness.  He cannot abide with sin.

John goes on to show the nefarious ways in which the enemy tries to get us to accept sin and think that all is well.   The enemy tries to get us to say we have no sin. To get us to think that we are somehow not guilty of sin. The law doesn’t apply to us so sin is not a problem.  Or to just ignore the problem of sin altogether.  Sin is never addressed in a lot of churches today.  God is love, and that is all that they want to focus on.  But John said in vs8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Instead of ignoring sin, or saying that sin is not an issue, or saying that we have no sin, John said the way to have fellowship with God is to confess your sins.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Another way that Satan tries to deceive and cause a broken relationship with God is to say that sin isn’t sin.  Something that you like, something that you think will make you happy, but which the word of God says is wrong, you say this favorite thing of yours is not sin. You over rule God’s word.  And that’s exactly what John says in vs 10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  You have put yourself in the place of God and decided that what you want to do is not sin.  Obviously, the word of God is not in you because the word of God says that it is sin, and you say it is not sin. Once again, the result is the same, you are abiding in sin, and because of that you cannot have fellowship with God.

Let’s think of it this way.  Imagine you are learning to play the piano.  The teacher provides you with a piano that is in tune, it’s perfectly capable of playing the greatest songs ever written.  And she gives you a music sheet with all the notes written out of a beautiful song that you are supposed to learn.  And she tells you to learn to play that song perfectly.  Now to do that, you must practice.  In the process of practicing, you are going to make mistakes, aren’t you? But the key to learning to play the piece is not by pretending that the notes don’t matter.  It’s not learned by hitting the wrong notes and just continuing on as if nothing happened. It’s not learned by playing any notes that you want to play if you think it sounds ok.  The way to learn is to recognize the correct notes, and to recognize when you don’t play the right notes, and to correct it. That’s a poor illustration of what it means to recognize and confess your sin. That is what John refers to in chapter one as practicing the truth.  To practice the error is to walk in darkness, but we confess our errors, we confess our mistakes, and practice the truth.

So the goal of the Christian life that John wants to emphasize is that you should not sin.  He says in vs1 of chapter 2, “Little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin.” That is the goal. That is the standard.  As 1 Peter 1:16 says, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”  We are to be conformed to Christ’s image, to walk as He walked, to follow in HIs steps. 

Eph. 1:4 says, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”  Ephesians 5:25 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

God wants us to be free from sin so that we might have fellowship with Him and have fullness of joy. So make no mistake, God doesn’t want us to sin, He doesn’t want us to accept sin as a fact of life that we can’t really do anything about.  He doesn’t want us to condone sin and say it’s ok.  He doesn’t want us to ignore sin or try to act as if we don’t have sin.  God wants us to be free from sin, but if we sin, He wants us to deal with it so we can be cleansed from it.

God doesn’t say He doesn’t want us to sin because He doesn’t want us to have fun.  That’s what the devil tries to tell us.  Sin looks like fun.  In fact, sin sometimes is fun, but only for a season.  God isn’t concerned with limiting your fun, God is concerned with a life of joy.  Joy is eternal, fun is temporary. You can go out partying with your friends and start drinking and you may have a lot of fun for the evening.  But it doesn’t usually end well.  I was thinking yesterday of a friend I know that has recently reached the breaking point in alcoholism. Drinking was a lot of fun when he first started out as a young man. But over the years, drinking has taken it’s toll.  He has now lost his family, ruined his health, suffered so much loss.  Drinking is not fun anymore.

So John is writing unto them “That you may not sin.”  That’s the goal. That’s God’s standard for fellowship, for joy.  That’s the divine ideal.  But the fact is that no one is able to attain to it perfectly.  Sanctification is the process of being holy, but it is a process that will not attain perfection until Jesus returns. 

In the prayer of dedication for the temple, Solomon prayed in 1Kings 8:46 that God would answer their prayer, “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin).”  And in Ecclesiastes 7:20 it says, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who [continually] does good and who never sins.” And we should all be familiar with Romans 3:23 which says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  John in the previous chapter said that if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

So the fact that we will sin is a foregone conclusion, but that doesn’t mean that we have a fatalistic view of sin, that it is something which we can’t do anything about.  We should all strive to live a life in which we don’t sin. We should all strive to play the notes to the beautiful song that God has written for us, so that we may live a life that is joyful and harmonious with God, and beautiful in God’s eyes. But a lot of times we don’t make much of an effort to do that.  The author of Hebrews said in Hebrews 12:4 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.” In other words, you’re not trying very hard. There is much that we can do to resist sin.  We fight against the temptation to sin on three fronts, from Satan, from the world, and from our own flesh.

In regards to Satan, James tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you.   And in regards to the world,  1Cor. 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  So if you fall into temptation it is because you did not take God’s escape route that He provided.  You did not rely on the strength of God to endure it or overcome it.  And in regards to the flesh, Paul says to discipline your body and make it your slave, rather than being enslaved to the lusts of the flesh.

So we can overcome sin, we can practice the truth to eliminate sin, but if we sin, John says we have an advocate with the Father.  The word advocate in Greek is “paracletos”. It is the same word that Jesus used when He promised the disciples that He would ask the Father to give them another Comforter.  The word literally means, called alongside to help.  We have a diving Helper.  God doesn’t just tell us not to sin, and leave us on our own to resist and keep from sinning. But He gives us the Helper, the Spirit of Christ, to comfort us, to convict us, to control us, to give us the power over sin.

That word paracletos also can be interpreted as Intercessor.  An intercessor is one called alongside to help, but in the position of a defense attorney. And John identifies our Intercessor as Jesus Christ the righteous.  In the position as an Intercessor, Jesus is not declaring our innocence.  He is not saying that God should not count our sin as sin.  But He is saying, count their sin against Me. Charge Roy’s sin on My account.  I will pay for it through death on the cross. He is righteous, He is holy, He is the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world upon Himself.  He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Isaiah 53:4-6 speaks of this intercession saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

And Romans 8:34 asks, “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”  It is because Jesus is the righteous, Son of God, the One who created us, the One whom holds together all things by the word of His power, the One who is the exact nature of the Father, the exact radiance of the Father’s glory, because He died in my place, because He took the wrath of God upon Himself, I am free from the condemnation of sin. And because I am forgiven and made righteous through Him, I have fellowship with God and the fullness of joy.

If we sin, not only do we have an Advocate with the Father, but Jesus Christ the righteous is also, according to vs 2, “the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”  Propitiation is one of those words that we may hear only in the Bible.  It’s not a word used in common language today. And so it’s not very well understood.  

Propitiation means quite simply Satisfaction.  As I said earlier, God did not suddenly decide to stop counting sins, but He stopped counting them against us that believe, and instead counted it towards Jesus Christ.  But the point made in propitiation is that God must count sins.  If God is just, if God is holy and righteous, if God is the Judge of the Earth as the Bible says He is, then He must count sin.  He must vindicate those who have suffered.  He must punish the evil doers.  And the Bible teaches that God will judge the earth and everyone that has lived on the earth.  Every thought, every word, and every deed will be judged.  God is a God of justice. And justice must be served.  Those who break God’s laws must receive the punishment due them.

In the Old Testament, there is a picture of propitiation that helps us to understand propitiation.  God gave Moses instructions for the building of the tabernacle and later for the temple.  And inside the courtyard of the temple, there was the holy place and inside the holy place was the Holy of Holies.  It was the place that God met with His people, and only once a year could the high priest enter it to make atonement for the sins of the people. The high priest would go once a year to placate God, to satisfy God, to appease God’s wrath against the sins of the people by the sprinkling of the blood of an animal sacrifice on the mercy seat.

Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant.  And inside the ark there was the covenant of Moses,  which was the 10 commandments. I find it interesting that inside the Holy of Holies, there is a box, and the box contains the word of God.  That’s it.  There is no statue, no representation of deity, just the word of God in a box, a jar of manna and Aaron’s rod.  When we want to worship God we don’t go bow down to a statue, or kneel and pray to a statute, but we go to the word of God.  

So the box was made with gold, and the lid was gold.  And the lid on the top of the ark was known as the mercy seat. On each end of the ark, there was a cherub, a cherub made out of a piece of solid gold with its wings going across the lid. Cherubim were angels whose particular purpose was to be guardians of the holiness of God. Above the ark was the Shekinah glory of God, which was the light and smoke in which was the presence of God. 

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered with fear and trembling into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat.  The blood covered the law, so to speak.  It was the sacrifice made to appease the judgment of God, to be the propitiation, or the satisfaction,  for the sins of the people.

But actually the whole sacrificial system prescribed in the Old Testament by God didn’t satisfy Him. The sacrifice of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, year after year after year, and all the sacrifices in addition to that, all of the burnt offerings, all of the sin offerings, all of the trespass offerings, all of the other offerings offered millions of times through history never satisfied God. None of those sacrifices ever paid for one, single sin. They all just pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that one day would atone for sin.  And that ultimate sacrifice for all sins, of all people, was made by Jesus Christ on the cross. He was the propitiation, He was the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  Nothing else could do that, the other sacrifices could only symbolize His sacrifice.  And His sacrifice was sufficient, it satisfied the wrath of God against sin, once and for all.

The Bible says that punishment for sin is death.  God said, “If you eat of the tree, you will surely die.” Sin entered into the world and then death by sin.  It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.   God is just, He is holy.  He is the Supreme Judge over all the earth.  He will not lie concerning what He required concerning His law.  He will mete out justice as demanded by His word.  Jesus satisfied that requirement of the law.

But that satisfaction for sin is applicable only for those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  For those who have not, who reject Christ, there remains the wrath of God. In John 3:36, it says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who doesn’t obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.” The condemnation of the law abides on the one who rejects Christ. If you reject Christ, then the only way that God can be satisfied for your sin is to require your death.

Romans 6:23 says, the wages of sin is death. Thats the bad news.  Then the good news, “but the gift of God is eternal life to everyone that believes. First Thessalonians 1:10 says, “Christ has come to deliver us from the wrath to come.” 

First Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” First Peter 3:18, “Christ also died for sins, once for all, the just dying for the unjust.” And then 1 John 2:2, “He is Himself the propitiation for our sins.” He was our substitute, He took our place, and paid our price, that we might have life through Him.

Rom 3:23-26 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;  whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. [This was] to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;  for the demonstration, [I say,] of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”  God is just, He requires justice, but He is the Justifier, meaning that He has provided a way for us to be justified by transferring our guilt upon the righteous Son of God.

One last point that needs to be made.  John says at the end of vs 2, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

Does this mean that Jesus has literally satisfied the wrath of God for the whole world? Does the whole world mean that everyone is saved? Has Jesus  satisfied God’s justice for everybody who’s ever lived? If so, then why be concerned about condemnation? Why all the warnings and why preach the gospel?

The answer is found in Leviticus 16; 17 when God gave instructions about the day of Atonement, God made it clear that the high priest was making atonement only for the people of Israel. The Day of Atonement was only for the Jews.  But he great news for the rest of the world comes to light in the new covenant.  Here in vs2,  John says Jesus is the propitiation, He is the atoning sacrifice, not just for the Jew’s sin, not just for the select ones, but for the sins of the world.  Every person, from every tribe and nation has the offer of atonement presented to him. God has made salvation available to whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.

I pray that if you have not accepted the free gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing from sin and the righteousness of Jesus Christ that you would do so today.  Today is the accepted time of salvation.  The inviatation is open and waiting and has been extended to all who will believe. Call upon Jesus today and be saved from the condemnation of your sin, and receive life from God, that you may have fellowship with God, and that your joy may be full. 

In the first century, Christianity was facing a problem which we still have with us today. The problem was a false gospel, a false Christianity, propagated by false teachers. That has always been a threat against the church, and it remains so today.  The enemy works to destroy the church from within and without, and attacks from within are sometimes more difficult for us to discern and to deal with.

So John’s epistle is addressing this by looking at the doctrinal distinctive’s of the gospel, and in this passage, presenting a contrast between the message of God, and the message of false Christians.  In vs 5; he says this is what God says.  And then in the remainder of the chapter he says this is what false Christians say.  So he says in vs 5, this is the message of God; that God is light and in Him in no darkness at all.  That’s the standard.  That’s the absolute truth. God’s standard is total light, absolute truth, complete righteousness.  And he says if you have life from God, if you have fellowship with God, if you are born of God, then you must be like God, of the same standard as God.

That establishes the second part of John’s thesis in vs 5, which is that “in Him there is no darkness at all.”  God cannot have fellowship with darkness, because that is contrary to His nature that He is light. 

So John has given us God’s message, God’s standard, that God is light. Perfect, holy, the source of truth, the source of life. And then starting in vs 6 through chapter 2 vs 1, John gives us three messages of false Christians.  He identifies each statement with the phrase, “If we say…” And in so doing he gives us three false claims of false Christians. 

Let’s just identify the three messages of false Christians first of all.  Vs 6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness.”  That’s the first one, claiming fellowship with God.  We will talk about what constitutes fellowship in a moment.  But that’s the first claim of man. The second message of man is in vs 8, “If we say that we have no sin.” And the third message sounds very close to that, which is in vs 10, “If we say that we have not sinned.”

Now after each of those assertions of man, Joh gives a rebuttal according to the truth of God. Notice that after each of the statements of man, which are introduced by the phrase “If we say…” that John follows with the rebuttal that what man says is a lie. And then he sets forth God’s standard in response to what man has asserted. 

So John draws a great contrast; God’s message is light.  Man’s message is darkness. God’s message is truth.  Man’s message is a lie.  And John wants to draw the distinction between what God says, and what man says.  As Paul states in Romans 3:4, Let God be found true, and everyman be found a liar.  John gives us here three claims, three false claims made by false Christians.

The first assertion that we’re going to look at are those who claim to have fellowship with God. The word fellowship is from the Greek word “koinonia.”  That word is part of the name of our church, incidentally.  I chose that name purposefully because it relates the true nature of the church with God.  Koinonia, according to the Greek concordance means association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse, intimacy, partnership.  Literally, to have fellowship with God is to share common life.

So they claim to be possessors of eternal life. They claim to belong to God. They claim to possess salvation, to be in the Kingdom. They claim to be a Christian. So many people today claim to have fellowship with God.  They claim to know God. But in fact, the evidence of their life says that they do not.  Vs 6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 

So they claim to be Christian, but they walk in darkness, and so they are liars because they do not practice what they claim.  If they were truly in fellowship with God, then they would not walk in darkness, because God cannot participate in darkness.  In Him there is no darkness at all.

John says that they walk in darkness.  That simply means that they live in sin.  They live habitual, consistent sinful lives.  He is not talking about just the big sins, the really blatant sins.  But sin is sin.  Sin is anything that is not in accordance with God.  

And we can inversely deduce from his statement, that they practice sin.  Notice he says that since they walk in the darkness, they lie and do not practice the truth.  So if they are not practicing truth, they must be practicing sin.  They walk in sin, they practice sin.  It’s speaking of a habitual sinful lifestyle.  Their life has a pattern of sin.

However a Christian is characterized by a change of lifestyle.  A change of heart.  A change of desires. If they have fellowship with God, then that means they want to be like God, to mirror God, to do His will.  John states the positive part of the contrast this way; vs7, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

So a true Christian does not walk in darkness, but he walks in the Light, because God is Light.  He walks after God.  He is a follower of Christ.  That means he goes where Christ goes.  He does what Christ does.  He loves what Christ loves.  Peter has a great way of describing that following, that discipleship of the Christian.  In 1Peter 2:21 he says, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  He uses a word there translated as “example”  which in the Greek is hypogrammos. That was a writing tablet with all the letters of the alphabet, given to school children as an aid in learning to draw the alphabet, which they did by tracing over the letters. That is what is meant to be a follower of Christ. Tracing our attitudes, our actions, our steps over His life. And that is something that John and Peter both indicate must be practiced.

So that walk in the light, the life of following Christ, of patterning your life after Christ, results in fellowship with one another.  The one who is walking in the Light has fellowship with God and with the body of Christ, which is the church.  In the garden of Eden before the fall, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God.  The scripture says they walked with God in the cool of the evening. To walk with, to talk with, to have fellowship with God is the result of walking in the Light.  I think if you are truly saved, you will desire fellowship in the church.  If you’re going to a church that is truly preaching the word, that is populated by people who have been saved, I think you’re going to desire regular fellowship.  I think the mark of someone who is not truly saved is that they have no desire for fellowship with God’s people.  Their life of sin makes fellowship uncomfortable for them.  They don’t have fellowship because they are convicted, and they get irritated that they are convicted, rather than converted, and so they avoid church as much as possible. But the one who is truly walking in the light wants to be in church every time the door is open.

And the other aspect of walking in the light John says is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.  If you believe in who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God, and you believe in what He came to do, which is to be a substitute for sinners through His death on the cross, then you receive forgiveness of your sins, and you receive His righteousness.  It’s the great transaction.  My sins are transferred for His righteousness.  But that results in more than just forgiveness.  It results in a new nature, a righteous nature.  It results in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  And all of that combined produces something greater than just forgiveness.  John says it cleanses us from sin. It takes away the desire for sin.  It takes away the power of sin.  The blood of Jesus not only provides forgiveness, but it provides the power over sin, so that we are no longer under it’s power.  We have been set free from the penalty of sin, and the power of sin. One day, at the return of Jesus Christ, we will be set free from the presence of sin.  But even now, we have been cleansed from sin.  It no longer defines us, or controls us, nor do we practice it any longer.

So the contrast should be apparent.  If you say you have fellowship with God but walk in darkness you are lying.  Because he that has fellowship with God walks in the Light with God and does not participate in darkness, but has fellowship with God and other Christians, and is cleansed from sin by the death of Jesus Christ.

The second assertion the false Christian makes is in vs 8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” There are a lot of self professing Christians who don’t like the word sin.  I remember one lady who came to our services for a while many years ago, and she obviously didn’t care for my constant preaching about sin.  She very pointedly made the comment to my wife and I one day that she had left the last church because the pastor always preached about sin.  Well, she left our church soon after as well, because I unapologetically preach about sin.  

I do so because sin is endemic to our nature.  Sin is the reason for the problems of the world.  Sin brought about the curse upon the world.  Sin is the number one cause of death in the world.  Did you know that? It’s not the Covid.  It’s not cancer.  It’s sin.  It is 100% fatal.  And every one of us has been infected with it.  In fact, the Bible says that is spreading, and it is terminal.  You are going to die because you have been infected with sin. And my job, as a preacher of the message of God is to tell you that you have been infected, but that there is a vaccine, there is a cure for sin.  And it is Jesus Christ.  He is the only cure.  I think it’s interesting to note that one of the things that they recommend for Covid is a daily mega dose of Vitamin D.  The best source of Vitamin D is the light of the sun. And I am here to tell you that the only cure for the disease of sin is the light of the Son. Walk in the light, as He is in the Light.

So John says that this person who claims that they have no sin are deceiving themselves.  They are not deceiving God, and they probably aren’t deceiving anyone else who witnesses their life. But they are self deceived. Because the truth is Romans 3:23 that says “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  The truth is Romans 3:10-12 which says, ”THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

And your sins have caused a fatal separation between you and the source of life and light. Your sin has created a great chasm between you and God that cannot be breached.  So if you say that you have no sin, you are deceiving yourself and the truth is not in you.  And if the truth is not in you, then the light is not in you, so the life of God is not in you, and you do not have fellowship with God. You are not saved. You are not a Christian. You’re deceiving yourself by thinking you have fellowship with God but in fact you are still dead in your sins.

Then John gives the rebuttal, the antidote for sin.  He says in vs 9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  The way to fellowship with God is through confession of our sins.  That’s how we are cleansed from sin.  That’s how we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.  I like how in that verse John distinguishes forgiveness from cleansing.  As I said, salvation is more than just forgiveness, it’s being given righteousness,  a new nature, a renewed spirit, an indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give us victory over sin. 

Now confession is the key to salvation, but it’s also the key to fellowship.  Even after we are saved, we still may find ourselves falling into sin from time to time.  It’s part of our old nature, and we are not delivered completely from our old nature until the day when we receive a new body and God creates a new earth. But when we sin, even as a Christian, we hurt our relationship with God.  We disrupt our fellowship with God.  2 Cor. 6:14 says, “what fellowship has light with darkness?”  In order to restore that right fellowship with God we need to confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. 

David said in Psalm 32,  “When I kept silent [about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. …  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.”  

In Psalm 51, when David prayed for forgiveness and restoration after his sin with Bathsheba was uncovered, he was a child of God.  He had fellowship with God, but it was damaged not only because of his sin, but because he had tried to cover his sin.  But he confessed his sin and asked for restoration.  Listen to part of his prayer.  “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. …  Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. … Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

When we confess our sin as David did, then John says that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is faithful and righteous, or just.  What does that mean?  God has punished Jesus Christ for our sin.  He has exacted the penalty due to us upon Jesus Christ.  So it would be unjust for God to hold our sin against us, because our sin was held against Jesus.  And so based on our faith in Christ as our substitute, we have forgiveness of sin. And notice once again John uses the word cleanse.  God gives us forgiveness and restoration that we might live free from the power of sin.

The final assertion that false Christians make is found in vs 10.  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  The previous person said that they had no sin.  This person says that they have no sin.  I don’t see much of a difference in the two statements.  But perhaps the previous person of vs 8 says that he was not a sinner.  And  this person denies that what he is doing is sin.  That may seem like a minor distinction.  But I think it’s a common claim among professing Christians today.  They would like to think that what they think is ok is not sin, even though it is contrary to what God says.

The usual excuse is that when the Bible spoke of this issue, whatever it is, it was a cultural thing.  When Paul said it was not permitted for a woman to teach, well, that’s cultural.  When the Bible speaks about homosexuality, it’s not really talking about a loving, committed relationship between two people of the same sex.  The big one today that is glossed over is living together.  The common refrain is that if the young people love each other and they decide to live tougher without being married it’s ok, because love is more important than legality. But whatever sin it is they want to excuse, they override the word of God.

Now when they make the excuse that their sin isn’t really sin, that God doesn’t care about this thing, then John says that they make God a liar.  That’s pretty serious.  In the other assertions, John said that the people making the assertions were lying.  In this claim, the person makes God a liar.  Now we know that God cannot lie, because in Him is Truth, and there is no darkness at all.  So I think what John is saying is that they are in effect calling God a liar.  God didn’t mean what He said.  God didn’t speak the truth.  To call God a liar is blasphemy.  

The other thing John says is that when they make this claim, God’s word is not in them.  Now some commentators say that the word should be capitalized.  That it is speaking of Christ.  And that may be true.  If they are blaspheming God and saying that their sin isn’t sin, then they cannot be saved, and thus Christ is not in them.  But I also think it is applicable to the written word.  Those that say such things cannot know the word, they do not have the light of the word in their hearts, they do not comprehend the word.  Psalm 119 says, “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  The word of God is a preventative for sin. The Word of God is the antidote.  But the word of God is a preventative. 

So what is John’s rebuttal to this claim of the false Christian that they have not sinned?  It’s found in vs 1 of chapter 2. I would remind you that the chapter designations are not inspired.  I do think that they are for the most part helpful but they are later additions to the Bible as we know it. They are not in the original text.  And in this case I think the chapter break is not helpful.  The answer is in vs 1; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

The Bible teaches  that we all are sinners by nature.  John desires that we do not sin, but because we are sinners, there is an antidote which is the blood of Jesus Christ.  And if we sin, we have an advocate who is Jesus Christ.  Advocate comes from the Greek word “Paracletos,” which means one called alongside to help; or an Intercessor. 

That word paracletos, someone called alongside to help is reminiscent of what John was talking about when he said Jesus cleanses us from all sin.  Because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is credited to us, which is granted to us, we have the Spirit of Christ residing in us.  And because the Spirit of Christ resides in us, we have the power to overcome sin.  God doesn’t just say to us in the new covenant, do not sin, but He gives us a Helper so that we might not sin. And that Helper is the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus in the Upper Room before His trial and crucifixion promised the Helper would come to them and what He would do.  He said in John chapter 16 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. … 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose [it] to you.”

When we have the Helper indwelling in us, then we will know the truth of God’s word, because He will reveal the truth to us.  Those that call God a liar the truth is not in them, and the Word is not in them, so they twist the truth to validate their sinful lifestyle.  But for those who know the truth, to them who are walking in the light, and are sons of light, the Spirit of Truth is given that we might know the truth and the truth would make us free from the bondage of sin.  We have a Helper and an Advocate with God who is in us, and who helps us, both at the throne of God where the judgment of God lies, and who helps us here on earth because He understands our weaknesses, having been in the flesh as a man like us.

What a wonderful gift we have been given in our salvation.  We have forgiveness of sins, power over sin, power over death, even eternal life, and fellowship with God who is the source of life and the source of joy. And we have the help of God, we have the Helper, the Spirit of God within us to help us as we go through this time on earth.  He is our Comforter, our Helper, our Advocate, our Shield, our Defender, our Captain, our Substitute, our Sacrifice, He is the Word of God, our Savior, and our Lord.  I hope that you know Him, that you know the fellowship of God.  If you don’t have fellowship with Him, you can do so today by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, confessing your sins to receive forgiveness and cleansing, that you may receive life everlasting, and the power to live life free from the condemnation of sin.  The invitation is given to you today to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.  Call upon Him today and receive life in Him.