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The Assurance of Life: 1 John 3-4 Daily Bible Study · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to this explainer. Today, we're jumping right into a
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  Speaker 1: truly profound theological truth found in the First Epistle of John.
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  Speaker 1: We are going to explore the reality that a permanent
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  Speaker 1: transition from spiritual death to life is evidenced by one specific,
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  Speaker 1: totally undeniable thing, a transformed capacity to love. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to see exactly how God's life in us produces God's
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  Speaker 1: love through us. Let's set the stage with the ultimate
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  Speaker 1: standard set by Jesus himself. He said, by this, everyone
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  Speaker 1: will know that you are My disciples if you love
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  Speaker 1: one another. The definitive proof of our faith is not
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  Speaker 1: merely what we say right. It's not about having perfect
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  Speaker 1: theology or flawless church attendance record. The absolute evidence that
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  Speaker 1: we belong to Him is exactly how we love each other.
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  Speaker 1: Section one the old way of life, a broken world
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  Speaker 1: in Biblical terms, before we know Christ, we are existing
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  Speaker 1: in a state of fenetose. Now that's the Greek word
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  Speaker 1: for death, and while it absolutely can mean the physical
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  Speaker 1: end of life on earth, spiritually it means something incredibly terrifying.
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  Speaker 1: It means conscious existence in total separation from the life
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  Speaker 1: of God. Death is the opposite of life. Sure, but
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  Speaker 1: it never denotes non existence. It's a state of deep
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  Speaker 1: spiritual alienation. But what does that spiritual death actually look
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  Speaker 1: like in our day to day lives. Well, think back
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  Speaker 1: to the early chapters of Genesis. One act of rebellion
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  Speaker 1: invited a rebellious spirit into the very core of human souls.
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  Speaker 1: That spiritual death creates a completely self centered nature. It
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  Speaker 1: takes the most powerful force in the universe, love and
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  Speaker 1: tragically reverses its flow. Instead of pouring outward toward God
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  Speaker 1: and others, it turns inward. We just end up feeding
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  Speaker 1: ourselves rather than anyone around us. When our love is
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  Speaker 1: only turned inward like that, we are essentially still walking
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  Speaker 1: in darkness. We are experiencing the deadly fruit of rebellion. Honestly,
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  Speaker 1: if your life feels more like death right now, the
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  Speaker 1: direction of your love might be the exact reason why.
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  Speaker 1: But when we enter the Kingdom of life, that tragic
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  Speaker 1: reversal gets flipped back. The King bathe us in his love,
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  Speaker 1: freeing us up to offer it back to him and
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  Speaker 1: to everyone else, which brings us to section two. From
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  Speaker 1: death to life, the permanent transfer Here is the amazing news.
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  Speaker 1: We don't have to stay stuck in that kingdom of darkness.
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  Speaker 1: The apostle John describes what happens when we are saved
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  Speaker 1: using this fascinating Greek word meta bay no. It literally
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  Speaker 1: means to pass over or migrate from one place to another,
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  Speaker 1: and John uses it in the perfect tense. That means
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  Speaker 1: he's describing salvation not as a temporary tune up or
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  Speaker 1: a quick fix, but as a prominent, completed migration straight
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  Speaker 1: out of death and into life. This migration signifies a
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  Speaker 1: true resurrection. Just like Jesus literally departed this world to
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  Speaker 1: return to the Father, we have departed that old spiritual
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  Speaker 1: realm entirely. We have crossed over. Salvation is a complete
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  Speaker 1: transfer of kingdoms. So we're looking at a massive contrast
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  Speaker 1: between two completely different ways to live. On one side,
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  Speaker 1: you have the old state virtual death, hatred and darkness,
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  Speaker 1: and on the other side the new state resurrection, power,
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  Speaker 1: eternal life, and love. John is very clear with these
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  Speaker 1: dualistic categories. There is absolutely no middle ground here. You
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  Speaker 1: are either abiding in the death of the world or
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  Speaker 1: you have crossed over into the life of Christ. Moving
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  Speaker 1: right along to section three, Love as the evidence, theologian
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  Speaker 1: John Piper beautifully breaks down John's tests of life found
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  Speaker 1: throughout his epistle. These are the undeniable effects and evidences
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  Speaker 1: of the new Birth. They include keeping his commandments, walking
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  Speaker 1: as Christ walked, rejecting the love of the world, and
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  Speaker 1: confessing the sun. But right smack in the center is
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  Speaker 1: this loving the brethren. The most undeniable empirical proof of
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  Speaker 1: our spiritual resurrection is our active love for other believers, because,
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  Speaker 1: as John writes, he who does not love abides in death.
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  Speaker 1: There's this fantastic quote from Kay Arthur that just hits
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  Speaker 1: the nail on the head. She says love of others
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  Speaker 1: is evidence of a genuine faith because love is an
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  Speaker 1: attribute of God. Love would be a fruit that a
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  Speaker 1: child of God would bear. It's just basic spiritual logic. Right.
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  Speaker 1: God's life in us produces God's love through us. It's
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  Speaker 1: a supernatural fruit, proving we have a supernatural source living inside.
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  Speaker 1: Section four. A gope versus the world. Now, it is
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  Speaker 1: crucial to understand that we are talking about a gope love.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Martin Luther King Junior described a gope beautifully as
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  Speaker 1: an understanding redeeming goodwill for all people. It's an overflowing
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  Speaker 1: love that is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It
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  Speaker 1: is literally the love of God operating inside the human heart.
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  Speaker 1: It seeks to preserve and create community, making absolutely zero
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  Speaker 1: distinction between a friend and an enemy. Compare that to
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  Speaker 1: the world's definition of love. Worldly love is conditional. It's
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  Speaker 1: a sentiment based emotion that is ultimately inwardly focused, always
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  Speaker 1: asking well, what can you do for me? But a
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  Speaker 1: gope love it is completely self sacrificial. It's action oriented
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  Speaker 1: and outwardly flowing. A gope love doesn't sit around waiting
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  Speaker 1: to feel effected before it acts. It steps out generously,
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  Speaker 1: even when it is incredibly difficult. This actually ties into
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  Speaker 1: an ancient theological concept called the ordo amorice or the
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  Speaker 1: order of love. Top I thinkers like Augustine and Thomas
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  Speaker 1: Aquinas they taught that our loves have to be properly ordered.
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  Speaker 1: If we take the good gifts of God and make
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  Speaker 1: them the ultimate things we love, our love gets disordered
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  Speaker 1: and leads to moral collapse. But when we love God supremely,
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  Speaker 1: when our affections are directed toward Him first, we are
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  Speaker 1: then empowered to authentically love our neighbors near and far,
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  Speaker 1: and that leads us to our final section, Part five,
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  Speaker 1: Overcoming the Bitter Root. I really want you to ask
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  Speaker 1: yourself a genuine question right now. Check the direction of
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  Speaker 1: your love. Is it flowing outward? Hatred, bitterness, resentment, and
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  Speaker 1: unforgiveness totally reflect the old way of life. They are
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  Speaker 1: completely incompatible with your new life and the Kingdom. Are
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  Speaker 1: you holding on to things that are stopping that outward flow?
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  Speaker 1: Look at the stark difference here. The bitter root involves anger,
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  Speaker 1: holding great judges, and passive aggressive hostility. The fruit of Grace,
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, his compassion, letting go offenses and
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  Speaker 1: active forgiveness. Now, John isn't saying believers never struggle with
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  Speaker 1: difficult feelings or get hurt. We absolutely do. But a
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  Speaker 1: heart permanently transformed by Jesus simply cannot be comfortable abiding
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  Speaker 1: in hostility. You just can't stay there. So how do
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  Speaker 1: we actually fight that bitterness when it creeps in? Well,
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  Speaker 1: because Jesus loved us when we were completely undeserving. His
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  Speaker 1: spirit teaches us to love as He loves, even when
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  Speaker 1: love is immensely difficult. God provides the grace and strength
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  Speaker 1: to fight bitterness through some very practical steps. First, recognize
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  Speaker 1: the sin of resentment, call it what it is. Second,
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  Speaker 1: seek God's forgiveness for harboring that anger, and third, consciously
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  Speaker 1: choose to forgive others just as Christ forgave you. Let's
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  Speaker 1: bring this all together by looking at our core text
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  Speaker 1: one more time. First, John three point fourteen, we know
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  Speaker 1: that we have passed from death to life because we
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  Speaker 1: love the brethren. The one who does not love remains
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  Speaker 1: in death. Undeniable reality is that the direction of your
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  Speaker 1: love reveals the true condition of your soul. Because we
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  Speaker 1: have received the love of Christ, we are no longer
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  Speaker 1: living in death, but in life. As we wrap up
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  Speaker 1: this explainer, I want to leave you with something to
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  Speaker 1: really chew on. If you were put on trial today
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  Speaker 1: for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to
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  Speaker 1: convict you. Take a moment and really examine your actions.
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  Speaker 1: Let's abandon that old life of bitterness and let the overflowing,
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  Speaker 1: outward pouring agape love of Christ be the undeniable evidence
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  Speaker 1: of your new life. Thanks for joining me for this explainer,
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  Speaker 1: and keep exploring