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Since Christ...Walk Redemptively 10.2.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come together. We thank you for the opportunity. We just had to sing praises to your name to hear the truth of your redemptive work in Carla's life. God, we pray this evening that you would guide and direct our minds. Lord, grab hold of our spirits this evening as we study these two impactful and powerful verses this evening together. Guide us, Father, into truth. In your name. Amen.
• 0:25
  Our purpose statement for tonight or our directional statement is this. Since Christ the righteous has paid for my sins, I can now, in loving response to the love of God, walk redemptively towards perfection. That is an amazing statement, amazing truth that I believe is revealed this evening. First point is able not.
• 0:53
  Verse one, able not to my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. As John pens this portion, I believe he takes a moment to create some deeper clarity on this subject of sin in the Christian's life. He has to this point been hitting really hard on the Christian whom claims to never sin or not have ever sinned.
• 1:16
  He has insisted so strongly that sin exists in every Christian that I believe the Holy Spirit now compels him to make sure that the pendulum does not swing too far the other way. John does not want the readers to come to the belief that sin is simply an inevitable that must be accepted and even take it for granted in the life of the Christian.
• 1:40
  to make sure that his words are not wrongly misunderstood as excusing sin in the life of the Christian. John tenderly and graciously asserts that he does not want his little children to misunderstand these things I am writing. These things that he's talking about, as he says in verse 1, being a reference to the previous five verses we just studied last week.
• 2:09
  Thus, in this section, we get John's purpose statement for writing the previous five verses. That purpose being, if we take a light view of sin, we will miss out on a few blessed gifts given to the believer, and I believe they are. If we make false claims to fellowship, which will lead to missing out on genuine, full, and deep fellowship for the believer, as we can and should have.
• 2:38
  Yet that if we make false claims, then we'll miss out on the amazing gift of deep, meaningful, impactful fellowship that we can have together through Christ. We miss out on confession and the joy of restoration within our lives. Now, I want to make Lance rightly pointed to something last week as we ended. I want to just point out as we talked about last week, 1 John 1, 9, the beautiful verse.
• 3:06
  That talks about if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. An important thing for that that we need to notate is that the confession is not the thing that gives me forgiveness. God, through Christ, has already paid that. The confession is what helps me to get back in a right relationship with Him on my side. God never changes, right? The confession is for me. It's not for God. It's not like God's withholding forgiveness.
• 3:36
  Until I confess, I get to experience the flood of his forgiveness as I confess, as I take away that barrier in my life. So we miss out on that opportunity and the joy of restoration if we take a light view of sin in our lives. And we can rationalize sin and become gripped and controlled by it rather than being freed by the grace we have already received to be honest and open with ourselves.
• 4:05
  with our God, and with each other. I think those are some things that we miss out on when we take a light view of sin. And I think those are some of the things, especially in consideration of those previous five verses that John is really trying to focus our attention on, that we will miss if we take a light view of sin. John then in this one verse holds, I believe, in perfect tension the current state of the believer.
• 4:33
  Should we excuse, poo-poo, or ignore sin? Absolutely not. We will see later in this section, and we'll see later in the verses that we'll study next week, this built out more. But John immediately follows this clear rejection of a casual view of sin, where he says, I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin.
• 4:59
  think that is inevitable because we have the power of Christ in us, we have the Holy Spirit in us, we can now choose not to sin. We can choose to follow a path that we were previously not able to. We can be compelled by the love of God to walk differently, to walk in the light. He immediately follows this clear rejection of a casual view of sin with the word but. There are a few buts in scripture which are my favorite. An absolute top,
• 5:32
  One of the best buts of all in Scripture is Ephesians 2, 4. But God being rich in mercy. Psalm 75, 7 is a beautiful promise. My flesh, my heart fails. But God in the strength of my heart is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And then Romans 5, 8. You guys know this one. But God shows.
• 5:59
  His own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Often in Scripture when we see the word but, there are powerful statements that follow. And I think this is no different. As he says that sin is bad and we should not do it. And we have the power, we have the option to choose not to by the Holy Spirit. We can choose something else through our regenerate bodies, our regenerate spirits now.
• 6:27
  We have the option to choose differently. Here in this section of John, I see another incredible but. John dangles us over the dark reality of our sin, right? He says, you shouldn't sin, and we know we're going to. He dangles us over that tension of feeling that we are sinners. And then he pulls us back to redemption and sanctification, telling us that when we do sin, there is always hope.
• 6:58
  and forgiveness because we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He says, but if anyone does sin, don't sin, follow God, seek Him, seek His Spirit, ask the Lord for help to propel us towards righteous living. But when you do sin, know there is hope. We have an advocate.
• 7:29
  In a statement, Jesus Christ the righteous, John makes clear to the reader and us this evening that this advocate has all the credentials needed to stand on our behalf. We do not need to worry if Christ is sufficient to stand in this position for us because he is righteous. So, verse 1, we have the power not to. And we, by God's good grace, we also have the power.
• 8:00
  for forgiveness through Christ. Verses, verse 1b through 2, we have an advocate. New Testament word advocate is actually only used five times in the New Testament and all by the apostle John. John 14, 16, 26, 15, 26, and 16, 7, and then here. All four of those other references listed from the gospel of John are actually talking about our helper, the Holy Spirit, who is our advocate.
• 8:31
  Thus, this one stands out as a singular use of this word in reference to Christ. And if that's the case, then we probably should ask ourselves, why? Why would John use this word now of Christ? And what is he trying to draw our attention to? We must be careful as we ask this question. We must be careful not to think of this as a pleading from Christ to God on our behalf, somehow pleading to keep us saved.
• 9:01
  would go against the promises made in the portions of scripture, many portions of scripture, which guarantee the security and salvation of the believer. We are firmly in his grasp, are we not? We are in God's hand firmly and forever for all of eternity. So what then is the function of Christ's advocacy for the believer? Might seem right that it would be pleading for the sins of the believer, but that we might be forgiven.
• 9:32
  Again and again and again and again as we fail over and over and over again. However, this is not the function. Luke chapter 22 verses 31 through 33. This is a conversation between Christ and Peter. As Peter is being told by Christ that he's going to deny Christ. And Christ tells him that I have prayed for you that your faith might not fail.
• 9:59
  I think this statement and this situation, along with one that we're going to look at in Zechariah, give us an idea of what this means when we think of Christ as our advocate. Christ's prayer for Peter is not to keep Peter saved, but that his faith not fail. This is different. Each believer has received gifts and a calling from the Lord upon salvation, as well as the eternal mark or the tattoo of forgiveness, which is irrevocable.
• 10:26
  We are positionally secure for eternity, but our standing is ever-changing as our faith fails at times. This was the case with Peter. His faith was going to fail him, and the Lord prayed for him. It's the same with our trusting daily in the Lord. We're going to go through times of devastating failure in our walks with the Lord, are we not?
• 10:53
  know this true in my own life. I know that my faith fails me often. It doesn't mean that I've somehow lost my salvation. I am with Christ stamped for eternity. There's also a beautiful picture of this truth in the advocacy of Christ seen in Zechariah. And I want to turn to this one. Zechariah, towards the end of the Old Testament, verses Zechariah,
• 11:30
  chapter 3, verses 1-7. Zechariah 3, 1-7. I think this is going to give a really clear visual of what John is referencing when he talks about Christ as our advocate. Zechariah 3, 1-7 says this, Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said,
• 12:16
  And this is beautiful.
• 12:33
  with pure vestments. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, Thus says the Lord of hosts, If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and charge my courts. I will give you the right access among those who are standing here. The nation had sinned.
• 13:02
  Joshua the high priest, this is not Joshua who led the battle of Jericho and all this. This is Joshua the high priest, stood clothed in filthy garments to symbolize this sin that had been committed by the nation. And Satan, the enemy, stood at his right hand as his accuser. God the Father in this scene was the judge. Joshua was the accused representing the people. And Satan was the prosecuting attorney.
• 13:31
  If we were to look at this scene, we would consider this an open-shut case, right? As Satan actually is speaking truth. Israel had committed sin. They had rejected God. They had walked away from his calling. It's interesting. As you consider back to what we talked about in those first sections, the first chapter of John, and we think about how Satan chooses to deceive us, right? He deceives us.
• 14:02
  with these lies, and then after we commit sin, he goes before the Lord and he tells the truth. It's interesting how Satan works. He deceives us, causes us to lie, and then stands before God and tells the truth that we are sinners. But Joshua, Israel had an advocate who stood at the right hand of God and changed everything. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Joshua a change of clothes and silenced the accuser. Praise God.
• 14:36
  Brothers and sisters, this is what Christ does for each of us. He represents, stands before God's throne on the merits of His sufficient sacrifice to make it possible for us, the believer, to experience forgiveness for our sins. John next calls Christ our propitiation. This is an important follow-up to the first because without this part, Christ has no...
• 15:05
  power beyond advocacy he can stand up and plead for us all he wants but if there's nothing that takes away the penalty of the sin then what point is it right thus this undergirds all of his work as our advocate and is the foundational truth which is that he personally and eternally satisfied the payment needed for our sins and thus here john is confirming that jesus christ
• 15:38
  Himself is the payment that we could not pay. Now obviously the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus is in clear view here as we consider this. However, that is not the only significant thing in view. In context of Christ being our advocate, it is clearly seen then that he stands, that Christ stands before God as one who is visible and a visible and a personal.
• 16:07
  satisfaction for our sins. Christ is standing on each of our behalves, not only as our advocate, saying, calling for forgiveness, but then paying as the propitiation, the payment for our sin. Hebrews 9.14 says, How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from the dead works,
• 16:36
  to serve the living God. The amazing thing about this is not only is it sufficient for me, for you, but this propitiation, this payment, this satisfaction through the blood of Christ is, as he says in verse 2 of 1 John, not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
• 17:08
  of the whole world. This is a significant statement, in my opinion, John makes, because it speaks to the power and sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ. If you ever worry about the ability of Christ to cover sins, your sins, this says he paid for everything. This means he paid for the sins of the past, the present, and the future.
• 17:33
  So your little piddly sins are nothing in comparison to the vastness of God's grace and his power through his son's sacrifice on the cross. Consider that it doesn't just pay for yours, but the entire world, the entire population. Romans 1 and 31 through 33, I think, depict this section. There are some significant ties to...
• 18:04
  Romans, we talked about this a little bit last week when we talked about those five verses. Those deeply connect with Romans 1 through 3. These verses deeply connect with Romans chapter 8 and specifically verses 1 through 33. But that whole chapter really encapsulates these two verses. And you'll see there I have a quote from those three verses. Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What shall then...
• 18:31
  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? That's Satan. He has no standing because of Christ. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. That's the whole world. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God.
• 19:02
  who justifies. Amen? Amen. And I believe, as we consider that, as we consider Christ our advocate, consider the call that we might not walk in sin, that we have been sanctified and given Jesus Christ the righteous, we have that statement at the bottom. Since Christ the righteous, since He did all that for us,
• 19:31
  We can now walk redemptively by the power of his Holy Spirit. I am going to encourage you guys to chew on this and pray together and fellowship because I'm going to go see my daughter play the piano. I'm going to close this in prayer. Father in heaven, God, we thank you for the opportunity to open your word this evening. Lord, I pray that this would not feel like a hurried or vain...
• 20:03
  study, Lord, as we consider the incredible truth that we have an advocate and we have an advocate who has paid the price. Lord, I pray that this would propel us, this would compel us, as Paul says, to walk, to walk because of your love, in love, in response to who you are and what you've given us. God, you deserve all glory, all praise for it.
• 20:29
  May we never put our place in a position where we think we don't need you. Thank you for this time. I pray these things in your name. Amen.