SERIES: The Letters of John
TEXT: 1 John 1:1 – 2:11
MESSAGE: “Assured in Christ”
Gnosticism
gnōsis: knowledge
Spiritual reality is pure. Material reality is irredeemably evil.
You can find your way to salvation or purpose or fulfillment through a secret spiritual knowledge.
This is modern day gnosticism. It seeks a spiritual connection but on the terms of personal experience
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” — 1 John 5:13
“And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” — 1 John 1:4
“I’m writing these things to you so you may not sin” — 1 John 2:1
“That which was from the beginning…” — Apo Archē
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” — Colossians 1:16
“1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” — 1 John 1:1-4
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” — Romans 5:17
a gnostic movement that merely reveres Jesus’ teachings is not just insufficient — it’s sinister. Satan will settle for you taking Jesus as a teacher, as a historical figure so long as you do not take him as the Christ.
“…so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” — 1 John 1:3b-4
“Let mildew destroy everything. I have lost nothing of what I have in God.” — Charles Spurgeon
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” — 1 John 1:5
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 4:6
“6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” — 1 John 1:6-7
Peripateō: Regulate life to
“8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” — 1 John 1:8-10
“So we may say that in forgiving our sins and cleansing us from them, God displays loyalty to his covenant — his faithfulness because of the word which initiated it and his justice because of the deed that ratified it. More simply, he is faithful to forgive because he has promised to do so, and just because his Son died for our sins.” — John Stott
“1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” — 1 John 2:1-6
Paraklētos: Legal representative
Hilasmos: Appeasement
“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” — Psalm 18:19 NIV
“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” — Revelation 5:9
“He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to him.” — CS Lewis
“7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” — 1 John 2:7-11
“Men and women who have seen the truth, those who are in the light, have seen themselves and others all under the law of the love of God. And having realized this love which has pardoned them in spite of their unworthiness, they are prepared to do the same to others and to love them and rejoice with them in the same common salvation, in the same common love for the wondrous Lord who ‘loved his own…unto the end’, even to the Cross of shame and agony.” — Martino Lloyd Jones, Life in Christ