Fellowship Part 10 - Those Who Depart The Fellowship

 

To see all the studies in this series, please go to https://surrenderdaily.blogspot.com/

 

The next couple of short studies will be a little bit different.  They will center around those who are enemies to the fellowship.  We are still working our way through 1 John and our key verse is still 1 John 1:7

 

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.

 

However, just as the last study talked about the things of the world that draw us away form the fellowship, these next few studies will focus on false teachers who try to separate us from the fellowship.

John calls these people antichrists. In our modern American Christian culture, we are fascinated with prophecy and end times, so I would suspect most, if not all, of us are familiar with the concept of THE Antichrist.  The Antichrist is a person who, according to the book of Revelation, will be indwelt by Satan himself and establish himself as a major world leader for the purpose of drawing people away from God.  However, as we progress through 1 John, we discover there are many antichrists out there even now.  Here is what he says in 1 John 2:18

 

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (ESV)

 

This requires us to differentiate between The Antichrist of Revelation and the antichrists to which John is referring here. To put it plainly, an antichrist is really anyone serving as an agent of the devil trying to draw people away from the fellowship of Christ. An antichrist has the goal to disrupt, divide, and ultimately destroy the fellowship of the believers. In many cases, these antichrists may not even realize they are agents of the devil.  They may truly believe they are in the right, doing and saying what is right.  And they may even be found within the context of the church.

Therefore, we have to be always on guard so that we may recognize and reject their teaching.  The picture at the top of this article is a bit ridiculous, of course, but it is a caricature of false teachers in the church.  We would never listen to anyone tell us 2+2=5, but how easily we listen to those who teach that which is contrary to scripture.  If we are not careful, we can find ourselves in a situation where these antichrists are in leadership positions even within our own ranks.  Consider what Jesus’s own brother, Jude said:

 

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 4 (ESV)

 

I believe we have reached a point in our Christian culture where these words from Jesus’ brother have come true.  I believe the grace of God has been perverted such that all manners of sensuality are considered acceptable.  I believe that Jesus himself is no longer Lord and Master in many churches across our land.  Instead, cultural acceptability has become the Lord of the church. So the question is:  how can we be aware of such antichrists? How can we recognize them and be certain they have not crept into our own midst?

That is what we will be looking at from these next verses in 1 John.  In this article we see first the idea that

Antichrists depart from the fellowship.

 Look at 1 John 2:19-21

 

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. (ESV)

 

As we consider John’s words, we have to be careful about what we mean when we say depart from us.  Jude tells us that some of them are actually within our midst, so how can they depart from us if they are within our own ranks.  The truth is, sometimes, they actually do physically depart.  There are several ways they can do this, the foremost of which is that they can outright deny the faith and leave the church. As they depart, they have as their goal to convince others to deny their faith as well.

In the last couple of years, we have seen a surprising number of prominent nationally known Christians deny their faith, and I believe one of the reasons why is because our popular culture is becoming increasingly ANTI-Christian. It’s easy to become a prominent, even famous “Christian” when the culture is pseudo-Christian, but when the culture begins to turn against Christianity, which it currently is, then the pretenders are the first to fall away.

Not all antichrists, however, completely deny the faith. Some just create new religious groups.  Do you realize that by some estimates, there are over 33,000 so-called Christian denominations in the world?  That astounds the mind considering that the whole purpose of koinonia is to be of one body and one mind.  It seems like perhaps we are not doing such a good job at the whole koinonia thing.

The idea here is that if we don’t like what the church is teaching, let’s just make our own church. Once you have a buffet of religious groups out there, then it becomes easy for the individual to have the same mentality. If I don’t like what my current church is selling, I’ll just find a church that is selling what I want to hear. Paul warned Timothy of this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

 

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (ESV)

 

Brothers and sisters, I believe we are in these days today.

On the other hand, antichrists do not have to physically leave the church to depart from us. Rather, they might simply depart from orthodox doctrine.  With so many so-called denominations out there, they can’t possibly all be orthodox, but even within orthodox churches, there can be those teaching unorthodox doctrines.  Ultimately, all these antichrists have departed from orthodox doctrine, but you don’t have to deny the faith or create your own religious group to depart from orthodox doctrine.  In fact, it was because so many within the Catholic Church had departed from orthodox doctrine that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Whittenburg Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation. When the church itself has left orthodox doctrine, it is no longer the church.  That is when you have to leave that organization and find the true church.  That is what Martin Luther did.

Since that time, many antichrists have departed from orthodox doctrine while remaining within the church, and while many denominations exist because of differences over secondary issues, there are still many churches out there whose leadership has departed from orthodox doctrine. 

This is not a new problem. There were a number of heresies that attempted to infiltrate the early church.  To combat these heresies, the early fourth century church fathers came up with a simple summary of the teachings of the apostles.  We call it the Apostle’s Creed.  It is simple and it summarizes the basic elements of orthodox doctrine.

 

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

      creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

      and born of the virgin Mary.

      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

      was crucified, died, and was buried;

      he descended to hell.

      The third day he rose again from the dead.

      He ascended to heaven

      and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

      From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

      the holy catholic church, (the universal church made up of all believers)

      the communion of saints, (fellowship – what we are talking about)

      the forgiveness of sins,

      the resurrection of the body,

      and the life everlasting. Amen.

 

Any teachings that contradict these truths are antichrist in nature and represent a departure from the faith.

Have you evaluated the doctrines of your church against the authority of scripture?  Do you have measures in place within your fellowship to safeguard against false teachers wishing to disrupt the fellowship and even drive the church away from orthodox teaching?  Unlike many areas of our walk of faith where we humble ourselves in consideration of others, this is one area of our fellowship in which no amount of compromise can be tolerated.

Next time we will continue looking at these enemies of the fellowship to so other ways in which they can be identified.

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Fellowship Part 9 - Temporary Fellowship

 

To see all the previous studies in this series, please go to https://surrenderdaily.blogspot.com/

In today’s short study, we pick up from where we left off in 1 John 2:15-17, which says

 

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (ESV)

 

We are working through 1 John, examining what it means to be a part of the fellowship of Christian believers – focusing on our Christian fellowship, known as koinonia in the Greek.  Koinonia is that close, personal bond that ought to exist between believers because of our common fellowship with God our Heavenly Father Our key verse in the study has been 1 John 1:7

 

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. (ESV)

In the previous article, we started talking about the pitfalls of inappropriate fellowship with the world system.  We discussed the first of three important truths from 1 John 2:15-17, which stated that

 

Fellowship with the world precludes fellowship with God.

 

In this article, we explore the second and third important truths about inappropriate fellowship with the world, beginning with the fact that

The things of this world do not come from God.

 

This is critically important to understand for our koinonia because the fact that the things of the world are not from God is part and parcel to why they interfere with our fellowship with God.  More importantly – or perhaps to the point - if the things of the world do not come from God, where do you think they come from?  They come from the adversary – the devil.  And because they come from the adversary, you can be assured that they are a corruption of all that is good and holy.

In verse 16, John classifies this corruption into three categories:

1. The desires of the flesh (or in the KJV – the lust of the flesh),
2. The desires of the eyes (or in the KJV – the lust of the eyes), and
3. Pride in possessions (or in the KJV – the pride of life)

Let’s explore all three of these, beginning with the desires of the flesh.

As creations of God, there are certain things we have been created to need. We need food. We need companionship. We need love and affection. That need translates physically to desires – specifically desires of the flesh.  This is not a bad thing.  God gave us these desires because he intends for us to enjoy the things he created us to need.  It is his beautiful and perfect design.  Therefore, to fulfil that design, God has ordained healthy ways for all these needs to be met.

Our adversary, Satan, is a corruptor.  As Satan’s agent, the world system corrupts our God-given desires and attempts to meet them in unhealthy and sinful ways, which we call the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh says “if it feels right, it’s OK”. The lust of the flesh says “I need it, so I’ll get it any way I can” or “as much as I can – even more than I need”.  Satan used this against Eve when she saw that the fruit would taste good, even though it was forbidden. Satan used this against Jesus when he told him to turn the stones into bread, even though he was fasting. And Satan will use this against you and me every chance he gets. It may be sex.  It may be food.  It may be drugs or alcohol.  Even something like health and exercise can fall into this category if taken to the extreme.  If you are willing to compromise health or relationships or even do that which is outright prohibited by God in order to do something that “feels good,” you may have a love of the world that is ungodly.

Next, we see the desires of the eyes. This is different from the desires of the flesh because it is not that is being corrupted, but beauty itself.  God has given us the entire universe to enjoy and appreciate. Beautiful landscapes. Beautiful trees and flowers. Even beautiful and helpful creations of mankind such as art, science, etc. And we can own and appreciate such things, giving thanks to God for them.

But as we have already seen, our adversary, Satan is a corruptor. As Satan’s agent, the world system corrupts this sense of appreciation and gratitude and makes it all about control and passion and possession. The lust of the eyes says, “That looks good – I want it”. The lust of the eyes says, “I will do whatever it takes to get it” or worse “I want it – you can’t have it”. Satan used this against Eve when she saw how pretty the fruit was. Satan used this against Jesus when he showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And Satan will use this against you and me every chance he gets.  What do you want so bad you can just taste it?  If you are willing to compromise morals or ethics or even financial security to get what you want, you may have a love of the world that is ungodly.

Finally, there is the pride of life.  While the ESV talks about pride in possessions, the whole point here is about identity. We are created in the image of God. We are his children. This is how we find our identity.

But at the risk of repetition, our adversary, Satan is a corruptor. As Satan’s agent, the world system corrupts this sense of identity, trying to convince us we can be more – have more power – have more authority and sense of purpose – and yes, sometimes this is manifested through possessions, but not always.  The pride of life says, “I am special – I deserve more”.  By contrast, the bible teaches we are clay in the hands of the potter. We are our very best when we become what he made us to be.  This was the sin of Satan himself when he said, “I will be like God”. He then used this against Eve when he told her that the fruit would make her wise, like God. He used this against Jesus when he said, “if you really ARE God, prove it by jumping of this pinnacle”.  And he will use this against you and me every chance he gets, trying to convince us how important we are.  We don’t even realize that we are setting ourselves up as gods in our own eyes.

Here’s the scary thing about the pride of life as it relates to our culture.  The world system has infiltrated our culture so completely we don’t even realize the extent to which we exude and promote the pride of life.  We teach this to our kids when we tell them “you can be anything you want to be,” and I know why we do that.  We have the best of intentions because on the other side of the spectrum, the great corruptor is whispering into the ears of our children, “you are nothing, so why not just kill yourself.”  Jesus was right when he said the devil comes only to steal, kill, and destroy – in any way possible.  Rather than telling our kids they can be anything they want, however, we should be teaching our kids, “find out who and what God created you to be, because you will never be satisfied or full of joy unless you become that person.”  Our importance is in who God has made us to be, and if that is not enough for you, you may have a love of the world that is ungodly.

The most interesting thing about all three of these is the focus on “I”. 

• I NEED THIS. 
• I WANT THIS. 
• I AM THIS.
• I DESERVE THIS. 

The love of the world is an inward, selfish focus. The love of God is a self-less, outward focus. They will always be opposed to each other, which is why the world will always ultimately hate the things of God.

That brings us to the third and final truth concerning an inappropriate fellowship with the world that is found in verse 17.

 

The things of this world are only temporary.

 

Our fellowship with the world is temporary because the world itself is temporary. Only that which is done for God has eternal value.  And this really gives us a good litmus test for whether our affections are directed at God or the world. Are we spending our time, our money, and our energy on things that only have value in this life, or are we spending them on things that have value beyond this life?

All the energy we spend on things that only have value in this life will be gone the moment we are gone – wasted - but when we spend energy on things that have eternal value, we take those things with us after we are gone; and they are with us for all of eternity.  So, does that mean we just ignore everything here on earth?  We don’t work or make any money or buy anything or take vacations?  Of course not.  That would be taking the idea to an absurd conclusion.  However, I am saying - or rather asking - where is your focus?  Where are your affections?  What are your priorities?

We are still in this world; we are just not supposed to be in fellowship with this world. There is a balance between taking care of business in the world and becoming a lover of the world. The best way I know to explain this balance is to use Jesus’ own words.

 

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:19-33 (ESV)

 

Are you more worried about the growth of your financial portfolio than you are your own spiritual growth?

Are you more concerned with buying that next toy, or piece of furniture, or whatever than you are helping that person who may not have enough to eat today?

Are you more concerned with whether church gave you what you wanted today than you are whether or not your neighbors – or family – may be dying and going to hell?

Are you more concerned with spending your time doing what YOU want to do than you are spending your time doing what God wants you to do?

It’s all a balance. And I want to encourage you – no urge you – to find that balance.

When you find that balance, I can promise you these things:

• You will never feel deprived – even if you don’t have what you want.
• You will never feel abandoned – even if you lose friends.
• You will never feel miserable – even if you have to suffer.
• You will never feel that you have wasted either time or money.

Are we in Fellowship with the saints or with the world?

Do we love God, or do we love the world?

Next time:  Those who break the fellowship

 

 

Fellowship Part 8 - The Wrong Fellowship

 

Note: To see all the studies in this series, go to https://surrenderdaily.blogspot.com/

As we have been working through this series of short studies in 1 John, we have been focusing on our Christian fellowship – our koinonia.  Our key verse in the study has been 1 John 1:7

 

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. (ESV)

We have talked a lot about that fellowship and the light associated with it.  However, there is another fellowship with which we regularly flirt – our fellowship with the world.  As we discussed in Part 7, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, it was because He called you out of the world of darkness into His Kingdom of light.  We may still be in this world, but we are no longer a part of this world.

But this world is trying to draw us back into itself at all times. As those who are abiding in Christ, we no longer conform to the patterns of the world, but rather to the patterns of Jesus.  Paul said in Romans 12:2

 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

 

As a result, our expectation should be that the world looks at us as different – possibly even hating us for that difference – wanting to draw us back into their way of thinking.  Jesus himself said, in John 15:19

 

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (ESV)

Both of those concepts – not conforming – being different – as well as the idea of being hated – are both concepts that make many of us very uncomfortable. Everyone wants to be liked. Everyone wants to fit in. As a result, sometimes we find ourselves compromising more than we realize. In truth, even the smallest compromise is a step in the wrong direction. At first, we give in on seemingly small things, just enough to fit in so that we don’t look so freakish or out of place.  But once we start taking steps in that direction, it gets easier and easier to take additional steps to compromise even larger things. Before we know it, we look more like the world than we do Jesus, and we begin to love the things of the world more than we love Jesus.  In other words, we have greater fellowship with the world than we do with Christ. Paul warns us about this in Galatians 4:9

 

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (ESV)

 

Therefore, in this short study we are only looking at three verses and each of these verses is going to tell us something important about our fellowship with the world. 1 John 2:15-17 says

 

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (ESV)

 

Actually, we will probably only address verse 15 in this article, leaving verses 16-17 for next time.  From verse 15, however, we see our first very important truth about our fellowship with the world.

 

Fellowship with the world precludes fellowship with God.

 

Keep in mind that fellowship here is meant as we have been studying it – close, personal intimacy based on a common bond.  There is a difference between our necessary participation with the world and fellowship with it.  We must at least participate in the world because this is where we are.  We must not, however, have fellowship with the world because doing so precludes our fellowship with God.  As we have been studying in these articles, our koinonia is premised upon our common fellowship with God – made possible by the blood of Jesus and his gospel.  However, when we engage in fellowship with the world, it breaks and interferes our fellowship with God.  In turn, this makes our fellowship with one another more tenuous.  The point is clear.  If we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. 

But let us be even more clear about what he means here by "the world".  It is the world itself we are not to love, and by that John means the world system (not the people in it). We have already talked at length about the importance of our love for people, and John will continue to bring out that importance as we progress through this letter.   No, this is beyond the people.  This is the very culture and infrastructure of the world system itself.

Until such time that Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom here on earth, His kingdom is a kingdom of the heart.  When standing before Pilate, Jesus said himself “my kingdom is not of this world” – it will be one day, but not yet. As believers, we have the kingdom now, in our hearts, even though the kingdom itself is not yet realized.  This is the basis of our hope.  We experience in part what we will one day have in full. Until that time, Satan is being allowed to have dominion over this world, which is why he is called the Prince of the Power of the Air.  Ephesians 2:1-2 says

 

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. (ESV)

 

All the systems of the world belong to Satan right now. That means the culture, the government, the educational infrastructure, everything. Don’t get me wrong – that doesn’t mean there are not portions of these systems that have been won back from Satan at times.  In fact, I would argue part of our responsibility as believers is to redeem these institutions to the greatest extent possible. However, redeeming them does not mean we love them.  We love the people, not the systems. The systems are still ultimately under Satan’s control until Jesus returns, and if we direct our love towards those systems, we are straying from our mission to love the peoples of the world and bring them to Christ.  More importantly, we put ourselves at risk.  So we try to redeem them, but we keep them in their place, knowing what they are and to whom they belong – at least for now.

And not just the world systems.  He also identifies the things in the world. What does he mean by that? To be honest and plain, he means everything. When we begin loving things rather than people, we are also straying from our mission and putting ourselves at risk. 

Now… let’s take a moment and think about this.

What do you love?  Are there things you love? I’m not talking about appreciation.  I appreciate the beauty of God's creation and give him the glory for it.  I appreciate a beautiful piece of art and can enjoy it.  I appreciate good food. Well, maybe in my case I love food a little too much, but that is the point is it not?  When we love something more than it was intended, we pervert it and it becomes sin in our lives.  God has given us all things to appreciate and be thankful for.  But when we love something too much, it becomes sin.  How often do we love things to the point of obsession – loving so much that if you lost it, it would just ruin your day. Are there things that you are holding on to so tightly that they might even be considered idols?

What about the institutions of the world?  Are there institutions that you love more than you love Jesus?  Certainly there are plenty of institutions that are clearly and obviously anti-Christ in nature.  But there are others that may not seem to be part of the world but can quickly become part of the world.  Think about our country. We live in a Christian country, right?  Really? Can we still say that?  Would you be willing to turn your back on your country if it meant turning your back on Jesus?  Deitrich Boenhoffer loved his country, Germany, with all his heart; but he did not love the institution of Germany more than he loved Jesus and, as such, he gave his life defending Jesus against the lies of his country's leaders.  What about your church?  Would you turn your back on your church if it became clear that Jesus had left the building.  There was a time in church history when the institution of the church itself was part of the world system and it became necessary to break from it so that the church could be reformed.   Martin Luther loved the church, but not more than he loved Jesus, so when the church turned its back on Jesus, he stood up to the institution and put his love of Jesus before his love of the church.  These are probably two of the most important institutions in our lives.  We give them all our (earthly) loyalties, but neither are more important than our love and obedience for Jesus.  Like  all things, even institutions can become idols in our lives.

What about activities of the world?  There are lots of really great activities in which we can partake.  Hobbies, social events, entertainment.  Some of these can be good and enjoyable or even beneficial to us.  However, they are all still part of the world system and if given too much emphasis can interfere with our fellowship with God.

You see, when we begin to love and have fellowship with the world and the things of the world, it becomes difficult to draw the line between our devotion to those things and ideas and our devotion to God.  We must be able to live as part of this world, participate in this world, but not become enthralled or in love with this world.  Fellowship with the world precludes fellowship with God.

There are two more truths in these verses – things of the world that are not from God and the temporary nature of the world.  However, but to keep these studies short, we will have to put them off until next time.

 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:5-6

Fellowship Part 7 - The Light of Fellowship

 

Fellowship Part 7 The Light of Fellowship

 

Today’s “short study” may be a little longer than normal because there is a singular theme in these next few verses of 1 John that must be dealt with as a single unit.  We are working through the first letter of the Apostle John and our key verse for this series is 1 John 1:7

 

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. (ESV)

 

Fellowship – or koinonia as it is in the Greek – is that close personal bond we have with others because of our common fellowship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

John’s letter sort of builds from the high level to the more detailed. The first chapter said a lot about fellowship in general. In the last couple of studies, we talked about the characteristics of someone who was in that fellowship. Everything that follows gives greater and greater detail about what it means to be a part of the fellowship – to know you are saved – abiding in Christ – and the benefits associated with that fellowship.

Referring to Jesus, this same John said in John 1:4-5, 9

 

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (ESV)

 

HOWEVER - in Matthew 5, Jesus said that WE – his church – the fellowship of believers – WE are to be the light of the world.  So is it Jesus that is the light or are we that light?  The answer is yes to both.  Jesus is the light shining in the darkness and we are to be that which channels the light - a reflection of HIS light.  Consider the text that is the basis for today’s study:

 

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 (ESV)

 

These verses give us insight into what it means that the church shines the light of Jesus into the world.  Specifically, how the light of our koinonia shines in the darkness of this world. So how can we shine the light of fellowship into the darkness of this world?  These verses tell us three ways.  First:

 

We must remember the old command given before the light came into the world.

In verse 7, John is telling his readers that in order to abide in the light, we cannot forget what was given before. Jesus may have fulfilled the requirements of the law on our behalf, but God does not change. God’s expectations for us are the same today as they were before the light – Jesus – came into the world.  Consider Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1:15-16

 

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (ESV)

 

That holiness is bound up in the moral aspects of the law. Nothing has changed other than the fact that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law on our behalf – giving us the freedom to become the holy people God intended for us to become. Does that mean we have to go back to Exodus and start following every jot and tittle of the law? No, even Jesus told us there is a better way to be holy than trying to follow every aspect of the law.

 

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:25-40 (ESV)

 

It's very simple.  To remember the old command – we follow these two.  We love God and we love others.  We’ve heard this so many times that in many ways we have become desensitized to it. We know that following these two commandments ensures we fulfill all the moral requirements of the law and when we do this, we are shining a light into the darkness.

BUT the goal here is not simply to follow the requirements of the law, precisely because Jesus already fulfilled all its requirements on our behalf.  Simply following the requirements of the law does not make us a light that shines in the darkness.  There is a light that is BRIGHTER than the law, that transcends the law, and that shines through us into the darkness.  That light is none other than Jesus himself.  Thus, for Jesus to shine through us, our true goal is not conformance to a set of rules, but true holiness – and holiness requires us to go beyond the law to become LIKE Jesus.

That brings us to the second way we can shine the light of fellowship into the world.

 

We must embrace the new command that was given by the light.

 

Verse 8 tells us that the old command is actually a new command.  How can that be? How can the old command also be a new command? Is it the same command or a new and different command? Actually, it is the same command, but through Jesus, that command has been enhanced so that it may reflect the light of Jesus himself. Jesus actually gave us this new command himself – on the night before he was crucified.  In John 13:34-35 he said these words to his disciples:

 

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

On the surface, this sounds exactly like the old command. But if we look at it carefully enough there is more to this command than just love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said to love one another – JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.  The old command was essentially what we know as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  But the new command is different: LOVE AS I HAVE LOVED. 

• How did Jesus love us? He gave up heaven itself for us.
• How did Jesus love us? He humbled himself and served us.
• How did Jesus love us? He sacrificed himself for us – even unto death.

Let’s not be too overdramatic here. Loving others as we love ourselves is certainly a good thing – maybe even in a sense it is somewhat shining a light into the world.  However, anybody, even the lost, can shine that kind of light into the world. There are ALL kinds of groups and programs out there that shine that kind of light into the world. But not all of them shine THE LIGHT – JESUS – into the world. We don’t want to just shine a light into the world, we want to shine THE LIGHT into the world. 

To shine THE LIGHT into the world, we must love beyond ourselves. That means we must love sacrificially. That means we must give of ourselves wholeheartedly. That means we must put aside our own aspirations and even our own needs.

To shine THE LIGHT into the world, we must demonstrate God’s Love. God demonstrated his love for us by giving that which was most precious.

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 (ESV)

 

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (ESV)

 

So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: Is there anything we are unwilling to give up… anything we are unwilling to do… anything we are unwilling to sacrifice… in order for the world to hear and receive the good news of Jesus and become a part of the fellowship? If there is, you are not embracing the new command.  I don’t know about you – but this is hard for me to accept.

But that brings us to one last way to shine the light of fellowship into the world:

 

We must accept the Truth concerning the light.

 

Here, we lean on verses 9-11, which give a very difficult truth to accept, but one we must accept if we claim to be a part of the fellowship.  Indeed, it is a very indicator of whether or not we are a part of the fellowship.  That truth can be broken down into three subparts.

First. Walking in the light is a prerequisite to being in the fellowship.  To be in the fellowship means to abide – or walk – in the light.   If we are not walking in the light we are not part of the fellowship.

Second. Love is an indication of walking in the light. And we are not talking about the OLD command – we are talking about the new, enhanced command to love with the love of God.  Later in this letter, John will speak more about this love of God – but if we are walking in the light, it is the Love of God that we display. We go beyond the old command and embrace the new command. And there is no middle ground here. We can’t be indifferent about this. We can’t say – well I don’t hate, but I just don’t love the way Jesus loves.  We can’t say – I do a good job – I love as much as I can, but there are limits to how much I can love. No – either you love like Jesus… or you hate.  There is no in between.

Third – and this is the harsh truth John is ultimately revealing to us: if you don’t love, you are not in the light.  In other words – loving the way Jesus loved is a true indication of whether or not you are part of the fellowship – whether or not you are truly saved. 

I don’t know about you, but that scares me just a little bit. And it scares me for several reasons. First, there are a bunch of people who call themselves Christian who make no efforts whatsoever to love according to the old command, much less the new command.  That makes me very concerned for them. But more importantly – I DON’T LOVE THIS WAY – not all the time, anyway. And I suspect you can probably say the same thing.  So… does this concern you at all?  Does it make your faith waiver a bit?

First of all, I would tell you that if it does NOT concern you – I really have to question whether you really are in the fellowship, because this SHOULD concern you.  The reality is that none of us love the way we should. So how do we deal with this?  How do we respond to it?

Let me just provide a word of encouragement. John is showing us how we SHOULD be – recognizing that none of us measure up to that. John knows that we all struggle loving to this degree – but he wants us to be striving for and working towards this level of love in our Christian walk and fellowship.  As we live in koinonia with each other, we are to be encouraging one another into this way of living – and loving. And that is what the next few verses in 1 John are doing – providing encouragement that we CAN do this…

 

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)

 

In other words, don’t be too alarmed. Our failures are forgiven through Jesus. IF WE TRULY KNOW HIM WE HAVE OVERCOME. Look how many times he said – You KNOW him – you have OVERCOME the evil one. John wants us to look past our own inability to love as Jesus loved, and to look to Jesus for the power to overcome and actually love as Jesus loved.

Let me see if I can explain is more simply. As we evaluate ourselves, we have to look at desire and intent. If we are openly hostile towards one another – especially if we are openly hostile towards other brothers and sisters in Christ – then clearly God’s love is not within us. But even if we are openly hostile towards the unsaved – it would be difficult to claim God’s love is in us. These are our baser, evil desires.

• Self-preservation
• Self-promotion
• Self-gratification

These all come from the evil one. In fact, in the next study we will look at these baser desires to help us identify those desires that keep us from loving like Jesus loved. But if we truly desire to be like Jesus, to live and love like Jesus – sacrificially – then we can overcome our baser desires because Jesus has overcome the evil one.

So how are we to respond to this?  As will be the case in almost every one of these short studies – we have to evaluate – am I really in the fellowship?  Perhaps you are reading this and the Holy Spirit has convinced you that you are not really a part of the fellowship.  If that is the case, then do not harden your heart to movement within you.  Surrendering your life to Jesus, repenting of your sins, trusting Him for salvation, and submitting to His Lordship in your life.

If we are convinced we are in the fellowship – we still have to evaluate – and repent of – not living and loving sacrificially the way John has described here. All of us have failed in this to some degree and thus all of us need to repent of that failure.

May God work in your life and in the fellowship of your church to shine His light into your world.

Fellowship Part 6 - Learning to be Like Jesus

 

Fellowship Part 6 – Learning to be Like Jesus

 

These short studies from the epistle of 1 John are intended to teach us about the importance and benefits of being a part of the fellowship of believers – that is, being an active member of the body of Christ through participation in an active, biblically based congregation of believers.  Of course it goes without saying that if the individual believer is not an active part of the fellowship of believers, there is no way he/she can take advantage of the benefits being enumerated in this study series.  What must not go without saying, however, is that even participation in a local congregation of “believers” may fall short of realizing the benefits if the congregation as a whole is has not achieved a level of maturity in which biblical koinonia actually exists.  Thus, this series is addressed as much to the church as a whole as it may be to individual believers.  Churches – that is, the collective congregation, not just individuals – must strive to reach koinonia so that as new believers are added to the fellowship, they are able to realize the biblical benefits of that fellowship.

As we progress through these studies, the key verse of the entire series has been 1 John 1:7

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. (ESV)

Over the last couple of articles, we explored the idea of the believer “sinning less”.  The idea we want to explore today is somewhat related to it as we explore the idea that:

 

A person fully living in the fellowship of believers is learning to be like Jesus.

 

We continue to be in the first five verses of 1 John 2, which read:

 

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. (ESV)

 

Part of what we do together as a congregation – a fellowship – of believers is to help one another learn how to be like Christ.  Now we know that we are all imperfectly accomplishing this task, but the beautiful promise to which we all hold is that, as believers, we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.  As Paul says in Romans 8:29

 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)

But knowing that we will never achieve that end does not mean we forego the pursuit of it in this life.  As we mentioned in Part 5 of this series, Paul himself encouraged us to pursue that goal with all our being:

 

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)

 

Thus, we continue the pursuit of Christ-likeness even though we may not ever reach the goal in this life.  This is part of the responsibilities – and benefits – of being in the fellowship.  We encourage and help one another to learn to be like Jesus.  In these first five verses in 1 John 2 (see above), John has given us two aspects of learning to be like Christ that we need to acknowledge and adopt – and these aspects apply not only to the individual, but to the congregation as a whole.  The first aspect is found in the first part of 1 John 2:5, which says “but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected…”  Thus, the first idea here is that

 

Those in the fellowship of believers are learning to be obedient.

 

This is a critical aspect of learning to be like Jesus.  After all, Jesus is our ultimate example of what it means to be obedient.  As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:8,

 

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (ESV)

 

Jesus made it clear that those who wish to be called his called his disciples must be obedient to his words.  In John 8:31-32, Jesus says:

 

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (ESV)

 

Likewise, in John 14:15, he says as simply as possible:

 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (ESV)

 

A believer who is truly a part of the fellowship will strive with all his/her heart to be obedient to the commands of Jesus.   As John continues this epistle, he will make this even more clear and - as he has alluded to in 1 John 2:5 - will further draw the parallel between our obedience and our love for one another.  It is that love for one another than binds us together in koinonia.  Without it, we may be a group with similar interests and ideals – but we are not a fellowship.  As this series of studies progresses, this will become self-evident.

However, this also translates to the church as a whole.  A church that is functioning in koinonia will be obedient to the mission of the church – the Great Commission.  When a collection of obedient believers begin working together as a single unit, the result will be a church that reaches its community for Christ.  That means a very good indication of a church that is not experiencing koinonia is a church that is/has failed to reach its community for Christ.  Sadly, too many of our churches fall into this category.

The second aspect of learning to be like Jesus that we get from 1 John 2:1-5 is not terribly different from the first, but I do want to make a differentiation.  In 1 John 2:6, John says "whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."

 

So the second aspect of learning to be like Jesus is that:

 

Those in the fellowship of believers are learning to do the same things Jesus did.

 

So how is this different from simple obedience?  Honestly not much in principle, but perhaps a great deal in practice.  What we need to remember is that being obedient means far more than simply not breaking the commandments.  Being morally upright is part of being obedient, but it is not the whole of being obedient.  Worshipping God is part of being obedient, but it is not the whole of being obedient.  Many believers are under living under the false premise that if they worship God and live morally they are obediently living out their faith.  This is not true.  James 4:7 says:

 

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)

 

One of my favorite verses in scripture is found in Micah 6:8, which says:

 

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God? (ESV)

 

Throughout scripture, we are taught that righteousness is more than about not doing the wrong thing, but rather about always doing the right thing.  Micah teaches us that the “right thing” is as much about being just, kind, and merciful and about living in humility as it is about not breaking a set of moral guidelines.

When it comes to morality, our world today has abandoned the truth of scripture.  The moral laws of God stand as absolute truth and we do well to defend them and live by them.  And we know that Jesus is the truth.   In his own words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”… (John 14:6).  However, living in truth is only one half of the equation.  John also tells us from that same gospel that there were two sides of Jesus – grace and truth.

 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14 (ESV)

 

Living in grace is about being kind and merciful – it’s about loving your neighbor as yourself, like the Good Samaritan.  It’s about selfless service to those who need help.  It’s about not showing favoritism or prejudice.  It’s about brining people to the feet of Jesus in their sin rather than ostracizing and condemning them for their sin.  There is a difference between openly accepting sinful behavior as being normal and without consequence and recognizing that we come to Jesus first in our sin before he removes that sin from our life.  To openly accept sinful behavior in the church as normal is a denial of Jesus’ truth, but to prevent those who are sinful from coming to Jesus is a denial of Jesus’ grace.  We may not be able to welcome them as part of the fellowship (i.e., membership in a church) until they repent, but we must not prevent them from coming to our churches so that they may be introduced to Jesus. It is a fine line that Jesus teaches us how to walk.

Jesus ate with sinners.

Jesus touched the unclean.

Jesus healed the sick.

Jesus helped the downtrodden.

BUT: He did all this with the goal of bringing them to a knowledge of the truth - not condemning them but not condoning their behavior either.

As both individuals and congregations who both claim the name of Jesus, part of what we must do to achieve koinonia is to learn how to be more like Jesus – which includes all aspects of obedience – truth and grace.  Let us examine not only our own hearts in this matter, but the personalities of our churches.

 

Next time: The light of fellowship.

 

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25 (ESV)

Fellowship Part 5 - Learning to Sin Less

 

Fellowship Part 5 – Learning to Sin Less

 

 

As we are continuing in this series of short studies through the epistle of 1 John, we get to a series of articles that will deal with the characteristics of someone who has truly taken advantage of being in the fellowship.  As a reminder, the key verse of this series of studies is 1 John 1:7

 

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. (ESV)

 

In the previous article, we talked about how the removal of sin from our lives is one of the results of being a part of the fellowship.  That is because

 

A person fully living in the fellowship of believers is learning to be sinless.

 

That is the characteristic we will explore today.  That is not to say that such a person will actually be sinless.  We saw in chapter 1 that if we believe we have no sin, then we are liars.  But consider what John says in 1 John 2:1

 

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…

 

You see that, right?  John wrote this letter, in part, so that we would overcome sin in our lives – that we would sin less – even if we cannot actually be sinless.  Fortunately, since we can’t truly be sinless, John also reminds us in that same verse that

 

…But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

 

Thank you, Jesus for being our advocate.  But if John is writing to us so that we do not sin, then apparently there an expectation towards that outcome.  So how do we reconcile John’s intent in writing the letter with the reality that we know we all sin? We reconcile it by recognizing our goal versus our reality and coupling those together to see our responsibility.  Starting first with the goal.

 

Our goal is to become sinless.

 

There is a movement among many Christians to downplay the idea of living holy and striving to live without sin. In this twitter-oriented, short attention span world, we latch on to certain catch phrases that become excuses for how we live our lives.

I’m just a sinner saved by grace.

I’m not perfect, just forgiven.

God’s not done with me yet.

All of these statements are true, but none of these statements should be excuses for attempting to live holy.  Repeatedly in the book of Leviticus, as God was laying out the requirements of the law, God said “Be Holy for I am Holy.”  The apostle Peter quoted these verses in his epistle.  In 1 Peter 1:15-17 he says

 

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (ESV)

 

 

We read those social media quips and we use them as an excuse to stop trying to be holy and sinless. No – our goal has ALWAYS been to be holy as God is holy.  That means our goal is to be without sin. 

Knowing we can never achieve that goal is no excuse for pursuing it. Thus, we pursue absolute sinlessness, but we recognize our reality.

 

Our reality is that we still sin.

 

And that sin – all of it – everything we have done and still do – incurs the holy, righteous wrath of God the Father. That is why John says here we have an advocate with the father. 

 And that sin – all of it – everything we have done and still do – incurs the holy, righteous wrath of God the Father.

 That is why John says here we have an advocate with the father. Consider what John says in 1 John 2:2

 

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (ESV)

 

Jesus is the propitiation of our sin.  Propitiation – that is a big word but one of the most important ones in Christian language.  Propitiation means that Jesus satisfied the righteous wrath of God on our behalf so that we don’t have to face it.  How exactly did he do that?  God poured out his wrath on the cross.  Jesus took on our sin debt and paid the penalty associated with our sin.  He literally faced the wrath of God and endured hell on our behalf so that we do not have to face that wrath ourselves.

 The result is that we are in a very interesting situation.  We still experience the presence (and the potential earthly consequences) of sin in our lives, but we have been relieved from facing the eternal consequences of those sins. 

So when we examine our goal to be sinless – to be holy because God is holy - and compare it to the reality that we still sin, then we can conclude that we have a responsibility.

 

Our responsibility is to sin less.

 

Indeed, this is the objective of sanctification in our lives – to become more and more like Christ by sinning less and less in our own lives.  A characteristic of someone who is part of the fellowship of Christ is someone who is striving to sin less.  Consider how Paul says it in Romans 8

 

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:12-12 (NASB)

 

Our responsibility – our obligation if you will – is to strive to remove sin from our flesh. It is a lifelong pursuit that we will never achieve in this life, but for which we never stop striving.  Again, Paul’s words are important here:

 

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)

 

The goal for Paul was the perfection that ultimately will come when we are glorified at the resurrection.  He recognized that he had not already obtained it nor would he obtain it on this side of glory, but that does not change the fact that he was pressing forward toward that goal.  He even tells us to forget the past and strive for the future.  In other words – don’t worry about yesterday. You should be doing better today than you did yesterday, and you should do better tomorrow than you are today.  This is our responsibility.

Even though Paul says “forgetting what lies behind”, perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to occasionally look behind just to make sure we really are making progress.  Can you look back at your life 20, 10, 5, even 1 year ago and say that where you are today is further along on the journey of sanctification than you were before?  If not, then perhaps we need to ask the question why not?

This is not a responsibility you are to try to bear on your own.  One of the major purposes of the church is to walk with one another, helping one another with this process.

So in conclusion, one of the key characteristics of someone who is in the fellowship is someone who is relentlessly pursuing a sinless life by sinning less.

In the next article, we will look at the characteristic that a person who is living in the fellowship is someone who is living in obedience.

 

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:15-16 (ESV)