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.
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)
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