The Vision: What is "a sin unto death"? (1 John 5:16-17)

 

Image: Round bales, North Virginia, June 2024

Note: Devotion article taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 5:16-18.

There is a sin unto death: I do not say he shall pray for it… and there is a sin not unto death (1 John 5:16b, 17b).

In 1 John 5:16-17, the apostle John encourages intercessory prayer for a brother who has fallen into sin. He also makes a distinction, however, affirming prayer for those who have sinned “a sin not unto death,” but suggesting no prayer be made for those who have sinned “a sin unto death.”

What are these two categories? Various answers have been suggested.

In the Roman Catholic system a distinction is made between various “mortal” sins (more serious individual sins: a sin unto death) and “venial” sins (less serious sins: a sin not unto death). Calvin in his commentary on this passage points out, however, that the apostle makes here no such distinction and does not use these terms. He further notes that the Roman system tended to downplay the serious of some of the so-called venial sins in reliance upon an unbiblical confidence in baptism itself to remove them.

The MacArthur Study Bible suggests that the sin unto death indicates that, “Such a sin could be any premeditated and unconfessed sin that causes the Lord to determine to end a believer’s life. It is not one particular sin, like homosexuality or lying, but whatever sin is the final one in the tolerance of God.” It cites as an example the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 when they lied to the Holy Spirit. It adds, “No intercessory prayer will be effective for those who have committed such deliberate high-handed sin….” So, it suggests a distinction between sins that lead to immediate death and those that do not.

The Reformation Heritage Study Bible, however, seems to say that prayer for those who have sinned the sin not unto death refers to prayer for fellow believers in whom the brethren have observed “a pattern of disobedience (present tense sin),” while “John gives no encouragement to pray for false teachers who, after experiencing the gospel and the church (2:19), become enemies of Christ, cutting themselves off from life (sin unto death; Gal 1:9; Heb 6:4-6).”

In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Poole says that while prayer is commended for those “that appear not obstinate and incurable,” the apostle does not commend prayer for those “that have apostatized from a former specious profession into heresy and debauchery, and continue obstinate therein, against all methods of recovery.”

Poole’s interpretation calls to mind the teaching of our Lord concerning “the unpardonable sin,” rejecting the witness of the Spirit to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Matthew 12:31-32).

Matthew Henry concurred in his commentary on this passage, writing, “In case it should appear that any have committed the irremissible blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and the total apostasy from the illuminating corrective powers of the Christian religion, it should seem that they are not to be prayed for at all.”

John Calvin makes a similar point, concluding, “It may be gathered from the context, that [the sin unto death] is not, as they say, a partial fall, or the transgression of a single commandment, but apostasy by which men alienate themselves from God.”

I John 5:16 is cited as proof text in Chapter 22 (Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day), paragraph 4, of the Second London Confession (1689) in its teaching on prayer. It says that prayer should be made only “for things lawful” “but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.” It gives no further explanation. In Dr. Renihan’s exposition of the 1689 Confession, he interprets this teaching as meaning, “Prayer should not be made for a convinced apostate” (Renihan, To the Judicious and Impartial Reader, 428).

So, the classic Reformed interpretation of “the sin unto death” is that it refers to hardened,  intransigent, and apostate rejection of Christ, especially by one who had at one time made a false profession of faith in him. We are encouraged to pray for our brethren, but for such a one who sets himself as a hard apostate against Christ, there is no need to pray except that God’s will be done.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (6.14.24): Apostolic Instructions on Prayer (1 John 5:14-15)

 

Image: Butterfly bush, North Garden, Virginia, June 2024

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 5:14-15.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us (1 John 5:14).

As John comes to the close of his first General Epistle (1 John) he adds a brief exhortation on prayer in 1 John 5:14-15.

Our charismatic friends sometimes seize upon teaching like this and promote a “name it and claim it” theology of prayer. They will say that God is obligated to do whatever the believer asks, making the Lord into a cosmic butler.

John’s teaching on prayer, however, includes two vital qualifications:

First, there is the prepositional phrase, “according to his will.” If we ask anything according to God’s will he hears us.

Asking according to God’s will means asking for the things that God wills and has decreed for our good (cf. Romans 8:28). The mature believer does not ask for what is frivolous, superficial, or driven by selfish motives. He asks for things that are according to God’s will. He prays, as Christ taught, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10).

John is echoing here the teaching of our Lord himself in John 14:13-14, where Christ taught the disciples that they might ask “any thing in my name” and he would do it. The qualifying phrase “in my name” has the same functional meaning as “according to his will.”

Christ himself modeled this kind of praying in Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion, when he said, “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).

Second, there is the promise, “he heareth us.” John’s promise is not that the Lord will merely do whatever we ask or petition of him. The promise is that he will hear us.

Sometimes his answer to us must be “No,” because it is not according to his will. Or it might be, “Not yet,” or “Not in the way you expect,” but in a better way, according to God’s perfect will for our lives.

In Matthew Poole’s Commentary on these verses, he notes, “God answers his children according to that general meaning of their prayers, not always according to the particular (which may be often a much mistaken) meaning.”

Think how terrible it would be if a parent gave to his child everything that he asked. The child might unwisely ask to eat ice cream and candy at every meal. To have no bedtime. To play video games all day rather than do his homework and his chores. To have social media or internet access to things that might warp his mind and heart. Sometimes a loving and wise parent says, “No.” Or, “Not yet.” Or, “Here is something better for you.”

In James 4:3 the apostle said, “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your own lusts.” And yet, John does proceed in v. 15 to write, “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

John is reminding us that we have comfort simply in knowing that our heavenly Father hears us. And he will grant the petitions that we desired of him in such a way that is in perfect accord with his will, and we will praise him for it.

This type of confident faith in the Lord led the Psalmist to write, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:17).

Can you imagine the level of maturity it takes to say something like that?

Let us be bold to bring large petitions to our God, but to ask according to his will and to be comforted simply by knowing that he hears us.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5.24.24): The Three Heavenly Witnesses

 

Image: Christ RBC Meeting House, Louisa, Virginia

Note: Below is the full manuscript for last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 5:6-9.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (1 John 5:7).

So much of 1 John is dedicated to the horizontal aspects of the Christian life: Man’s relationship to man; believer’s relationship to believer. All this is epitomized in the call to love one another based on the New Commandment of Christ (John 13:34-35; see 1 John 4:11).

This is not to say, however, that John has not been concerned with the vertical. With man’s relationship to God. He twice declares God is love (4:8, 16).

John is especially interested in Christology, the doctrine of Christ. John is Christ-centered and Christ-focused. As noted, he is battling those who denied the full humanity of our Lord, that he had come in the flesh (4:2-3).

John piles up various key titles for Christ.

He is an Advocate with the Father (2:1);

He is Jesus Christ the righteous (2:1);

He is the propitiation for our sins (2:2; 4:10);

He is the Saviour of the world (4:14).

He is the Son of God (3:8b; 4:15; 5:5).

That was where our passage last Sunday had concluded in v. 5 with the question: “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. 3:23; Peter’s confession in John 6:69: “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God.”; and the Eunuch’s confession in Acts 8:37: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”).

That interest in theology and Christology is going to continue in our passage today.

We can think of the background for John’s remarks here as being like a trial. The declaration that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God is being tested, tried, and examined.

John is going to bring forward two sets of three witnesses.

There are three heavenly witnesses (v. 7) and three earthly witnesses (v. 8), and they all speak with one voice.

And we are in the jury left to draw our own conclusion and render our own verdict as to who this man Jesus really is.

I.                   Exposition:

V. 6 begins, “This is he that came by water and blood….” Matthew Poole’s commentary suggests that water and blood represent Christ’s purity (water) and his suffering (blood). Another source, suggests they represent his baptism (water) and his passion (blood) (MacArthur’s Study Bible).

We might also consider these as references to his birth as a true man, since this has been disputed by false prophets and antichrists in the church to which John was writing (see 1 John 4:2-3). John is here saying that Christ did not appear out of thin air. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin in an extra-ordinary manner, and he was born in an ordinary manner.

In his conversation with Nicodemus Christ contrasted being born by water (natural birth) and being born of the Spirit (supernatural birth (John 3:5). Likewise, in John 1:12-13 the Evangelist distinguishes between those born merely “of blood” and those born by the power of God to become “the sons of God.”

Coming by water and blood are both signs of the real human birth and, thus, the true humanity of Christ. It is estimated that 60% of the human body consists of water, and that 7-8% of a human body’s weight is blood.

Christ was a flesh and blood man. When the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Christ’s lifeless side after his death on the cross what came out? Blood and water (John 19:34).

John continues in v. 6, “not by water only, but by water and the blood.” Christ did not have just one aspect of a human body but all. It was his shed blood, in particular, that held atoning significance. See 1 John 1:7: “…and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” He is “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2; cf. 4:10). In the upper room at the Last Supper with his disciples, Christ declared, “This cup is the new testament in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:25). Paul, in Hebrews 9:22, affirmed, “without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

If Christ was not a real man with real blood, but only a phantom, a spirit, a Docetic Christ, there is no true salvation.

The scene again is like a courtroom. John speak of those that bear witness to Christ. In the moral law, the ninth commandment forbids the bearing of false witness. Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 19:15 it says, “at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established” (cf. Matthew 18:16 where Christ applied this standard to working out difficulties among brethren in the church). John will in this passage bring forward multiples witnesses to affirm that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

John begins with the witness of the Holy Spirit: “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (v. 6b). In John 15:26, Christ said, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto your from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”

Along with the testimony of the Spirit, John is going to add supporting witnesses. He gives two sets of three witnesses: Three heavenly witnesses (v. 7) and three earthly witnesses (v. 8). In each of these sets of three the Spirit is listed as one of the witnesses.

We look first at the three heavenly witnesses (v. 7). John says, “There are three that bear record [the verb is martyro-ō] in heaven….”

Heaven or the heavens, are, of course, the abode of God. It is his dwelling place. As Psalm 115:3 says, “But our God is in the heavens; he has done whatsoever he has pleased.” The three heavenly witnesses are the witness of God in heaven Himself. Here are the three persons of the divine Godhead.

First, God the Father bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 5:31 Christ said to the unbelieving skeptics, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” He added that there was another witness, John the Baptist, whom he calls “a burning and shining light” (vv. 32-35). He then states that he has a “greater witness than that of John” (v. 36), adding, “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me” (v. 37).

Second, God the Word [Logos] bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of interest that the word “Son” is not used here but “Word [Logos], in keeping with an emphasis of John the Evangelist. His Gospel starts, “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word [Logos] was God” (John 1:1). See also John 1:14, “And the Word [Logos] was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Third, God the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit was there descending upon him “in a bodily shape like a dove” upon him at his baptism (Luke 3:21).

John concludes v. 7 with the statement: “and these three are one.” This is a declaration of the divine oneness. There are not three gods, but one true God. The Muslims says, You Christians are tri-theists, worshipping Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One plus one plus one equals three. We respond that  one times one times one equals one. We worship one God who is from all eternity Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. There is one God in three persons, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

1 John 5:7 has long been recognized as one of the great explicit proof texts for the Trinity within the New Testament. There are three such explicit proofs in the New Testament with one placed in each its three major divisions:

First, in the Gospels and Acts: In Matthew’s Great Commission of Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Second, in the Pauline letters:  In Paul’s benediction to his second letter to the church at Corinth: 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”

Third, in the General Letters and Revelation: 1 John 5:7: “For there are three that bare record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

It is also no surprise to learn that the authenticity of this passage has been challenged in the modern era. The great Reformed theologian Francis Turretin (1623-1687) noted that “heretics” in his day were attacking the authenticity of this verse (see Elenctic Theology 1:115).

John is saying in this verse that the triune God Himself bears witness in heaven that the Lord Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God, and that he came in the flesh, by water and blood.

At the IRBS Conference held in Texas on May 17, 2024, Richard Barcellos cited Thomas Aquinas as saying of Christ’s incarnation: “He made himself small, not by putting off greatness, but by taking on smallness.”  Barcellos added, “We need a ‘womb to tomb’ righteousness, and in our Lord alone, we get this.”

In perfect literary parallelism, we have in v. 8 the three earthly witnesses (with the Spirit repeated as one of the three). Notice the chiasm in vv. 7-8:

(a)  Father, (b) Word, (c) Spirit;

(c’) Spirit, (b’) water, (a’) blood.

These three earthly witnesses are:

First, the Spirit. How does the Spirit bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? God’s Spirit is indeed here on earth making present to us in this realm the reality of the one God in three persons. Christ is now in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand until he comes again in power and glory to judge the living and the dead, but by the Spirit he is now present with us. Christ had promised his disciples that he would send them the “Comforter” to teach them all things and bear witness to them (cf. John 14:26; 15:26-27). In 1 Corinthians 2:10 Paul told the believers that God has revealed his wisdom to them “by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

Second, the water. How does water bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? We noted that it is a reminder of Christ’s true humanity (v. 6), but perhaps this witness is to the water of baptism. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because we see that he continues to make disciples from among the nations, who confess their faith in and submit unto him in baptism, as did the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:37).

Third, the blood. How does blood bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? This takes us to the cross. It brings before us Christ’s five bleeding wounds. It recalls his propitiation (cf. again the “blood language” of 1 John 1:7; 2:2; 4:10).

John ends by saying, “and these three agree in one” (v. 8b). One will note that the wording here is similar to v. 7b, but slightly and significantly different. While in v. 7b John says the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit are one (the same in essence), here he says the Spirit, water, and blood agree in one (a prepositional phrase). The work of the Spirit, the testimony of baptism, and the preaching of the blood-drenched cross act in harmony to compel sinners to confess that Jesus is Lord!

John ends our passage in v. 9 first by a comparison between the witness of men and the witness of God. We believe or trust many things because of the witness of men. I’ve never been to Cuba but I recently met a man from Cuba who was describing it to me. I trust his witness and that of others to the existence of a place called Cuba, though I have never been there and seen it with my own eyes. Life requires a lot of trusting in men. I think of this every time I get on an airplane for a trip. I must trust the engineers who designed the plane, the pilot who flies it, the air-traffic controllers who direct it, and the stewards who serve it.

I also trust the witness of the apostles in the Gospels to the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, even though, unlike Thomas, I have not yet seen our Lord with my eyes (cf. John 20:29).

Recall, however, that Christ said there is a “greater witness” than that of men (like John the Baptist, John 5:36). God’s witness to Christ is greater than that of men. I believe the Gospel witness to Christ, not because they were written by reliable men, but because they were breathed out or inspired by God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16).

They provide various and constant witness to Christ:

God the Father bore witness to Christ:

At this birth, God sent his holy angel to proclaim, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

At his baptism, God’s voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

At his transfiguration that same voice declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Mathew 17:5).

God the Son bore witness to Christ:

As the incarnate Word, Christ declared a series of “I am” sayings, echoing the divine self-revelation of the LORD to Moses at the burning bush as the great “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

So, Christ said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35); “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); “I am the door” (John 10:9); “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11); “I am the resurrection and life” (John 11:25); and “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). He also declared, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and when asked in his trial before the high priest if he was the Son of the Blessed, he replied, “I am” (Mark 14:62).

God the Spirit bore witness to Christ:

The Spirit descended upon him at his baptism, and then was poured out on his disciples at Pentecost so that they might boldly proclaim him (Acts 2).

John concludes this passage, “For this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (v. 9b).

II.                Spiritual Application:

We affirm today that there is one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This one God bears witness in heaven that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Why do we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Because the triune God says he is.

We are in the jury box. What verdict will we reach in the face of this witness?

Jeffrey T. Riddle, Pastor, Christ RBC, Louisa, Virginia

The Vision (5.17.24): And his commandments are not grievous

 

Image: Rhododendron, North Garden, Virginia, May 2024.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 5:1-5.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:3).

The apostle John calls here for obedience to Christ’s commands as an indicator that one knows the love of God. We sometimes call this the ethical or moral test of assurance. As Christ himself taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15; cf. John 15:14).

John concludes at the end of v. 3: “and his commandments are not grievous.”

One thinks of Christ’s teaching of his disciples in Matthew 11, when he told them, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (vv. 28-30).

Did you ever consider that the things that Christ commands of us, like personal righteousness, holiness, and uprightness, only appear to be “grievous” to us because of our fallen condition?

I was reading recently a little booklet addressing the topic of Christians and sexual purity. At one point the author wrote:

Imagine a juicy burger on your dinner plate. Now imagine that you know the meat is saturated with E. coli bacteria. Would you eat it anyway just because it looks good and would satisfy your hunger? Of course, you wouldn’t. Every rational person knows that having a full stomach isn’t worth eighteen hours of vomiting and perhaps a trip to the emergency room. Instead you’ll throw the whole thing in the trash and scour the plate with hot water and strong soap.

The author then adds:

Pornography is E. coli for your soul (Daryl Wingerd, Delivered By Desire, 25; you can read a free pdf of this booklet online here).

Let us consider: When Christ gives us commands to live holy and righteous and upright lives, when he commands us through his apostle, “Flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18a), is he telling us something that is meant to be “grievous” to us? Or is he telling us what will lead us to health and well-being, to avoid sickness and death, and we are just too influenced by the remaining corruption of sin in us to recognize this?

The immediate context in 1 John is not a negative admonition as to what to avoid, but a positive admonition as to what to pursue. It will be to the glory of God and to the spiritual benefit of ourselves and others if we will love the brethren as Christ has loved us. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:11). This should not be grievous to us.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5.10.24): Love made perfect (1 John 4:17)

 

Image: Rhododendron, North Garden, Virginia, May 10, 2024. 

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon in 1 John 4:17-21.

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he , so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).

What does the apostle John mean when he says our love for God is being “made perfect”?

The Greek verb rendered as “perfect” here does not mean something like numerical perfection so much as it means to complete, or to accomplish, or to come into maturity. It is built on the root word telos, which means end, purpose, goal, or destination. In this life we will not be without sin (see 1 John 1:8, 10).

So, we might render it, “Herein is our love moved closer toward the goal and achievement of our true purpose as believers.” Or, “Herein is our love made more mature or more complete.”

Let me offer an illustration from the world of construction.

In the construction industry they use the term “finishing.” There is the task of building a house, which means building the necessary infrastructure that makes a house a house (e.g., the foundation, framing, roofing, shingles, electrical work, plumbing, drywall, etc.), and then there is the “finishing work.”

I found this description online:

….finishing work describes anything that is used to “finish” off your home (i.e. trim work, crown molding, window casings, millwork, shiplap, paneling, coffered ceilings, etc). All of these things are typically found in a home BUT they aren’t necessarily a “necessity” of building a home.

You can be saved and still be very rough around the edges. All of us are this way when we first come to faith. Some, sadly, do not get much beyond this. The thief on the cross was saved but he did not live long enough to experience a long period of slow and progressive sanctification.

Most of us, however, are granted time and opportunity for the Lord to do his finishing work on us, though it is never complete in this life.

When God saves a man, he begins this “finishing” work of sanctification. This work will only be complete when he enters the state of glorification (see 1 John 3:2: “and it doth not yet appear what we shall be”). But for now, we can be sure God is at work making our love for him and for one another perfect.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (5.3.24): The Spiritual Test

 

Image: Azalea bush, North Garden, Virginia, May 3, 2024.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 4:11-16.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (1 John 4:13).

One of 1 John’s great themes is assurance of salvation. If one struggles with doubts and worries about his salvation, this is the book we would first recommend for reading and meditation.

We previously noted at least three tests that provide assurance of salvation:

The Doctrinal Test: Do you say you believe? (1 John 2:23; Romans 10:9);

The Ethical Test: Are you seeking to obey Christ? (1 John 5:3; John 14:15);

The Social Test: Do you love the brethren? (1 John 3:14; John 13:35).

In 1 John 4:13 there is perhaps another kind of test, which we might call The Spiritual Test. We know that we dwell (or abide) in Christ, because we have the Spirit.

The same point is made in 1 John 3:24b: “And herby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” Paul likewise spoke of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each believer (see Romans 8:9, 11, 15-16).

What are the evidences of the Spirit within us? Here are at least three scriptural evidences:

First, our consciences are sensitive to sin in our lives (see Galatians 5:17: “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh”).

Second, we begin to understand the Scriptures and the things of God in ways that the natural (unregenerate) man cannot (see 1 Corinthians 2:14-15: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… But he that is spiritual judgeth all things…”).

Third, the Spirit helps us in our prayer life (see Romans 8:26: “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities” and “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”).

May each authentic believer receive assurance of salvation as he recognizes the presence of the Spirit in his life.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4.26.24): Love in the Christian Life

 

Image: View from Antigua, Guatemala, April 2024. Photo credit: Jeff Clark.

Here are my notes from the closing application to last Sunday’s sermon on 1 John 4:7-10:

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God (1 John 4:7).

How do we locate, define, and understand the principle of love (agapē) in the Christian life?

We begin with God Himself. God Himself must be the Stackpole of our religion. “For God is love” (v. 8). He is the definition and standard of love. We only know what love is, because he is love.

God is the source of love (v. 7: “for love is of God”).

How did God manifest his love toward us? In sending his own dear Son to be our Savior (vv. 9-10).

Because of this, we become his “beloved” (v. 7), the objects of his love, when our lives are hid in Christ (Colossians 3:3), who is the true beloved of the Father (Ephesians 1:6). God can only purely love one who is pure. We are not, but Christ is.

It is by this love that we have life who were at one time dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1; cf. 1 John 4:9: “that we might live through him”).

Then, because we are his, that love flows from us. It begins in love of neighbor but is shown most plainly in our love for the brethren. It stands as a proof, a sign of assurance, that we are in fact saved (v. 7b), or a condemnation that we are not saved (v. 8).

How is that love of the brethren being demonstrated in our midst? Is that fellow feeling being manifested among us? Does it show in our relationships with one another? In time we prioritize to spend with one another in worship and prayer and ministry? Does it show in the hospitality which we extend to one another? In the sacrifices we make for one another? Or do we only love the brethren when it is convenient for us?

I recently finished a short biography of lesser known Swiss Reformer Pierre Viret, a pastor in Lausanne, where he brought the gospel to a people who had been lost in the darkness of Roman superstition.

In one of his writings, Viret said that a Christian cannot have a “double peace.” He wrote:

For just as [Christians] cannot enjoy a double paradise, one in this world and another in the next, likewise, they cannot experience a double peace. For if they be at peace with God, they cannot be at peace with his adversary, the devil, and with the world of whom he is called the Prince…" (from L'Interim fait par dialogues, as cited by Jean-Marc Berthoud in Pierre Viret: A Forgotten Giant of the Reformation, 78).

I think Viret would approve a slight modification of that statement to add that the Christian cannot have a “double love.” He cannot say he loves God and loves the brethren, but then live as though he loves the world. See 1 John 2:15-17.

How is the principle of Christian love being demonstrated in your life and in the life of our church? May the Lord be pleased to show in us the love of God in Christ to demonstrate that we have indeed been born again.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4.19.24): Try the spirits: Discernment in the Christian Life

 

Image: Dogwood, North Garden, Virginia, April 2024.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 4:1-6.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

The apostle John calls upon his “beloved” fellow believers to exercise the gift of discernment, knowing the difference between false teaching and true.

He begins with a negative exhortation, “believe not every spirit.” The word “believe” here means “trust” or “have confidence in.” The “every spirit” here is a reference to men with bodies and spirits who claim to be Christian teachers. John is concerned about “false prophets” infiltrating the church.

We have a related saying, “Don’t believe everything that you hear.” John is saying, “Don’t necessarily believe everyone that you hear, merely because he claims to speak as an emissary of Christ.” Some will claim to be speaking with divine authority, but they will be teaching things that are false (e.g., Arius, Joseph Smith, Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc.).

This caution could be mishandled. As believers we should generally be open and trusting. It is a very cynical person who believes the worst about everyone they encounter. In the love chapter Paul said a sincere Christan “believeth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). We should not take John’s exhortation as an excuse for cynicism and acting uncharitably. We should generally be trusting, but also cautious.

John adds a positive exhortation, “But try the spirits whether they are of God” (v. 1a). The verb “to try” here is dokimazo. It means to put to the test, to prove, to examine. Would the jeweler ever purchase a diamond without closely examining it to make sure it’s genuine? What do you normally do when you purchase a car? You inspect it and take it on a test drive. You check the brakes, and the handling, even the turn signals and mirror and radio.

John is here saying, Trust (be charitable) but also verify by trying or testing or proving. What is the purpose of the testing? To see, John says, “whether they are of God.”

During Christ’s first advent ministry the disciples could go in person to the incarnate Lord, “for he knew what was in man” (John 2:25). After his ascension, they could turn to the apostles and devote themselves to their teaching (Acts 2:42). Now, those same apostles have left us the Scriptures to be our guide for faith and practice.

Even during the time of the apostle Paul, Luke commended the men of Berea who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). We too aspire to have a “Berean spirit.”

We read and study the Bible and listen to preaching and teaching from it, so that we might be equipped for spiritual discernment, “trying” all teachers and teaching by the standard of Scripture.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4.12.24): God is greater than our heart

 

Image: North Garden, Virginia Landscape, painting, John Borden Evans, on display at the Petite MarieBette Café & Bakery, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 3:18-24.

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things (1 John 3:20).

John raises in this verse a teaching that is meant to be applied to the Christian with an especially sensitive conscience. What if I am a believer and I desire to do what is right in God’s sight, but I am still plagued by nagging worries, not thinking I have done enough for Christ in gratitude for salvation or perhaps thinking that what I have done has been for my own glory and not the glory of God, so that my heart (that center of my emotions, passions, thoughts, and reflections) is condemning me?

John the apostle’s response is truly something amazing. He says, “God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.” God is greater than the hyper-critical judgements of even our own hearts. He is omniscient. He knows all things. He knows your true motives and desires. He also remembers that you are but dust and that you have remaining corruptions within you. He knows that neither your salvation nor your final sanctification, in the end, depend upon you and your fitness, your ability, or your works, but it depends upon him alone.

This reminded me of a statement I recently saw on twitter attributed to Dr. Jim Renihan, “You can’t sin away God’s love.”

It also reminded me of a saying of Dr. Joel Beeke, “God has never torn up the birth certificate of any of his children.”

In Romans 8 Paul says that nothing, “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39). And John says, “God is greater than our heart.”

This is actually a quite dangerous statement, because it could be abused to promote “anti-nomianism” or lawlessness, the idea that how you live does not matter. But it could also be rightly used to give comfort and assurance to the Christian with an overly sensitive conscience. Your falling short of God’s glory and your self-condemnation cannot separate you from the love of God in Christ, because God himself is greater than your heart.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (4.5.24): A New Friend

 

Image: Rainbow over the baseball fields, Madison Heights, Virginia, April 2024.

Note: Devotional taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 3:7-17.

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death (1 John 3:14).

Last Sunday I preached from 1 John 3:7-17 and suggested two main themes in this passage.

The first theme is that “the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (3:8). By his death, burial, and resurrection Christ saved sinners, changing their status from being son of the devil (John 8:44) to being sons of God (John 1:12).

The second theme is that this change in status results in a change in behaviors and actions. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil” (v. 10). On one hand, the children of God desire to do what is righteous (see 1 John 2:29: “ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him”). On the other hand, “whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his neighbor” (3:10).

John suggests that the greatest evidence of our change of nature and status is demonstrated in our treatment of others: “we should love one another” (3:11). This begins with love of neighbor (all men) as Christ commanded (cf. Matthew 22:34-40) and extends especially to love of Christian brethren. 1 John 3:14 provides one of the clearest tests of assurance as to whether someone is truly in Christ, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

John’s teaching calls for us to apply a test of self-examination: Is there evidence that I have moved from death to life? Is there demonstrated in me a love for neighbor, and, especially, a love for the brethren? Or do I remain harsh, unloving, unfeeling to the considerations of others?

In his book on witnessing to Muslims, Pastor Ibrahim Ag Mohamed wrote:

I know of an Egyptian, who when converted, was wondering how he could witness to his wife. By the grace of the Lord Jesus he completely changed his way of thinking and how he related to her. In his becoming a new creature in Christ his wife was amazed by his new conduct and life, service and love. When she asked him to account for this great change, he told her it was because of a new Friend Who now gave him good advice. She insisted on knowing about the Friend; and this is how he could then speak to her about the Lord Jesus Christ. Later, she too found the Lord (God’s Love for Muslims, 87-88).

Have we also found a New Friend in the Lord Jesus Christ who has changed our status, made us Sons of God, and given us good advice for living?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision: A New Status in Christ (3.29.24)

 

Image: North Garden, Virginia, March 2024

Note: Devotion take from last Sunday's sermon on 1 John 3:1-6.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God (1 John 3:1a).

John begins with an exclamation, “Behold,” that holds Biblical overtones. “Behold” is what men say in the Bible when they meet angels and encounter wonders. John utters this word as he thinks about his own salvation and that of others, with wonder and awe.

Notice three things stressed here: (1) The Actor, (2) the Action, and (3) the Recipients of the Action.

The Actor is God the Father. A former Muslim now a Christian pastor in London, Ibrahim Ag Mohamed, notes that in Islam “you can know Allah’s law and will, but never his person or his character or his heart. He is a ruler not a friend” (God’s Love for Muslims, 21). Allah has slaves, but not sons.

For Christians, however, God is our heavenly Father. Christ taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Paul wrote to believers in Rome reminding them that they had been adopted by God the Father and so might address him in most intimate terms, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

The Action is the bestowal of God’s love (agape), divine affection, upon sinful men. One of the best known verses in the Bible declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The apostle John makes a similar point in 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

The Recipients are “us” (believers). John here places himself alongside all the ordinary and nameless individuals to whom he writes. The bestowal of God’s saving love is not aimless and directionless. It is not like an airplane that soars overhead and drops leaflets indiscriminately on all who are below. It is more like a letter that is purposely directed to a particular recipient, whose name is written down as the one addressed by the Father. In Ephesians 1:4 Paul says God, “hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world.”

When we become believers through spiritual adoption our status is changed. God’s love is bestowed upon us. We are given “power to become Sons of God” through belief in Christ’s name (John 1:12-13). We become part of the family of God. We become children of God, and we become citizens of the heavenly kingdom. This change in status was not given to us by any merit in us, and it will never be revoked.

Like, John, we too can thus stand in awe, uttering, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called Sons of God.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle