I John 4:20 - 5:21

PRACTICAL CONCERNS AND CHRISTIAN CERTAINTIES

I John 4:20 - 5:21

As taught by Dave Lindstrom


I. Now that the Apostle John has finished the main body of his letter in I John 4:19,
he now discusses three practical issues the churches need to know about in
I John 4:20 - 5:17.

A. The practical issue of who Christians are and why we as Christians should love
them (I John 4:20 - 5:3a).

One of my professors, Fred Chay of Phoenix Seminary, said it this way:
1. Love does not mean that I trust them or like being with them.
2. Love does mean desiring what God wants for them.
3. Love does mean doing for them what God wants for them.
4. We are to pray for them Matt. 5:44 and James 5:16; encourage
them I Thes. 5:11; and forgive them Eph. 4:32.

B. The practical issue of how we as Christians overcome the world (I John 5:3b - 15).

1. The fact that Jesus overcame the world gives Christians the power to have
overcome and to overcome through Him (I John 5:3b-5; John 16:33).
2. The fact that God has given us a reliable, historical record as to the human
Jesus being the Christ (prophesied Anointed One) and the Son of God (second
person of the Trinity, God in the flesh), gives Christians overcoming power
(I John 5:6 - 13).

a. The testimony of the Spirit includes the descent from heaven upon Jesus
(John 1:32), the descent upon and in the believers (Acts 2; I Cor. 12:13),
the written testimony of the apostles and those who knew the apostles
(John 14:15-26; the New Testament), and the Resurrection of Christ
(John 16:6-16; Acts 1:1-11).
b. The testimony of water was the baptism of Christ along with the voice
from heaven (John 1:32-34; Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).
c. The testimony of blood was the crucifixion of Christ (John 19:28-37;
Matt. 27:32-54; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49).
d. The Old Testament testimony was established by two or three witnesses
(Deut. 17:6; 19:15) and this idea was carried over in this and other New
Testament contexts (Matt. 18:16; John 8:17-18).
e. The heretic Cerinthus taught that the divine Christ descended on the human
Jesus at his baptism and ascended before his crucifixion. John’s writing
shows the error of this thinking and shows the reliable record Christians
have of overcoming false prophets of any kind!
f. The “these things” in verse 13 relates to I John 5:6-12 rather than to the
whole letter as already discussed (see I John 1:4, 2:1, and 2:26).

3. The fact that God lives in His believers, lives by His Holy Spirit in their new
natures, gives Christians overcoming power as they pray according to His
will (I John 5:14,15).

C. The practical issue of praying for other Christians as we see them sin
( I John 5:16, 17).

1. Christians can and still do sin in their total person or mortal body while living
out their faith (I John 1:5 - 2:2; I Peter 2:1; Gal. 6:1).
2. God has taken some Christians home early through physical death
(Acts 5:1-11; I Cor. 11:27-32) but because of God’s graciousness, only
suddenly on infrequent occasions.
3. By praying for our fellow believers, who are caught in sin, things according
to Gods will, and being willing to help bring them back to the truth, we can
add time and blessings to their physical life (James 5:19,20; Rom. 6:16-23;
Prov. 10:2, 11:4, 19; 12:28).

II. Final Closing: Three certainties and an admonition (I John 5:18-21).

A. We know that: A Christians new nature is free from sin and Satan (vs 18).

B. We know that: A Christian is on God’s side and the world is on Satan’s side
(vs 19).

C. We know that: A Christian has been given spiritual intelligence about the Son of
God and is in the Son of God (vs 20).

D. Christians should guard themselves from opposite ideas (vs 21).

I John 2:28 - 4:19 (Part 3)

CONFIDENCE BEFORE CHRIST AT HIS COMING: Part III

I John 2:28 - 4:19

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. Manifesting Christ’s righteousness brings confidence to the believer (previous lesson I John 2:28 - 3:10a).

"In saying that the regenerate inward person (Rom. 7:22) keeps himself (from sin), John is not saying, of course, that our inner self can somehow prevent all sin in the Christian life. John’s discussion in 1:5-10 shows he could not mean something like that. What John means is that God’s "seed remains in" the regenerate inward self (I John 3:9) as the controlling element of his born again nature and is impervious to even the slightest contamination from the wicked one. Thus not only can Satan not defeat the regenerate man, but he cannot even touch him (I John 5:18). It is reassuring to remember that whatever failures may be, they do not really touch what we are at the core of our being as God’s children. In the last analysis, our failures are due to the sinful "programming" of our earthly bodies, as Paul himself taught in Romans 7:7-25. Christians need to know this. At the very moment that we are most humbled by our sinful failures, and when we confess them, it is helpful to be confident that those failures have not really changed what we are as children of God." Zane C. Hodges, "The Epistles of John," page 242.

II. Loving our fellow Christians with Christ’s love brings confidence to the believer(I John 3:10b - 3:23).

A. Believers are the only ones that can love other believers with Christ’s love. But it is a choice (I John 3:10b -12; John 13:34; Gen. 4). Choosing to love your brother reveals Christ’s life abiding in you (I John 3:13-15; Rom. 6:6-18).

B. Christ is the believers example for loving other believers (I John 3:16-17).

C. Choosing to love other believers quiets our inner core and increases our confidence with God in prayer (I John 3:18-23).

III. Abiding in the truth of Christ’s Spirit brings confidence to the believer (I Jn 3:24-4:16)

A. A believer has been given the Holy Spirit of God at the time of belief (I John 3:24; I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9).

B. Believers need to "test the spirits" by testing if a person’s words line up with the historical and Biblical message about Jesus Christ (I John 4:1-6; 2 Cor. 4:4,5; 2 Cor. 11:3,4; Gal. 1:6-9). - I ask this question, "Do you believe that Jesus is the only God of the Universe (Son of God, Yahweh) who came into this world and lived, died, and rose again for the sins of the world (Jesus as Savior and the prophesied Christ) so that you personally might have eternal life through Him?

C. Believers who continue in the correct teaching of God’s love shown to this world through the work of God’s Son, Jesus the Christ, reveal the abiding Holy Spirit in them (I John 4:7-16).

IV. Manifesting Christ’s righteousness, loving fellow believers, and abiding in the truth of Christ’s Spirit brings inner and outer confidence to believers (I John 4:17-19).

A. In John’s mind, these true spiritual realities are the goal of ones faith between Christ’s first and second coming (I John 2:28; 3:2; 4:17).

B. He calls this perfected or matured love which brings confidence to a believer and eliminates fear (verses 17,18) to the glory of God (verse 19).

I John 2:28 - 4:19 (Part 2)

CONFIDENCE BEFORE CHRIST AT HIS COMING: PART II

I John 2:28 - 4:19

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. In the last lesson, we learned that the main body of this letter goes from I John 2:28 - 4:19.

A. The overall theme of this section is written by John to explain how believers can have confidence at Christ’s coming and judgment seat. He uses the inclusio device with the word confidence (parresian) in 2:28 and 4:17 (with another tossed in the middle at 3:21).

B. The subsections of "abiding in Christ," "manifesting Christ’s righteousness," and "loving fellow believers through Christ" were introduced in I John 2:28 - 3:3.

C. There should be no doubt that John’s audience is his fellow believers.

1. Everything discussed from 1:1 - 2:27 has been to explain fellowship (koinonia).

2. John is writing to the "little children" in this section starting at 2:28. This has already been used in 2:1, 12, and was used first by Jesus in John 13:33 after Judas had left and He was talking to only His true believers and disciples.

3. John uses the word abiding which is his word for discipleship whereas belief is his word for justification salvation.

4. He uses the concepts of manifesting Christ’s righteousness and loving Christians with Christ’s love. Both of these come after belief (justification) and they cannot happen before belief.

II. John outlines the subsections of this main body from I John 2:28 - 4:19 by using more inclusios.

A. He uses the inclusio of "manifesting" (phanero) in 2:28 - 3:10a, the inclusio "loving" (agapao) in 3:10b - 3:23, and the inclusio of "abiding" (meno) in 3:24 - 4:16.

B. John concludes his thoughts of this main body of his letter from 4:17 - 4:19. He explains that if the manifesting, loving, and abiding in Christ are carried out, a confidence before Christ can happen in believers. This he calls perfected or mature love.



III. Manifesting Christ’s righteousness brings confidence to the believer (I John 2:28-3:10a).

A. Jesus Christ manifested righteousness in His first coming to take away or bear sin (I John 3:5; Romans 3:21-26).

B. Jesus Christ will be manifested in glorified righteousness in His second coming (I John 2:28; Rev. 1:12-18; 19:9-16).

C. Believers are now children of God through Christ and have been given a new nature and Christ’s imputed righteousness (I John 3:1-3; 2 Cor. 5:17-21).

D. The new nature of the believer is as sinless as Christ’s nature. Christ lives in the believers sinless new nature by His Holy Spirit (I John 3:3,6,9; Rom. 8:9,14).

E. As a believer abides in Christ, by submitting his/her total mortal body to the control of the Holy Spirit and his/her new nature, that believer lives without sin (I John 3:6). This act undoes the work of the devil in the believer’s life for that instant (I John 3:8).

F. John calls this walking in the light or the truth (I John 1:6-8; 2 John 2:4).

I John 2:28 - 4:19

CONFIDENCE BEFORE CHRIST AT HIS COMING: PART I

I John 2:28 - 4:19

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. The main body of the apostle John’s letter is written to explain how believers can have confidence at Christ’s coming and judgment seat (I John 2:28 - 4:19).

A. We know that this is the main section of the letter because of a literary device known as an inclusio.

1. The Greek word “parresian” is given in 2:28 and 4:17 to explain the almost synonymous phrases of “confidence (parresian)...before Him at His coming(2:28)” and “boldness (parresian) in the day of judgment (4:17).”

2. The Greek word “parresia” can mean confidence, boldness, outspokenness and frankness. It is the exact opposite of the concept of shame and shrinking back.

3. In the middle of this section, we have the word “parresian” used again to explain how answered prayer also fits into this confidence (3:21).

B. As believers our confidence is found by abiding (“meno” in Greek) or remaining in Christ and His teachings (2:28).

1. John first uses this term in his gospel in the verses of John 1:32, 38-39, and 2:12. In these verses, it is translated as remaining and staying.

2. John’s use of the word “meno” dramatically picks up after chapter 12 of his gospel when he starts emphasizing discipleship. In Jesus’ upper room discourse in chapters 14-17, most of the 40 uses of “meno” in the gospel of John are recorded with 11 uses recorded in John 15:3-11 alone!

3. I John has “meno” used 24 times. In this letter, John continues Jesus’ use of the word as stay, remain, reside, continue, and endure in obedience for the sake of fellowship and discipleship.

C. As believers we have had Christ manifested already in our hearts, however, our confidence and boldness grows as that inner life is manifested in our day to day lives (2:28). The Greek word “phanero” translated manifested is used six times from 2:28 - 3:10.

D. Believers are eternally saved through belief in Christ and His work alone (justified) and can never be lost (John 4:24, 10:27-30; Rom. 3:20-24, 8:37,38). However, according to many Scriptures, believers must give an account before Christ at His judgment seat (Bema) (I John 2:28, 4:17; Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10).

1. It will be comprehensive according to how Christ’s work was used as a foundation and a motive for the basis of reward (I Cor. 3:8-15) or lost reward.

2. It will involve the things good and bad done in our bodies and, therefore, may involve shame (when dealing with unconfessed sin) (2 Cor. 5:10).

THOUGHT: As we think about standing before Christ’s presence, what thoughts and feelings come to mind?

II. As believers abide in Christ and His teaching, they confidently sense Christ in them, their new birth alive in them, their adoption, and their future hope(I John 2:29 - 3:3).

A. We should not expect the world to know that we are internally alive and adopted by Yahweh because the world never recognized Christ for who He was and is (I John 3:1b).

B. We know that Christ rose from the dead with a new body and is with the Father. We have this hope and certainty also (I John 3:2,3; Luke 24: I Cor. 15:20-57 I Thes. 4:13-18).

I John 2:12-27

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS YAHWEH’S RESOURCE AGAINST FALSE TEACHING

I John 2:12-27

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. The apostle John encourages and assures the believers of their faith and fellowship(I John 2:12-14).

A. John uses the writing style of repetition for the sake of bringing more emphasis.

1. He uses six parallel statements. By arranging them in the order he does, he brings out different encouraging statements.

2. Probably the little children, fathers, and young men are different physical ages and/or different levels of spiritual maturity.

3. There is a special emphasis on "young men type" believers to stay strong in the word and to overcome the evil one. This is probably in preparation for John’s warnings to follow.

4. All believers have had their sins forgiven (justification) and have known the Father (adoption). All "father type" believers have learned a deeper under- standing of Yahweh as the one "from the beginning."

B. John is about to warn his beloved children (in the faith) of two possible errors to watch out for that could disrupt their fellowship with Yahweh Father and Son.

II. John first warns the churches in Asia Minor of loving the world in the wrong way as some are teaching them to do (I John 2:15-17).

A. One wrong teaching at the time of this writing was Docetism. Docetism denied the reality of Jesus’ physical body because they believed that matter was not something that God could be a part of. In their world, spirit was of God but matter was not.

1. This view led them to teach an attitude that didn’t care about what went on in or around ones body. Extreme forms of this view gave their followers extreme license with regard to physical sins.

2. This view would pave the way for future Gnostic heresies in the second and third centuries. This view held that special knowledge was given to His followers in pursuit of the pure spirit of God.

B. The apostle John specifically warns his fellow believers against breaking fellowship with the Father by loving this world system.

1. He is referring to the evil world system controlled by Satan that will soon be passing away (John 16:8-11). He is not referring to the world of people(John 3:16) or to Yahweh’s creation (Gen. 1; John 17:24; Col. 1:15-19).

2. The things of this world system which are opposite of the Father’s will and love are broken down into three areas:

1) The lust of the flesh, 2) The lust of the eyes, and 3) The pride of life.

Some have likened these to the same types of temptations as Eve (Gen. 3:6) and Jesus (Luke 4:1-12).

Thought: In what ways are we tempted by this world system? How does caving in to the temptation break our fellowship with the Father?

III. John secondly warns the churches in Asia Minor of not letting themselves be led astray by false teachers and bad doctrine (I John 2:18-27).

A. Christ warned us of people that would be antichrists, "against Christ" teachings (Matt. 24:4,5). This was going to happen during the "last days" or "last hour" which was a time between Christ’s first coming and Christ’s second coming (Matt. 24:4-44; Acts 2:17-21).

B. John now warns the Christian community of the heretical teaching (the antichrist type) that denies that Jesus is the Christ. This teaching denied that the human man Jesus was also the Divine Anointed One or the Son of God (John 20:31; Rom. 1:1-4).

C. There was a teacher at the time of the apostle John whose name was Cerinthus. He taught that the Christ came in the form of a dove on the man Jesus at his baptism and withdrew again from Jesus before suffering on the cross. He taught that the Christ was pure spirit and therefore was unable to suffer or unable to inter- mingle with matter.

D. The believer has been given his own anointing because each believer, who believes and trusts in the truth about Jesus Christ, has been given the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15; I Cor. 12:13). It is by remaining or abiding in the truth about Jesus which keeps a believer on the right track.

Thought: Do we have heretical teachers in our time which could lead believers away from true fellowship with Yahweh the Father and Son?