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).
