Oct. 14, 2024

1 John: Know Pt 3

1 John: Know Pt 3

We continue our look at the use of the word know in 1 John

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We continue our look at the use of the word know in 1 John

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone.

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It is Monday, October fourteenth, twenty twenty four. It is

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currently three six pm Central Time, and I am coming

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to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

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here in Abilene, Texas. Now, there have been times where

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I have described this podcast kind of a long and

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winding road. Right, we kind of just stumble upon an

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idea or a topic, or a concept or a scripture.

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We kind of sometimes just stumble upon it, and then

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we just kind of take this long and winding road

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to see where we end up. And a lot of

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times one in many cases, I never had, like I

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don't have let this great detailed plan, it all mapped

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out and scheduled out wall on this week, I'm going

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to cover this, and then next week I'm gonna No,

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I don't do that at all. I kind of just

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let each day kind of just whatever happens happens, and

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sometimes whatever we stumble upon, many cases during a live broadcast,

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then it turns into well, now we're going to talk

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about this, We're going to talk about this, and and

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it just it's this long and winding road. Now. Sometimes

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probably for a listener, that can be frustrating, right because

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you're like, well, wait a minute, where are we going? Well,

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I don't know if really really want to go with this,

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or sometimes you may be thinking, so, where is this

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actually going? Like I don't, I don't know, like like

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I need I need an answer, I need a conclusion

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or where no, I want the short answer type of thing.

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But no, Sometimes it can go one episode, two episodes,

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three episodes, four episodes. It can turn to a two

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or three month long series. We never really know. In

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some ways, I love not knowing. In some ways I

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love that. But sometimes if I'm being very honest with you,

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being very transparent, I will be like, what have I done? Right?

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I could have probably addressed this in a much more

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simplistic way. I could have just tried to focus on

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one idea, get the idea, and move on. But I

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everything here tends to become more drawn out, and we

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try to go much more in depth and ask a

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lot of questions, and a lot of times that turns

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into part two, Part three, Part four, Part five, Part six,

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and sometimes some of those parts because it's we're in

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the middle of the long and winding road may not

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be as interesting, or as dramatic, or as conclusive as

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Maybe the first part may be more interesting because it's

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introducing it. The last part may be more dramatic because

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it's somewhat conclusive. But there's a lot of the little parts,

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the little twists and turns, the little chapters to get there.

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So I think everyone perceives it differently. A lot of

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people come in on a Part two or Part three

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and then immediately, well, that was you know, dumb. Okay,

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well it may have been dumb, but it's it plays

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a part in a in this bigger series. So sometimes

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I look even I get frustrated because I never know

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what's going to happen, and I'm kind of really frustrated

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with what we've stumbled upon. All right, so let me

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try to put this all back together so it makes

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some sense. We were listening or I Wasum, I guess

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it's we, because if I hear something, I almost immediately

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make you listen to it, right, So if you listen

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to this podcast, you typically hear what I hear all

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but so we together were listening to a sermon on

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First John. It was something called five critical things we

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should know, five critical things we need to know, we

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should know, need to know, must know. I don't remember

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the exact world words that were used, but five things

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we need to know. I think that's was the director

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of the accurate title or the actual title, and it

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was all based on First John. Now we we never

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really got to all five things we need to know.

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They supposedly come from First John chapter three, but it

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was all about First John. And in the beginning kind

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of the introductory comments to the sermon, the preacher the

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speaker made the point that within First John, right within

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the epistle of First John, so you have five chapters.

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Within five chapters, the word no is used over twenty

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five times. Was the statement that I think was made

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in the sermon, which immediately sparked interest in my mind.

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I was like, okay, we could go through every no

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k now not n o k n ow no, the

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use of the word no, five things you should know,

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and what we could go through all twenty five, twenty six,

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twenty seven, twenty eight uses of the word no know

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in First John. So originally I was thinking that, but

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I'm like, man, that could that could turn into a

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lengthy series, and right now we're trying to work on

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all the Thereforce and Romans, and we're stuck in Romans chapter

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four because I keep getting diverted about other things. I'm like,

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I don't know if I really want to jump into that.

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But then I started thinking, well, the word no, no, no, no,

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why is no used that many times in First John?

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And immediately I'm like, well, this supports, this supports and

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hypotheses that I have about First John that I have

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been speaking on for years now, because I believe most

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people handle First John in a way that ignores a

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very important part of it. They will mention it. They

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will mention it if they if you listen to any

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SERI a sermon series on First John, they will mention

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it in the introductory message, but then they ignore it

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through the interpretation of the entire epistle. And that drives

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me crazy. And the point is when I see the

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word no, I immediately think yes. The reason John is using

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no know no, no, no, no, no no over twenty

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five times and five chapters is because it's a polemic

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against gnosticism. We're most evangelical Christians today and fundamentalists Christians

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today say no no is a book that or no.

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First John is a book that test and tries to

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prove if you are truly a Christian. It's a test

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book to prove if you are a Christian. And I

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want to come back, no, the no, no, it's not.

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It's a polemic against gnosticism. That's why John uses the

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word know over and over and over because no knowing

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known is very much related to gnosticism. So it's a

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polemic against gnosticism. And I think that everyone agrees that

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it's a polemic against gnosticism to some level. They say

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that and then they ignore it in their interpretation of

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the epistle. They forget the Gnostics and make it about us,

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even my study Bible that I have here in front

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of me, the foundation study Bible, First John theme listen.

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Shortly after the Church began, people like the Gnostics, continually

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tried to recast the Gospel in their own terms. Gnosticism

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made a distinction between the material or carnal, which was

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evil to them, and the spiritual, which was pure. John

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writes as one who was acquainted with Jesus personally, physically

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and spiritually. He wants the readers to take the Christ

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he knew at face value, John wants his readers to

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believe the truth of his experience of Jesus and not

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the philosophical speculation of the Gnostics. In these letters we

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see the same themes as in John's Gospel, light and darkness,

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truth and falsehood, light and death, love and hate. John

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weaves these themes together with a straightforward skill and fatherly

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care so that mentions gnosticism. And I think most people

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when they read first John and they read any introduction

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or any any background material, they're like, John is writing

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about gnosticism, and then five seconds later they're telling everyone,

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this is a test book to prove whether you are

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saved or not. No, this was about challenging gnosticism. Now

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that I think is how we should understand it. Now.

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Trying to articulate that to people can sometimes be difficult

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and be very tedious and trying to work through it

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because it raises lots of difficult questions. So that is

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kind of what we've been doing, and we're going to

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do a little bit more work on it today. Again,

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this has turned into this is taking longer than I necessarily. Look,

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the original idea was, hey, I'm listening to a sermon.

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They mentioned this, here's my hypothesis, here's their hypotheses. Let's

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move on. But it's turned into they don't really have

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a hypothesis other than, hey, these are five things you

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need to know from First John chapter three. But they

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don't even really deal with the fact that it's using

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the word no know, even though they mentioned that it's

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used over twenty five times. They don't really they don't

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bother to go, well, why is he using like I

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don't think they even mentioned gnosticism in the entire sermon,

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which was crazy to me. So I'm trying to go

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at this a little deeper. So a couple of things.

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I told you to look up all the references to

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know know in First John. Remember I told you not

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to just look it up online or in a Bible app,

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but to take a Bible, go through every page and

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look for the word know and write out the reference.

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Put down you know, like First John two to three,

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and then write out the reference. The reason why is

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even if this long and winding road doesn't lead to

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anywhere you even agree with or you even understand, guess

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what you got to skim First John. You went through

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all the entire epistle and you wrote down, not only

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the reference like first John two three, you wrote down

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the actual words of the verse. So that only helps

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you know scripture even more. Right, So I think that

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is important. So well, I told you to write all

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of them down. Then we did a little discussion about

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the Greek one of the Greek words used for no

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like in first John two three, and hereby we do

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know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Well,

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the Greek word there, I can say it, but I'm

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just gonna play it for you. We're going to play

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it for you, because that's what we've been doing. It's

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this Greek word. Everybody, remember everyone, you know this now

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Strong ninety seven Genoskosko, Genosko, Genosko. Now, if you look

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at genosco and gnosticism, gnosis, there is a connection. There

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is a connection here. Now it's more of a connection

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on the idea of knowledge. Now, there is a there's

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some commonality between the Greek words. Remember I told you

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some I gave you some basic information like this, I

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gave you some basic information. There is a connection in

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between the Greek word genosco and gnosticism. It is important

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to distinguish between the common linguistic use of genosco and

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the philological philosophical system of gnosticism. The Greek verb genosko

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simply means to know or to come to know, and

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it is used frequently in the New Testament, including First John,

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and it's used to describe knowledge and a relational, experiential,

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and intellectual sense. All Right, we talked about that, right,

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We talked about that, all right. In these biblical contexts,

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ganosko refers to a knowing God, to knowing God, knowing

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the truth, or knowing facts through experience, relationship, or understanding.

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It is not inherently tied to any special or secret

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form of knowledge, which is how gnosticism would see it.

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But it's about knowing. But please note knowing in a

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relation all way. Just keep that in mind, because I

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know this is going to take a long and winding road.

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But we're going to get back to that now. If

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you look at gnosticism, the term gnoscissism is derived from

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the Greek noun nosis, meaning knowledge. Gnosticism refers to a

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diverse set of religious and philosophical movements in the early

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centuries of Christianity that emphasize emphasized esoteric hidden knowledge gnosis,

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as the key to salvation. All right, Now, all the

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word genosko to know, and Gnosticism rooted in nosis, share

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this Greek root. The connection between them is not about

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how the Gnostics is more about how the Gnostics appropriated

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the concept of knowledge, rather than any intrinsic connection between

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the words themselves. So they do have a common root.

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But the main thing is the reason John kept using

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no no k n ow no no no no no,

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over and over and over is because he's writing a

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polemic against gnosticism, who has appropriated this idea of knowing

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knowledge and they using it in a completely different way.

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So John is trying to help his readers understand the

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difference between his the Christian or Biblical idea of knowing

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versus the Gnostic idea. So it's a polemic against Gnosticism. No,

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we covered a lot more there, but then we decided,

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after we did a little bit of work on the

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Greek and that's all this is all review, then we

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did a little bit of work on the ors and

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principles of Gnosticism. Nastissism emphasizes dualism, secret knowledge, the divine spark,

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and they have a cosmology especially in many and many

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Gnostic systems, which proposed a complex cosmology, often involving multiple

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divine beings. All right, Basically, at a lot of times

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they would have these ideas of a lesser Basically you

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have multiple divine beings, you would have a lesser ignorant deity,

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often identified with the God of the Old Testament who

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created the material world, and then you had this creator

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God was typically viewed as inferior, even malevolent or almost evil,

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while the true, unknowable God existed in a higher, purely

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spiritual realm. All right, Well, obviously, when you get to

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First John, he's combating this code idea. There's one God, right,

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one God. There's not a difference between the God of

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the Old test in the New Testament. Well, and then

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we can go all the different things First John has

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to say. Right then, we talked about the connection to

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the idea of knowing and First John, and we looked

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at the difference between how John used knowing and how

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the Gnostics would use knowing, and we went into great

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detail about all of that. It got maybe a little tedious.

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By the time I finished all of that, I wasn't

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super happy with it. I wasn't super happy with it.

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But I felt that, you know, I did. We went

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like an hour trying to work on it, and it's

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one of those things I think I said at the end,

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this is one of those times I felt like this

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would have been more appropriate at church, right in front

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of a live audience, because I could have seen they

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could have been asking questions, they could ask clarification, And

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sometimes it takes on a different a different vibe. But

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when you're just sitting in an empty studio, right and

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you're just like, okay, we got to go through all

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of this tedious information, I didn't quite wasn't happy with it,

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but I still think it was necessary. So now we're

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just gonna kind of pick up and move forward and

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see where we can get. I'm gonna just We're just

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gonna go and see where we could get. We're still

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trying to understand and try to draw the importance of

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the word no and First John, but mainly trying to

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understand First John and light of its arguments against gnosticism,

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not the way it's typically preached. Right, So there we go.

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Now I'm going to do a little bit of work

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here and borrow from different things, and hopefully this will

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be helpful right, some of this will be a little repetitive,

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but being repetitive here could have great benefit. Are you ready? Okay?

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Now again, we've already talked about the word no in

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First John comes from two different Greek words. We primarily

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are focusing on gnosco because it has the same route

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as gnoses. It is used repeatedly in First John, over

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twenty five times. Its usage is signific, as we've already

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pointed out, especially when we considered in the context of gnosticism.

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And that's been my whole hypothesis is, Hey, it keeps

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using no because it's a polemic against gnosticism. I cannot

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drive that point home enough. All right. Gnosticism, as we've

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already discussed, became a very developed heresy in the second century,

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and it placed a high emphasis on secret knowledge. Gnosis

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often viewed as a means to salvation accessible only to

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a select few. However, in First John offers a contrast.

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First John was likely written in the latter part of

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the first century, when early forms of gnostic thought were

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already emerging in the Christian community. When First John is written,

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gnosticism is already emerging within the Christian world, within the

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Church gnosticism is there. So you can't just take First

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John and say, oh, this is about lordship salvy. No,

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it's about a polemic against gnosticism, because it was already

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arising from within the church. The repetition of the word

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no and fir John appears to be countering these gnostic tendencies.

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So you have to see no. We say we turn

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no into being about us. No, the no is to

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fight gnostic tendencies. So you can't understand First John unless

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you understand the gnostic tendencies. Then you can see First

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John and see how it's countering gnostic ideas. Here's some

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significant places where no appears in the letters. So we're

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gonna look at just a few places. Now we're gonna

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we're gonna some of this we're gonna be being repetitive on,

301
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but we'll be looking at it from slightly different perspectives. Okay,

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each time through, we're gonna look at it just a

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different and add another layer to it. Some of it

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will be repetitive, some of it will be slightly different, Okay,

305
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but repetition is the way. Then you'll start seeing I've

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got to repeat this over and over and over, and

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I'm rocking back and forth in my chair. Okay, we

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have to go through this over and over and over

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and over and over and over because you have been

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so conditioned to see First John as oh, this is

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a test book to try to prove if I'm saved.

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And we've already talked about some of the major issues

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with approaching it that way. This is more about, hey,

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there's this, not these the Gnostics. There's Antichrist that were

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already present. Those Antichrist are the Gnostics. But let's start here. Now.

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This first one raises lots of difficulties, and that's first

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John two thirteen, all right, or first John two three,

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I should say first John two three. I don't know

319
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why I'm jumping to thirteen. I don't even think thirteen

320
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has the word no in it. All right, right, first

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John two to three, and here I'm going to go

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back to first John chapter one, First John chapter two,

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Verse one. My little children, these things write unto you

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that ye sin not, And if any man sin, we

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have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

326
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Now immediately this is the idea. What John I think

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is trying to demonstrate is the Gnostics, as many know,

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has developed an idea that, hey, the body, the material

329
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is sinful. What matters is the knowledge. The knowledge is pure,

330
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the end material the spirit that's pure. The body, the

331
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material is all sinful. What you do with the body

332
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is irrelevant. It's what you know. It's the spiritual aspect

333
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the body. It doesn't matter. And John immediately says, my

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little children, I write unto these things, unto you, that

335
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you sin not. Now, obviously we know from experience and

336
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from the rest of the Bible that we live in

337
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a perpetual state of sin. We're going to continue to sin.

338
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But what we do does matter in the Christian worldview.

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In the Christian worldview, it matters what we do with

340
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our body. This is contrasting the gnostic idea. It says, hey,

341
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I write that you said not, But if you do,

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you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.

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All right, thank goodness, we shouldn't sin, but we're going

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to sin. Thank God, we have an advocate, and he

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is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,

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but also for the sins of the whole world. Now

347
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we can get into a whole discussion about that. This

348
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is where arguments about you, you know, particular redemption, particular atonement,

349
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limited atonement. You can get into all kinds of arguments here,

350
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we won't get into that right now. The point is

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he is a propitiation. He has satisfied the wrath of

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God on our behalf. Praise God, Praise the lad or

353
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Jesus for that all right now and hereby we do

354
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know that we know him. Now here's the no. Now

355
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again it's being used. This is gonosco. This is being

356
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used by John to counter to counter the gnostic idea.

357
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Now we can get into this, are you? This is

358
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how it's typically preached in almost every church you will

359
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ever go to. How do you know you're saved? You

360
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keep his commandments all right? But you won't keep them,

361
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you won't keep them perfectly all right? So my end

362
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perfect obedience to his commandments is how I know I'm saved? Well,

363
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so then how imperfect can I be? Like? It just

364
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becomes this very subjective way, right, It become subjective. Right, Well,

365
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but I'm still disobeying. Yeah, but it's about how much

366
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you obey? But how am I measuring how much I obey?

367
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Because no matter how much I obey, no matter how

368
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obedient I am no matter how much I obey. Hey,

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I'm still in a perpetual state of sin. As we discuss.

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We've been discussing continually. Again, I can just demonstrate this.

371
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If you violate one point of the law, you're guilty

372
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of all of it. Where you're constantly violating one point

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of the law in some way, shape or form, so

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then you're perpetually in a state of sin. So then

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how can I know that I know him if I

376
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keep his commandments when I'm constantly in violation of his commandments,

377
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Because if I break one, I'm guilty of all. Love

378
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God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. Well,

379
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you never do that. You're in your inner perpetual state

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of sin. Be holy, as God is holy. You never

381
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do that's through inner perpetual state sin. We've talked about this,

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so this becomes very difficult. But if we look at it. Wait,

383
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this is drawing a distinction in gnosticism. You know secret knowledge,

384
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but that it has no bearing on what you do.

385
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John is trying to say, the knowledge I'm referring to

386
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is relational. It's experiential, right, it has impact, you know,

387
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and what do we know? We know that Jesus Christ

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is the eternal son of God born of the Virgin Mary.

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You know, suffered under ponscious pilot, crucified Barry Rose. The

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third Day has scended to the right hand of the Father,

391
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from which who will come to judge the living in

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the dead, just giving you you know, the apostles creed

393
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there right giving you basic stuff here, so we know this.

394
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John's argument is that our knowledge takes into account and

395
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impacts what we do to someone. It's not going to

396
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make us perfect in any way, shape or form, but

397
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it has some impact. It has some connection to what

398
00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:38.319
we do. And you could argue that the knowing here

399
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is more about the relational fellowship aspect, which we will

400
00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:48.000
get into. All right. This verse connects first John two

401
00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:54.000
three the knowledge of God with practical obedience, not esoteric

402
00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:56.920
or secret knowledge. It emphasizes that true knowledge of God

403
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:59.640
is accessible to all believers, and it is demonstrated through

404
00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:03.039
faithful as to His commands, not through some hidden insight.

405
00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:07.519
The point is the Gnostic idea. It's esoteric, it's hidden.

406
00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:11.079
It's knowledge for the sake of knowledge. This is knowledge

407
00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:15.640
that then moves to something. All right, now, I think

408
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:20.480
before we even move on. I think we have to

409
00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:23.599
understand this. This knowing here, I think we got to

410
00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.319
take this into consideration because, as I've already stated, this

411
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:34.640
turns into such an argument. I think it's possible, and

412
00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:38.440
other sources agree with me. Now, now this is one

413
00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:40.599
of the most frustrating things you have to learn about

414
00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:44.400
the Bible, right, you have to learn about Christianity, you

415
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:50.079
have to learn about hermeneutics. You can have very well

416
00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:54.079
studied individuals who have been studying the Bible for twenty

417
00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.319
thirty forty years, right it backwards, forwards, upside down. They

418
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know Greek, they know Hebrew, they know church history, they

419
00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:05.680
know hermeneutics, and you can have these individuals come to

420
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:10.400
very different understandings and very different interpretations of a passage

421
00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:15.119
of scripture. Now that can be very frustrating. Why because

422
00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:16.920
if you're sitting there going, well, wait a minute, that

423
00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:19.720
person twenty years of study knows all of this stuff.

424
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They came to this conclusion. That person has twenty years

425
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:25.640
of study, they came to a different conclusion. What am

426
00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:29.200
I supposed to do? And I think it just demonstrates

427
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.640
that sometimes the text is not as clear as everyone

428
00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:33.759
would like to make it out. To be. I know

429
00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:36.160
it's easy when you're a young Christian just say that's

430
00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.519
what it says, that's what it means. I wish it

431
00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:42.839
was that easy, But I think it's possible and even

432
00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.240
reasonable to understand the use of the word no in

433
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:50.759
First John as referring to knowing God and a relational

434
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:58.599
or fellowship way, rather than in a Salvafic sense. I

435
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:02.519
think the idea is is John because the word gnosco

436
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.119
has the relational aspect as we've already seen. Multiple sources

437
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:09.119
say that John is trying to say. The no I'm

438
00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:13.279
talking about is different than this esoteric secret knowledge. It's relational,

439
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:16.759
it's it's it has it has something here. And I

440
00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:18.880
think this is important, all right. I think this is

441
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:24.480
very important. As a Christian, we are say by grace alone,

442
00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:28.240
through faith alone, because of what Christ did alone, has

443
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.400
no has nothing to do with what we do, because

444
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.039
by faith we are saved by it. Listen and imputed righteousness,

445
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which does not change us. My standing before God is

446
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:43.960
based off what Christ has done for me. I'm adopted

447
00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:46.720
into the family of God. I am secure because of

448
00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:53.000
imputed righteousness. That's my positional standing, my pratic, practical life,

449
00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:57.079
we can speak of it in a relational way. Practically,

450
00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.720
I now enter into our relationship with God, but that

451
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:06.440
relationship very much fluctuates, and it has some bearing on

452
00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:10.559
what I do and don't do. My positional standing is

453
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:14.920
not touched by what I do, but my practical fellowship

454
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:20.240
relationship is. So I think this idea of no here

455
00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:25.000
can be more understood. It's more understood in a relational

456
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:30.599
fellowship way rather than a salvafic sense. If we go

457
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:34.640
with my suggestion here and we remember that salvation by

458
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:38.759
faith alone is maintained, is maintained right, It's maintained because

459
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of Christ and the word no gnosco would be understood

460
00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:47.160
as describing the depth and quality of one's relationship and

461
00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:51.920
fellowship with God, which can vary or be hindered, while

462
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:58.720
salvation itself remains secure. So guanosco here No. It is

463
00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:03.079
drawing a distinction between the gnostic idea, and it's doing

464
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.039
so by speaking of this is relational, This is fellowship.

465
00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:12.480
We know Him, and this knowing, this relational knowing is

466
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.680
impacted by obedience, but it is not dealing with my salvation,

467
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:20.359
because my salvation is not based on my obedience. It's

468
00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:23.519
based off the obedience of Christ, and his obedience is

469
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:30.720
imputed to me by faith alone. Right, So I'm I'm

470
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.960
gonna read as one source. Put this all right? Gonna

471
00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:36.680
I'm gonna read as one source. Put this all right?

472
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.720
To understand the use of the word no in First

473
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.079
John as referring to knowing God in a relational or

474
00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:48.400
fellowship based way rather than a Salvafic sense. And this

475
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:52.039
interpretation salvation by faith alone is maintained, and the word

476
00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:54.960
no ganosko would be understood as describing the depth and

477
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:58.480
quality of one's relationship and fellowship with God, which can

478
00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:03.720
vary or be hindered, while salvation itself remains secure. Here

479
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:10.839
are some key points to support this view. Number one,

480
00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:19.400
salvation by faith alone justification. The New Testament consistently teaches

481
00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:22.279
that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ, apart

482
00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:27.759
from works or continued performance Ephesians two, Romans three. Right.

483
00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:31.480
Just note that salvation is by faith alone, apart from

484
00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:36.240
works or continued performance. This means that at the moment

485
00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:39.000
a person believes in Christ, they are justified, declared righteous

486
00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:42.039
based on christ finished work. This is a positional standing

487
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:44.799
before God which is secure and is not based on

488
00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:49.599
the believer's ability to perfectly obey love or even maintain fellowship.

489
00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:54.160
Since salvation is by faith alone, the believer's positional relationship

490
00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:58.799
with God remains intact even if their experiential fellowship with

491
00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:04.799
God fluctuates. So I am forever in a positional right

492
00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.920
relationship with God because that relationship is not based on

493
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.960
anything I do. It's based on everything Christ did that's

494
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.359
imputed to my account by faith alone. But in my practice,

495
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.359
in my practical not the position, but my practical spiritual life,

496
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.960
it fluctuates. It's about a relationship with God that has

497
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.720
its ups and downs, and I and it has. My

498
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:31.920
behavior may even impact that, But my salvation is secure.

499
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:37.440
This everybody wants to test our salvation by what we do.

500
00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:42.079
You cannot test a salvation that is accomplished by the

501
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:44.920
finished work of Jesus Christ and it is made secure

502
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.160
because of an imputed righteousness. You cannot test imputed righteousness

503
00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:53.839
by practical actions. You can't go to First John and say, well,

504
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:55.359
if you do this and this and this and this,

505
00:31:55.519 --> 00:32:00.000
you're truly saved. Well, then you can't test imputed righteousness.

506
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:06.039
Imputed righteousness is only accredited to my account. If I was, say,

507
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:11.160
by an infused righteousness, you could test it. So if

508
00:32:11.160 --> 00:32:14.440
we truly believe salvation is by faith alone, based off

509
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:18.400
an imputed righteousness, then one John two three, hereby we

510
00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:21.319
know him if we keep his commandments, cannot be a

511
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:24.519
test to prove my salvation. I think this is saying

512
00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:30.000
knowing Him in a relational way, Yes, my fellowship, my

513
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:37.599
practical relationship, not my salvation is connected to obedience, which

514
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:44.960
is completely different than the Gnostic idea. So salvation by

515
00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:49.200
faith alone would support this distinction that I'm trying to

516
00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:53.599
make relational knowledge. The use of the word no in

517
00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:58.319
first John often emphasizes the ongoing relational aspect of a

518
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:03.319
believer's experience with God. This knowledge is not about salvation itself,

519
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:06.920
but about how one lives in fellowship with God. Consider

520
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:10.200
the following verses firs. John twoy three. By this we

521
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:11.880
know that we have come to know Him if we

522
00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:15.039
keep his commandments. This verse suggests that knowing God is

523
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:21.039
evidenced by obedience. However, this knowledge is relational, not salviafic.

524
00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.160
It indicates that obedience as a sign of close fellowship

525
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:29.240
with God not a prerequisite or even a proof for salvation.

526
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:34.160
The word no here refers to a deeper experiential relationship,

527
00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:41.960
not the act of being saved. This is a relational knowledge,

528
00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:50.400
My closeness, my fellowship with God is greatly impacted by

529
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:57.160
my obedience, demonstrating that this relational knowledge does impact or

530
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.240
is connected to obedience, which separates it from the gnostic

531
00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:04.599
idea that just knowing for the sake of knowing and

532
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.440
it has no impact on what you do. This is

533
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:10.199
saying no, my knowledge is relational and when you enter

534
00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:13.519
it into a relationship, well, then there will be impact

535
00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:17.199
on behavior to some level. Now, of course not going

536
00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:21.679
to be perfect. We already know that. Look at first

537
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:24.679
John four eight would be another example. Anyone who does

538
00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:29.039
not love God does not know God. This is another

539
00:34:29.079 --> 00:34:31.960
example where knowing God is tied to our relational aspect

540
00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:35.960
expressing love. The implication is that what a believer loves,

541
00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:39.440
that when a believer loves, they're were reflecting their fellowship

542
00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.840
with God. However, a failure to love does not mean

543
00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:45.280
the person is unsaved, but that their fellowship with God

544
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:49.440
possibly is disrupted. And why why do we have to

545
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:56.960
do that? Because if we go to first John four eight, uh,

546
00:34:57.280 --> 00:35:01.280
he that loveth he that loveth know, No with not God,

547
00:35:01.400 --> 00:35:04.280
for God is love. Ladies and gentlemen, we're in trouble.

548
00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:07.039
We're supposed to love God with all our heartmind, body,

549
00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:09.800
and soul. You say, well, it's not a perfect love,

550
00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:13.440
so I it's an imperfect love that can still prove that.

551
00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:16.679
I'm saying no, this would be majorly problematic if you

552
00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:20.079
try to judge someone's salvation on this. No. Ever, when

553
00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:23.079
we I've looked at the test based off first John,

554
00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:25.519
all the sermons are like, you have to obey, but

555
00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.639
you're not going to do it perfectly. You have to love,

556
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:29.800
but you're not going to do it perfectly, which turns

557
00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:32.719
it all into a subjective test. No, no, no, no,

558
00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:37.599
this is about the knowledge John is speaking of is

559
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:43.199
a relational knowledge. And my love, my loving others and

560
00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:48.440
loving God, and my seeking to obey and obeying greatly

561
00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:54.559
indicates my fellowship with God to some level. My fellowship,

562
00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:58.480
not my salvation. Now you say, well, it could still

563
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:01.880
be subjective. It's much better to be subjective and trying

564
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:05.199
to determine my closeness with God than being subjective and

565
00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:12.760
trying to determine whether I'm saved or not. How about

566
00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:20.079
First John three six whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.

567
00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:27.079
Whosoever sinneth shall not, shall not see him, neither know him,

568
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:30.119
or known him. All right, let me read this again,

569
00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:33.440
First John three sixth, whoever abideth in him sinneth not.

570
00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:36.280
I mean, what do you even do with that? Whosoever

571
00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:40.840
sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him well? Or

572
00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:43.000
so you're gonna say. The way I know I'm saved

573
00:36:43.079 --> 00:36:46.159
is if I stop sinning completely. So then people come

574
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:49.559
and try to modify this. No. See, if we make

575
00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:53.119
it about salvation, you've now you're you're done, You're finished.

576
00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:55.639
If you take the test in First John, you have

577
00:36:55.719 --> 00:36:58.280
to either water them down and grade them on a

578
00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:02.840
curve that makes the test meaningless. Right, So then you

579
00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:05.760
can just decide, I guess anyone can just if you're

580
00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:08.840
it's like there's just no objective standard. If you make

581
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:11.800
it the objective standard as it is written, then nobody

582
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:15.519
is saved. Or you can say, wait a minute, this

583
00:37:15.559 --> 00:37:18.320
is dealing with my fellowship. So this is how one

584
00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:20.719
source would put it. The idea of knowing God is

585
00:37:20.760 --> 00:37:23.239
tied to abiding and not living in habitual sin. But

586
00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:25.679
we are all living in habitual sin. That's the issue.

587
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:28.719
Be holy as he is holy. You never do that,

588
00:37:28.760 --> 00:37:31.000
you're in habitual sin. If you break one point of

589
00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:33.199
the law, you're guilty of all. You're an habitual sin.

590
00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:36.039
If someone is living in an ongoing sin, John says,

591
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.280
they do not know God in the experiential sense of

592
00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:40.639
abiding in His presence. But this does not apply a

593
00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:43.280
loss of salvation. Rather, it refers to the quality of

594
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:46.280
their ongoing relationship with God. Now, I still don't like

595
00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:48.280
to use of the word habitual there, but I do

596
00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:52.239
agree if I look at it from an experiential relational part,

597
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:57.119
what impacts my relationship with God? What impacts my relation

598
00:37:57.440 --> 00:38:03.280
my practical fellowship with God? I should say my salvation

599
00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:06.000
is not impacted by anything because it's based off the

600
00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:12.960
finished work of Jesus Christ. But obeying, loving, sinning, those

601
00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:17.679
have impact on my fellowship with God. I think we

602
00:38:17.719 --> 00:38:19.719
can all. I think every Christian should be able to

603
00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:25.679
agree with that. What will impact your relational relationship with God?

604
00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:36.280
Your fellowship? Obeying, loving, and sinning? Right, the distinction between

605
00:38:36.280 --> 00:38:41.440
relationship and fellowship. The interpretation that I'm putting forth would

606
00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:45.559
fit well with a broader Biblical teaching positional relationship. This

607
00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:48.159
is the believer standing before God. It is secured by

608
00:38:48.159 --> 00:38:51.360
faith alone and Christ's work. It does not fluctuate based

609
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:56.960
on behavior or performance. Experiential fellowship knowing God. This refers

610
00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:01.320
to the ongoing daily relationship with God character by obedience, love,

611
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.679
walking in the light. Fellowship can be affected by sin, disobedience,

612
00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:09.159
or neglected of spiritual neglect of spiritual practices. This does

613
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:12.079
not mean a person loses their salvation. Doesn't mean a

614
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:17.800
person is not saved. John frequently talks about abidying in

615
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:20.519
God or walking in the light as a part of

616
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.840
knowing Him. These ideas suggest to focus on intimacy and

617
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:26.519
closeness and the believers walk with God rather than a

618
00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:29.400
test of whether one is saved. A believer can be

619
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.239
out of fellowship with God due to sin, but still

620
00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:36.519
be saved. Well, I hope that we can still. I

621
00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:40.039
hope that we can still be saved and sin because

622
00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:44.880
we're in perpetual state of sin. So obviously, then what

623
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:48.519
do sin impact? It impacts my fellowship, It cannot impact

624
00:39:48.559 --> 00:39:52.840
my salvation. And again you cannot judge salvation which is

625
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:56.719
based off an imputed righteousness. By looking at practical righteousness,

626
00:39:56.719 --> 00:39:58.320
you can't look to someone and say, well, if you

627
00:39:58.360 --> 00:39:59.800
do this, or you do this, or you do this,

628
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:03.960
not saved. No, my salvation is based off an imputed righteousness.

629
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:06.920
Everything you told me to do, Christ did for me,

630
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.280
and his righteousness is imputed to my account. So you

631
00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:13.159
can't say I'm not saved if I do the wrong thing,

632
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:15.639
because Christ did the right thing for me, and his

633
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:19.960
obedience is mine by faith, So that doesn't work. In fact,

634
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.360
if you judge salvation based off what people do, you say, well,

635
00:40:24.400 --> 00:40:27.199
this proves or disproves they're saved, then you are looking

636
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:30.079
at salvation from an infused righteous perspective and not an

637
00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:37.639
imputed one. But I can say obedience, love, and sin

638
00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:44.239
directly impacts my fellowship knowing God because it is relational,

639
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:51.719
it is experiential, and it can fluctuate. One John one

640
00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:54.119
six through seven says, if we say we have fellowship

641
00:40:54.159 --> 00:40:56.440
with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and

642
00:40:56.480 --> 00:40:58.440
do not practice the truth. But if we walk in

643
00:40:58.480 --> 00:40:59.920
the lot as he is in the light, we have

644
00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:02.719
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus's son

645
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.960
cleanses us from all sin. Fellowship is the key idea,

646
00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:10.280
not salvation. Walking in darkness disrupts fellowship, but the blood

647
00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:14.440
of Christ continually cleanses the believer, securing their salvation even

648
00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:22.639
when fellowship is broken. And First John one to nine. Now,

649
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:24.400
so the next thing we can look at is the

650
00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:27.239
idea of confession. First John one nine. Confession of sin

651
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:30.920
is presented as a means of restoring fellowship, not securing salvation.

652
00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:34.039
When believers sin, their fellowship with God is disrupted, but

653
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:38.280
their positional relationship remains secure. If we confess our sins,

654
00:41:38.280 --> 00:41:40.199
he is faithful and justin forgive us our sins and

655
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:44.800
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is an ongoing process,

656
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:48.880
indicating that while sin hinders fellowship, it does not cancel

657
00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:55.679
out salvation. Confession restores the relationship or the relational experiential aspect,

658
00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:58.840
allowing the believer to continue to walk closely with God.

659
00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:02.079
Why do we continue to confess our sins Not that

660
00:42:02.119 --> 00:42:05.280
we won't lose our salvation, not that we won't prove

661
00:42:05.280 --> 00:42:08.480
that we're saved. We confess because we are in a

662
00:42:08.760 --> 00:42:16.079
relational aspect with God. A fellowship with God. Confession is

663
00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:22.039
a is to continue maintain relational the relationship, not salvation.

664
00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:26.000
Salvation is completely based off faith in the finished work

665
00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:32.440
of Jesus Christ. The use of know in One John

666
00:42:33.039 --> 00:42:39.119
reflects the Biblical theme of knowing God relationally rather than salvifically.

667
00:42:40.199 --> 00:42:43.000
This is consistent with other parts of the New Testament,

668
00:42:43.199 --> 00:42:47.679
where knowing God refers to growing intimacy and understanding and fellowship.

669
00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:50.960
Philippians three ten, that I may know Him in the

670
00:42:51.000 --> 00:42:54.960
power of his resurrection. Paul, was already a believer, expresses

671
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:57.840
a desire to know Christ more deeply, indicating that knowing

672
00:42:57.880 --> 00:43:02.719
God is an ongoing relational process. Yes, so now, according

673
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:06.199
to the one thing I looked up, it is possible

674
00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:10.639
and philologically consistent to understand the word no in First

675
00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:14.000
John as referring to knowing God in a relational way,

676
00:43:14.320 --> 00:43:17.360
speaking of the quality of one's fellowship with Him, rather

677
00:43:17.440 --> 00:43:21.519
than as a test of salvation. Salvation is by faith

678
00:43:21.559 --> 00:43:25.480
alone in Christ's finished work, while knowing God in First

679
00:43:25.559 --> 00:43:30.159
John is about maintaining close, ongoing fellowship with Him, evidenced

680
00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:33.880
by love, obedience, and walking in the light. This knowledge

681
00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:37.480
can fluctuate due to sin or disobedience, but salvation remains

682
00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:40.679
secure as the believer is justified by faith and is

683
00:43:40.719 --> 00:43:51.639
continually cleansed by Christ's atoning work. So let's put this together. First,

684
00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:57.239
John is a polemic against gnosticism. Gnosticism looks at knowledge

685
00:43:57.280 --> 00:44:02.440
as some esoteric, kind of mistical secret thing. And it's

686
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:06.639
about the knowledge, and that knowledge is not worried about

687
00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:10.920
what you do with your body, because the body is

688
00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:13.639
already sinful to just do whatever you want. It almost

689
00:44:13.679 --> 00:44:19.920
separates knowledge from any kind of practical ramifications. Right, It

690
00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:23.639
doesn't care about in a sense ethics or morality, and

691
00:44:23.719 --> 00:44:26.280
that sense you just know, and knowing is the key.

692
00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:30.440
John wants you to know that knowing is different the

693
00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:35.719
knowing John is used and looking at the Greek word. Okay,

694
00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:37.599
as we've talked about, when you go back to the

695
00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:42.320
Greek word, the idea is that it's relational, it's experiential.

696
00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:50.159
So John immediately connects this knowledge to love, obedience, not sinning,

697
00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:54.840
walking in the light, not walking in darkness, demonstrating that

698
00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:58.599
this knowledge is different. So, first and foremost, it's drawing

699
00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:03.760
a distinction between the nost idea and the biblical ideas.

700
00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:07.039
That's the main idea here. Now, other Christians come along

701
00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:09.119
with No, this is a test to prove you're saved again.

702
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:13.239
There's all the theological issues with doing that. You cannot

703
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:17.320
judge someone's salvation, which is based off an imputed righteousness

704
00:45:17.400 --> 00:45:21.199
by looking at practical righteousness. Practical righteousness cannot be used

705
00:45:21.239 --> 00:45:25.599
to judged imputed righteousness. Imputed righteousness does not change you.

706
00:45:25.800 --> 00:45:29.519
Imputed righteousness does not do anything in you. Imputed righteousness

707
00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:33.719
declares you to be what you are, not infused righteousness.

708
00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:36.880
You can use practical righteousness to judge it, because it's

709
00:45:36.880 --> 00:45:40.400
something working in you. All right, So already we know

710
00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:44.599
we have to go a different route. So I think John, right,

711
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:47.119
if you look using the Greek word, he's giving you

712
00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:52.239
the clue. This knowledge is about relationship, fellowship, it's relational,

713
00:45:52.639 --> 00:45:57.599
it's experiential. So you, in a sense, as a Christian,

714
00:45:57.880 --> 00:46:00.280
you are saved by faith alone because of what Christ

715
00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:07.440
has done you. Knowing God is experiential and relational. So

716
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:09.559
first John, if you want to make it a test,

717
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:12.280
it's a test first of all, to ensure that you're

718
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:15.320
not buying into the gnostic idea. And you understand this.

719
00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:19.400
Knowing God is much carries on far more weight than

720
00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:22.119
the Gnostic idea. And if you want to make it

721
00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:27.239
some kind of test. It's challenging you to check your fellowship,

722
00:46:28.039 --> 00:46:33.400
not your salvation. It's the only thing to the only

723
00:46:33.400 --> 00:46:35.679
way to make it make sense. Or you're gonna have

724
00:46:35.719 --> 00:46:38.039
this idea that, hey, this is a test to prove

725
00:46:38.079 --> 00:46:41.119
you're saved, but nobody's going to do it perfectly. So

726
00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:44.559
then it's some subjective test and it makes it literally

727
00:46:44.639 --> 00:46:46.800
makes no sense. We've talked about it before. We've looked

728
00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:51.440
at the test. MacArthur's test, Jonathan Edwards, you wretched radio.

729
00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:54.599
They even had a test. Everyone has these tests. Here's

730
00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:56.480
how you know. You're saying you do this, you do this,

731
00:46:56.599 --> 00:46:58.559
you do this. No, if you're gonna say that's the

732
00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:00.599
test to prove that I'm saved, I'm going to take

733
00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:03.199
the test to Jesus Christ, and I'm going to hand

734
00:47:03.199 --> 00:47:05.280
the test to Jesus Christ, and he's going to say,

735
00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:09.039
my obedience passes this test perfectly, and by faith, my

736
00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:12.159
obedience is imputed to you. So you pass the test

737
00:47:12.280 --> 00:47:18.360
in me, not by what I practically do. But when

738
00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:22.079
you want to look at a test, my relationship, my fellowship,

739
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:30.280
my closeness with God is impacted by obeying, loving walking,

740
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:38.159
all those types of things. That is the distinction that

741
00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:49.360
has to be made or we destroy the Gospel. Now,

742
00:47:49.400 --> 00:47:51.480
is that perfect? I'm not saying it's perfect, it's not.

743
00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:54.880
It's messy. First, John is messy. Let's just be honest

744
00:47:54.920 --> 00:47:57.239
with it. It is very, very, very very messy. And

745
00:47:57.280 --> 00:47:59.760
the reason it's so messy is because we've been taught

746
00:47:59.760 --> 00:48:02.679
a certain way to look at it our entire Christian life.

747
00:48:02.760 --> 00:48:04.599
I'm just saying, if I look at it the way

748
00:48:04.639 --> 00:48:08.119
I've been taught my entire Christian life, I literally systematically

749
00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:12.519
destroy the Gospel I am. I am destroying the idea

750
00:48:12.519 --> 00:48:14.840
of being saved by an imputed righteousness. And I'm walking

751
00:48:14.920 --> 00:48:17.760
right back into the Catholic system of an infused righteousness

752
00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:22.880
as non Catholics. It's October, the Reformation Day is about

753
00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:26.599
to be here. Remember, the whole concept of the Reformation

754
00:48:26.840 --> 00:48:30.960
is not justified by an infused righteousness, but by an

755
00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:36.639
imputed righteousness. Well, imputed does not make me righteous, It

756
00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:40.960
declares me to be that which I am not. Now

757
00:48:41.039 --> 00:48:45.239
Christians saying, yeah, well, but but sanctification, sanctification, Well, then

758
00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:48.039
that we talked about sanctificy you look at just go

759
00:48:48.079 --> 00:48:50.159
back and look at the message I just preached yesterday

760
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:53.559
on sanctification redefined. I think our understanding of sanctification is

761
00:48:53.679 --> 00:49:07.599
utterly flawed as well. Now the question would be how

762
00:49:07.719 --> 00:49:11.559
is our fellowship Now I'm not an expert on that

763
00:49:11.639 --> 00:49:13.719
in any way, shape or form. I think that that's

764
00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:18.960
a very complicated concept because no matter look, I if

765
00:49:18.960 --> 00:49:22.400
my fellowship just even looking at it this way, it's

766
00:49:22.440 --> 00:49:25.639
still problematic. All right, let's not act like I've fixed

767
00:49:25.639 --> 00:49:28.440
anything here. I haven't fixed anything. I just am trying

768
00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:32.239
to protect the gospel. Right, But the fellowship, if this

769
00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:35.000
is a test for fellowship, it's still just as problematic.

770
00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:40.519
I know I know him in a relational fellowship way

771
00:49:40.599 --> 00:49:43.559
if I obey him. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm in

772
00:49:43.599 --> 00:49:48.400
a perpetual state of disobedience. So are you be holy

773
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:50.920
as God? As holy? Have you done that today? You've

774
00:49:50.920 --> 00:49:53.840
been in sin all day? Love God with all your heart, mind, body,

775
00:49:53.880 --> 00:49:55.320
and soul. Have you done that today? Well, you're in

776
00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:57.760
perpetual state of sin. Love your neighbor as yourself. Have

777
00:49:57.800 --> 00:49:59.559
you done that today? You're in a perpetual state of sin.

778
00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:01.559
Love your enemy. Have you done that today? You're a

779
00:50:01.599 --> 00:50:04.159
perpetual state of sin. Do all things without murmurying and complaining.

780
00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:06.119
Have you done that today? You're in a perpetual state

781
00:50:06.119 --> 00:50:08.360
of sin. You were in sin every single day. We're

782
00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:11.760
in a perpetual state of disobedience to his commands because

783
00:50:11.800 --> 00:50:14.239
if your violate one, you're guilty of all. So then

784
00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:16.760
how can I even judge my fellowship? I don't know.

785
00:50:20.679 --> 00:50:24.920
If you know him, you will sin not Okay, Well,

786
00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:29.360
now what people say, Well, it's not perfect obedience, it's

787
00:50:29.400 --> 00:50:32.360
not perfect sinlessness. It's just like you will just and

788
00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:35.119
they try to find some semantics to get around, well,

789
00:50:35.159 --> 00:50:39.159
we're talking about the entirety of your life. Well, the

790
00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:41.519
entirety of my life is a perpetual state of sin,

791
00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:46.119
as I've already articulated. So even making this about fellowship

792
00:50:46.320 --> 00:50:52.960
doesn't really help me at all. Now we could look

793
00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:57.519
at it. Now, this is where I don't know how

794
00:50:57.519 --> 00:51:04.000
it would work against gnosticism, right if we do this.

795
00:51:04.079 --> 00:51:07.159
The Gnostic idea is that knowledge, says esoteric, it doesn't

796
00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:13.239
matter what you do, and God's system and the biblical

797
00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:18.800
idea of knowing or no ginosko, is that knowing greatly

798
00:51:19.079 --> 00:51:23.920
impacts behavior, it greatly is connected to behavior. Let's say

799
00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:27.159
it this, it greatly is connected to behavior because God's

800
00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:33.880
law reveals to us what God demands. We know what

801
00:51:33.920 --> 00:51:37.360
God demands, and it makes us guilty. Right, I would

802
00:51:37.400 --> 00:51:39.880
not have known this is a sin unless the law

803
00:51:39.920 --> 00:51:42.840
told me it is a sin. The law shows me

804
00:51:43.159 --> 00:51:46.719
by the law, I know this is sin. I know

805
00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:51.599
God says, obey his commandments, do not sin. Love. I

806
00:51:51.719 --> 00:51:57.360
know that, and therefore I'm condemned by that knowledge. So

807
00:51:57.559 --> 00:52:00.280
in a sense, if I take these passages as hey,

808
00:52:00.440 --> 00:52:02.239
if you know God, you won't do this. You won't

809
00:52:02.280 --> 00:52:03.920
do this, you won't do this, you won't do this.

810
00:52:04.360 --> 00:52:07.360
The law says, if you know me, you will do this,

811
00:52:07.679 --> 00:52:10.199
and I am condemned. So if I see First John

812
00:52:10.239 --> 00:52:15.159
as law, then the answer is Christ does these things

813
00:52:15.239 --> 00:52:18.519
for me. It still is drawing a distinction between the

814
00:52:18.559 --> 00:52:23.199
Gnostic idea, so it's still a polemic against gnosticism. But

815
00:52:23.239 --> 00:52:25.920
then we would utilize it as a law. This First

816
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:32.000
John is law. Don't sin, obey, walk in light, don't

817
00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:36.320
walk in darkness. Love do these things perfectly. And you're like, well,

818
00:52:36.360 --> 00:52:40.599
I can't. I know that I'm supposed to, but I can't.

819
00:52:40.639 --> 00:52:44.440
And then Jesus says, but I did for you. So then,

820
00:52:46.239 --> 00:52:50.119
because if my salvation is based off Gracelane, wouldn't my

821
00:52:50.159 --> 00:53:02.000
fellowship have to be based off that? Right? So is

822
00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:05.159
it better to understand First John more from the perspective

823
00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:11.760
of law. It's law, and law drives me to Christ.

824
00:53:12.480 --> 00:53:15.719
But it has the idea of knowing. I know the

825
00:53:15.880 --> 00:53:21.920
law lets me know. Knowing makes me guilty. I take

826
00:53:22.119 --> 00:53:26.079
these demands of the law and say I cannot, but

827
00:53:26.239 --> 00:53:29.159
Christ did them for me. So every demand in First

828
00:53:29.239 --> 00:53:42.280
John is accomplished in Christ. Do we need a law

829
00:53:42.400 --> 00:53:53.960
gospel approach to First John more than the fellowship idea?

830
00:53:54.719 --> 00:53:57.039
And can we still maintain that it's a polemic against

831
00:53:57.039 --> 00:53:59.639
gnosticists say we need to bring the two worlds together.

832
00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:04.400
The knowledge here is more than the esoteric secret knowledge

833
00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.679
of gnosticism, but the knowledge of the Bible, the knowledge

834
00:54:07.679 --> 00:54:11.400
of the Law, simply will condemn you to the eighteenth

835
00:54:11.559 --> 00:54:13.400
level of hell. I'm not seeing there's levels of hell,

836
00:54:13.480 --> 00:54:14.960
but I know some will argue there is. I'm not

837
00:54:14.960 --> 00:54:16.679
getting about to get into that argument. The point is

838
00:54:16.760 --> 00:54:18.840
it's going to send you to hell because you're gonna

839
00:54:18.880 --> 00:54:20.719
know this is what the law to manager. You're like,

840
00:54:20.760 --> 00:54:23.920
I can't, I can't I can't. You can't. You can't

841
00:54:24.119 --> 00:54:28.519
obey all of his commands. You cannot stop sinning all

842
00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:30.800
of these things. You're never going to love the way

843
00:54:30.840 --> 00:54:36.800
God demands love. So it is a different knowledge than gnosticism.

844
00:54:36.920 --> 00:54:39.920
So it's drawing a distinction. But then this knowledge is

845
00:54:39.960 --> 00:54:42.239
to show me my inability to do it, which then

846
00:54:42.320 --> 00:54:44.440
drives me to Christ. And then Christ did it for me.

847
00:54:44.639 --> 00:54:47.800
Maybe it's more complex than we actually think that it is.

848
00:54:49.960 --> 00:54:52.360
The fellowship idea. I want it to work because I

849
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:55.360
can say, yeah, my action impacts my fellowship with God.

850
00:54:55.599 --> 00:54:58.079
But how would I even measure that? How would I

851
00:54:58.119 --> 00:55:00.599
measure am I in fellowship with God today? I don't know.

852
00:55:01.039 --> 00:55:03.599
I'm still not holy as he says to be holy.

853
00:55:03.679 --> 00:55:05.559
I still don't love Him with my whole heart, mind, body,

854
00:55:05.599 --> 00:55:07.480
and so I'm in a perpetual state of sin. So

855
00:55:07.559 --> 00:55:12.000
I'm not obeying his commands. I'm still sinning. I don't

856
00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:14.519
love the way to I'm not in fellowship with him.

857
00:55:15.039 --> 00:55:20.039
I would never be in fellowship with him. I think

858
00:55:20.039 --> 00:55:22.079
we have to look at it from a long gospel distinction.

859
00:55:22.599 --> 00:55:24.920
That's the only thing in church history that that's the

860
00:55:24.920 --> 00:55:28.039
only option. Everything else just makes no sense unless you

861
00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:32.119
start playing this subjective game. Well, it's not about obeying perfectly,

862
00:55:32.159 --> 00:55:36.639
it's just about the general direction. Well then, how no,

863
00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:42.039
your general direction is a perpetual state of disobedience because

864
00:55:42.440 --> 00:55:49.239
you're perpetually disobeying. Like it makes no sense. So maybe

865
00:55:49.239 --> 00:55:52.199
we spent fifty five minutes going with the fellowship I did,

866
00:55:52.280 --> 00:55:54.119
and I just decided to throw all of that out

867
00:55:54.159 --> 00:55:57.800
at the end. But then I give you a lot

868
00:55:57.800 --> 00:56:00.800
of different ways of looking at it. I guess we

869
00:56:00.840 --> 00:56:03.559
could say you have We'll call it the lordship way.

870
00:56:04.519 --> 00:56:08.360
It's it almost forgets gnosticism, and this is a test

871
00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:10.840
about your salvation. And I don't like the fact that

872
00:56:10.880 --> 00:56:14.280
it forget forgets gnosticism, but in many cases it tends

873
00:56:14.360 --> 00:56:16.599
to do so even if you try to put gnosticism

874
00:56:16.639 --> 00:56:19.079
into it, it becomes a test about your salvation. And

875
00:56:19.119 --> 00:56:22.880
we see why that falls apart. You're testing imputed righteousness

876
00:56:22.920 --> 00:56:26.880
by practical righteousness, which you can't do. It makes no sense.

877
00:56:27.400 --> 00:56:30.360
Number two, it's a fellowship thing. Well, you can maintain

878
00:56:30.480 --> 00:56:34.159
some distinction between the Gnostic idea of knowledge and the

879
00:56:34.199 --> 00:56:36.880
Biblical idea of knowledge and at the same time maintaining

880
00:56:37.079 --> 00:56:39.760
salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone.

881
00:56:39.840 --> 00:56:41.400
But then you get into an issue of how do

882
00:56:41.440 --> 00:56:45.360
you measure fellowship or you could look at it from

883
00:56:45.360 --> 00:56:49.599
a grace a law gospel distinction, and that First John

884
00:56:50.039 --> 00:56:53.280
is maintaining the distinction and knowledge against the gnostics. But

885
00:56:53.360 --> 00:56:56.440
this knowledge shows you your inability, which then drives you

886
00:56:56.480 --> 00:57:02.639
to Christ, and then Christ fulfills all of these days. Now, well,

887
00:57:02.719 --> 00:57:07.840
the only problem is does any of that actually work?

888
00:57:07.960 --> 00:57:10.320
I don't know, but I know this whatever system you

889
00:57:10.400 --> 00:57:14.440
go with, telling you it doesn't work, it's flawed in

890
00:57:14.440 --> 00:57:16.840
some way shape perform. You can try to pretend that

891
00:57:16.840 --> 00:57:20.039
it's flawed. You can if you make it simple and

892
00:57:20.079 --> 00:57:23.079
you don't you don't ask any questions, you can convince

893
00:57:23.119 --> 00:57:26.199
everyone sitting in the pew, oh, praise God, I learned

894
00:57:26.199 --> 00:57:28.559
First John. And they will tell everyone what it means,

895
00:57:29.559 --> 00:57:32.800
but as surface level, and it's not allowing anyone to

896
00:57:32.840 --> 00:57:35.239
really ask the tough questions that everyone should ask. And

897
00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:40.000
looking at it, the main thing to know is that

898
00:57:40.039 --> 00:57:41.960
the know in First John is different than the no

899
00:57:42.239 --> 00:57:45.159
of gnosticism. And it's clearly that the use of no

900
00:57:45.360 --> 00:57:49.119
in First John is to draw a distinction between the

901
00:57:49.199 --> 00:57:52.719
knowing of gnosticism. If you miss that, we've missed the

902
00:57:52.880 --> 00:57:56.320
entire point of the entire epistle. All right, I'll stop

903
00:57:56.400 --> 00:58:00.679
right there. Thank you for listening. I wish I had

904
00:58:00.719 --> 00:58:03.760
more simple answers, but there aren't any simple answers. I

905
00:58:03.760 --> 00:58:08.719
can just tell you that, all right, Okay, I hope

906
00:58:08.760 --> 00:58:10.480
that makes some kind of sense. I don't know if

907
00:58:10.480 --> 00:58:13.960
it does, but I've done my very best. I've given

908
00:58:14.039 --> 00:58:16.480
you I've given you lots of hypotheses you can now

909
00:58:16.840 --> 00:58:18.920
you can struggle with the point is you should struggle

910
00:58:18.920 --> 00:58:23.119
with it, because I'm telling you all the sermons that

911
00:58:23.159 --> 00:58:27.920
sound like it's so simple and it's so easy. No,

912
00:58:28.960 --> 00:58:31.079
all right, thanks for listening. Everyone, have a great day.

913
00:58:33.079 --> 00:58:33.639
God bless