The Test of a True Believer

Introduction:

As I thought through what I should preach in this Church that is theologically well educated, I was drawn to my favorite subject in the Bible. And that favourite subject is the “Atonement of Christ.” The reason why this is my favourite subject is because: The Atonement of Christ is at the heart of the gospel or I should venture to call the Atonement of Christ itself is the gospel.  And every single person, unbelievers and believers alike need the gospel. Unbelievers need it for salvation believers need for cleansing. And particularly believers need the cleansing from their day to day frailties. We recognize the fact that we have the propensity to fall. In this situation what we do is; we preach the gospel to ourselves.

So, with that in mind let me invite you to open your Bibles to 1 John 2. We shall read the first 6 verses but we will focus our sermon on vs. 1, 2.

Let me begin with a story in order for us to understand Jesus’ work on the Cross and how we should respond to it.

Story:

A story is told about the founder of the Persian Empire. It is told that Cyrus once had captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, Cyrus asked the prisoner, "What will you give me if I release you?" "The half of my wealth," was his reply. "And if I release your children?" "Everything I possess." "And if I release your wife?" "Your Majesty, I will give myself." Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, "Wasn't Cyrus a handsome man!" With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn't notice. I could only keep my eyes on you- the one who was willing to give himself for me."

Like that grateful wife of the Prince we need to be looking at Christ our Redeemer with gratitude; who gave Himself up for the Church. Because the Bible tells us that we were by nature children of God’s wrath (Eph 2:3); that means we deserved death and hell. And only because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice we became the children of God (John 1:12).

So, here’s the title for the Message this morning:

“The Test of a True Believer.”  

1. A True Believer Treasures Christ’s Ministry of Advocate: vs. 1
2. A True Believer Treasures Christ’s Ministry of Atonement: vs. 2

1. A True Believer Treasures Christ’s Ministry of Advocate: vs. 1

Let’s begin by laying down the foundation of this message that. I draw this foundation from vs. 3-6 in which John calls his reader’s attention about obedience to God’s Word. “A True believer can not obey Christ without first treasuring Him.” This is exactly what distinguishes a false believer from that of a true believer.

Because, in Chapter 1 John gives the test of a true Christian fellowship. He is dealing with this test in a corporate way. In it he makes the message of Christ the foundation of all significant Christian fellowship. He gives 3 important aspects of that fellowship. A. The Foundation of Christian fellowship; vs. 5 God is Light in Him there is no darkness. B. The Application is in vs. 6: therefore walk in the Light just as He is in the light; and, C. The Clarification vs.7-10: Do not claim to be without sin.  

And when we come down to chapter 2 John narrows down his message to an individual level. That is the test of a True believer.  

Notice vs. 1, John begins the second chapter by stating the purpose of his writing. “My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

John begins this chapter by stating the purpose of his writing. , ‘...I am writing these things to you so that...’ it means; everything that John has so far written; the call for fellowship with Christ and the test of true Christian fellowship, all these things John wrote so that ‘...you may not sin...’ this is a very important statement John is making here. Though it is important it can create a misunderstanding. Because what he says means to many perfectionist people that; once you become a Christian you become perfect, that means you don’t sin. And perhaps John’s readers had this perfectionist view of the Christian faith.

Because the immediate context of this verse tells us that there were people among John’s audience who were not in a very good spiritual condition.

John is not suggesting that once they had come to faith in Jesus they have become perfect. He is not suggesting them that once they had believed in the Sacrifice of Jesus they would not sin. John does recognises the fact that all believers everywhere have the propensity to sin. That’s what he said in the next part of the verse. But he is suggesting here that once they came to faith in Jesus they will sin because of the sin nature that is in them.

Paul said the same thing in line with that. Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say to you walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, for the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other.”  

E.g.: Several months back we gave Jonathan the BCG dose. And after a couple of days we observed that there was a pus formation on his left hand where the dose was given; when we asked the Doctor about that he said that after the dose is given pus formation in that particular part is normal. The puss formation will subside and it will be clear. When he said that I was astonished with the thought that infection is something normal.

The point is: if once any person comes in the fellowship with Christ; that person’s battle with sin is and his knowledge about his own sinfulness is NORMAL; but what is abnormal is that person’s living in sin. It is not only abnormal but it is unchristian.  It’s as simple as a baby cries when he is born; and if the baby does not cry then there is some problem with the baby.

No normal Christian on this planet earth can claim that he doesn’t have struggle with sin. This is what John is saying here. He does not say, that: I am writing these things to you so that you CANNOT sin. He does mean of course that his readers must not sin. The point of that statement is that: every Christian believer is vulnerable to sin, John recognizes the this; because in the next part of the same verse he says: “...But if anyone does sin...,” that’s the key.  

At the same time we also need to understand that John is not giving his readers a license to live in gross sin; but he is urging them that they must deliberately forsake sin; they must make every effort to come out of their sin; that’s the point of this statement.

And this was exactly in line with what Paul said in Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.”

Even Paul’s point was: falling into sin doesn’t condemn anybody to hell but living in it does. Because if a person lives in habitual sin it is a sign that he/she had never believed in Christ to begin with.

And thirdly, notice the last Part of the verse 1. John says, ‘....But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous.’

This statement of John is an amazing comfort for his readers that even if they do sin; they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Another word for advocate is ‘comforter.’  In this verse John is using legal language. It implies that; they all stand condemned before God (the judge) and John says Jesus Christ is their Advocate He is their defender; He is their comforter.

It’s as if there is a court room argument going on; and in this argument Jesus is the advocate for the criminal and Satan is the Public Prosecutor accusing the believer of his past and present sins and God is the Judge.

The reason why John reminds his readers of Jesus’ ministry as an Advocate is; so that his readers would understand that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ forgiveness of sins is available for repentant sinners. In a way he is saying if you sin do not grieve and lose your joy of your Salvation in the process because we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. And that is what he says it in vs. 9 of chapter 1. “If we confess our sins; He is just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That’s what he says in 1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” Perhaps John gave this assurance to the repentant sinners of his day; because most of them must have believed that; their sins after they are saved will lead them to damnation.

Application:

The fact that Jesus is interceding for us; tells us that; no matter whatever kind of sin happens from us we are not going to lose our salvation. Because if you are saved you will not live in sin but will flee from it. Separating oneself from sin is the first sign of a Christian believer. This is the first test to know if a person is a true Christian believer. He does not like to indulge in sin. But on the other hand Jesus’ ministry of intercession for believers must not give them a license to sin but give hatred towards it. And the reason is; OUR sins killed Jesus; even though we were not present there. Each time we choose to sin we invariably violate God’s moral law.

For Example:

The 10 commandments. We all know we are not saved by obeying the Moral Law of God but once we come to know Jesus as our Savior and Lord we obey those 10 commandments as a fruit of our salvation. But if we examine ourselves; can we always obey them? No! Even when we have become believers we do sin; and therefore what a great comfort it is to know that Jesus is interceding He is advocating on our behalf with the Father for our forgiveness. I believe we should be always grateful to Jesus our Advocate/ our comforter.

2. A True Believer Treasures Christ’s Ministry of Atonement: vs. 2

In this verse John gives the basis for the forgiveness of a true believer. To put it in simple words: a believer is forgiven not because he repents but because Christ has atoned for that sin..

Notice vs. 2, “And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.” In plain words Jesus’ atoning Sacrifice is the basis of the forgiveness of believer. The word ‘Atonement’ is a legal word.

I looked in the dictionary for definition of this word and I found out that atonement means; Reconciliation of man with God through the life, suffering and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The word Atonement also means: to satisfy or to appease, or to calm. So, in the light of the meaning of the word; Jesus Christ appeased, He calmed or He satisfied the wrath of God by bearing the punishment of His people’s sins on the Cross. God’s anger was hurling against us He would have been right in pouring down that wrath upon us; but in His mercy He provided the atonement through Jesus Christ; and poured our His Holy Wrath on Him so that those who repent and put their trust in Him might be forgiven.

We must ask a question as to why did Christ paid for our sins? The answer is. Jesus paid the price of our sins in order to serve the justice of God and to demonstrate the love of God. 3 verses should come in our mind when we think of Christ’s atonement. John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Rom 3:25, “whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance.”

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

These verses explain us that God could not accept us into His fellowship unless the penalty of our sin was paid. That is God’s justice. Jesus paid that penalty for us so that we could be accepted by God in his fellowship.

But the problem comes when we read the next half of the verse.

Notice the next half of the verse, “...and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

The simple meaning of this verse says that Jesus’ atonement was not only for the believers but for unbelievers as well. But that is not what this verse means. In order to understand the meaning of this verse we need to understand the meaning of the word ‘world.’ The Greek word for World is ‘cosmos.’  Similarly the world in John 3:16 also means ‘cosmos.’  And the word ‘cosmos’ means cultural groups. It means people of different tongues and tribes. John doesn’t mention that word to mean ‘all individuals’ or ‘all persons.’ This verse does not teach that the atonement of Jesus is automatically applicable to all individuals; repentant and unrepentant sinners alike.

However, it means that the blood of Jesus is able to save all people of all tongues and tribes. But His blood is only profitable for repentant sinners; not for unrepentant sinners.

Application:

Let me bring this point to conclusion. The atonement of Christ teaches us that all sins (past, present & future) of all the believers are forgiven because of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.

How should we respond to the atonement of Christ? I heard John Piper in one of his messages, he said: “Do we prize the grace of God in the Atonement of Christ, or do we prostitute the grace of God because of the Atonement of Christ?”

What a comfort it is to know that our sins are already paid for; they have already been forgiven, and that we don’t have to pay for it at all. I feel this is important to say because we live in an idolatrous culture; wherein people do have the idea of our sins being paid for. They are willing to go to a great extent in order to pay for their own sins. They trust their own works in order for their sins to be forgiven.

I remember a story of a woman by the name of Alila. Alila stood on the beach holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking towards the river's edge. She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby's feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly as she stared out across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.

Native missionary M.V. Varghese often witnesses among the crowds who gather at the River Ganga. It was he who came upon Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her breast. With compassion he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong.

Through her sobs she told him, "The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart, so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges, my first born son." Brother Varghese's heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept he gently began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through Him her sins could be forgiven. She looked at him strangely. "I have never heard that before," she replied through her tears. "Why couldn't you have come thirty minutes earlier? If you did, my child would not have had to die."

Each year millions of people come to the holy Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the River Ganges. These multitudes come believing this Hindu ritual will wash their sins away. For many people like Alila, many Christians are arriving too late, simply because there aren't enough of these faithful brothers and sisters on the mission field.

How do we respond to the atonement of Christ? Are we just happy to keep this glorious truth to ourselves or like John are we making this a subject of our daily conversation? What is it charms us the most? Does the gospel of Christ charm you or does it puts your off? You see, you will always speak about that which is very close to your heart. Is the gospel of Christ dear to your heart? Have you embraced Him as your Lord and Savior? Have your repented of your sins? Have you been born again?

No one who enjoys the forgiveness of Jesus can be content to keep it for himself. He is not the propitiation for our sins only. There are other sheep that are scattered throughout the whole world. Their sins, too, are covered. And the last commandment of Jesus was, "Go make disciples out of them from every people."

In summary, John's message to us today is: Don't sin! It is tremendously and terribly serious. But if you do sin, don't despair because your attorney is the Son of the Judge. He is righteous and he makes his case for you not on the basis of your perfection but his atonement. Be of good courage, don't keep Jesus for yourself alone, go and make disciples.