Hi, this is the Hymn We Proclaim podcast. As a child of God, do you sometimes still live in fear or shame about things about your past? According to John Fonville, When a child of God is being crippled by shame and guilt, it's not life, it's hell on earth. Christians sometimes say they dread the day when Christ returns because of their past failures. The series we're currently in explores why children of God do not have to worry about that day.
In contrast, the followers of Satan on that day will have much to face. Let's look at the next episode called Children of God and Children of the Devil. Here's part 2.
Well, if you have your Bibles, you can turn to the book of 1 John, chapter 2. 28 through chapter 3, verse 10. This is what he's teaching. He says, doing what is right. God calls us to do what is right.
Doing what is right is the major theme. of this passage, practicing righteousness. And so this raises this question, what does it... mean to do what is right? What does it mean to practice righteousness?
In this context, practicing righteousness is the opposite of what the secessionists were doing. What were the secessionists failing to do? This is what they were failing to do. They were failing to hold to the gospel as proclaimed by the apostles. Second.
This is what the secessionists were doing. They were denying that Jesus was the Messiah. That Jesus was the Son of God come in human flesh. that he had come to give his life as a vicarious Atonement for sinners. We saw back in chapter 1 and chapter 2, verse 2, that they were not confessing their sins.
They were confessing that they were actually sinless. They were confessing that they had arrived to a point where they had become so enlightened by God that they no longer had sin to confess. Chapter 2, it says, John says that we're not keeping God's commandments. And what are his commandments? He tells us in chapter 3, verse 23: God commands us, he calls us to trust in his son for the salvation, forgiveness of our sins, that we're not doing that.
And John says that the second commandment is they were not That they had deserted the church, that were not faithful to the church. They had left fellow believers in the church. And so he tells us in chapter 2, verse 19, that there were schismatics bringing division and disruption into the church and teaching of this heresy and false doctrine that they weren't practicing righteousness. And so John tells us that these secessionists were not just heretical. But he tells us that they didn't practice righteousness.
They didn't have a proper lifestyle. They practice sin, they practice lawlessness. We saw that this means that they had rebellion against God, just like John says Satan himself in such rebellion destroys, it's destructive of this righteous living. And so, what comes up in this section, the question that is raised in this section is this. Who are the children of God?
Who can have assurance that they are children of God? And John answers this question in this section. He contrasts four characteristics of God's children with. four characteristics of the children of the devil. And so he draws this clear contrast so that he can bring assurance to these children, his dear children, little children that he calls them.
He says, Look, here's this contrast. This is the children of God. This is what it looks like. This is the children of the devil. This is what it looks like.
And this clear contrast brings assurance. Assurance of faith to these little children that he's writing to. And then, also, by giving them assurance of their salvation, he motivates them to actually do what is right. And so this context brings us to this first obvious distinction because in chapter 3, verse 10, John says this distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil. He says it's obvious, it's evident.
You can plainly see the difference here. This is the first distinction. This is the first characteristic in verse 28. He says that the children of God abide in Christ. And because they abide in Christ, they have confidence to stand before God when Christ returns.
This is important to understand. John sets this whole section. in the context of the second coming of Christ. And basically, this is what he's saying. How you can say it like this: John's saying, Don't live your life in such a way so that when Christ returns, you'll be put to shame.
That's the point. He says, don't spend your life rejecting Christ. Don't spend your life rejecting his messiahship, that he is the son of God, that he came to give his life for you. Because what a shame is it that you spend your whole life rejecting the gospel, Christ returns. And what happens, you get put to shame.
That's his point here. He's teaching us how to live life without fear of Christ's return of being put to shame, assurance of faith. And this is what he does. He says, little children, look at verse 28, little children. He exhorts them.
He says, abide in him. This imperative, look how he weaves it with God's gospel. He says, abide in him. That's what we're to do. That's practicing righteousness.
That is doing what is right. We are to remain in Christ. We are to hold to the truth of the gospel. Why?
So that when he appears, we may have confidence And what this confidence means is not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. And so the purpose of John's exhortation is to give confidence to his little children, to tell them you don't have to shrink away in shame. Because confidence is equivalent to not being put to shame. This is what we looked at last week. We're going to come back to it this week because I told you that there were a couple of important lessons.
I want to come back because there's a vital lesson that John teaches here that I hope that you can see. John tells us in his first lesson, there is a day of judgment that is coming from which we have to be prepared. Second, he says that the coming of Christ to judge is not terrified for the children of God. We don't have to be fearful, we don't have to be afraid at his coming because why? Because we're not going to be put to shame.
He says, if you abide in Christ, You don't have to be destined for judgment on the day of judgment. Why?
Because he tells us throughout this letter that Jesus has become that judgment for us. The coming of Christ to judge the living and the dead is good news for those who abide in Christ. And he says, Christ's return is not terrifying for the children of God.
Now, this is important. Why?
Because this brings us to a third lesson that is critical for us to understand. And this is the third lesson. Listen to this lesson. John teaches us that confidence of not being put to shame is the power. And it's the motivation for doing what is right.
This is what John is trying to teach his readers in this letter. What is the theme of this section? practicing righteousness.
Okay, so how do we practice righteousness? What is the source of it? What is it based upon? What motivates us to do that? Verse 28.
John says, abide in Christ so that you'll not be ashamed before him at his coming. That confidence, John says. motivates uh into doing what is right.
So verse 28 is the basis and motivation to practice righteousness. John says that confidence not being put to shame in the future. is what motivates us in the present to actually practice righteousness. This is such an important lesson for us to get. Why?
This is why, because we cannot possibly. Practice righteousness, keep God's commandments, do what is right, obey God. If we've not first received the comfort. of the gospel. That's what John is doing.
John is comforting his children before he exhorts them how to live. He tells his children this: He says, Look, if you're going to do what is right, unlike the secessionists, right? He says you must Abide in Christ. Hold faithfully to the apostolic gospel. Stay in Christ's church.
Don't desert the church like the secessionists. And he says, if you do these things, It produces confidence, assurance that you'll not be put to shame when Christ returns. And so God has inseparably bound together salvation and confidence. John says confidently that all who abide in Christ may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. This truth, this confidence, this assurance.
of a happy future when Christ returns. motivates us to practice righteousness now. I want you to think about that just for a moment and think about this. Can you love God? Can you have a passion for God?
Then why didn't God If you consider God as your Enemy. If you think God is against you, not for you. Where's the motivation to obey? What John is teaching us here is this, is that If you don't understand the comfort of not being put to shame, you can't love God and obey Him. That's the point here.
Look at 1 John chapter 4, verses 9 and 10. Listen to this truth of the gospel that John teaches us here. He says, verse 9: Look at this. By this, the love of God, he's talking about God the Father. He says by this, God's love, the Father's love for us was manifested in us, that God the Father has sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Look in for verse 10. He says, and this is love, not that we've loved God the Father, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And so John teaches us: we would be persuaded of the Father's love for us. To have confidence that we'll not be put to shame when Christ returns. John says, abide in Christ.
Look at what the Father's done. Look to Christ. The Father has sent him to be a propitiation for our sins. This is the evidence of the Father's love for us, and so. This is what John teaches.
We have to Ever Hold up before our eyes of faith the Father's only begotten Son. I start to doubt God's love for me. I start to doubt God's favor for me. Right. And when those doubts set in what happens to my obedience.
What happens to my Christian life of motivation? I don't have any motivation to obey. I don't have any motivation to pursue righteousness. Why?
Because I am completely absorbed in the fact that God is against me. And if God is against me, what's the one thing I don't want to face? God Right? If I think when Christ returns, I'm going to be put to shame. rather than gloriously welcomed and vindicated.
What's going to happen to my life in the present? No motivation to live for God. I'll be just like Adam and Eve hiding from God. Having shame. Having guilt.
I don't understand the fact that I have been freely forgiven for Christ's sake. And so, John teaches us this vitally important truth. He says Little children, abide in Christ. And say it like this. Keep Christ ever before your eyes of faith when you began to doubt the Father's love for you.
Because if you don't keep Christ there, You can't see the love of the Father and you can't experience his favor. Therefore, you can't pursue righteousness and obedience. Listen to what Martin Luther says about this. He says the highest. Of all of God's commands is this, that we.
Always hold before our eyes of faith the image of His dear Son. Jesus Christ. He says, Jesus must daily be to our hearts the perfect mirror. Isn't that a beautiful expression? Jesus must daily be the perfect mirror.
In which we behold now how much God the Father loves us. And he says And how well in his infinite goodness he is a faithful God to us and has. Perfectly cared for us in that He has given to us His dear Son for us. Then he says, Do not let this mirror and throne of grace be torn away before your eyes. Look at verse 29 of chapter 2.
He says this, he says, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. He's been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Those who practice righteousness abide in Christ. Why?
Why do they practice righteousness? Because they have been convinced and assured with confidence in their hearts that the Father loves them for Christ's sake. This is the basis and motivation for pursuing the Christian life. And so as John shows us here in 1 John 4, verse 10, he says, God the Father shows his love to us by sending his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Back in chapter 1, what did John say?
Look back at it very quickly. He says in chapter one, against the secessionist verse eight, he says, If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The gospel is not in us. John says, Look, If you don't have the gospel in your heart, Right? motivation to confess your sin.
This is what the secessionists were doing. They were saying, we have no need for Christ because we have no sin. You sit in. But listen carefully. Those who have the truth in their heart become convicted of the fact that they have.
Sin. But what do Christians do with that? Look at this, verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the Christian life.
This is the Christian life, continual confession of sin. recognition that We must have Christ. Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. If anyone sins, we have what? An advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And he himself is the propitiation for our sins. And so assure us that the Father's love for us is found in Christ. Because the Christian life is a constant deepening awareness of two things. The depth of my sin The greatness of my sin. and the death and greatness of the mercy of the Father toward me in Christ.
The Christian life growth and sanctification you'll become acutely aware of two profound things in your life as John Newton says he says at the end of his life He says there's this I know I'm a profound sinner. And Jesus is a great Savior. And so John says, abide in Christ, hold firm to this apostolic gospel because it produces confidence in the face of judgment. And this confidence in the face of judgment motivates me to practice righteousness now. This is so important.
Look at 1 John 3, verse 3. He says that everyone who has this hope, what is this hope? Jesus' second coming. He says everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. If you want to practice righteousness, fix your hope on the confidence that when Christ returns, you're not going to be put to shame.
If you fix your hope. On the return of Christ, that you're not going to be put to shame, John says, you're going to practice righteousness. It's going to purify your heart. This is exactly what these people, these secessionists who left the church and denied the faith, this is what we're doing. This is why John says right here in chapter 3, he says it again and again, they continually practice lawlessness, rebellion.
And so practicing righteousness is having confidence. Confidence in Christ. Confidence that we'll have a happy future that is coming for us. How many people, unfortunately, look at the second coming of Christ and are terrified by it? Concerned about it.
What might happen when he returns, how he finds me. I just had a conversation this past week where I got to share the gospel with someone for two and a half hours. It was one of the greatest Times I've ever had sharing the gospel with someone for two and a half hours. And this person couldn't Quite grasp the fact that they said, but But We die in our sins. And we're not going to be perfect when we die, and we die in our sins.
And therefore, I could not figure out how to help this person from these passages to have the confidence. That, yes, we all die in our sins. Nobody's going to die perfect. You, as a Christian, will sin. in thought and word and deed.
for the rest of your life till Jesus returns or till you die. Nobody dies in a state of perfection. And so, how can we have confidence that if we die or if Christ returns and he finds sin in my life, how can I have confidence that I'm not going to be put to shame and held? accountable for that sin that remains. Right?
And this is what John teaches us. Listen carefully to these words of absolution. He says, if anyone sins, We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins. Jesus has taken judgment day for us.
Therefore, there's no judgment day in the future because my judgment day was at Calvary 2,000 years ago. And I abide in Christ. I hold myself to Him in faith, trusting that His judgment is sufficient to protect me from the judgment that I deserve in the future. It's his righteousness. Look at this.
An advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Who is not righteous? Chapter 1 verse 9, those who are confessing their sins. We're not righteous. Jesus is righteous.
We have an advocate who is living in the presence of the Father. as our defense attorney. Saying, don't hold this remaining sin against her, against him. I'm her advocate, I'm his advocate. Look at my propitiation on their behalf.
That is what he argues for us forevermore. And that's our confidence. That is our only hope. That is the assurance that we have that when He appears, we can have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame. And when that simple message by the power of the Spirit.
Which John says, for example, in 1 John chapter 2, verse 27, this is the truth, that the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, is teaching us constantly. When the Holy Spirit teaches us this, we rehearse this and we set this before our eyes of faith, as Luther says, continually. This confidence that that message builds up. propels me to live for God and to practice righteousness. If you don't have that kind of assurance.
You can't love God. You can't love your neighbor. You can't do what is right. You can't practice righteousness. Why?
Because a guilty conscience will cripple your obedience. Guilt is a bad motivator. Guilt doesn't produce obedience. It produces, at best, like slavish obedience. But it doesn't produce child-like Faith.
that John is talking about here. This is how Walter Marshall puts it. He says, when you have this assurance of eternal life, you'll desire God above the flesh. How many of you, you don't have to raise your hand? I'll just raise mine just to do it for you on your behalf.
How many of you struggle with your flesh daily, right? And sometimes it just gets to a point where you're just so exasperated, you're just so tired of the fight. How do you rise above that? Listen, Marshall, when you have this assurance of eternal life, you'll desire God above the flesh. The desires of the flesh will dissipate because the love of the Father given to us in the Son through the gospel replaces that.
He says when you have this assurance of faith your desire for God. Rise above the world. Why?
He says, because the more you see how good God has been to you, the more lovely he will appear to you. And he says no. The more your heart will be inflamed for him. God draws you with cords of love to himself. And one of the ways he does this is by laying before you his wonderful privileges and benefits, which in this context, you'll not be put to shame when Christ returns.
These great benefits Promote obedience. And he says, one of God's greatest gifts is that he has given you is this wonderful, eternal, absolutely free inheritance. And who could not love him more with this great inheritance lying ahead? And John says: all who put their hope in Christ, abide in Christ, will have confidence. They'll not be put to shame.
when Christ returns. That assurance is to motivate us to love him and to serve him and to do what is right, to practice righteousness. What is practicing righteousness? It's not what the secessionists are doing. It's not denying that I sin, it's confessing that I sin.
That's what's doing right. It's repenting of my sin. It's confessing my sin here, but turning to Christ now back to Him again as my advocate with the Father. It's not like the secessionists, chapter 2, verse 19, who abandoned Christ's visible church and abandoned the gospel, abandoned the fellowship. But staying with Christ and staying with his people and staying with the gospel, that's doing what is right.
And so this first characteristic that John says that separates the children of God from the children of devil is that they abide in Christ. And because they abide in Christ, this abiding in Christ, this holding to the gospel, produces confidence in our hearts. which is equivalent to not being put to shame when Christ returns. This is so important for us to understand if we're to do what is right. We have to have assurance of a happy future with Christ when he returns.
A happy future with Christ when he returns. And so here's the question this morning: Do you have the confidence that your future is going to be a great happy future? We have so much in the world to look at. Going, I'm not sure about the future of certain things anymore, right? But John says this: He says, If you abide in Christ now, It produces confidence, assurance of a happy future with Christ when he returns.
This assurance, this confidence of not being put to shame. John teaches this powerful. He says it's not destructive to righteous living. This is why the gospel is not, I sin and Jesus forgives. This is a great marriage here.
I get to do a lot of sin, and Jesus gets to forgive all the time, and this is great. John says this exact opposite. The gospel produces in us A desire to do what is right. to practice righteousness. And so listen to this because we abide in Christ now.
will not be put to shame when he returns then. Because we are children of God now, John says, we should be vindicated. At the judgment. It's this confidence that we have as children of God, John says, that motivates us to practice righteousness now. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this confidence that we can have. We thank you that you are sharing our hearts through the Gospel: that Christ has taken our judgment, that is for. us and he has fully exhausted it. in himself. in his person on the cross.
And we thank you because of that, that that is the motivation that propels us to practice righteousness. And so I pray that as we come to receive your. Sacrament now. That you would take this visible gospel and give us comfort. confidence and give us assurance and Comfort our hearts so that we can Respond.
with gratitude and obedience to do what is right, to practice righteousness. And so comfort our hearts now we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
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