Focus: In order to walk in the light of God, we must adhere to Christian doctrines, for such teachings form the basis for Christ-like conduct.
Function: To move the people to appreciate and embrace Christian doctrines as fundamental for Christ-like living.
Text: I John 1:1-10
INTRODUCTION
There is a high percentage of people in America who identify themselves as Christians. The remarkable thing, however, is that a large number of them never associate with or attend public worship at a Christian church. Why is that?
Also, there are many people who claim to be Christians but who are not committed to Christian conduct. For example, when it comes to ethical conduct, they vote with unbelievers on the right of a woman to have an abortion; they may agree with stem-cell research that involves the destruction of human embryos; and they seem to have no qualms about same-sex unions and the promotion of homosexual behavior; co-habitation and pre-marital sex tend to be part of their moral landscape as well. Why is there such a big gap between their conduct and their claims of being followers of Jesus Christ? If Christians are ‘people of the light,’ then why do so many of us walk in the darkness of sin? Why is there such a big gap between Christian identity and Christian conduct?
Part of the answer to that question, I think, lies with our commitment to Christian doctrines. In order to walk in the light of God, we must adhere to Christian doctrines, for such teachings form the basis for Christ-like conduct. In light of Scripture, I want to urge all of us to appreciate and embrace Christian teachings as fundamental to Christian living.
This afternoon, we are beginning a series of reflections on the epistles of the apostle John, written to Christians in Asia Minor around 90-95 A.D. John reveals himself as a pastor to these Christians. He loves them; he enjoys fellowship with them; and he wants them to shine for Christ, to walk in the light of God.
So John writes pastorally, addressing these Christians as “my dear children” (I Jhn.2:1,28), or as “dear friends” (4:1,7). With these endearment terms, John reveals a pastoral heart. But note that John also writes polemically, using terms such as “false prophets” (4:1), or “deceivers” (II John 7) or “antichrist” (2:18, 22, 4:3). In his writings, then, John demonstrates to all members of the Christian church (pastors and officebearers included) that leadership in the church calls for a shepherd’s heart of love and compassion, as well as a prophetic voice with a steely resolve to address evil conduct and thinking.
John’s purpose for writing, then, centers on encouraging the Christian community, and on fighting sinful behavior and false teachings in the church. John is keen on exposing false teachings among Christians. That’s why I say that in order to walk in the light of God, we must adhere to Christian doctrines, for such teachings form the basis for Christ-like conduct.
In other words, Christian teachings are like the foundation of a house. If the foundation crumbles with the wrong mixture of cement, then the entire house will eventually collapse and become useless. If the Bible’s teachings or doctrines are ignored or misrepresented or bend to fit one’s own philosophy of life, then our life’s conduct also crumbles.
The collapse of Christ-like conduct in our society today, I believe, rests partially upon the neglect of churches and Christians to appreciate and embrace Christian doctrines. We cannot walk in the light of God’s Word, when we warp, or falsify, or misrepresent, or ignore God’s Word. This is the apostle John’s concern: that we adhere to the truth of God’s Word, so that we may walk in the light of Christ.
In the first chapter of his letter, the apostle John addresses four issues, which all speak to the errors of false teachers in the church. There were men and women who believed that Jesus Christ was NOT both fully human and fully divine. Their philosophy or world view (called gnosticism) kept them from affirming the unique qualities of Jesus.
These teachers in the church would say (at best) that Jesus only appeared to be fully human and divine. They would argue (as one by the name of Cerinthus did) that the divine Christ was different from the man Jesus. They said that the man Jesus received the divine spirit of Christ at Jesus’ baptism, but that this Christ-spirit left Jesus just before his betrayal, crucifixion, and death. Their wrong teachings about Jesus’ human and divine nature led them to elevate the spiritual and to negate the physical. Their false doctrines about Christ also led to immorality in the church community, for what you did with your body is of minimal concern; only what you do with spirit, and with spiritual knowledge is to be valued, so they taught.
John goes for their “throat” and attacks their false teaching by opening his letter, saying: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” Note the appeal to the human senses: “heard,” “seen with our eyes,” “touched.” In other words, the eternal Son of God whom we proclaim to you as the Word of life, really appeared to us in the flesh.
In fact, says John, Jesus’ coming in the flesh was a historical event. It really happened. Listen: “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” Anyone, then, who denies Jesus’ coming in the flesh is a heretic, a false teacher. How we speak and think of Jesus matters. For Christian teachings form the basis for Christ-like conduct.
The apostle John makes that very clear in the following verses. In verses 6 through 10, for example, John exposes three more errors of the false teachers, and John corrects their error by pointing us in the right direction. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” The darkness of sin is absent from God. He is holy, pure, and glorious. Anyone who is a Christian must walk in the light of God, that is, willfully die to or abstain from sin. The life of sin and moral corruption can no longer be ours. Thus John exposes the errors of false teachers in the church.
Listen to error #1:
“If we claim to have fellowship with (God), yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” There were people claiming to be Christians who taught that you can have fellowship with God regardless of how you conduct yourself. Morality and ethical conduct has nothing to do with your relationship or fellowship with God, so they said. It’s a false teaching that is still going around today.
The true Christian doctrine is this: “But if we walk in the light, as (God) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” Fellowship with other Christians and with God is possible, because Jesus’ blood covers our sins. And we experience that fellowship today as we walk in the light, as we reflect God’s Word and will and teachings for us today.
Immorality and unethical behavior estrange us from each other. If I purposely and publicly commit sins, my relationship with you (the Christian community) breaks down, discipline is called for, and admonishment is needed. Our fellowship remains in tact, however, when we do God’s bidding and take his Word seriously—morally, ethically, and spiritually.
Listen to error #2:
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” There were false teachers in the church who said that sin does not cling to our human nature. We are born sinless, pure. Our human nature has no flaws; all sins and all human flaws are mistakes in judgment or acquired from human observations. They will say that sinful behavior is learned behavior. This false teaching that human beings are basically good and free to choose the good, is still with us today.
The truth is, says John that “If we confess our sins, (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” You cannot benefit from Christ’s shed blood if you deny the place or existence of sin in our human nature. That’s why the acknowledgment of our sinfulness and our corrupt human nature is so important. Confession of sin and thus acknowledging the need for a Savior leads to the opportunity of receiving God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Confessing that we are sinners by nature and by practice opens the way to God’s healing power of forgiveness.
Be sure to adhere to Christian truth, for true Christian doctrine points us to God’s grace in Christ Jesus, and it forms the basis for Christ-like conduct.
Listen to error #3:
“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” There were false teachers in the church who denied that their conduct was affected by sin. They looked at their actions and thought of them as good, as sinless. They saw no need to seek God’s cleansing and forgiveness on a regular, daily basis. “Why! God should be delighted with my conduct, for it is pure!” so they might say. Some of these false teachers seemed to claim that their superior knowledge or spiritual enlightenment (John Stott) renders them incapable of sinning. But such denial makes God out to be a liar. Why?
God tells us in his Word that sin is universal. Does not the Psalmist say, for example, (14:3) “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”?
Be careful NOT to make God out to be a liar. God is true to his own Word.
So then, the apostle John teaches us in this first chapter of his letter that in order to walk in the light of God, we must adhere to Christian doctrines and avoid false teachings, for Christian doctrines form the basis for Christ-like conduct.
I would like to challenge us all today to pay more attention to the true teachings of the Bible, and to take them seriously so that we walk in God’s light.
I would like to urge parents and grandparents to model to their kids the importance of being shaped by Christian teachings. Sending your kids to be catechized, to be taught and shaped during the formative years of their lives should never be an option. Make sure that such shaping takes place.
Don’t wait for the church to shape your kids with God’s Word until they are teenagers. Rather, using regular times at home, around the table, or at designated times discuss with your kids the Bible’s stories, and teachings. Discuss with them the relevance, the importance of those teachings for their daily lives and conduct.
And be sure to discuss Christian teachings with a spirit of joy and worship. God’s Word is not only for the head, but must always connect with the heart and human emotions. Sing, pray, groan and weep and laugh whenever the Word of God with its many stories of life connect with our lives.
The notion that says that catechizing our children is boring, and therefore catechizing is for the birds—such a notion is a heresy that has crept into our lives and churches by dry, intellectual teachings that failed to connect with the human heart. Pondering God’s Word is challenging, energizing, life-giving, exhilarating, and can be wondrously stabilizing in our lives. But we must receive that Word with joy, take it seriously, and discover its truth by living it out in our daily conduct. Surely, in order to walk in the light of God, we must adhere to Christian doctrines, for such teachings form the basis for Christ-like conduct.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!