TWO WRONG VIEWS THAT JOHN IS CORRECTING IN 1 JOHN 2:1-2 #post

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In this article, I am focusing on two wrong views that John is correcting in 1 John 2:1-2

Text: 1 John 2:1-2: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (NIV).”

Table of Contents

CORRECTED VEIW 1: USING THE GRACE OF GOD AS THE MEANS OF SINNING

We are not called to live according to the things which God has saved us from. We are called to pursue holiness in our walk with the Lord. As John writes, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” Paul says in Romans 6:1-4

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (NIV).

With that said, a believing community is to be marked with the confrontation of sin by the word of God and an exaltation to holy living by practicing the truth that we learn from God’s word through which the Lord renews the new man which He has regenerated or has brought into a new birth so that it is more and more like Christ (Colossians 3:10).

The ministry of the word of God

2 Tim 3:14-17: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (NIV).

John 17:17: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth (NIV).”

Faithful ministry of the word of God is what brings growth in the believer as he/she pursues holiness.

The problem that may fall on us when we do not seek the full ministry of the word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit

When the believing community that does not proclaim the word of God faithfully so that it works in the people’s lives as God desires, that is to teach, correct, rebuke and train in righteousness, you will find people who think that God is not concerned about how they live their lives and when you preach or tell them the truth from God’s word, they would feel that you are judging them.

Our responsibilities to the Working of the Holy Spirit through the word

Each one of us is responsible to submit ourselves to the ministry of the word of God which the Holy Spirit uses to renew us. In John 17:17, the Lord Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth (NIV).” If we are to seek growth in the life of holiness God has called us to, we need to seek that through the means of the Word because that is what the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify us or to change us into the image of Christ. The result of this work of the Holy Spirit is a community of believers that love one another and John emphasizes this in his letter.

Things to consider in our responsibility. We are to:

Desire to change and be more like Christ
Desire to have the word of God do its work in us
Desire to practice the change that God causes in us
Do practice that transformed life through the power of the Holy Spirit in all wisdom. God has to be involved in the whole process, beginning with the change He brings in us and how we are to live out that change. He has to guide us how we are to love others etc. We need His wisdom to love each other well to the glory of God.

The power of the word of God in us

When the word of God is doing its work in us and we are able to see the result of the work of God in us that is our growth in loving God and other which is the result of the pursuing of holiness, we come to know the need for our growth in the confession of our sins as John says, ” If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives (1 John 1:8-10, NIV).”

The Bible does not deny the very fact that we do sin, “God’s work in us causes us to love more of God and hate more of things we once loved of sin (Paul washer)” thus why we live our lives confessing ours sins and “embrace the forgiveness of God and the righteousness of Christ as our own continually.”

CORRECTED VIEW 2: A BELIEVER CANNOT SIN OR PERFECTIONISM

The problem with the view that a believer cannot sin is that it leads a believer into a despair when he falls into sin or those who have struggled with a certain sin for a long time. How can they explain their situation? John piper handles this problem well in his sermon the “who is this divided man.” The sermon jam done by Amplify Ministries [1] give some short clips from that message.

The truth of the gospel helps us not to fall into such a trap of perfectionism, it shows us that we do fall into sin and the work of Christ is what we do depend on if we are to pursue holiness, the goal which God has set for us. The way John helps us with this is that, when we fall into sin, we are to run to God for forgiveness who is faithful to forgive us and make us pure (1 John 1:9).

The word of God will confront our sin which is true and “the confrontation does not lead us to think that we have no help from God,” it leads us to hating the wrong we did and love righteousness, thus why we run to God to make us pure. Because it is God who forgives us, who makes us pure, we come to know that we do depend on Christ the righteous One through whom all these blessings of forgiveness are given to us. He is the one who speaks for us, because His work of atonement is what is accepted before God to restore us unto God forever. We cannot work for our forgiveness; we ask for it from the Father through Christ Jesus our Savior.

Simple truth, we need to learn to ask for forgiveness from God our whole life when we sin against God.

[1] Amplify Ministries John piper,” Two Kinds Of Hopelessness John Piper Sermon jam,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXYaNKL-Ytk