Take your Bibles with me and turn to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. We are going to take a minute to read the whole chapter, and I'm going to cover most of the chapter tonight.

1 John 2:1-29

  1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
  2. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
  3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
  4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
  5. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
  6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
  7. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
  8. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
  9. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
  10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
  11. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
  12. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
  13. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
  14. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
  15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
  17. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
  18. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
  19. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
  20. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
  21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
  22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
  23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
  24. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
  25. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
  26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
  27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
  28. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
  29. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

I want to cover most of this chapter tonight. I believe that most of this chapter is making one argument. There are a few asides in it. A few parenthesis that need to be covered on their own.

Remember the circumstances of the writing of this book. It is a book confronting false teachers in the church. There was this great falling away in the church. There were these gnostics that came in that denied Christ and they taught all kinds of false doctrine about Him and a huge part of the church went with them in a kind of giant church split. The people who were left were hurting, and John was writing to them to strengthen their faith and assurance and to help them make sense of what happened.

The way I want to approach this tonight is to first look at what John thought of the people he was writing to, then I want you to look at the three tests he gave them for genuine faith.

Let's start by talking about

What John thought of the people he was writing to.

We are going to go out of order, but for a good reason. Look at verses 12-14:

1 John 2:12-14 12. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

This passage has always confused me. It doesn't seem to fit. It almost seems like John is an old man just throwing random stuff out there.

But if you understand what John is doing in this chapter, this part is actually crucial. You see, in this chapter John is giving them a test to see if their faith is genuine. A test to see if they are real Christians or not.

They have just seen a bunch of people they assumed were real Christians walk away from the faith, and their faith in themselves had to be shocked by that. So John is going to say "this is how you know you are a real Christian" and he is going to give them three tests.

But any time you preach like that, there is a great danger. The great danger is that you make people think you don't think they are saved. You put unnecessary doubts in their minds.

And so, in the middle of John's tests, he takes a minute and says "let's put these tests aside for a minute and let me tell you what I think of your faith."

He starts with little children - those who are new in the faith. What's true of them would be true of everyone. You can't be a young man unless you've been a little child, and you can't be a father unless you've been a young man.

So I think John is saying these things are true of all of you:

Isn't that a wonderful assurance. You don't have to be a giant in the faith to have your sins forgiven and know the father. All of us who have trusted Christ, even if it happened yesterday, know the Father and have had our sins forgiven.

But some people have matured a little more - they have hit the young men phase. And those people in the church:

It's not God's will that we stay spiritual babies. God wants us to grow and when we grow we grow strong in the faith. We grow strong in the word of God. We fight against Satan and we win.

But there were some people in this church who had become fathers in faith - and those people "have known Him who is from the beginning." I think John is getting at a long experience in the faith. A long walk with Jesus.

So John is saying here: I want you to know what I think about you, I think all of you have had your sins forgiven and know the father, I think many of you are strong in the faith and have the word of God in you, and some of you have had a long experience of walking with God.

I wanted to cover this first because we are going to look at some tests of real faith tonight, and before we do, I want you to know what John wanted his initial audience to know:

I believe most of you are saved. I beleive most of you have had your sins forgiven and walk wit God. Many of you are strong in the faith and have had some battles with the devil. Some of you are spiritual fathers.

In other words, this isn't to make you doubt your salvation - but to help you understand why some people seem to be saved and aren't and to give you assurance.

So that brings me to the meat of this chapter. The meat of this chapter is...

Three tests of faith

Three things that show if you are a real Christian.

The test of obedience (2:3-5)

Look at verses 3-5

1 John 2:3-5 3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

The first way to see if you have genuine faith is this: do you keep God's commandments.

Now, it's very important that you understand that no one keeps God's commandments perfectly. None of us are sinless. That is not what John is saying here.

What he is saying is that a true Christian is going to want to keep God's commandments. A true Christian has a desire to live for God and to keep His word and live by His word.

We are all at varying stages of that. But there should be a desire in every true Christian to obey the father.

John Calvin said it this way: "He doesn't mean those who wholly satisfy the law keep His commandments (because no one in the history of the world ever has) but those who strive, according to the capacity of human infirmity, to form their life in obedience to God."

So we have the first way of getting assurance of your salvation - do you have a desire to live for God, do you have a desire to obey God, do you have a desire to live according to the Bible.

We are not saying that that desire saves you - your faith in Jesus saves you - but that when you are saved, when you are converted - you have a sudden desire to live for Him and obey Him that never goes away.

Can I tell you a secret? Listen. If you live a life of continual disobedience to God. You will always doubt your salvation. After I got saved, I went through a period of doubt. I struggled to get assurance. It wasn't until I started living in obedience to God that assurance came.

Do you want to know for sure you are saved? Ok. Do you want to live for God and obey His word? Then you have passed the first test.

But John gives a second test. A second way you can know for for sure you are saved.

The first test is the test of obedience. The second test is...

2. The test of love (2:6-11)

Look at verses 6-11

1 John 2:6 KJV 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

John makes it clear here that he is pointing back to Jesus. This next test is going to be living like Jesus lived, walking like He walked. How did He walk? He walked in love.

Look at verses 7-8:

1 John 2:7-8 7. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

This is confusion. This isn't a new commandment, but it is a new commandment?? What is this talking about?

Well, I think it's talking about Jesus command for love.

The command to love God and love each other wasn't a new commandment. It existed in the Old Testament. Right?

Deuteronomy 6:5 is probably the most famous commandment that every jewish person knew by heart.

Deuteronomy 6:5 5. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

The scribe Jesus questioned in Mark 12 understood that the second commandment "love your neighbor as yourself" though not written in the law, is a pretty good summary of it and Jesus didn't disagree.

So the command to love isn't a new command. It existed in the Old Testament.

But Jesus gave new life to the command and new meaning to it. That is why Jesus said in John 13:34

John 13:34 34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Jesus said you are to love each other like I love you. That's a lot more than loving our neighbor as ourself. So this is what I think John was talking about: We have a new command that isn't new.

Now, look at the test of love John gives us:

1 John 2:9-11 9. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

So here is a simple test of true saving faith: do you hate your brothers and sisters in Christ. Are there any Christians who you will not forgive? Are there people who you will not love?

One of the things that happens when we trust Christ is we have a love for our brothers and sisters.

But I think that it goes further than that. Jesus didn't just love His own, Jesus loved His enemies. On the cross He said to those persecuting Him "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

We are called to love as Jesus loved. That supernatural love comes from Christ and if you have it, then it should assure you that you are Christ's.

If you don't have it, if you harbor hate in your heart towards others, if you justify that hate - then that is a sign you aren't one of His and you'll never have full assurance until you give that hate to God and accept His love.

Now, there is one more test in this chapter, it's at the very end. We've talked about...

  1. The test of obedience
  2. The test of love

The third test is...

3. The test of doctrine (2:18-27)

Look at verse 18:

1 John 2:18 18. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

John talks to them about antichrists. Who are these antichrists? They are the ones who went out from us, because they were not of us.

They left the church because they didn't believe. They were teaching a lie.

And John is specific about this lie. Look at verses 22-23:

1 John 2:22-23 22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

So we have a doctrinal test. We have obedience test, the love test and now a test of doctrine.

Are you a real Christian? Well, at the very least you have to believe that Jesus is the Christ. You have to believe what the Bible teaches about Jesus.

In our Sunday school lessons we have been learning about the three legs that Christianity stands on.

If you deny any of those three things, you are not a Christian. You might have a Christianish religion. Your religion might have some truth in it. But you are not a Christian.

The liberals who deny Jesus really died and rose again. They might call themselves Christians. They might even call themselves baptists - but they are not.

The cults like the Christian scientists and the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons who deny or minimize the deity of Christ - as nice as they may be, they aren't true Christians.

Whenever someone creates some new doctrine that deviates from the scripture - they are leaving us because they aren't of us - they are showing that they don't have the Holy Spirit guiding them and they are showing that they aren't truly a Christian.

So we have three tests here:

If you fail any of these tests, you might not be a real Christian. But if you pass these tests - it should give you assurance and if you have that assurance, you can rejoice: