15. 1 John 2:29-3:1 "Like Father, Like Son"

1 John 2:29-3:1 and the Call to Righteousness

Hear now the inspired word of God. Now little children, abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Let's pray. Father, once again as we look into your word, we simply ask that you be pleased to bless the preaching.

That, Father, that just as you promised that as your word goes forth, it would not return void, but it would accomplish every purpose for which you send it. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated.

Like Father, Like Son in Ordinary Life

My younger brother and I are the only two of our siblings left on Long Island. We did grow up here, so we try to meet for lunch about every two weeks just to keep current with our respective families and keep in touch, but we also find that we reminisce a lot in our growing up years, and periodically we point out that both of us have more of our father in us than we would like to realize, or that we want to admit.

My mother knew this because growing up at times she would look at me and say, you're a chip off the old block, but more often she would use the old adage, I do something and she'd see my father in it and she'd say, like father, like son.

The meaning is rather obvious of that old adage. In most cases, the son reflects the character and often even the talents of the father, and we see this played out in life pretty much every day. For example, how many sons of politicians follow their dads into the political arena?

We also see that children have the same talents as their father. How many professional athletes wind up having children following them into pro sports and succeeding and doing extremely well? Yes, my younger brother and I look at these times together with fond memories.

We know that we are blessed because we had such a good father who was in fact a good role model, but sometimes the opposite is true. Being like your father, if he's a criminal, is not a good thing. I remember one case where a father was a convicted bank robber, served many years in prison.

His son followed in his footsteps and actually was shot and killed in the commission of an armed robbery, and then when hearing about his son's death, this man just boldly said, oh at least he went out like a man.

Tragic. So for better or for worse, children seem to carry on not only the family name and the reputation of their family, but some of the same characteristics. In the verses before us, John once again addresses his readers as children.

In past sermons, we've touched on the meaning of that title in particular. It's an appropriate one given John being the the pastor of this church and an elder in the church, especially the early church, and he's writing to his readers, so he addresses them as his children.

He has that personal bond with them. But then in verse 1 of chapter 3, he uses the title differently. He calls Christians children of God. Now that title is not merely an analogy to explain the relationship that we have to God.

It has deep theological meaning attached to it. Remember the main theme of this entire epistle is to move the the believer into greater assurance of salvation. John wants us to know that we are saved, and we've already seen the importance of being saved in the first two chapters of this epistle.

Moving forward to the next chapter, John gets more theological, but at the same time shows the practicality of our relationship to God as his children. And in fact, a few verses we're looking at this morning can be looked at as transition verses, moving from what he has spoken in the first two chapters and what is coming in chapter 3.

Assurance, Abiding, and the Three Self-Tests

So I want to just recap very briefly what John has written in these first two chapters. In your quest for assurance, we see another benefit. The assured Christian has the joy of the Lord, 1st John 1 .4.

These things we write so that your joy may be made complete. When joy comes, when we move towards full assurance, we want to know what happens. There's nothing more sad than being at a funeral of someone who has passed on and the family not knowing where is this person going to be.

John wants us to be assured, to know. And in relation to assurance, John has introduced the concept of abiding in him. We read that in John 15 this morning. And that concept will continue throughout this entire letter.

And remember, John has also given us some self-tests. We can test ourselves. Unfortunately, when you see self-tests in the scripture, usually we use those to test other people. But they're not meant to test other people, they're meant to test yourself.

And remember, the first test he gave us was the moral test. Do you strive to obey the commandments of the Lord? You know, I keep referring back to this each week because it's just that important. Though Christ has kept the law perfectly in our place, something, by the way, which we could never do for ourselves.

And though striving to obey the commandments will never earn you salvation, obedience to the commandment serves as a demonstration that one has truly been saved. Second test we looked at was the social test.

Do you love one another? And biblical love is never mere words. You know, it's easy to say, I love you. In fact, Elizabeth Browning wrote a poem about love. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. But even her beautiful sonnet doesn't capture the essence of what biblical love is.

Biblical love is a commitment demonstrated by action. Even as God's love is expressed in that same way toward us, in that very simple verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

Biblical love is of that nature. It forces us, by demonstration, to give. Let me ask you, do you love God in that way? Do you love one another in the same way that Christ loved us? You know, worldly love loves for what it can receive.

And when it doesn't get what it wants, it stops loving and looks for love in other places. And as the Johnny Lee song says, you're usually looking for love in all the wrong places. Biblical love loves not for what it can receive, but for what it can give.

The third self-test is the doctrinal test. Do you know the truth? And remember, we thought truth matters. Too many churches hold to a doctrine today that says truth doesn't matter. Just as long as you believe in something.

Oh, they won't use those words, but that's what it boils down to. They give lip service to the scriptures, but pick and choose which ones are convenient to preach. In fact, the average church member in America today has no idea what the Apostles Creed says.

In fact, many of them don't even know there is an Apostles Creed, and nor do they understand the importance of such a document. And what we see often is truth is sacrificed in a futile effort for unity.

And the scripture tells, Jesus tells us in his prayer, that unity can only come around the truth of the Word of God. And so what do we see? Heresy creeps in because the guardians of the gates have fallen asleep at their posts.

The Righteousness of God and Imputed Righteousness

So where is John heading in his epistle? There's an underlying principle in everything John has taught so far. You could even say it's the essence of his teaching. And that is simply this, God is pure righteousness.

And if we are to be in fellowship with him, we must be righteous too. Now of course, we know that we can only approach God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Theologians call that positional righteous.

When God looks at us, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you've been saved, when God looks at you, what does he see? He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Your sins are gone as far as the east is from the west.

That righteousness is imputed to us at the new birth. And that doctrine, by the way, is absolutely essential. We cling to that doctrine that we have been made righteous in Christ. As the songwriters so eloquently said, we cling to the old rugged cross.

But that's not what John is referring to here in this epistle. John is referring to our sanctification, the process of being conformed to the image of Christ day by day. The scripture commands us, God says, be holy for I am holy.

Righteousness underlies everything the Apostle has written so far. Our fellowship with God depends on it. In 1st John 1 5, we read this, this is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

God is pure righteousness. And in verse 7 of that first chapter, but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And obviously walking in light means walking in righteousness.

And then look at chapter 2 verse 3, by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Keeping his commandments is living a righteous life. What about the love test? How does that fit in?

Well in chapter 2 verse 10, we read this, the one who loves his brother abides in the light. And stated differently, but the essence is the same in chapter 2 verse 15, do not love the world nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. You cannot love the world and love God at the same time. Jesus made that point crystal clear in in the Sermon on the Mount. He says you can't serve two masters.

You'll either love one and hate the other or love the other one and hate the first one. You can't serve two masters. Let me quote Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones as he sums up this rather nicely. He said this, righteousness then is the thing that is essential to fellowship with God.

In other words, the great stress of this epistle from beginning to end is the ethical stress. John is anxious that they see that these conditions must be observed. The great blessings come to us freely in Christ, but if we want to enjoy and to continue enjoying them, we must walk in this righteous manner.

Born of God and Conformed to Christ

Now look at verse 29 following verse 28. He says this, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him. Notice the premise is the same, but the relationship is deeper.

John says if God is righteous, then you as one who is in fellowship with him must also be righteous. One can't practice righteousness unless he is righteous as well. Do you understand the difference? Righteousness is not merely outward actions.

So how is this possible? How can we be righteous in ourselves? Because you are born of him. You are reborn. You're born again, born from above. Whatever phrase you prefer, the result is the same. You become a child of God.

You can see that this description of the Christian is more than just an analogy. I want to clarify something. Being a Christian is not like being born of God or like being born again. The Christian has been born again.

He is not like a new creation. He is a new creation. The Christian is a new man in a spiritual sense, and as such he will be like his father, like father, like son. Just like a human son is like his earthly father, the Christian who has been born again is like his heavenly father.

And as my brother and I enjoy picking on each other, if we demonstrate one of my father's traits, the fact is we can't help it. I remember my father when he used to scold me. My father had huge hands.

He was a big man. His head just sat on there. He had no neck. He had been a Golden Gloves boxer, and he had hands we used to call them meat hooks. When he got mad at me, he'd take that thing and he'd point it at me and then thump me in the chest with it, and he'd send me flying.

I swore I'd never do that to my kids. Then one day I was scolding my two older boys, and I'm going, it's my father's finger. Couldn't help it. Like father, like son. It comes from the nature we inherited from him.

When you receive a new heart, you reflect the character of your heavenly father who is in heaven. Now how do we know what that looks like? The scripture answers that question for us. We are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

The fullness of deity dwelt in Jesus Christ when he walked in human flesh on this earth. The writer of Hebrews tells us that in chapter 1 verse 3 says, and he, speaking of Jesus, is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature.

And Peter tells us that he has left us an example for us to follow in his steps. So it is possible to live righteously because Christ is in you, and you are in Christ. That's no small thing. And you have inherited not only his legal status, we've gone through that in the past, you realize that all of the merit that Jesus Christ has earned by his sacrifice and by his nature of coming and his work on earth is accrued to you as children of God.

You join ears with him. But it's not only his legal status, but his nature. You are no longer a son of Adam in a spiritual sense. You're a child of God. And this is the theme of the entire third chapter of this epistle which we're just beginning this morning.

Verse 29 is the introduction to chapter 3. And that verse is very straightforward and almost given as a matter of fact. Look again at verse 29. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone else also who practices righteousness is born of him.

The words if you know that God is righteous, that's a given. The people John is writing to know that God is righteous. Therefore it's a foregone conclusion that his children practice righteousness. The question comes up then, what is righteousness?

Righteousness is an attribute of our Almighty God. I want to take just a couple of minutes to reflect on what that means. Remember God is one being who manifests himself through his various attributes.

Remember God is one and therefore his attributes are also one. God is not composed of parts as mankind is composed of parts. We call it the simplicity of God. His attributes are how he has revealed himself to mankind.

Louis Burkhoff in his systematic theology said, it is commonly said in theology that God's attributes are God himself as he has revealed himself to us. And his righteousness is closely related to his holiness.

Holiness means apart, different. It's also related to his law. When speaking of men living righteously then you can see that it is more than merely a code of conduct or an ethical morality. It includes those things but it's more than that.

Biblical righteousness comes from within. There are non-Christians who live relatively moral lives. I live in a neighborhood, most people are not believers. They're nice people. We look out for one another.

We can be civil to one another but that's not to be confused with practicing righteousness. The non-Christian doesn't have it in him to live a righteous life. Only the believer can practice living that way because he has been born again and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones again says, righteous means the quality, the kind of life that was lived by Jesus Christ himself. Righteous living is described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. You ever read the Sermon on the Mount and try to say, oh I'm going to live up to that?

Think of what he says. He begins the Sermon on the Mount with the character of the Christian in the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

That's the characteristic. Those characteristics in the Beatitudes come from the new birth and given to us by our Heavenly Father. We inherit them from him like father, like son. Then Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount how his children should live in the world according to his commandments.

Then he corrects the abuse of the law as Israel had whittled it down and shows it must begin with the heart. In other words, just merely practicing outward obedience to the law is not enough. It has to come from a heart.

Then he addresses the proper attitude for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Again, just giving money to the church, giving money to poor people is not enough. It must come from a heart that has been changed.

Then he corrects the wrong thinking of the world which sets their minds on temporal things. If you ask most people today, what is your goal? It's to make a lot of money, to work hard so I can retire to Florida and bask in the sun, or buy a Caribbean island, some such things.

Jesus tells us those are wrong goals. Those are temporal things. Seeking those things leads to anxiety and worry. So he says, why do you seek after the same things that the world prioritizes? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Then he concludes with a couple of parables showing that there's only two ways to live in this world. It's only two paths. One leads to destruction and one leads to heaven and a future of eternal life with Almighty God.

The principles of righteousness that Jesus teaches are impossible for the natural man to achieve. He simply can't do it. That thought brings us to verse 1 of chapter 3. Verse 1, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called children of God and such we are.

The Love of the Father and Our Identity as Children of God

For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Think about it this way. Before John continues into the great theme of chapter 3, he pauses and he reflects on this great truth.

We are children of God. The way he phrases this, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us. In essence he's saying, did you hear what I just said? See how great a love the Father has given to us.

We've spoken often of the love of God, but this is truly an amazing reality. Think about it. We are called children of God. This love that has caused God to do this is an amazing reality. His love is so great, so far above anything that we have seen in the flesh that we must pause and look at it once again.

Paul says this love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts and because of this great love, this merciful, gracious love, we become children of God. That is pretty amazing. John doesn't want us to pass over this love too quickly.

It is because of this love that we can love like him. Remember the social test, love one another? We can't do that in ourselves. You can't muster up from within you that love. It has to come from God.

So as a child of God, because you have the nature of God, you share in his nature, you are able to love like him. Let me pause for a quick moment so my words are not misconstrued. John is not saying that we can love perfectly.

We cannot love perfectly righteous lives this side of glory. John condemned that doctrine of perfectionism in the first chapter. We've become children of God. We begin the spiritual journey moving toward holiness by living righteous lives.

The great love God has given to us enables us to be called the children of God. So there is no misunderstanding. John adds this, and such we are. We're not just called children of God. John says, and such we are.

Let me interject something here. When you're reading scripture and you come to a verse such as this, verse 1 of chapter 3, a piece of pastorly advice if I can. Don't just pass over it. Don't gloss over it.

Notice there's an imperative in verse 1. See how great a love. That means there's a command, and I would suggest that when you come to such a truth that you pause and reflect what the author is saying to you.

We see that in the Bible often with words such as behold or lo. And too often we just pass over those words. When you see those words they indicate a surprise or an emphasis, such as the message of the angels proclaiming the birth of Christ.

He said, what did they come? They said, behold. Listen up. If you're on board ship, you now hear this, a message from the captain. I bring you good news of great joy. A Savior is born. Don't pass over that.

We see that numerous other times in scripture as well. In the present text, John's intent is to have us reflect on how great a love the Father has given to us. Which kind of love only the Christian can truly understand.

So when you come to such words as these, reflect on that love. You know, we have a perfect example of it too. Horatio Spafford had a moment like this when he was writing his famous hymn, remember it is well with my soul.

I can picture him sitting at his desk. Remember what has happened. He has just gotten the news that his three daughters had drowned in a ship sinking in the Atlantic Ocean. And I can picture him sitting at his desk writing a song about the mercy and grace of God that alone can bring peace to a troubled soul.

And he gets to the third verse and he begins to write about the forgiveness of his sin. And for a moment he's caught up in the reality of his thought. So he begins the verse 3 by saying, my sin. And he stops and he interjects his glory thought.

He said, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. That's a moment. And then he continues, my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul.

We need to pause and reflect on the glorious work of God in our lives. By virtue of his love we have become children of God. And being the child of God is a great honor and a privilege. And too often we minimize it.

It's more than a legal status, though we do have a legal status in Christ. And as important as that is, but it goes beyond the legal. Martin Lloyd-Jones calls it an organic relationship. That's the relationship that Jesus describes in John 15, which we read earlier today.

Jesus said, I am the true vine, we are the branches. And in verse 4 of John 15 he says, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. And the fruit that he speaks of is not just good deeds, it's the fruit of righteous living.

That fruit comes from a regenerate heart. We see the same concept back in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus said, so every good tree bears fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

And Peter addresses our relationship with God with crystal clarity in his second epistle. Speaking of the scriptures, Peter says this in second epistle, verse 4 of chapter 1. He says, for by these he has granted to us precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature.

The non-christian doesn't understand these things. He can't because they are spiritually discerned. That's exactly what he says in verse 1 of chapter 3. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called the children of God, and such we are.

For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Don't think that by living a righteous life the world will love you. It's not a coincidence that the world will tolerate every other religion but is set on persecuting Christians.

They are not content to simply disagree with you, they want to silence you. They will even go so far as to brand you as being dangerous. And John gives us the reason. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

And Jesus warned that they hated him and they will hate you as well. Let me just sum up a few points before we close. A Christian is not merely someone who has a moral code of ethics that he strives to live by.

He is not someone who is striving to be kind and loving. He's not just merely a person who attends religious services of worship. Now Christians do all those things, but that is not what defines them.

A Christian is a child of God, and that is what defines him. He has been transformed. He is a new creation. He has been born again, and he has received eternal life, and is a partaker of the divine nature of God himself.

So how do we sum this up? Like father, like son. It is true in life and it's also true in the spiritual realm. If you're a child of God, you share in his nature, then you must reflect that nature to others.

Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? If somebody's here this morning who is not a Christian, doesn't understand these things, just repent of your sin, call upon the name of Jesus Christ, and be saved.

Become a child of God. Let's pray. Father, we do bow before you, and thank you for the fact that you have forgiven us of our sin. You've removed it as far as the east is from the west. You have given us a new nature.

You have given us the ability to obey you. You have given us the ability to love. I do pray, Father, for anyone here who doesn't know you, that today would be the day of salvation. Take away their stony heart, give them a heart of flesh, that they might repent and believe.

Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.