Spiritual Maturity | 1 John 2:12-14

Context and the Importance of Reading 1 John Carefully

All right, where we at? I heard Liberty whisper it, 1st John. Where at in 1st John? Chapter 2, we're getting closer. What verses are we gonna cover this evening? Say again?

12 through 14.

But what's that word we always talk about that we need to know for any given verse? Context. Delaney, what is context?

Context is the surrounding words that have to do with the specific thing that you're reading.

Why did your voice get louder as you explained that? Context is the surrounding what?

Is the surrounding sentences, words, anything that has to do with the specific thing that you're reading.

Yes. Context is always important because if you leave the context, you can really make the Scripture say anything you want. Right? So I want you to think about that. One of my favorite examples is someone could walk up and say, Hey Callie, did you know that the Bible says there is no God?

Psalm 14 .1 says there is no God. But the context says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. Oh, well that changes things, right? So context is always important. Like Delaney said, we always look at the surrounding verses, surrounding sentences to inform us of any given verse.

I remember last time, I think it was Delaney that said, we really have to have the picture of all of Scripture in mind as we're studying any passage. So what are some common themes that we've been talking about so far from chapter 1 into chapter 2?

I'll give you a hint. Well, I'll start off. We've talked a lot about fellowship. Fellowship is key all throughout 1 John.

Bless you.

So someone help me out. What is fellowship in a Christian context?

Avery?

It's the saints being together, right? Why is that so important? How come we have a fellowship that's different than how the world gets together and does things? What's so different about the saints?

J .D.?

Okay, so fellowship with the saints builds you up and makes you a lot happier. And you talk about Scripture, but people can have just a hangout. And you could be tearing each other down. You could just be being mean.

That's really good. The world, they could get together, have fun, participate in things, but not necessarily in truth. Not in the things of the Lord that, like you said, can build us up.

Right?

And so that's really key back in 1 John 1 verse 4. John's talking about this fellowship that we have with the saints and with God, the Father, Son, and Spirit. He says that he's writing these things to us so that our joy may be complete.

We can actually have a joy and an underlying contentment in all things, something different than the world has to offer. So a lot of this fellowship is what we're doing right here and right now.

Okay?

Legalism, Antinomianism, and the New Commandment

So we talked a lot about fellowship. What else have we talked about in 1 John? I think everybody was here last time, right? Actually, we were with the adults last time. Well, you still don't get passes.

Aaron?

Wasn't it legalism and anti-nomad?

Ooh.

I want you to explain to me what legalism is.

So legalism is legal.

So legalism is a spirit that rivals the gospel, meaning that it tries to use Bible lingo, Bible terminology, and twist it into something that distorts the truth. So does anybody else remember or want to take a crack at what legalism is?

Dawn?

It's just taking the Ten Commandments and expanding on it and making it more extravagant in their eyes and putting rules and rules on top of rules, thinking that they can accomplish it on their own, apart from Christ.

Legalism, like you're saying, says look at all these laws, look at all these commandments, and I'm going to keep them in order to earn favor with God. My salvation, my forgiveness is contingent on how well I obey the commandments.

That's legalism. Islam literally says, yeah, that's the path to paradise, to be restored with Allah, is how well you keep the commandments. Now Judaism, not true Judaism that came from the Old Testament, but does anybody know that there was 400 years of silence in between the Old Testament and New Testament?

It's called the intertestamental period where Second Temple Judaism twists the law of Moses into legalism. It says we can basically earn favor with God. That's the Pharisees that we read about in the Gospels.

So legalism is wrong. It's not pleasing to God by saying, God, look at all the works, look at all the commandments that I obeyed. Modern-day legalism says that I'm going to do certain works to be saved, and I'm going to continue to do works in order to stay saved.

Does anybody know any forms of legalism? We've already talked about a few. Islam, Second Temple Judaism. You have certain denominations that exist that say that you have to do baptism in order to be made right with God.

My first response is, well, that's legalism. Your act of a ceremony is what makes you right before God. These denominations that really say that you have to continue to live a holy life, and if you don't, then you're damned.

That's legalism. What was that other fancy word that you said, Aaron?

Antinomadism.

Antinomianism. What's another way of saying that?

Licentiousness.

Antinomianism, licentiousness. Remember the two L's, legalism, licentiousness. What is that? Any idea? Any takers out there, Delaney?

It's the opposite of legalism. It's saying because God is saving me, because I have this ticket to heaven, I can do whatever I want, sin however I want.

Yes.

It's basically saying, I have a license to sin. I have a license to sin so God's grace may abound all the more.

No.

If your heart has been changed, remember, Christians are walking in the light. We say, nope, that's the ditch of legalism to the left. I'm not doing commandments in order to be made right with God. On the other side of the road, it's like, no, that's licentiousness.

I'm not going to abuse grace. I'm not going to sin so grace may abound because Christ saved me from that life. I desire to obey God and to give him glory. As we continue to look into 1 John, the law of God is not burdensome.

It's delightful to the Christian because we know that this is a life that gives God glory. 1 John 2, look with me at verse 3. By this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.

This is where the legalist says, see, you've got to keep the commandments. Jesus said in John 14 verse 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Notice the first part. If you love me, Jesus says.

If you have a loving relationship, if you've been changed and you're walking with him, of course you're going to keep the commandments. That's kind of what he says here. Whoever says, I know him, and if this person truly does know Christ, then, yeah, they're going to want to keep the commandments.

That's the straight, narrow way of truth, walking with Christ. The gospel of grace says, I put all my trust in Christ. Therefore, I desire to live a new life. Thank you, Erin, for bringing out those two points of licentiousness and legalism.

Last time we talked about an old commandment that is also a new commandment. That sounds weird. How can something be an old commandment and a new commandment at the same time? Y 'all remember? It's been a few weeks.

Anybody remember what 1 John was talking about in verses 7 and 8? Y 'all weren't here. Y 'all get a pass. But y 'all should be reading 1 John. That's the old commandment, right? Does anybody remember where that was found in the Old Testament?

Leviticus 19 .18 is the old commandment that said, love your neighbor as yourself. We talked about who is our neighbor. Does anybody remember? Everyone, right? Now, we talked about that the modern debate of the day was, well, couldn't our neighbor just be those that look like us and we can actually hate our enemy?

That's what Second Temple Judaism did. They reinterpreted Leviticus 19 .18. It says, we love the Jews, people that look like us, but the pagans, no. They can rot for all we care. That's really what they said.

When you go back and look at Leviticus 19, it even said how you're supposed to show love for foreigners that come into the land. So I'm just saying they were taking a verse out of context. So that's an old commandment.

Let me ask you this. Does anybody really keep that old commandment? And you may say, yeah, I love everyone that God brings into my life all the time. But do you love your neighbor perfectly? We can't do it, right?

We may be doing good in our human eyes occasionally, but we don't do it perfectly. And so the point is the Old Testament law shows you that you fall short of that standard. That's why when we looked at Jesus interacting with the law, you remember he was trying to justify himself.

And he was like, who is my neighbor? And Jesus is like, well, let me give you that whole parable of the Good Samaritan. You tell me who's your neighbor. And Jesus quoted the Old Testament law and says, if you do this, you will live.

But guess what? No one does the old commandments perfectly and lives. We all fall short of that standard. But that's the old commandment. And then Jesus, the night before the crucifixion, does anybody remember what he did to the disciples in John chapter 13?

Delaney.

Did he wash their feet?

He did.

What did that model for the disciples? Humbleness, humility, love. And he says, I give you a new commandment. Other people will know that you're my disciples by your love for one another. So that's the new commandment, is that we have a special love for the disciples, the saints of God.

How is that possible? How are we able to actually obey a command that's pleasing to God? Well, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. We're actually able to participate in a fellowship of love that is pleasing to God.

The old commandment, you couldn't do that. You could only fall short. But now, once we are changed by the Spirit that we love Christ and we're walking in the light as he is in the light, we are actually able to participate in a love with one another that is pleasing to God, a new commandment that Jesus himself modeled.

If you think, what is that commandment? Well, Jesus washed the disciples' feet. We are supposed to have that level of humility and love towards one another. Does that mean we make a third ordinance for the church and say, all right, every Lord's Day we wash each other's feet?

No. Some churches do that. And they try to say, see, that's another ordinance. I'm like, man, the whole context is he's trying to say, show this love towards one another. And I got some pretty stinky feet, so I'd hate for somebody to have to go through all that.

So that's what John was talking about earlier in the passage. There's an old commandment, Leviticus 19 .18, love your neighbor as yourself, but it's also a new commandment. Jesus fulfilled it, and we are to follow after his example.

Okay?

Forgiveness of Sins for His Namesake

So now we are to verses 12 through 14. And so if you would follow along with me. John says, I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, children, because you know the father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. So raise your hand. What are some details going on in this passage?

Callie?

He did. So there's kind of a poetic flair going on. What exactly did he repeat himself in?

Right?

Which he's really driving the point home like, hey, listen up. This is important. I'm writing this to you. He says that over and over again all throughout 1 John. That's a really good observation. What's something else that he said in these verses?

So let me throw this out there. How many different types of people does he refer to here?

Did you all catch it? There's three. J .B.?

So he had fathers, young men, and children.

Yes.

Okay.

And like Callie was saying, he's kind of repeating himself in a poetic fashion. Now I've done the hard work for you all. I've read a lot of commentaries, listened to sermons, and not everybody agrees on what he's getting at.

But there's one principle. So the whole lesson tonight will be about spiritual maturity.

Okay?

Think about the natural progression in life. You start out as a young child. And as you grow, you grow up into a young man, young woman.

Right?

And then you grow up to be a father, mother. You're mature.

Okay?

So we think about that in a physical sense, but it's also true spiritually.

Okay?

And I liked what Callie said too. We notice that John here keeps saying, I write these things to you. I think this is important for the context because John just got done talking about a new commandment.

Remember earlier in verse 10 he says, Whoever loves his brother abides in the lie, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I think John's audience is Christians, and maybe there are some of those that have a sensitive spirit like, Oh no, am I loving my brother the way that I should? Am I loving the brethren? And so they hear that if you don't have this love, then you're walking in darkness.

And so it's almost like John is saying, Hey, let me give you a word of encouragement. Don't be dismayed the fact that we're talking about an old commandment and new commandment because a lot of us, when we look at the law of God, we're like, Man, I'm really unworthy.

I don't live up to this. And there's a healthy aspect to that. But I think in verse 12 through 14 he wants to give a word of encouragement to fathers that are in the faith, to young men, young women, and little children.

He wants to remind them of the truths that we should be renewing our heart and minds with day by day. And I think the first truth in verse 12, he says, I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven.

Why? For His namesake. It doesn't matter what level of spiritual maturity you're in. You always need to be reminded, I've been saved by God's grace. Why can I have peace? Why can I have joy? Well, Jesus paid it all on the cross for my account.

I have peace with God. Everything else is small potatoes in this world once we've been made right with God. And what I mean is we're going to all go through hardships and trials, right? Well, how can I still have joy through all of that?

Well, I've been forgiven. I've been reconciled with the creator of the universe who I sinned against and really have earned death, earned hell, and yet it's been all taken care of on my account. You know what I mean?

And so John is reminding his audience, hey, rejoice in these things because your sins have been forgiven. Question, how are our sins forgiven in full? How does a person be made right with God and have forgiveness?

Somebody help me. This is really important gospel 101 stuff.

Jesus, when he died on the cross for our sins, we ask for his forgiveness and then the Holy Spirit comes within us and awakens us from the dead because we're dead in our sins. And then when Christ died on the cross, he took our sins upon him and then his righteousness was put onto us so that when God looked at us, he saw his son.

Nailed it. So he says this earlier in chapter 1. Look with me back at verse 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, talking about Jesus, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from some sins.

Oh, excuse me. It says all sins there, right? So the point is we have an advocate now. John tells us that. So once we're in Christ by faith, then that's a done deal. That doesn't mean that life is just going to be hunky-dory and just spanky for the rest of our life.

No, in fact, we're going to endure persecution. People are going to ridicule us for the sake of following Jesus. And I'll just be the first to say I do an apologetics ministry and I have a lot of hatred from many people that just say, you think you're saved by faith alone apart from works?

I'm like, yeah, Jesus's works are perfect. I'm not looking to the things that I can do. I'm looking to the one who did it perfectly. That makes a lot of people mad because they want to have a part in their salvation.

It also makes sense though.

Talking about what?

That he did work perfectly and there's nothing you can do. Works wise to earn your salvation.

I was going to say there's kind of a fallen perspective that tries to make sense and say, well, if I sin, then I have to make it right. That's a very worldly thing. But like you're saying, so much sense of what the Scripture says.

No, no, no. You only mess it up. That's why in faith you need to look to the one who did it perfectly. Something that we couldn't do. And the Scripture tells us it is finished. The works of salvation were accomplished at Calvary.

And Jesus didn't stay dead. He resurrected the third day showing that God's word is true. That was predicted to happen. That Jesus has the power to defeat sin and death. And that he is the risen Lord.

He is God in the flesh. And if God resurrected from the dead, then we should probably believe him and what he says. Because you've got to think, Jesus told us there's an afterlife. The Old Testament not only told us that.

But we need to look to the one who knows all things for truth. A lot of y 'all in homeschool, y 'all study logic. Y 'all study apologetics. My big push in apologetics is for anyone to know truth at all.

Even the most basic seeming truth about we exist. You could only know that if God has spoken and revealed to us what the world looks like. That has to be the starting point in order for everything else to make sense.

If you take that foundation away, this world is a bunch of nonsense. Why are we here? Why do we seek after purpose? Why are we bound by these physical laws and these abstract laws of logic? All of this goes back to the Creator.

If you remove the Creator, then this world is nonsense. People can do what's right in the sight of their own eyes, and it's going to be chaos. We learn that in the book of Judges. All that's to say is forgiveness of sins.

Like Delaney beautifully said, Jesus accomplished it all at Calvary. If we look to Jesus in saving faith, then we get the perfect righteousness of Christ. And all of our sin is dealt with. That's the truth that John is reminding his audience.

Because your sins are forgiven for whose sake? Is it for Aaron's sake because you're really awesome? And God was just like, man, I'm going to save this guy because he's able to do so many wonderful deeds.

No, I don't do. Wonderful.

You're like, no, don't put that on me. No, but the verse says that your sins are forgiven for his namesake. So when you do a deep dive into his namesake for who God is, it's for his glory. That's what the Old Testament kind of speaks to.

This world exists to glorify God. When people say, man, why does God allow so much suffering and evil to exist? Because God's going to redeem it. God's going to punish wickedness, and he will be glorified in his justice, in his wrath against sin.

One of the most basic questions we could ask, what is the chief end of man? What is our purpose for existing? Does anybody know that catechism question? What is the chief end of man? Yes, thank you. To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Now, we can either glorify God by putting our faith in Christ and the loving relationship. He'll get glory that way. Or, if you deny Christ and die in your sin, then you will glorify God in punishment.

Eternal punishment for your sin, for your treason against the Creator. Point is, it's for his namesake. God is going to be glorified in his creation. I think that's beautiful for so many reasons because it tells me that, Jeremiah, this world isn't about you.

It's about God. It's about what he has revealed. It's about who he is and what he is accomplishing. Now, by his grace, I play a huge part in that. He's given me marching orders to go share the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Whoever God puts in my life, I'm called to pray for the people God puts in my life and to share with them the good news. I also have another calling. We all have a calling to serve in the fellowship, in the church.

We all don't do the same things, like I'm here teaching. Now, everybody's called to teach in the same capacity, but we're all members of a body. A body's made up of all different parts, and nothing is greater than another part.

You know what I mean? So I think John is trying to encourage his audience. Now, what's interesting is, y 'all see the phrase, little children, here? This, in the Greek, is referring to any age person.

He's just kind of saying little children, but whatever your walk of life is, no matter how old you are, whatever your background is, this encouragement is for you. If you're in Christ, you have your sins forgiven, and it's for his namesake, for his glory.

Okay?

Young Believers, the Evil One, and Spiritual Warfare

So we've talked a little bit about this poetry going on, and so I want to skip down in verse 13 where, once again, he mentions the word children. Now, this is a different Greek word than the one back in verse 12, which refers to any age.

This, in verse 14, I write to you, children, because you know the Father. This really entails someone who is young. So you've got young people physically. This is really talking about those who are young in the faith.

I want to say there can be someone who is very old in human terms but is a spiritual babe, right, that is a child in the faith, and they maybe have been a child in the faith for a very, very long time.

I think about so many Christians that go to unhealthy churches that are about an inch deep and a mile wide and never learn anything, and they stay spiritual children. They are saved by God's grace and understand the right gospel but never flourish in their spiritual development, in their spiritual growth.

Okay?

And so children, a lot of times, don't know what they need. Isn't that true? A lot of us have younger siblings. They don't know what they need. I have a month-old baby that doesn't know what he needs, right?

And so he needs to be cared for and looked after. And so that's why Christianity is not just your relationship with God and you alone. It's also in fellowship and community with the saints. Christianity is supposed to be in community also.

Does that make sense? It's not just one-on-one between you and God. It is that, but it's also with the saints. And it's because a lot of times we need discipleship. We need older people in the faith to say, hey, here's what you need for your spiritual growth.

Does that make sense? So look back with me at verse 13. I write to you children, those who are young in the faith, because you know the Father. Now this is a beautiful truth. If you're a spiritual child, then that cannot be taken away from you.

And remember earlier in verse 12? Your sins are forgiven by faith, by faith alone, apart from your works, but looking to the one who did it all perfectly. And the word no here really means relationship.

If you're a child in Christ, then that means you have a heavenly Father. You have a Savior in Jesus Christ who is your advocate that intercedes on your behalf. And you have the Holy Spirit indwelling in you.

So I want us to think about this spiritual development, the spiritual growth from young children to young men and women, and then to fathers and mothers in the faith. So look with me in the middle part of verse 13 where John says, I'm writing to you young men, and this kind of means young men, young women, just younger people, but a stage of development that's past the children part.

I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. So if you would, skip down to the second half of verse 14. I write to you young men because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and once again, you have overcome the evil one.

So raise your hand. Who is the evil one being talked about here? Okay, this is really good because the world is definitely a part of the evil one's schemes. So we're going to hang on to the world here.

But what else? What are some other thoughts? Who is the evil one? So this is where it's definitely both ends. So the evil one is Satan who runs the world. Okay, so look down with me at verse 15. So we'll get more into this next week.

But do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Okay, now look at 1 John 5, 19. John says, we know we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Okay, now what's so neat here is you got a young Christian that loves God, loves Jesus, has relationship with the Father, right, and ultimately the triune God, has their sin forgiven. But we are to grow in our faith, right?

You've moved from this person that's a mere babe in Christ to someone that understands doctrine, understands the truth, and is able to go to task with Satan. Okay, and what's the only way to combat lies?

With the truth, right? How do we avoid stumbling in the darkness of this world? By knowing the light, knowing the truth of God's Word, right? So if you would, turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4, because we're talking about the overarching principle of spiritual maturity, growing up in the faith.

And so this happens at two levels. Number one, one-on-one with your walk with God in the Word, in prayer, but it's also in fellowship with the saints. And the reason why this is so important is because spiritual warfare is true.

Does anybody know what spiritual warfare is? Absolutely. There's kind of three enemies when it comes to talking about spiritual warfare. The world, Satan, and the flesh. All of those things are warring against us.

But we're talking about the evil one. We're talking about the schemes of Satan. I want to fill you in on what Satan is primarily doing. Of course, he's accusing the saints, like we've talked about. We have an advocate.

We're like, good luck trying to accuse the saints because Jesus intercedes on our behalf, right? He is the great tempter. Thank Adam and Eve in the garden. Now, he still does that in the world today. He works through the sons and daughters of disobedience.

It's kind of mysterious, but there's a spiritual element to the unbelieving world. Satan's at work, whether it's Satan himself or one of the demons or whatever. We're just talking about the kingdom of darkness is always at work, right?

But Satan's primary goal is trying to deceive you with false doctrine. Because imagine if you believe a false gospel. Great, you're lost, right? I mean, that's really his push is trying to distort the good news about Jesus.

Getting you to follow Muhammad, trying to get you to follow Buddha, trying to get you to believe in a works righteousness, a legalistic gospel or licentious gospel. Those are all false gospels. This is really what, back in 1 John, he's riding against.

He's riding against a heretical group of the Gnostics. Those that said, well, Jesus didn't really come in the flesh. He might have been just a spirit being. Well, that ancient heresy is believing in a wrong Jesus.

If you don't believe that Jesus came in the flesh, then you're not believing in the God-man, the only person who can forgive sin. So I want you to see there's a spiritual element. There is spiritual warfare that we have to guard our hearts against.

The only way to do it is to not only know what the Scripture says, but also to understand what it means. Has anybody ever opened up their Bible to try to read something? It's like, I'm confused. I don't really understand it.

A lot, right? That's why we need the other saints because there are certain men, there are certain women that are called to teach in the proper categories, to have mentors in the faith, to have discipleship.

You were not made to lead the Christian walk with my Bible, me under a tree, and I don't need any help from anybody else. That's not the Christian walk. Now, is it important to have a devotion time? Yes.

But it's also important to gather together with the saints. So look with me at Ephesians 4 where we're talking about this unity in the body and how we are called to grow in our walk with Christ, to mature into adulthood in the faith.

Do I have a volunteer that would read verse 11 through 15? Any takers out there? Lauren, if you would please, verse 11 through 15.

We are called by the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

But rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.

Thank you so much, Lauren. So I want to just look at a few important principles in this passage. So starting at the end with 15, rather speaking the truth in love, we can grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.

So do you see this spiritual development? You're supposed to grow up, not to stay a babe in Christ, which is awesome. Your sins have been forgiven for His namesake. You have been washed by the blood of Jesus, and all your sin is forgiven.

But we're to grow. Look earlier in verse 13. We all attain into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, into mature manhood, to the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ.

Isn't that awesome? You're not supposed to just stay on spiritual milk, right? We need meat. We need to understand sound doctrine. We need God's truth to challenge us, right? And sometimes make us feel uncomfortable.

You know, there are some people that are saved that still struggle with the fact that they're not good people, right? God's Word tells us you're not good. You have a wrong understanding of the word good.

If you use the word good to refer to yourself or other people, God alone is good because He is holy, righteous, right? And we're all sinners. It doesn't mean that we just mess up, but we shatter God's law.

We are lawbreakers, right? You see how that understanding really helps us to understand who we are as people, okay? And so we are to grow up into these things. That's why verse 11 says that Christ equipping the church, He gave apostles, right?

We read the New Testaments there. We read about the prophets of old. We read about prophets in the book of Acts. And evangelists, right, that are tasked to doing evangelism and tasked with doing apologetics and things like that.

And shepherds, pastors, elders, overseers. How many elders do we have at 12 .5?

Two.

And you're talking with one of them, right? So this is a particular calling. Shepherd means to care for. Guess how shepherds are to care for the flock of God? Feeding them scripture and guarding them from wolves.