In Christ, We Know What Is from God | 1 John 3:24-4:1

Union with Christ and the Order of Salvation

Okay, turn with me in your Bibles to our passage for today in 1 John chapter 3, and we'll start in verse 23. 1 John chapter 3, verse 23, and the Word of God says, And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He gave a commandment to us.

And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in Him. We know by this that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He gave us. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Amen.

So, for today, I'd like to finish up tying some loose ends regarding the subject of union with Christ, fill in a few gaps, and then start our transition to chapter 4, verse 1, particularly on the subject of discernment.

So, last week, we went pretty deep into the doctrine of union with Christ, mainly in verse 24, which I'll read once again. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in Him. And that is because of Him, because of Him, because of our union with Christ, and of the anointing of His Spirit and truth.

And we know by this that He abides in us by or from the Spirit whom He gave us freely, by grace through faith, as we know. I also mentioned that this doctrine of union with Christ is a challenging doctrine.

It's complex. There's many aspects to it that we have to consider and weigh carefully and balance out properly in light of what Scripture teaches. It's a big-picture doctrine, right? Big-picture doctrine that encompasses several other doctrines, and there are varying levels of complexity in each of this regarding union with Christ and the different kinds of union that we have.

And we learn that we are united to Christ in a corporate sense, right? In a corporate sense as the body of Christ, the church, or all the people of God, all the people, the chosen people of God, unto salvation.

And we also have a particular union with Christ, a particular union with Christ, a personal, vital, experiential union with Him, right? As individuals, individually united in Christ through faith, through the faith that He gives to us by grace, by the Spirit whom He gave us freely by His anointing, the anointing of the truth.

And this vital union, as it's also referred to, with Christ is also mutually abiding. It's mutually abiding like verse 24 in 1 John 3 teaches us. It corresponds to Christ and to us equally in the same sense.

And it's referring here to a doctrinal unity of mind, of believing the same truths. It's doctrinal, intellectual, belief, faith, knowledge of the truth. That is by and large what the anointing means as well, that 1 John talks about all throughout chapter 3 and chapter 2 and the previous chapters as well.

So I mentioned the several types of union with Christ, the views of union with Christ that there are. There are several different kinds, ranging from the ontological or literal view, which is a bad one, not so good.

The more sacramental or substantial views, which like the Roman Catholic and Lutherans take. The moral or the filial view of union with Christ, which is probably the worst one, because it denies the supernatural union with Christ.

There's a covenantal or legal union, which we would definitely say amen to. And then there's the experiential or vital union with Christ. And we saw that union with Christ, we can't oversimplify it. It's not to be understood as a moment in the application of salvation to believers, like I read the quote from Michael Horton.

It is the way in which believers share in Christ in eternity. So all the way from eternity past by election, as well as in past history or in history, including the Old Testament saints, by way of redemption, by the historical redemption that Christ accomplished for us, his life and death on earth and on the cross, in the present, whereby we are being actively called, justified, and sanctified, and in the future, pointing to our glorification and the consummation of all things.

Right? So there's also elective union. I referred this to as elective union. Elective union in Christ, pointing to Ephesians 1, verses 3 through 6, where God, before the foundation of the world, chose us in him.

From all eternity, chose us before the foundation of the world. But as I thought about it, elective union could be a little bit ambiguous, because who is electing who? Obviously, the Bible teaches that God is the one who elects or chooses us to save, as his people.

So it's known also as predestinarian union, which I thought was a little pedantic. Another term you could use is decretal union. God's decretal union in Christ, because he decreed before the foundation of the world to choose and save us and love us.

Before we had done anything good or bad, God chose to save us and love us. And this is because from all eternity, God decreed to justify all the elect, like our confession says in chapter 11, paragraph 4.

And Christ, in the fullness of time, in history, in redemptive history, died for their sins and rose again because of their justification. Nevertheless, they or we are not justified personally until the Holy Spirit in due time actually applies Christ to them, to us, by faith.

Right?

So there's an order of salvation here. There's an order that we need to understand that the Bible teaches. And we cannot just simply say, well, they're all equal. It doesn't matter. In Christ, we just receive everything at the same time.

It's all just sort of the same. It's not. The Bible orders these doctrines, these events in our salvation in a specific way. We have to be careful not to lose track of that order and that priority, because if we do, we can fall into the errors of Rome and start thinking that sanctification comes before justification, which would mean that we are then justified by faith and works.

And that's a heresy.

Right?

We cannot be saved by works. Our works are filthy rags. Filthy rags. We are guilty in Adam. And we can only be saved by the perfect work and blood of Christ, by faith alone. So the legal and logical priority grounds all of our benefits in our union with Christ, which is Christ himself.

It is his life and his death, his active and passive obedience, as it's referred to in the Reformed faith. Christ is our legal reckoning, our legal perfection, our clean slate, our foundation and chief cornerstone.

For through him, we both have our access in one spirit to the Father, like Ephesians 2 .18 says. Now, that's very crucial to understand. The logical and forensic legal priorities are the foundation. They are foundational.

The objective legal forensic benefits that we have and receive in Christ, especially justification, are logically prior, not historically, but logically prior to the subjective transformative and renovative benefits and blessings that we receive in Christ, such as regeneration.

Because we understand that God regenerates us first and causes us to believe. We are first regenerated. We are caused to believe first, and then we are justified through faith. Because God speaks life to us through the gospel, and we are dead men and women.

The Bible says we were dead in sin. Dead people can't respond to anything. They're dead. That's why the Bible uses that illustration, spiritually. So God has to first regenerate us, which means bring us to life spiritually, by giving us a new moral nature to be responsive to the gospel.

So that is the order of salvation that the Bible teaches us. But that is also not to say that there is any tension between the renovative benefits of Christ and the forensic ones, the legal ones, or between the objective and subjective benefits, right?

Or between the legal and relational benefits. Just because there's a logical priority to these doctrines, to these instances in our salvation, these events, does not mean that there's tension between them.

But it means, rather, that there's order and priority to them. In fact, it is the opposite. When you fail to prioritize these doctrines biblically and benefits, that is when you create unbiblical tensions between them, which leads to more serious errors and heresy and false gospels.

I also appreciate what the OPC report on justification has to say about this, too.

It says,.

There has never been any tension between the legal and the relational. As we see, not only in the relationship between the doctrines of justification and adoption, but also in the legal declaration that forms the basis, the foundation, the grounds, in other words, of the doctrine of adoption itself.

That legal basis being our justification. That's what it is based on. Our legal declaration of being perfectly guiltless and righteous before God, in Christ, in union with Christ. We are counted righteous in Him.

It continues, The doctrine of adoption strikingly bringing together the judicial, legal, and forensic with the relational, with the relational aspects and benefits of union with Christ. After all, being united to Christ, that is also a relational term.

Right?

It's a relational term in several different respects that I've covered. So, union with Christ, then, fully embraces and encompasses several doctrines that we cannot overlook or oversimplify. Because it is a shorthand.

It is a shorthand that encompasses and points to the entire doctrinal system of salvation. The order of salvation, as it's called, or the order of salutis. And more. And more. Again, including regeneration, justification, our calling, our election, predestination, adoption, sanctification, glorification.

It includes all of this. And also the order in which these are applied in time and logically applied or prioritized. So, and 1 Corinthians 1 .30, if you turn with me there, to the epistle of 1 Corinthians 1 .30, we'll see more of what the Apostle Paul has to say about that.

In 1 Corinthians 1 .30, God's Word speaks. But by His doing, whose doing is that? By His doing, by Christ's doing, you are in Christ, are united to Christ, are in union with Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom, the Greek sophos, knowledge, wisdom, saving knowledge from God, understanding, discernment, which we will see also later on in this passage in 1 John, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

So that just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Amen.

So all these benefits are God's doing, right? It's by His doing, not by our doing. By His doing, we have all of these benefits received by faith. We are justified, we are sanctified, we are glorified.

All of these things, we are righteous in Christ, counted righteous legally, and are actively progressive, being made righteous through our sanctification because of Him, because of God, the Triune God working together to redeem and restore us unto perfection and unto good works.

I also mentioned that union with Christ is a shorthand that represents our membership as believers in the New Covenant. It's a shorthand for membership in the New Covenant, in Christ. That's what that means in part.

In Christ, it means that we are members in the New Covenant who have been brought in by way of faith in the Gospel, not neglecting, of course, the entire chain because God called us first, right? God pre-chose and predestined us first, and He gave us the faith, and we received the faith, and are members then of the New Covenant.

In Christ, in the New Covenant, Christ is our new covenantal head or mediator, which is also referred to as a federal head. He represents us legally in this covenant. This is why it's important to recognize union with Christ as a covenantal union and a forensic one.

But in particular, to all the various relationships and benefits that we as believers receive and enjoy from, with, in, and in Christ as individuals and as the church, the body of Christ. There is also, however, and we cannot lose sight of this, again, this is why we have to study this carefully and not overlook things, because there is also the union that we enjoy with our Triune God as a whole, as a whole, with all three persons of the divine Godhead, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And there has also been discussion about how these divine benefits are mediated to us, not just, or administered through us, not just through Christ, but through the Spirit and the Father as well, such as conviction of sin, regeneration, because it's the Spirit that regenerates us and brings us to life.

And I actually talked about this, I discussed this at some length in the Lordship Salvation classes that I taught a few years back. And you can ask me about that later on if you'd like and I can send them to you to review those.

But nevertheless, nevertheless, Scripture still plainly, clearly teaches, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in who?

In Christ. In Christ. The Father did. In Christ. Just as He, the Father, chose us in Him.

In who?

In Christ, His Son. Before the foundation of the world. Before the foundation of the world. This is the decretal union that we have in Christ and in the Triune God. That we would be holy and blameless before Him in love by predestining us to adoption as sons.

Through who? Through Jesus Christ to Himself, to God, the Father, according to the good pleasure of His will. His will, not our will. It's His will that this happens. The reason this happens to us. To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us.

In who?

In the Beloved, with a capital B. The Beloved Son, in whom God, the Father, was well pleased. In Christ. That's Ephesians 1, 3 -6. So every spiritual blessing and benefit that we have is because we are in Christ in various different ways.

United to Him in the fullest sense of the term. Not just one union in particular. But remember too or bear in mind that our union with Christ also unites us to the entire Godhead. The entire Trinity. To the Father and to the Spirit as well.

In part because the Divine Persons are inseparable from each other. You can't separate the three Persons of the Trinity. They are one God. One God. One being of God. Three Persons but there is one God.

One will. One Divine Will. So you can't separate them. And never operate independently of each other. They do not operate independently of each other. So He then, the Father, who indeed did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.

How will He not also with Him graciously, again graciously by grace through faith. Not by anything we do. Give us all things. Everything. The entire inheritance of the universe. All things through His Son.

Romans 8 .32. That's a memory verse. That's a verse we should all memorize.

Amen?

Summary of 1 John 3 and the Call to Discernment

Now having said all that I want to now summarize for us chapter 3. Capstone this with a summary of much of what we covered in 1 John 3. And to do that I recruited some help from Matthew Henry's concise commentary.

Now I heartily recommend to you Matthew Henry's unabridged commentary which you can find online for free. You can also buy the multi-volume set. The one-volume set. We have the big fat one-volume set.

It's a little bit small print. Hard to read but anyway you can get it. The full unabridged version is the best one. That's a very helpful commentary to help you study the Bible and to understand it soundly.

And I need to provide a caveat here because the word concise, the words concise and abridged are often, they're bad words to me. Those are bad words. I don't like, I typically don't like concise or abridged works.

Because what that typically means is that it's someone else's pre-digested reading and condensed reading of what they thought was most important or relevant. And how do you know what was relevant or important to consider or not if you don't know what the full thing says.

So I don't typically like or recommend concise works or abridgments of original works. There may be a time and a place for that. Not everybody has time to read thousands of pages or hundreds of pages.

That's understandable. So at least if you can get something it's better than nothing. But be careful because sometimes these concise editions or abridgments are edited, they're edited by somebody else.

It's not necessarily by the author who did that. Sometimes the author does do that. Like Calvin wrote different versions of the Institutes of the Christian Religion. He wrote a French version and he wrote a Latin version.

The Latin version being a little bit more technical and robust than the French one.

So.

There is a place for that.

But.

Sometimes the concise commentaries especially of Matthew Henry they tend to be more Arminian renderings that massage out Matthew Henry's reformed Calvinist views. So you lose and sometimes even contradict what Matthew Henry actually taught in his commentaries.

So you just have to watch out for that.

Okay?

Be aware of that. But I thought this was helpful from the concise commentary.

It says.

To be born this is a summary of 1 John 3. To be born of God is to be inwardly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. And this is one of the renovative benefits.

We have.

By being united to Christ. Renewing grace is an abiding principle. Religion is not an art a matter of dexterity and skill but a new nature. And by new nature this does not mean what some make it out to mean like Paul Washer where it's like oh you're converted to something that's not human.

People are often sloppy with their words. We don't receive a new nature. We're still humans by nature. But more specifically this is referring to a new moral nature. A new moral nature. Our desires, our disposition, our convictions are renewed to align with God's Word from sin to God's Word now.

Like James 1 .27 says pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained unspotted by the world. Right? So that's sanctification.

And the quote continues here. And the regenerate person the person that has been born again in Christ through the Spirit cannot sin as he did before he was born of God. And as others do who are not born again.

Why is that? Because now there is that light in his mind which shows him the evil and malignity of his sin. Now there is conviction of sin and repentance of sin. There is that bias upon his heart which disposes him to loathe and hate sin now.

There is the spiritual principle that opposes sinful acts and the law of sin that Paul talks about in Romans 7 and on. And there is repentance for sin if committed and when it's committed.

Right?

It goes against him to sin with forethought. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. We do premeditate our sin even as believers. But it goes against our nature now. Our moral nature. It convicts us. It makes us feel the sorrow.

Godly sorrow leading to repentance now. A change of conviction to turn away from it and to mortify it. Put it to death. It goes against him to sin with forethought. The children of God like Abel remember that?

And the children of the devil like Cain have their distinct characters. Characteristics. Identifiable traits that we can identify them with. The seed of the serpent, the devil, are known by neglect of religion.

Neglect of it. And by their hating real Christians. Much like Cain did. He only is righteous before God as a justified believer who is taught and disposed to righteousness by the Holy Spirit. Or like verse 24 says, by the Spirit whom he gave us.

In verse 24. And which abides in him with the anointing of truth because he believes, because he has received the gift of faith alone, in Christ alone, and his gospel, his word. That was my added commentary there.

My two cents. He continues. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. May all professors of the gospel lay these truths to heart and try or prove themselves by them.

Amen.

So I thought that was a pretty good overall summary of what we covered in chapter 3 of 1st John. Now, that brings us to 1st John chapter 4 verse 1. If you turn back with me there to 1st John chapter 4 and verse 1, I want to begin by asking us this question.

What is discernment? What is discernment according to God and his word? Ask yourselves this as we read this verse. In 1st John chapter 4 verse 1. The Lord speaks and says to us,.

Beloved,.

Beloved, you who believe, do not believe, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Into the world.

Okay?

First thing to note here, I want to bring your attention to the connected transition and flow of thought that you see here from verse 24 of the previous chapter because verse 24 says, We know, we know by this that he abides in us by the spirit whom he gave us.

Right?

And chapter 4 verse 1 continues with that thought and says, Beloved, however, do not believe every spirit. So yes, we know, we know by this that he abides in us from the spirit whom he gave us from the spirit whom he gave us.

But that doesn't mean that you should believe every spirit.

Right?

Do not believe every spirit then, but test, examine, discern the spirits.

Why?

To see whether they are from God. Because why? Again, why? Because many false, many false prophets have gone out into the world and into the church, which 1st John also talks about in chapter 2, which I preached on a few months back on antichrist, which will come out.

You will see that theme here again repeating itself. So John explains to us what discernment is here. Discernment is testing. It is testing, examining, discerning. In this case, the spirits to see what, but but is for a specific reason.

It is to see whether they are from God or whether they are from the false prophets of which there are many. So that the word here for test, you will see over and over again in scripture. It's the word.

Doki Mazdo, Doki Mazdo. And this word means allow, approve, approved, past tense, discern, discerner, which is what we should be. We are called to be discernment, examination, examine, to examine, prove, to prove something to be true.

Like the Bereans did refuse or reject, try or try. Now, now again, we have to be careful not to oversimplify what the Bible teaches because discernment can mean different things in scripture. OK, I don't want us to lose sight of this.

Discern. So sometimes like in the Old Testament can simply mean to observe, to observe, such as Proverbs 7, 7. I discerned among the youths. I observed something among the youths. Or it can also mean discriminating, discriminating knowledge, knowledge that distinguishes different things, such as in Ecclesiastes 8, 5.

A wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment. He understands and distinguishes what time and judgment are. And in the New Testament, there's various different words that are used sometimes interchangeably, such as the word that I mentioned, dokimazdo and anakrino and diakrino.

These are all words that are very similar, very closely related, which also refer to judgment, judging, judicial estimation of something, to pass judgment in a good sense and in a bad sense. So in this sense, it refers to close and distinct acquaintance with or critical knowledge of things, of different things.

So discernment, discernment, especially in the sense that John is using it here, is the sound judgment, the sound judgment which makes possible the distinguishing of good from evil, to which I would add truth from error, and the recognition of God's right ways for his people, and to which I would add, as well as the wrong ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil, of Antichrist.

It is necessary for the understanding of spiritual realities, and on a practical level, for right government and the avoidance of life's pitfalls. That's from the Logos Factbook. And I was like, okay, that's a pretty decent definition, but it leaves out the both and.

And it also says it's the sound judgment which makes possible the distinguishing of good and evil, but discernment is the distinguishing of good and evil. We just saw the definitions. Discernment is to distinguish and differentiate and judge between good and evil, truth from error.

That is discernment as well. And then I found a slightly better, a better definition, actually a much better definition from the Topical Bible on BibleHub. This one says, the term discern in the Bible refers to the ability, okay?

So this is more correct. The ability to perceive, distinguish, or judge something clearly and accurately, clearly and accurately, truthfully, truthfully.

Why?

So that you may approve, right? You may test, you may approve, judge, rightly, discern. Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped ahead here. I got ahead of myself. So yeah, to judge something accurately and clearly, it involves a deep understanding and insight.

Listen to this. That goes beyond mere surface level observation or knowledge. Beyond mere surface level, superficial understanding. Remember what I preached a few weeks back. Do not be like my son's crab, like Jack the shallow crab, who sadly died not too long ago.

He was just too shallow. If you're shallow, you're not going to make it. So don't be shallow. The Bible commands us and calls us to go deep into the faith and to knowledge and discernment and understanding.

That is one of our main priorities. You do not understand the Bible and the Christian life if you do not realize that. The main priority and duty of us as Christians is to know God and His Word rightly.

And in order to do that, we must discern truth from error. So, that got me preaching a little bit, but that's okay, because I guess this is a sermon after all. Now, they continue in the quote. Discernment is often associated with wisdom and spiritual insight, enabling individuals to differentiate between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, or good and evil.

Discernment is a recurring theme in the Scriptures, emphasizing the importance of spiritual insight and understanding. It is considered a gift from God. A gift from God. Essential. Essential. That means necessary.

Necessary for making wise decisions and living a life that aligns with His will. With His will.

Amen.

Amen.

This is a much better definition.

Amen.

So, turn with me to see some scriptural teaching on this. Turn with me to Isaiah 14, verse 9. Isaiah 14, verse 9. God's Word speaks to us and says, Whoever is wise, so let him do what? Discern these things.

Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of Yahweh are right and true, and the righteous will walk in them consequently, because they have discernment. But transgressors will stumble in them.

Transgressors cannot live the ways of Yahweh because they don't have discernment. Let's jump over to the New Testament now. In Philippians 1, verse 9. This is really good stuff. Philippians 1, verse 9.

Here we see the double-edged sword of God's Word say, And this I pray. The Apostle Paul prays that your love may abound still more and more in full knowledge and all what? All discernment. All discernment.

Why?

So that you may approve. There's that word again.

Approve.

Judge rightly. Discern. This is the same word that was used earlier in 1 John. Dokimazden. Dokimazden. The same exact word. Discern the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and without fault until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through.

Who?

Jesus Christ. How is that? By virtue of our union with him.

Well, what? What?

Verse 24 in chapter 3 just talks about to the glory and praise of God.

So.

So then let's get what it says. So that you may approve what is excellent. The things that are excellent. You need discernment so that you may approve what is excellent.

And not only that,.

But in order to. In order to be sincere and without fault as well until the day of Christ, in order to live rightly, you must discern. You must discern. Discernment is not a gift that only some Christians have.

Those who lack discernment, lack knowledge, and those who lack knowledge will err and may err to the point of not even being Christians. A Christian by definition must have discernment because God is a spirit of truth and a spirit of discernment who discerns the word of God, discerns it cuts to the heart and it discerns the thoughts.

It's a spirit of discernment that God gives us to also know truth from lies and good from evil and the false spirits of the false prophets.

Right?

So this is a really important point that 1st John chapter 3 verse 24 highlights for us as well that in addition to this verse and chapter 4 verse 1 these verses specifically chapter 4 verse 1 further highlight one of the primary themes and contrasts of the 1st letter of John.

Truth and error. True and false believers. God and antichrist. Christ and antichrists.

Plural.

Light and darkness. These are one of the main themes of Paul's letter and illustrations that he uses. So with that beloved I want to leave us with these powerful words from the Lord and his word and we'll close out in a word of prayer to ask God for discernment for us to discern these things more and more biblically.

Let us bow our heads. Our gracious Lord and Heavenly Father we thank you so much for Christ your Son who has given us all things.

Lord.

You Lord the triune God who has given us all things by way of your Son his life and death his perfect work that has declared us righteous before you through the faith the gift of faith that you have given us Father.

We thank you so much Lord for the power of your word and of your spirit. You've given us everything we need Lord for life and godliness through the knowledge of your Son and union with him. Father help us to receive these truths and to dig deep into them to not be foolish or superficial in our understanding but to be deep and discerning.

Lord give us the spirit and power of discernment. Father help us all to grow in this necessary thing of discernment that you require of all of us that you command all of us to have to deepen our knowledge as well and to know truth from error right from wrong good from evil.

Father we thank you Lord for these precious truths and we ask these things in Jesus almighty.

All powerful.

All discerning name above all names.

Amen.

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