Informed Faith Comes First | 1 John 3:23-24

And welcome beloved once again to another Lord's Day a blessed Lord's Day turn with me to first John chapter 3

We've been covering the past several weeks first John chapter 3 we'll start in verse 21 honey

First John chapter 3 verse 21 God's Word says beloved if our heart does not condemn us.

We have confidence before God. Thank you And whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight 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

Amen so I Have another confession to make

I I thought I was going to finish up the chapter this week

But I started digging in once again and sure enough. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna get to verse 24

All right, so it's another it's gonna be another deep dive But I'm really excited about it to present to present this to you all lots of good stuff in here so A lot of this like I said, it's gonna be based on verse 23 the basic theme being faith comes first first believe and It's gonna be a deep dive.

So gird your minds for action like first Peter 113 says

Now by way of recapping for a little bit from last week We saw how

Christ himself admonishes us to have the right balance and right priorities

Right balance and my priorities that's in large part what Christianity the Christian life is all about having the right balance

Doctrinally spiritually Naturally, etc, and the right priorities and We saw that just as you cannot love a right

Without sound doctrine, which would be the weightier provisions of the law So you cannot pray a right without sound doctrine

You cannot live a right without sound doctrine. You cannot believe a right without Sound doctrine.

You cannot believe a right in the name of his son Jesus Christ like verse 23 tells us without sound

Doctrine, I hope you see the pattern there, right? and In order to pray rightly in a manner that pleases

God you need knowledge Faith or trust which are the same?

humility persistence patience these are some of the key ingredients to praying rightly and And Contrary to what a lot of popular

Movements tell you and and modern more modern Theologies tell you

There's there's more to prayer than just pouring your heart out and describing how you feel There's more to it than just that going against the notion that Kierkegaard put forth that it's not so much about the external what but the internal how and And There's more to prayer than just being sincere

There's more to prayer than just being sincere. It doesn't matter how sincere you are if you're praying to an idol

Right. So there's obviously more to prayer than just sincerity Or if you're not even praying for the right things right, so Again, just just to prove so it just goes to show very clearly there

That our prayers must be must be informed and guided by Scripture just as our faith must be informed and guided by Scripture and Keeping his commandments

We saw is not just about doing right and not doing wrong It's more than just doing and not doing

It's first and foremost about believing Believing in the name of his son

Jesus Christ We are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe agree with the truth

Just like Jesus said in Mark 1 14 repent and believe the gospel the

Word of Christ his his gospel now

Back in verse 23 I'll go ahead and reread that And this is his commandment that we first believe in the name of his son

Jesus Christ and consequently therefore 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 and He in him so Faith always comes first Always comes first then good works follow

Then we do good works in keeping with this saving repentance and faith like the

Bible speaks to We have to also always remember to distinguish the difference between the gospel itself

Which is promise it's what God has done for us and the command to believe the gospel

Which is what we must do in light of it in light of the gospel. They are not the same thing

They cannot be conflated like many teachers in the

Lord's of salvation Can't do They are not the same thing and I wanted to correct a misstatement that I made last week as well about I Said that obedience follows faith, but that's not that's not right.

That's not quite right Because believing itself is the first act of obedience

Believing is an act of obedience Even though our belief is not our good work.

It's not a work It is the work of God rather like John 6 29 says

Right. It's the work of God. This is the work of God that you believe in his son because Without faith first and foremost without being united to Christ by faith through faith by his spirit

It is impossible to please him in any way Because whatever is not from faith is sin plain and simple and I really appreciate how

Our confession in the London Baptist Confession speaks to this in chapter 16 of good works of good works paragraph 3 says

The ability of believers to do good works does not in any way come from themselves but entirely from the

Spirit of Christ and Our union with him as well to enable them to do good works

Besides the graces they have already received They require the actual influence of the

Holy Spirit to cause them to will and to do his good pleasure That's quoting back from Philippians that it is

God who works in us Yet they are not on this account to become negligent

Nor to think they are not required to perform a duty unless given a special impulse of the

Spirit And that's going against this pietism where oh, well, I have to send something

I have to get some kind of feeling or from the Spirit to to do something. It's like no

There are things that have clearly been laid out in the word that we are commanded to do regardless of how we feel

Rather they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them that is in them in us

Now paragraph 6 of the same chapter also further adds Yet although believers are accepted as individual people through Christ and in Christ in union with him

Their good works also are accepted in Christ in Union with him.

It is not as though in this life. They were entirely blameless and beyond censure or Or judgment in God's sight, but that he looks upon them in his son in his son

Through the lens of us being united to him So when he sees us he sees his son working in us and is pleased to accept and reward what is sincere even though it is accompanied by many weaknesses and Imperfections and to that we are out of shout

Hallelujah, praise God, right? It is God who works in us now

Public service announcement number one very important here There is there is no difference oftentimes between believing in the name of his son

Jesus Christ or believing in Christ or believing

Christ himself or Believing the words of Christ All of those are used in Scripture they all tend to be synonymous they tend to mean the same thing

Okay To believe the name of Christ to believe in Christ to believe

Christ to believe What did I miss to believe his words to believe his words is

To believe that is all the same is to believe his words his message his teaching his doctrine

That's what it means There may however be a difference in one particular sense that is important to clarify

When you believe someone You Might not necessarily mean that you always believe them

You might just believe that particular statement that they said But when you believe in someone

Can mean that you will always believe him now and in the future

Okay, so that that could be an important distinction that you could make That you always believe them as opposed to just believing that one thing that particular thing and not necessarily other things that they say so and I I really

Highly recommend and encourage you all to get Gordon's Clark's book. What is saving faith?

It's actually on sale Right now from the Trinity Foundation. I highly encourage you to get that book where he speaks a lot more about this, but It is very important to understand biblically

John 6 63 says the spirit of God the spirit is the one who gives life

Remember, this is echoing what first John 3 24 says we know by the

Spirit by the Spirit We know we know by this that he abides in us by the

Spirit whom he gave us That the flesh profits nothing but the words themselves

The words the very words of Christ that I have spoken to you are

Spirit and our life The words of Christ our spirit and our life

Just as Christ himself said what did he say? I am the what the way the truth the life in the same way his words our spirit and our life

Just as the gospel is the power of God unto salvation unto eternal life

Amen very important to understand and It's often very misunderstood today

Jesus even equates himself with his words

Quite explicitly in addition to what I've already stated turn with me to John chapter 5 verse 46

In the gospel of John chapter 5 Verse 46 here in the beloved apostles gospel

We find something extraordinarily revealing about Christ and about man and about our words

God's Word says our Lord says for if you believed Moses if you believed him

Moses Himself you would believe me Why for he wrote about me?

But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

My words My words Believing Christ believing him is the same thing as believing his words my words just as believing

Moses is Believing what he wrote Same thing same thing public service announcement number two now do not be misled when people say

That true faith is not believing things about Christ But rather believing

Christ himself or in Christ Do not be misled

When people tell you that true faith is not believing things about Christ, but believing

Christ himself That is false that is a false unbiblical distinction and this goes hand in hand with the very pietistic sentiments of You must trust the person

Rather than believe an impersonal creed or propositions Trust the living person not the impersonal creed or propositions this

I hope you see is nonsense according to God's Word now before we

Continue here. We need to understand what a proposition is because the

Bible is full of them a Proposition is a declarative sentence or Logically speaking the meaning of a declarative sentence such as God is holy

God is true God is righteous. God is good.

Those are all declarative sentences Those are propositions however

What did Jesus tell us? What did Jesus say he said that believing him

Believing Christ is believing what Moses wrote about him wrote about Christ right

There's no distinction there. It's the same thing Believing Christ to believe

Christ in other words is to believe Propositions that are about him that are true

He is God. He is man He came to live a perfect life and die a sacrificial propitiatory wrath

Satisfying death for sinners. Those are all propositions that you must believe in order to be saved

That is what it means to believe him. Very important that we understand this and Just to top it off How can you know and believe

Christ? apart from his words How can you possibly know?

and believe Christ apart from his words You can't

You can't you cannot right Mystics may tell you otherwise.

They may tell you oh I had it's you know, some some ineffable inexplicable mystical encounter where you just Christ is in you and you just You're in Christ and knowledge and I'm gonna get to we're gonna get to that when we cover union with Christ But that's nonsense.

That's nonsense. That is utterly against what the Bible teaches about What it means to believe

Christ It means to believe his words and what the other biblical authors wrote about Christ That are all true

It's about believing his propositions Now, I really appreciate how

Gordon Clark explains some of this very important Distinctions here and and definitions

Belief is the voluntary assent the voluntary assent meaning the willing the willing a

Census in the Latin is a census to give a cent to agree with to an understood proposition to an understood declarative sentence

Which in other words is knowledge or in the Latin is notitia knowledge

And when we say we believe a man or believe in a man we mean

We mean that We mean that We accept as true what he says

What he tells us what he says hence when we believe

Jesus name We mean that we believe what he said

What he said About everything about himself about us about everything

It's to believe his words His words, amen now

When you trust someone When you trust someone with an informed faith a

Knowledgeable faith not a blind faith You believe what they say is true and That they will keep their word

They say what they mean and mean what they say unlike the hypocrites the

Pharisees who Honored Christ with their lips, but inwardly their hearts were far far from him, right?

That's not somebody who you can trust who is Believable or trustworthy because they are lying to you.

They are deceiving you they are hypocrites and May them be deceiving themselves self -deceive blind guides leading the blind into a

Pit now again

Contrary to what people will tell you after all

How can you possibly trust someone that you do not even know how can you trust somebody that you do not know

What a mom always tell us mom and dad always tells never trust a stranger

That is sound biblical counsel You should never trust a stranger

You don't know who they are and that's why implicit faith is false faith without understanding is not faith at all

Blind faith is no faith at all Because in order to believe something you have to understand it in order to accept something as true

You have to understand what it means if you don't understand it. You cannot accept it.

You cannot believe it And I know many of us have heard otherwise and don't you worry we are going to deal with it right now

Take for example Abraham as a prime example of Faith of what faith looks like true faith looks like right if you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11 to the famous hall of faith the hall of faith here we find a very important Very important understanding of what

God means by Believing and having faith and what it looks like You see because Abraham did not know where he was going

He didn't know where God was taking him When God told him to leave Canaan Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8

God's Word says by faith Abraham when he was called

Obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance

And he went out not knowing where he was going

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob fellow heirs of the same promise

For he was looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is

God himself Amen now

Did that just contradict everything that I previously stated? well

Let's put me to the test Does this mean that Abraham had a blind faith?

The answer is an unequivocal Unhypocritical Unassailable Unescapable no, it is no no no by no means

Why why do I say that? Why do I say that even though Abraham didn't because it says he didn't know where he was going.

He didn't know Where he was going however

Abraham did know something else or someone else rather He knew

God himself He knows God himself He knew who

God is His attributes his love his faithfulness his power and therefore trusted

God's providence and will Because he knew who God is

That's why he stepped out in faith not knowing where God was going to take him because he trusted

God Because he knew who God is That's why there is no such thing as blind faith

No such thing as blind faith you have to know what you're believing to be true

Is God true Abraham certainly thought so and that's why he stepped out and trusted

God in faith Because if you jump now to verse 17 in Hebrews 11

God explains to us exactly this

That by faith Abraham once again when he was tested offered up Isaac Offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son his only son of promise that is

To whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called Now what is what is he what is

God telling us here? He is talking about Abraham's descendants coming from Isaac and Yet God told him to offer up Isaac and sacrifice him

There's a bit of a dilemma here, right? how can you have descendants from a son that you're supposed to offer up and and sacrifice and death

That's the dilemma that this verse is presenting but What happened what happened with Abraham?

He considered something he considered and the word there in Greek is very revealing the

Greek word is Logisomenos Logisomenos from which we get the word.

It's the word logos the logos Which is Christ himself?

the logi son he Logisomenos he reasoned carefully

Intellectually with an informed faith What what exactly did he read that he reasoned carefully?

That God is able to raise people even from the dead even from death

Because why because he had an informed knowledgeable faith in who God is

That God is powerful enough to raise people from the dead and to give them life

Amen Hallelujah, praise God right, this is the faith of Abraham the informed faith of Abraham from and then the verse continues from which figuratively speaking he also received him back because the angel came and stopped him and Said hey

There's no need God provided the the ram as a sacrifice so Because once again

God is Sovereign God is providential

God provides God is all -powerful and God is faithful He is always faithful To keep his word and his promises to us

Who believe in him and to those who don't believe as well because he promises them to punish them in eternal hellfire

God is faithful on every front all of this then

Consequently informs it informs our faith and our understanding of union with Christ of union with Christ and What it means?

So I guess I will at least get a chance to start on verse 24

So that's exciting We have to now what are we what does this mean?

What does union with Christ mean? Let's read let's go back to 1st

John chapter 3 in verse 24 1st

John chapter 3 verse 24 God's Word says 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

Amen So I want to repeat that with some drive -by comments here in verse 24 again and the one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him and because of him

We cannot neglect or ignore the rest of the chapter that came before it or the rest of the letter or the rest of the

Bible It's not because of keeping our commandments. It's because of Christ What Christ has done for us and in us?

Because of our union with Christ and his anointing of truth We know by this

That he abides in us by or from The Spirit whom he gave us

Whom he gave us he gave the Spirit to us how freely by grace through faith alone alone alone

Like the Reformation Powerfully proclaimed to the entire world.

It is all by the grace mercy of God alone and to his glory alone now

Okay This this this passage here this teaches us twofold sense of union with Christ there is a universal union with Christ, but also a particular union with him a

Personal one through faith by his spirit by his anointing of truth by the faith that he gives us as a gift and This personal union is evidenced by it is revealed it is manifested

By our obedience to his commandments That's how it's evidenced

Just like James chapter 2 also teaches us So there's a universal

Union with Christ because we are all united to Christ universally

Because we are all the body parts of the body of Christ Which is one body not many there is one faith one

Lord one spirit one body one baptism Amen, so This is

Very important To Understand have an informed faith about once again

Appreciate once again what Gordon Clark Explains here as well. He says the

New Testament does indeed teach a mutual indwelling a mutual indwelling of both

Christ and the believer of Christ and the believer because it says

He who keeps his commandments abides in him and he also in him There is a very real sense

Clark continues in which minds in which minds in which inner man souls

Interpenetrate interlock Interpenetrate Why because we believe the same things the same truths in?

1st Corinthians 2 16 Paul asserts that Quote we have the mind of Christ.

We have the mind of Christ. What does that mean? Christ dwells in us and we in him by our thinking and believing his doctrines his words his propositions his truths

As John says in his gospel 851 he who maintains he who keeps my doctrine and I think the word there is once again my logos

Shall not see death ever ever

Now this is a very careful very precise explanation

Because the abiding in this verse has to be mutual it's mutual

Meaning that it must be true in both cases the fact that we abide in Christ and that Christ abides in us both have to be true in the same sense and They must correspond to Christ and to us in the same respect

That's why it's a mutual in dwelling consequently then this verse does not

Really refer to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us Because that is true the

Holy Spirit regenerates us and dwells in us writ in a real sense physically and Spiritually dwells in us and seals us to redemption

He seals our redemption But that's not what this is referring to because our spirits do not dwell in Christ the same way

Okay, our spirits do not go and dwell in Christ God spirit dwells in us, but our spirit doesn't dwell in that literal sense in Christ spiritually speaking rather This is exactly what

Clark explains. This is referring to a doctrinal unity of mind

It is a doctrinal unity of mind of conviction of Truth it is intellectual

It is belief. It is faith. It is knowledge of the truth

That's what it's referring to and my oh my

You would almost think That God wouldn't dare to say such things in light of what so many people say today

That oh, you can have all this head knowledge and you can you know, it's not enough to to just believe in your head.

You must Feel it in your heart You must feel it in your bloodstream and all this nonsense that people say

That's what this verse is exactly telling us it is referring primarily to the fact that those who

Keep the commandments of God Evidence the reality that they share the same knowledge as Christ does

Not all of it not comprehensively not perfectly but some things that we believe are true and Are what

Christ himself also taught and holds to those are the weightier matters of the word and of the law to believe the truth

That's what saves us That is what saves us. What is the gospel itself after all?

What is the gospel the gospel is not a command to surrender yourself to Christ. That's a command

That's a law. The gospel is a collection of propositions That says what that describes what

Christ did for us already on our behalf Christ died for our sins

Christ was buried for our sins Christ was raised because of our justification

That's What it means? So we cannot fall into the error and the dangerous error of Downgrading or downplaying the importance of knowledge to the

Christian faith and the Christian life It is it is fundamental to everything else

Everything else prayer sanctification holiness everything else is contingent upon our

Understanding of the truth or a lack thereof or a lack thereof

That beloved is I hope very clear for us Today, and I know much of this is not is not necessarily new

From what we've already addressed before because the Bible repeatedly emphasizes these very things

How Christ admonishes us to have a right balance and the right priorities faith comes first knowledge a right understanding of who

God is of what man is who man is of what salvation is of law and gospel

What law and gospel is and how they are distinguished and applied?

That's what this all really boils down to And the fact that there is no difference oftentimes between believing in the name of his

Son or Believing in Christ or believing Christ or believing the words of Christ Except in the specific sense of when you want to say that you believe what a

Person specifically said as opposed to believing in a person and always believe what they say

So once again, do not be misled When people tell you that true faith is not

Believing things about Christ but believing Christ himself. That is that is in a very dangerous sense denying the gospel

Because the gospel is things about Christ It's about him and what he did

Amen, and I hope you better understand from the example of the life of Abraham how he modeled what it means to have an exemplary

Quintessential informed faith in spite of the fact that we may not always know the future or What the circumstances will bring or what

God will Put us through But we know who

God is and that Should give us comfort If you know who

God is that should come for you No matter what the situation is that you go through because if you know who

God is then you know that Romans 8 28 You can claim that promise for yourself that all things no matter how bad no matter how good no matter how ugly

No matter how indifferent all things Ultimately work together for your good

For those that love God and are called according to his purpose Amen Now I actually did not quite define the union with Christ yet So I failed me in that Regard don't worry

Lord willing Next Lord's Day stay tuned for that but at least

I At least made the distinction there that there is a universal union with Christ and then there is a particular

Union with Christ with Christ that is important to understand and Distinguish biblically

Okay now beloved I hope this Word from God has blessed you.

Let us now bow our heads in a word of prayer our precious

Heavenly Father We thank you Lord so much for your truths your propositions your promises

Lord that you have given us By means of Christ's words deliver to us in Your sacred word in the sacred scriptures in the

Holy Bible Father God that you have you have preserved for us for all this time

You have never left us without a witness without a Way to connect with you directly to you directly

Father God By your means by your word by your spirit and by the channel of prayer

Father God rightly understood in light of your word Lord, we thank you and for the church as well father

How you use the church in such a precious way to be salt and light and to be the pillar and buttress of the truth in this wicked

Degenerating world and society that we endure

For a time Lord we thank you for these precious truths. We ask that you help us to Make good and proper sense of them in light of your word

Teach us father and show us Your word and your doctrines and your propositions and how to balance them

Properly and accordingly logically in light of your word

We thank you father and we ask these things in Jesus precious in the name of your son

Jesus Christ the Holy One of Israel Amen Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown covenant

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