The Moral Test
1 John
The Letters of John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Max A Forsythe
Introduction: In our series on
First John we have understood from our earlier expositions of this letter that
John is testing the Christians of his time with three questions. This is no pop
quiz for our touchy feely generation, to make people feel good. No indeed, there is a depth to the questions
here that would challenge our heart felt feelings to produce a form of godliness
as a sublime proof of a true religious affection to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse twenty-eight reminds me of the regular
inspections held by the military. The
higher the officer, the more scrambling we had to do to persuade our leaders
that we were truly ready for an accounting. So here we have the God of all the earth
personified in Christ reviewing our spiritual progress. And that progress must continually be focused
upon the purpose and place of Christ.
The appearance of personal holiness cannot be accomplished apart from
the work of the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. In that same sense Calvin encourages us first
to realize “that we are spiritually begotten after
the likeness of Christ; it hence follows, that no one is born of Christ but he
who lives righteously.”
Second, as we move into the first verse of chapter
three, we should appreciate, as Calvin admonishes us to know: “the dignity and
excellency of our calling; for it was not common honor, he says, that the heavenly
Father bestowed on us, when he adopted us as his children. This being so great a favor, the desire for
purity ought to be kindled in us, so as to be conformed to his image; nor,
indeed can it be otherwise, but that he who acknowledges himself to be one of
God’s children should purify himself.” To put it more succinctly, John: “means that the more abundantly God’s goodness has been
manifested towards us, the greater are our obligations to him.”
Pastor Barnes puts the thought here in another
perspective. In his opening comments on
this scripture portion, he discusses the resemblance of children to their
parents and even earlier generations of the same family. He goes on to apply that perspective: “In God’s family too there is a family likeness [and] having become God’s
children, we must then grow in the family likeness and in the hope that God has
given his children.”
Development: How we show that
likeness and how we resemble the Son of God is the important issue before us in
these three questions! Of the three questions: morality, social relationships
and doctrine, today's examination of the moral test is really the easiest. If
you want to hear the difficult question of doctrine, you'll have to come back
in two weeks, or have me send you a copy!
Now, the proof of belonging to Christ is not merely believing the right
doctrines. Believers ought regularly to conduct themselves well. This portion
of John's epistle examines the impact of the first and second comings of our
Lord Jesus Christ upon our behavior. Verses
The first argument that John gives here is the fact
that we expect Jesus to return at any time. It is this type of expectation,
which keeps the number of sincerely practicing Jewish alcoholics at a minimum.
For many practicing Jews the worst thing that could ever happen is for the
Messiah to come and be so dead drunk that the end of the age would be over
before you realized it. Believe me, I
think that even drunks will know when our Messiah suddenly appears, and the
final trumpet is sounded, when all heaven breaks loose. After all, we are
promised that even the dead will be raised.
The moral expectation that we should practice here
is much like having a home for sale. Your salesman tells you “I might be able
to just give you a couple hours notice before bringing someone in!" Can't
you see yourself for the first few weeks least, keeping everything spotless in
expectation? This is how we should anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ at the
end of the age. We should make more than just a minimal effort to clean up our
lives! We should try to better reflect the righteousness of Jesus Christ. How do we do that?
Some people, in many of the fundamentalist churches
have long lists of no-no's that become a way of life. I remember a deacon in
one of those congregations who refused to wrestle with difficult questions and
issues and pleaded: "Just tell me what not to do, so I can get to heaven
with a minimum of fuss". Well my friends,
it just isn't that easy! When our Lord appears we will be expected to have
played a very real part in purifying ourselves from the power of sin not the
symptoms. Have you ever taken huge doses
of over-the-counter cold remedies only to have the cold drag on and on? Yes, very many of the medications can ease
the symptoms but it cannot cure the cold.
This is because there are a limited number of cold viruses and until you
catch them all, and build up immunity you will continue to catch them one by
one. This is why older people have fewer
colds than younger people, because over the years they have had just about all
of them. In the same way, our struggles
with sin are not to be focused upon avoiding a handful of selected vices. After all, even the pagans can maintain the
appearance of virtue. This is why the mere outward appearance of a godly life
can leave our soul dreadfully polluted on the inside. The true morality examined in this quiz
involves our relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ.
This brings us to John's second argument where the
mere symptoms of sin are cast aside to focus our attention upon the cure for
our sinfulness! Look carefully at verse four "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness" A traffic
cop I once knew says that almost everyone he ever stopped was more upset with
being caught than with having broken the law. Very many of the amoral students
today seem to think that being caught doing something wrong is the only factor
that makes their action wrong! Did you catch the implication of that statement?
Some people hold themselves back from criminal behavior only because of the
possible embarrassment of being caught.
In their hearts, they are still lawless.
So it is theologically as well!
If the fear of God is the primary motivation for not sinning, then the
sinner is very far from the
The moral test here in John's letter involves our
motivation for behaving well and doing good. In Christ's death and resurrection, we are
saved from lawlessness and the fruits of that spiritual rebirth: includes a
loving faithfulness in obeying the laws of Christ. Instead of fearing God and
doing right, we do right because we now enjoy doing so. Yes, very many of you
are much better than your riotous neighbors, but why is that? Is it because you enjoy being righteous, or
is it because you would rather not get caught in gross sinful situations? Here
is the question you can ask yourselves to see if you pass this particular
issue. Do you want to live like your neighbors? Do you feel that the minimal
righteousness you have would be better traded for the lawlessness of the
worldly? You see it is the desire of your heart that is of so much
importance.
Let me try to explain it again in this way. We may
take the word moral, which the dictionary defines as being able to express or
conform to a conception of right behavior. That is, a moral person knows what
is right and chooses to do it. An immoral person also knows what is right, but
chooses not to do it. Both of these people can be saved. The one who is in real danger is the very
modern amoral person who doesn't believe anything is either right or wrong.
This attitude identifies the sons and daughters of Satan. Verse eight tells us "the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the
works of the devil." By
the power of God's Holy Spirit, those who belong to Christ may be cleansed,
because of the fact of His first coming, dying and raising from the dead. By the fact of those accomplishments, the
works of the devil are destroyed and eventually so will all of those who follow
the desires of the flesh and avoid the cleansing power freely offered through
Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: But let us be realistic in our
assumptions and experience. The Apostle
tells us in verse nine: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s
seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of
God. By this it is evident who are the children of God.” Calvin
gives us this explanation: “Now, we must consider whether God wholly regenerates us
at once, or whether the remains of the old man continue in us until death. If regeneration is not as yet full and
complete, it does not exempt us from the bondage of sin except in proportion to
its own extent. It hence appears that it
cannot be but that the children of God are not free from sins, and that they
daily sin, that is, as far as they have still some remnants of their old nature.
Nevertheless, what the Apostle contends for stands unalterable, that the
design of regeneration is to destroy sin, and that all who
are born of God lead a righteous and holy life, because the Spirit of God
restrains the lusting of sin.” This means
nothing more than the sovereignty of the Spirit in our lives, even as the world
is so ruled by Christ. Thus, we may understand
that while sin abides – we are not to be controlled by it. Neither are we within the world to leave the
Kingdom of the Spirit and live as the worldly do. There is a certain refuge not only in the
Church, but also in the Spirit and Person of Christ who not only delivers us
from the punishment for sin, but also as we are sanctified from an overriding
interest therein. May the ongoing
presence of the Spirit make Himself manifest in this regard and lead us on to
submit more and more of our lives and thoughts and desires to the Lordship of
Christ. Amen.
Resources Used:
Barnes, Peter. Welwyn
Commentary Series: Knowing Where We Stand.
Calvin, John. The
Comprehensive John Calvin Collection (Ages Software).
Stott, John. Tyndale
New Testament Commentaries: Epistles of John.
Good News Publishers. The
Holy Bible: English Standard Version.
Copyright (C) 2002 Christ
Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in
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