1 John 3:1-3:10 - That You May Know

It is so good to be with you here today. If you are a guest with us, my name is Brad. If we have not met yet, it is a privilege to be with you. A special welcome, of course, to those joining us in person, those over at our Fig Garden campus, or those joining us online. I am so thankful that technology allows us to be together in two places at once.

If you missed last week, you missed what some would call a “heater.” My friend Mike threw one high and toward the chin. If you don’t know that baseball metaphor, it means it stung a little bit. If you look at chapter two, John is making assertions that are incredibly strong. He says that by this we know we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.

1 John 2:3 (NASB)

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Then he follows it up in verse four by saying that the one who says, “I have come to know Him,” but doesn’t keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:4 (NASB)

The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

If that doesn’t brush you off the plate a little bit, I don’t know what will. John is saying that if you say you are in Christ, then live like you’re in Christ. If you don’t live like you’re in Christ, you may not actually be in Christ. That is hard. Paul says in Second Corinthians to test yourself and examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB)

Test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?

There is a phenomenon that was true in John’s day and is true in ours as well: it is possible to be around the things of God for years and years, but never truly embrace the gospel. If your life doesn’t reflect Him, it’s not just an issue of behavior; it may be an issue of identity.

The Meaning of Belief

Thankfully, John tells us later in his letter that this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He or she who has the Son has life, and he or she who does not have the Son does not have life. He writes these things to those who believe so that we may know we have eternal life.

1 John 5:11-13 (NASB)

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

That word “believe” is important because it doesn’t mean just an acknowledgment; it means an experiential knowledge. It’s like this: if I said there is a chair here and I believe it’s a chair, that’s one thing. But to actually sit in it—that’s the kind of belief John is talking about. To follow Jesus is to believe in the finished work of Christ and to begin a journey of walking with Him.

In chapter two, John writes to encourage people who are already in Christ. He is very affirming. He writes to the “little children” because their sins are forgiven, to the “fathers” because they know Him, and to the “young men” because they are strong.

1 John 2:12-14 (NASB)

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Last week, Mike mentioned the danger on either side of the gospel. One is “front-loading” the gospel—the heresy that you have to jump through hoops to earn salvation. We know that even our best deeds are like filthy rags before a holy God. We come just as we are to the cross.

But there is also the temptation to “back-load” the gospel, which is something we often struggle with here at The Well. It’s called moralism. It’s the idea that once we are saved by grace, we now have to pull up our bootstraps and behave well on our own strength. Moralism is an attempt to accomplish in your own strength that which can only be accomplished by God.

Life in the Spirit

To live a fruitful Christian life, we have to understand that someone is at work behind the scenes. There are really only two states of the human spirit: we are either in the flesh or in the spirit. Paul explains this in Romans 8, saying that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on fleshly things, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:5-9 (NASB)

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so], and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

In the flesh, you don’t even have the capacity to please God. But for those of us in Christ, we are in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells in us. When you and I trusted in Jesus, something happened. Many believers aren’t even aware of the relational reality of the Spirit’s presence. He is not just with us; He is in us.

In Ephesians, Paul says that after you listened to the message of truth and believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of [God’s own] possession, to the praise of His glory.

Think about this: one day you’re going to get to heaven and see Moses. You’ll say, “Moe! What was it like to part the Red Sea?” And he’s going to stop you mid-sentence and say, “No, no, no. What was it like to be sealed with the very Spirit of God?” Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NASB)

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you?

You don’t have to pray, “God, be with me.” He is. He is with you in love. We know we abide in Him because He has given us His Spirit.

1 John 4:13 (NASB)

By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

The Spirit initiates the awakening of our dead hearts to respond to the gospel. He saves us by His mercy and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5 (NASB)

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

But He is also the one who awakens the ongoing power to live the Christian life. We are no longer under obligation to the flesh. If by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live.

Romans 8:12-14 (NASB)

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Changing Our Affections

John addresses three critical shifts the Spirit makes in us. First, He changes our affections. John tells us not to love the world or the things in the world.

1 John 2:15 (NASB)

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

When John says “world,” he doesn’t mean the physical planet or the people in it. He means a culture influenced by the domain of Satan designed to lead us into autonomy and away from God. James tells us that friendship with the world is hostility toward God.

James 4:4 (NASB)

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Before we knew Christ, we were all in the flesh. We had no choice but to love the world; it was our only appetite. But as believers, our appetites are changing. We still have the flesh in us—it’s like one of those creepy Jack-in-the-Box toys. You’re doing fine, and then suddenly, the “clown” of your flesh jumps out. When that happens, we are quick to repent and confess.

1 John 1:9-10 (NASB)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Think back to your life before Christ. What did you love? What gave you satisfaction? I praise God the iPhone wasn’t invented when I was in college because there is no pictorial evidence of what I was doing back then! But when you trusted Christ, things changed.

In the story of Noah, he first lets out a raven. A raven is a scavenger; it lives off the death of the world. It finds a carcass on the water and stays there. But then he lets out a dove. The dove finds no place to rest and comes back to the ark. Why? Because a dove can’t live like a raven. A raven is satisfied by death, but a dove will never be. Are you a raven or a dove?

John warns us that everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father.

1 John 2:16 (NASB)

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

This is the same pattern we saw in Genesis 3. The lust of the flesh is the desire to do something without God. The lust of the eyes is the desire to have something without God. The pride of life is the desire to be something without God. But Jesus came so that we might have abundant life.

John 10:10 (NASB)

’The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have [it] abundantly.

This world is passing away, but the one who does the will of God lives—or abides—forever.

1 John 2:17 (NASB)

The world is passing away, and [also] its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

His way is better. In His presence is fullness of joy.

Psalms 16:11 (NASB)

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Changing Our Influences

Second, the Spirit changes our influences. John warns that it is the “last hour” and that many antichrists have appeared.

1 John 2:18 (NASB)

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

An “antichrist” is simply someone who does not look or act like Christ and leads you away from Him. These people woo you into life in the flesh, twisting the Word of God and inviting you into cultural indulgence. John says they “went out from us” because they were never really of us.

1 John 2:19 (NASB)

They went out from us, but they were not [really] of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but [they went out], so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

In the first century, you had to travel to Athens to hear new ideas. Today, you just pull a device out of your pocket. You have access to more well-packaged nonsense than anyone in history. You can find influencers on TikTok or some doofus with a mic on a podcast inviting you away from the things of God. It sounds witty and well-presented, but it leads to death.

Thankfully, you have an anointing from the Holy One. You know the truth.

1 John 2:20-21 (NASB)

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

You have the Spirit of God in you, illuminating the Scriptures and convicting you. You’ve had that experience where you wandered into the flesh and the Spirit said, “Hey, bro. What are you doing over here? That’s not like you, and it’s not like Me.” The Spirit leads you into right theology and a right view of Jesus.

1 John 2:22-23 (NASB)

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Changing Our Focus

Finally, the Spirit changes our focus. John uses the word “abide” over and over again. He wants what you heard from the beginning to sink deeply into you.

1 John 2:24-25 (NASB)

As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

When John talks about eternal life, he isn’t just talking about golden streets in the future. He’s talking about knowing God now.

John 17:3 (NASB)

’This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

We get God now! He is here, working in us. John writes these things to protect us from those trying to deceive us. He wants us to rely on the anointing of the Spirit.

1 John 2:26-27 (NASB)

These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

I was guilty of this for many years, but many Christians are so afraid of being branded as “charismatic” that we become “charis-maniacs” who don’t even want to talk about the Spirit. We act like the Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Scriptures. I love my Bible, but I can’t get through a single page without seeing the work of the Spirit. He is the power of the Christian life.

John concludes with a pastoral challenge: abide in Him so that when He appears, you won’t shrink away in shame.

1 John 2:28-29 (NASB)

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

One of the beauties of being in Christ is that when you stand before God, He won’t look at you with disdain. You won’t need to shrink away because all the Father will see is the finished work of Jesus.

Opening Your Heart to Him

As we close, I want to speak to two groups. To the non-believer: you might think you’re here because you just decided to show up, but the Bible says no one seeks God on their own.

Romans 3:10 (NASB)

as it is written, ’THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

This means God is likely already at work behind the scenes in your life. He is inviting you into the good life found in the Spirit. Your first step isn’t to clean up your behavior; it’s to actually trust in Him. I promise you, His way is better.

To the believers: how do you open up to the Spirit? It starts with acknowledgment. He is here, He is directing, and He is with you in love. If there is a negative voice in your head saying you’re a loser, that isn’t the Spirit.

Try sitting with Him. Set a timer for a few minutes in the morning and just be in His presence. You don’t need to hear a voice; just be with Him. It’s like a couple that has been married for twenty years—they can sit together in silence and still feel completely connected. As you learn to be with Him, you’ll learn how to drive with Him, how to work with Him, and how to parent with Him.

He is playing the patient long game of transforming you into the image of Christ. What a beautiful thing to partner with the living God.

Father, we are so grateful for Your Word. Spirit of God, would You do what only You can. Convict us, affirm us, and be patient with us. Help us take delight in the fact that we are in Christ—fully forgiven, fully accepted, and fully loved. Amen.