CHRISTIANITY - THE REAL THING

1 John 5:13-21

Who is John talking about?

As John finishes his letter, he turns to the practical pastoral problem of how one should pray for Christian brothers or sisters who we see are sinning.  The departure of heretics from the churches John writes to, simply made clear that they had never really been born again (2:19).  He refers to those we see sinning - present continuous - so perhaps he means those who are struggling with ongoing sin, or maybe who just aren’t aware that their attitudes are unloving or judgemental, for example.  But presumably he would also have had in mind, those who had been stumbled by the controversy, or taken offence and left even though they themselves did not agree with the Cerinthians.

In one sense, all sin is deadly, for ‘the wages of sin is death’.  But this is about Christians, so why does John talk about asking God for life for them if they are already born-again?

John’s definition of eternal life is ‘to know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ (Jn 17:3). It’s always about ongoing present-tense relationship.  Yes, it must start by being born again.  And yes, the ‘seed of God’ remains in us thereafter (3:9).  But Christ is the Vine, and we are just branches.  Our zoe life always derives from continual abiding in Him.  He has life ‘in Himself’ (Jn 5:26); we do not.  If we don’t abide, we wither and die, and eventually fall away (Jn 15:6).  This is the scenario John has in mind.

Confidence when interceding

The natural, instinctive response when we see our brother sinning, should be intercession  (5:16).  It is essential, if we are to be like Christ who ‘ever lives to make intercession for us’ (Heb 7:25), and is ‘our Advocate with the Father’ (2:1).  But, says John, there are situations where it may not be right to intercede.  Note that he doesn’t actually forbid prayer in such circumstances: ‘I do not say that he should pray about that’ (5:16).

As children of God, we can approach our heavenly Father with great confidence that He will hear our prayers; and just as an earthly father loves to give his children good gifts, He will always answer ‘yes’ - provided our prayers are within His will.  But how do we know that?

Does this mean we cannot pray with confidence and faith?  Far from it.  In many respects we already know God’s will.  For example, we know that ‘He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Pet 3:9).  In such circumstances we should ‘ask believing that you have received, and you will receive’.  But when we are praying for someone specific there may be a need to listen for God’s will first, then persist until we know that we are heard.

There are rare occasions when it is not God’s will for us to pray. For example, Esau never found a place for repentance, though he felt remorse and ‘sought it with tears’ (Heb 12:16,17).  Though he was his father’s favourite, as well as the firstborn, his huntin’ fishin’ shootin’ lifestyle had bred in him an attitude of entitlement, which led to fornication and profanity.  As a result he had thoroughly despised his God-given birthright to inherit the land and be the forefather of Messiah. Pharoah’s heart was progressively hardened, initially wilfully and by his own choice, but eventually by God (Ex 8:15, 10:20).  Yahweh repeatedly tells Jeremiah not to pray for Israel, because they have so thoroughly turned away from Him. There are some times when a person goes beyond the point of no return.

So apart from a specific instruction from the Lord, how can we discern such occasions?

Defining unforgiveable sin

The devil sometimes traps believers into despair that they have somehow committed the unforgiveable sin.  Sometimes this has to do with persistent defeat in their struggles against sin.  But it’s not helped by the widely-held concept of ‘seven deadly sins’; that there is a list of specific sins which automatically condemn you to hell.  Some churches have defined lists of sins they say cannot be dealt with by repentance and confession alone, but require absolution by a priest, or in times past, the buying of an ‘indulgence’.

John, on the contrary, says that ‘if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1:9).  All.  And Paul says, ‘There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom 8:1).

The Mosaic law defined a range of sins as carrying the death penalty.  And there was a distinction between sins for which sacrifice availed, and ‘high-handed’ sin for which it did not.  Responsibility depended on intention and previous history. There are places in the epistles where Paul lists various sins and says that those who practice them shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.  Yet for each of the specified sins, you can find examples where God shows mercy: for example, King David was guilty of lust, adultery and murder.  But God forgave and cleansed him, though there were terrible consequences in David’s family line.

Despite the fact that Jesus says no-one can snatch His sheep out of His hand, and the biblical doctrine of ‘the perseverance of the saints’, Judas had walked with Christ for three years, yet his ongoing embezzlement meant he was eventually called ‘the son of perdition’ - someone destined to be lost.  And Jesus warned the Pharisees who attributed His miracles to the Devil, that blaspheming Him can be forgiven; but blaspheming the Holy Spirit cannot.

It is even possible for those who have ‘tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come’, to fall away to such an extent that they ‘cannot be renewed in repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame’ (Heb 6:4-6)

Ultimately the only inherently unforgiveable sin, is to consciously refuse to believe in Jesus (Jn 3:18,19).  Believing in His atoning sacrifice for our sins necessitates forgiving others as we have been forgiven; we cannot be forgiven if we adamantly refuse to forgive.  But only God knows a man’s heart, and only He is entitled to judge.

John studiously avoids defining this point of no return, and we should too.  (We may however discern a trajectory of hardening of the heart, such as Pharoah displayed.)  When believers ask whether they have committed the unforgiveable sin, the very fact that their conscience is still troubling them is solid evidence that they have not.  Our role is to witness to the incredible grace of God, whilst not blurring the boundaries of holiness.  That there is unforgiveable sin for believers, the bible is clear: but thankfully, it is rare.

Three hallmarks of real Christian spirituality

Closing his epistle, John returns from this grey area of pastoral discernment, to the black-and-white certainties he wants his readers to hold on to.  In some ways these statements are just a reiteration of the three tests he has been propounding throughout.

1. Thirst for righteousness is integral.

‘Without holiness, no-one shall see the Lord’.  Whoever is born of God doesn’t continue sinning blithely.  Yes, for the believer there is sin which need not lead to eternal death, though it grieves the Spirit and throttles the flow of zoe life.  But all sin is unrighteousness, and everything of the ‘new creation’ within us, everything which has grown from the seed of God, cannot sin (3:4-9).

John’s first test of true spirituality, is whether someone keeps Christ’s commandments: whether they behave like disciples, ‘continuing in My word’.

Christ in me, is our only hope of glory.  My flesh nature can never sanctify me, however strong moral boundaries have been inculcated.  ‘With my mind I may delight in the Law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin’ (Rom 7:20-25).  Only the Spirit of God within me can succesfully subdue my flesh (Jas 4:1-6).  The battle cannot be won by beating myself up, for that is based on the belief that I should do better at obeying the Law in my own strength.  But ‘if we walk by the Spirit, we are no longer under the law!’ (Gal 5:16-18)  I can only overcome by humbling myself, confessing my sin, cleansing my hands and my heart, and drawing close to God.

There are two ways of reading the phrase, ‘He who is’ (or was) ‘born of God keeps himself’:  some manuscripts read ‘himself’, others read ‘him’.  The difference is a single Greek letter.

- If we read it as ‘himself’, the clause refers to the believer’s responsibility to guard their own heart and mind agains the evil one’s onslaught; and that is certainly true.

- If we read it as ‘him’, it is referring to Christ’s safeguarding us from the devil.  This fits better: Satan can fool even the elect, but ‘He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world’ (4:4).

We are completely secure in Christ’s grip.  “I give My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no-one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are One” (Jn 10:28-30). Like a child walking between mother and father, we are held firmly between Father and Son.  Neither evil in general, nor the very devil himself, can snatch us out of their care.

2. Marked out by love: hated by the world, but distinguished by our love.

The Body of Christ, and the world, are totally distinct.  There is no overlap, no DMZ.  ‘We are of God’ - born again by the Holy Spirit, a totally new creation.  Our old way of life may die kicking and screaming, our flesh may war against the Spirit; but Christ by His incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension has created us anew, both in our individual beings, our way of life, and our spirits.  Our fellowship with the Father and the Son means that we become ‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Pet 1:4).

By contrast, ‘the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one’.  There is a spirit at work in ‘the sons of disobedience’, causing them to ‘conduct themselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind’, and thereby becoming ‘children of wrath’(Eph 2:1-6).  There is bondage in serving the spirit of the world.  But ‘if you continue in My word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (Jn 8:31,32).

Our being born of God, means that we are no longer ‘of this world’.  We are a community of aliens, living as pilgrims always on the move, always seeking ‘the city which has foundations, whose maker and builder is God’ (Heb 11:9,10), never swapping our tents for a fancy house in Sodom.  And as a result, the world hates us for being different.  It hates us because we belong to Christ, who has judged the prince of this world.

But it also means we have become part of a worldwide community, mandated to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 15:12).  Anyone who is born of God, must love his brother too (4:21).  The world’s hatred should drive us closer together.  This is John’s second test of true spirituality.

3. Communion with the Son of God; the only real, true God

John’s third test of genuine spiritual life, is the truth of the incarnation.  Does a person truly grasp that ‘Jesus Christ has come in the flesh’? (4:2). Do they realise that the only-begotten Son of God ‘took flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth’?

True Christians have a clear understanding given by the Holy Spirit, and recognise Christ as ‘the Messiah, the Son of the Living God’ (Mt 16:15-18).  But this is more than just mental belief in a doctrine; it leads to a relational knowing, an ongoing personal relationship with Christ who is the truth.  And there is a becoming one with Him, such that we are in Him.  He is the only real, genuine, true God; and union with Him, as a branch is joined to the vine, is the essence of eternal life.

Most evangelicals know that in baptism, they are joined with Christ in His death and resurrection, such that their legal standing before God is justified.  Christ’s righteousness is imputed to them.  Few realise that they are also joined with Christ in His ascension (Col 1:3).

But being in union with Christ is far more than a change of status.  It is more than discipleship. It is more than practical holiness.

- It means abiding.   Staying connected and in communion with Christ and our Father.  Practicing Christ’s commands, listening for the Holy Spirit, loving one another, being witnesses, worshipping in spirit and in truth, praying for anything and everything

- It means indwelling.  The spirit of life in Christ Jesus flowing through us, producing the fruit of character change.  The love and grace of God being shed abroad in our hearts.  Living our everyday life ‘by the faith of the Son of God’ and in Kingdom power.

- It means fellowship with the Father and the Son, both individually and in the Body of Christ.  Feeding on Him by faith as we eat the bread and drink the wine.  Discerning His freshly-incarnate Body through serving one another in love and unity.

What is an idol?

What is an idol?  Simply put, it’s a God-substitute of any kind.

The Greek word for true, also means genuine or real.  Those who have left the fellowship, have created for themselves a god fashioned by their own understanding.  Their ‘Christ’ was not the real Christ; their ‘truth’ was not the real truth.  It was an idol.

The Ephesian heretics had many advantages over the faithful believers.  They could join the guilds centred on the Temple of Diana, and make good money out of manufacturing souvenirs for the worshippers there.  They could swear ‘Caesar is Lord’ without any qualms, if called to do so.  They could join in the Olympic games being held in Ephesus under the shadow of a twenty-five-foot-high statue in honour of Domitian's ‘genius’.  There was good reason for John to sign off by pleading, ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols’.

Many years ago, having felt led by God to change my university degree, only to find that necessitated moving to a different city, I arrived late for the beginning of term, praying to find accommodation in an already-crowded city.  By the end of the day, I had a room in a student flat; and on the door opposite mine, there was a sticker saying ‘My God is real’!  My room in the Hall of Residence was opposite the CU representative...

Our God is real!  Why would anyone swop what is real, for what is fake?  And yet it is so easy to do.  Faith gets suffocated by finance.  Intellect supplants indwelling.  Food and fashion take over from fasting.  Respectability precludes repentance.  Football replaces fellowship.

Our God is real.  Little children, keep yourselves from idols!

Don't settle for any substitute for the real thing.