Do You Keep His Commandments? - 1 John 2:4

And it's not supposed to crush you unless well you're a false teacher. Stay tuned. Ever read the Bible and walk away feeling like you're failing? No matter how hard you try, you're never measuring up. That's not a motivation problem. That's a reading problem. Most people have never been taught how to read the Bible the way Jesus taught it. So when they hear things like, Like be perfect.

Deny yourself. Take up your cross. They assume it's all about trying harder. But what if that's not what Jesus was doing at all? What if the law isn't meant to fix you, but to reveal your need for a savior? And what if the gospel isn't advice? But an announcement of what Christ has already done for you. That's the difference between law and gospel. And once you see it, everything changes. Clarity, rest, and confidence.

In the Bible, according to Jesus, I show you how to read scripture the way Jesus intended, so you stop feeling crushed and confused and start living with confidence and rest in Christ. You can get your copy of the book at theocast.org.

Uh new book that's there, Enough in Christ, you can check that out as well. It's free. You can go download that for free. Uh any of our materials. If you can't afford them, we'll do our best to get those to you in any format we can. And uh this is a donor. uh, ministry. So m the people all all of those of you who've been supporting us, we have been able to continue to give away these resources for free for those who can't afford them.

And uh it's been exciting. We've had m bi uh pastors from other countries reach out doing bible studies. uh using this material. So man, I'm ex just excited to get this into the hands and ears and eyes of people. Well Sean, go ahead and jump into the subject. Uh this is one that I've been wanting to do for a while.

And this is important to me. I I just want people to love Christ and to love Christ, you, you, you get to him through his book and through his people. That's how you get to Jesus. And the right Jesus, the Jesus that leads you to rest, comfort, and joy, uh, a power beyond your mind and your body, your finances and your country, uh, beyond familial. Like you, you, you're, you can't. control who you were born to, but you can control what saves your life.

You can determine whether you're going to save yourself or you're going to let Christ save you. And hearing the gospel sets you free from that burden of self-salvation and self-sacrifice. Because you will never lay down your life enough and you will never do enough for Christ. And how do I know that? Well, because I read the man's book. He said that it was given to us perfectly by the Father, through the people, by the means of the Spirit, and he told me to trust it.

And men upon men and women throughout generations have read and trusted him. And in doing so, have proven, the Bible has proven that it is a trustworthy source. And today I want to go through and and learn how to read. complicated passages. We are w it seems like this is the only book that we do this to. No other book do we really do this to in the world that I know of, if you were to sit down and read Lord of the Rings, you wouldn't read American context and technology into that story.

you wouldn't understand it. You may might not even be interesting. Uh same to thing to do with any classic work that's been done, the author gets to determine his intention and then sets the scene and scenario. And we have to allow that to be the case. Otherwise, you won't understand the setting, the genre and the purpose and what's going on.

And a lot of reasons why I have a whole chapter on context in my book on the Bible according to Jesus, because Jesus teaches us how to read things in context. Uh he actually gives us examples of out of context when Satan tries to tempt him in the wilderness and in context he corrects him. So Satan doesn't misquote scripture, he just quotes it out of context, which is happens a lot.

If Jesus if Satan wants to Get you to not follow Christ, to not trust him, to not receive all the power and the benefits of Jesus. All he needs to do is quote to you perfectly the Bible and make sure you you interpret it incorrectly. Cause then you can say, But that's what the Bible says. Well yeah, that's what it says. But is that what it means by what it says? And is that the context?

Um, there's so much in the Bible. You can misquote it constantly. It's easy to do. It's even interesting to me. I had this um conversation last night at dinner. My wife says this is subpar. She meant it was bad. But subpar is is the exact opposite. It means it's good. See, in golf, par is the standard. Like four shots, you got to get it in four shots. And if you get it in four shots, that's called par. If you get it in five shots,

That's called a bogey. That's bad. That you don't want more, you want less. If you get it in three shots, that's a birdie. That's called subpar. That's below par. So that's better. And yet. We use it all the time. I hear it all the time. Oh, that's subpar, it's subpar. And I know what they mean. It just changes the meaning of the game. Uh, and it changes it's not it's you're not using it correct.

Uh, you know, li it's almost like the word anxious. I'm anxious about this to happen. People use this in a positive, but anxious is a negative. So if you're anxious, that means you're worried about something to happen. But if you're excited for something to happen, then you're anticipating it. You're eager about it to happen. But this, you know, this happens.

Well, we take these, I think, twisted ideas in our culture that over time this things get moved around, and then we move it into scripture and we take English words. and we import American modern context into an English word and that then changes the meaning. And that's dangerous. We have to be very careful to do that. This is why Uh Paul makes it very clear. He says that if someone's gonna be an elder of a church, they can't be a novice.

And uh he needs to be able to t rightly divide the word of truth. Means he needs to know how to do it. He needs to know how to read scripture. And he needs to know how to divide it. Uh not at a not at a professor level at the highest level of academics, but the basic tools of interpretation are required. And uh in many ways, uh again, I I know I keep promoting this book, but I put a lot of work into this.

I I wrote it from my congregation. I I it's from my future elders and elders that are here now. I want them to rightly divide God's word because how can I lead my family? How can I lead as an elder? How do I know I'm being led properly? And that's why Creeds of Confessions matter. This is why it's written from a reform perspective.

where I'm utilizing the Creeds of Confessions, teaching people to use covenant theology and that type of thing uh when reading scripture. Well, we're gonna utilize some of that today as well.

Where I want people to understand what does it mean to have joy and be enough in Christ. Uh, again, why I wrote the most recent book. And today is a great example of being robbed of that joy. And it's a passage that I think has caused an immense amount of um problems. I've done reviews of both Paul Washer and Philip Anthony Mitchell you misusing first John, specifically this particular passage.

So I thought I'd do is do a deeper dive. I don't even know how long this episode's gonna be. It'll be enough. But I feel like I I've done enough. I I just I kind of want you to grab a cup of coffee, sit across the table from me, and let's do a let's do a Bible study together. Let's let Christ warm our hearts. Let's Allow the wonder of scripture to come alive for us in its proper use.

And um, I think it'll change the way you look at Christ. It'll change the way you look at your Bible, it'll change the way you look at First John. Uh first John has been used as a billy club to beat people for so long in that uh I am here to pull that abilly club out and say, stop it. It's a wonderful shepherding staff where it's actually guiding and directing people away from the cliff.

and uh leading the leading weary, broken, hurt, and confused Christians to the sufficiency of Christ. Believe it or not, John He's actually trying to help people who got hurt. You know, I I understand what this is like. I've been a Christian for uh majority of my life. I was raised in a Christian home. I know what Christian hurt looks like. I've been a part of multiple contexts in churches where

uh that people have left, hurt. I've been around false teachers. I've I I've I've seen it. And so there are times where this passage resonates with me because it helps remind me who is it that are is of Christ in a part of his kingdom and who are not. And uh unfortunately, what I've been trying to herald for many years Uh, we often get law and gospel confused. We herald pietism. I'm all for piety, against pietism and legalism. And we think, oh, we need to protect the church from these lazy,

um self-absorbed, um, worldly Christians. When I look at a lot of them and I'm like, they're not, that's not actually who they are. Uh, these people are confused, not discipled, and and truly have never been given Christ. You're yelling at them and they're it's like, can you imagine if you put your child in a into T-ball? Okay. T ball typically means they haven't played baseball because they're little kids. So you put'em in a T ball so that the the coach would teach'em how to play baseball.

And could you just imagine at the first game and the coach is throwing his hat down, he's yelling, he's screaming, he's just telling the kids he's gonna kick him off the team because they're not swinging the bat right, they're not throwing the ball right. And it's like

And I've never, you know, if you ever go to a T-ball game and you see that, you should probably fire that coach immediately. Uh, because the the point of it is they don't know what they're doing. They're there to be trained. They're there to learn how this all works. Uh and yet we we uh sometimes look at children in the faith who have just never been taught.

And they're trying to figure out, you know, they obviously want to do what's right. They're just not doing it right. So they're they're there. They're trying to play the Christian game. And we're trying to treat them like they're professionals, like they should know better. And they're and they just, you know, we so we just basically kick them off the team. It's like, how about how about we slow down for a minute, pastors?

How about we slow down mature Christians and maybe obey scripture and say those of you who are are strong have an obligation to deal with the feelings of the weak. That sounds like Romans. You know, those of us who are not trapped in sin should go to those who are trapped in sin and restored with the spirit of meekness. That sounds like Galatians. You know, like I just want us to change this reform tone, this Calvinistic evangelical tone where we're just

Almost trying to protect Christianity from itself. In and I think there are a lot of genuine believers out there who are confused. How do I know this? Because I've been doing this for ten years. And over the last ten years, I can't tell you how many people have told me they've gone back to church.

They've gone back to reading their Bibles. They have a fresh uh joy in the gospel. I probably I need to put together all the emails I've got from people over 70. The amount of people that have emailed me that are over 70 and they're like, for the first time in my life, I have joy and rest in Christ. After listening to your podcast and reading your book. Which is and they're like, I've been a Christian my whole life. So what I am saying isn't actually people's like

You know, the the testimony of Theocast listeners is not their the the majority of the experiences like, oh no, well, they just go off and live in licentiousness now. They just go live however they want. They go live worldly lives. Um now I've had people trying to accuse the this. I said, but what's funny to me is that you picked the domination, including any uh dispensational, covenantal, doesn't matter.

uh you should pick the denomination, you have people who are apostasizing. You have people who are falling into sin. No, I don't think there's one particular theology that causes it more than another. Uh, if you don't trust in Christ and you don't walk in stand in the strength of the Lord, you'll be taken out by the enemy.

So, whatever theology is not causing you to do that, but even in the strongest of theology, we see even in Paul's church and Peter's churches and even in Christ's disciples, you have people who are taken out by the enemy. So Let's be quick to say, oh, your theology, this easy believism grace theology is leading people into licentiousness. Um no, it's not. Uh

I'll tell you what it is and we're gonna talk about today. We're gonna talk about what actually does lead people into licentiousness, into laziness, into into abandoning Christ. We'll talk about that. Um, we'll get into that. So Let's talk about first John. In the intro, I mentioned that we are going to be covering first John two, three. this particular passage, right? Do you keep his commandments?

I know that was a long introduction into this podcast. I'm trying to see how much time I've already wasted. All right. So do you keep his commandments? Man, this isn't important. I want you at the end of this. So just so you know, so like if you could just give me the full episode, just sit down, grab whatever you want to drink, have a have a combo with me, take out your pad and paper, pull out, pull out your phone, whatever, and just just walk through this with me.

The end of this, you will hear that question as a comfort and a rally. And you'll be like, yeah, I I definitely keep his commandments versus judgment, fear, and worry. Normally, when you hear this, do you keep his commandments? It's a fruit-checking examination that just creates anxiety or self-righteousness. I see it on the internet all the time. I just, I can't stomach how often people just use this as a whip to like, um, well, you know, it it's it's it it is so exhausting the self-righteous.

To be constantly thinking this person isn't saved because they're not obeying the way that I think that they should obey. Now, we'll get to what that means. I think there are people who clearly don't keep his commandments, and they should question their faith seriously.

Um, but we're not there. So what does it mean if you just here's my premise at the end of this, for those who are in Christ, or if you're worried that you're in Christ, or you're worried that like, I don't know if I'm keeping his commandments, I will give you total comfort. And I will prove to you from scripture. that you can have comfort and clarity in Christ and that you do not have to worry about what I think you're worrying about, which is performance.

And that's not what John is talking about. So let me argue and let's jump into it. So first John two three is the passage that's often used, and by this we know that we have come to know him, which is Jesus, if we keep his commandments. All right. So here's the question. Are you keeping his commandments? And honestly, uh people will say, you know, they'll throw things like, oh, well, he doesn't mean perfectly.

No, I think he does. I think he does mean perfectly. I think he means all of Jesus' commands need to be kept. Otherwise, you don't know him, because if you don't keep'em, then You don't have eternal life. So let me start there. I do think he means perfectly. I used to say this kind of giving a caveat, but I I I misinterpreted this word.

And uh through the help of a lot of good reformed people, I've been helped to clarify my position on this. And um I think my heart and my and my conclusions were right. But I wasn't really paying attention to some of the language and structure and grammar that's being used here. So uh part of the rule of interpreting scripture is you need to look at the uh uh the entire context.

Which would mean what does it mean within this chapter, the book, and then the author in general? Like how does the author use language? Like if you listen to me long enough, you'll know the tone and style, a way in which I speak and talk. And so You can if I use a certain kind of phrase. uh you'll know how I like to use that phrase and it'll make sense to you. Almost like that subpar. If I use that over and over and over again, but you understand that I'm like, dude, I went to this restaurant.

and there was like dirt and it was filthy and it was noisy and the food was subpar. You would be like, oh, in context, he actually doesn't mean the food was good. It means the food is bad. So you would just kinda know that like when John uses a word You start to learn how John uses it. And we need to let him define his words and not project our understanding onto the word. And so when it says, keep his commandments, you need to stop and ask, how does John use that? So what's the greater context?

And then we look at the context in large, like what does all of scripture have to say about Jesus and commandments and salvation? and knowing him. So we're going to use all of that to formulate our understanding instead of just projecting, which most people do, if they were to take this verse and just say, what does this verse mean? They would say, well, you aren't a Christian if you don't obey him.

And then we would say, Well, we're not definitely, you know, legalists. So it's not perfectly obey, but that's not what John says. So we have to be careful. Uh so we'll jump in and say, well, it means that like the majority of your life, like you you have a pattern of obedience. Nope, that's not what he said either.

It's not a pattern of obedience because then the question is, is it 51%, 51.5? Is it 55.5? Like what how much is it that we can say, oh, I know, I know him because I have a pattern of obedience? So it's not a pattern of obedience. Um now we could get into that. Uh like uh what what what you know, elders should have a pattern of obedience, you know, mature Christians should have a pattern of obedience, but there's a difference between should, expected, and I know I'm saved.

Uh, and John is dealing in this particular context, he's not dealing with the pattern of obedience. He's dealing with something else. So we need to get into this. So let's start with the problem. And the problem is how people hear this. And so I want to change how we hear it. And in order to do that, I want to walk you through Why did John write this book? Who did he write it to? What is he trying to accomplish? And then we'll read it inside of that letter.

just like anything else. If I wrote if I read a quote from you and you didn't really under know that quote, like it wasn't familiar, like if I were to say, you know, Luke, I am your father. Pretty sure 99% of the people who I just said that would say Star Wars. So you know Darth Vader, you know Luke, Lightsaber, they're doing this fight and there's this revealing moment and it's like, I'm your father, right?

So, but if you don't have that context based from the quote, then you're gonna say, well, where's that quote from? Oh, then why did he say that? Oh, what's the story? What's going on? Let's do that. So let's start here in first John. And who and why is John writing this? Now we can see that in this particular situation, John is writing to a church that's gone through a massive ordeal.

Um major issue. There is a church split. People have left. There's uncertainty. There's uncertainty in what's happening. So You've got teachers who have left. and they've left and they've thrown bombs into the congregation. They're calling people's faith into question. You know, if you really believed what I am, you know, the true God, you would do what I'm doing.

So the people who are always left behind, because I have been in this situation so many times in so many churches, the people left behind are like, well, maybe we're the fool. Well, maybe we're the idiots, right? Like we're the blind sheep following the blind sheep. We're the blind mice here. We're about to get hacked to death. And so you start to worry, like, oh, maybe the wise people left the church. Maybe those who really figured it out left the church.

So John is dealing with a church split and a very massive church split with extremely uh influential people. And so the first thing he has to say early on in the letter, so this is first John two nineteen, he says, They went out from us. But they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have not continued, they would have continued with us. But they went out.

that it might become plain that they are not of us. Okay, well, he's uh telling us early on that there is the context between those who remained and those who did not remain. And there are those who are of us, meaning those who are in Christ, and those who are not of us, and those who are not of Christ. So this is a this is the contrast that's being made here. Now, what was happening is you had people who left this church.

And they were saying, We are the ones who truly know God. We are the ones that have got the truth. And if you're gonna follow the apostles' teaching, They don't have the truth. They got it wrong about Jesus. We got it right. And so John uses these phrases because they're wondering, like, well, how do we know we know God?

Like, man, these teachers are saying if you know God, this is how you should think and act, which we'll get into in a minute. And John's like, No, no, no, no. I'm an apostle. I follow Jesus. I have the credentials. I'm here to clarify.

Here is the truth. And what's great is that what John says aligns with what Peter and Paul and the Apostles and James and you know this Hebrews, it all aligns and aligns with the Old Testament. So this is why the Inspiration of scripture is important to us because we need to know the difference between a false teacher and the apostles' teaching.

So Fur uh first John two four says, whenever whoever says I know him, meaning Jesus, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Okay, so this is important. So he is starting to distinguish. It's like, okay, let's create some boundaries. We're gonna let those boundaries be Jesus and what Jesus taught and what Jesus said. So if you have someone who's contradicting Jesus and they say they know him.

And yet they are not holding, we'll get to this in a minute, to what Jesus has said, they're a liar. So you can say all you want. No, I know Jesus. Yeah, I'm a follower of Jesus. I've done this before, right? You hear somebody who says,

They know something and then you start talking to them and you're like, Yeah, you really don't know what you're talking about. Like you're acting like you know what you're talking about, but it's very obvious you don't know what you're talking about. And uh John is talking to a scared. Exhausted, beat up, worry, frightened Christians. And he says, if they say they know Jesus and they reject his teaching, they're lying to you. Let me prove it to you. So he keeps going on.

To help explain this to them. Um, verse 26, it says, uh, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. Okay, this is important. Like this is part of our context. This is in the same chapter where he's talking about uh knowing uh those who are keeping the commandments. If I you're gonna know you love Jesus, you keep his commandments.

In the contrast, he's saying later on, he's like, Look, I'm writing to this so you can see the difference between what I'm telling you and the apostles are telling you. and what those who are trying to deceive you. They're literally trying to lead you away. This is demonic influence. This is why John talks about later, he says, test the spirit. What spirit do they have? Do they have the spirit of Christ within them? Then they're gonna align with Jesus.

if they have the spirit of the evil one in them, which we're told by First Corinthians that uh they appear as angels of light, doctrines of demon, that they can come in and distort the gospel And you need to kick them out. Uh that is what they're going to be doing. Here's this is who they are. You need to define what.

What spirit are they speaking of? Are they proclaiming uh truth through the power of the spirit of Christ, or are they talking through the spirit of evil, of Satan, of the evil one? All right. So verse 22. Listen to this. Who is the liar? But he who denies. So he's going to say, all right, let's create who's telling the truth, according to scripture, according to prophecy, according to what we know of the Old Testament, of what was affirmed by the disciples. Who's lying? These teachers or us?

Because we have all of the Old Testament and the uh the affirmation of the disciples to affirm Who's telling the truth? And so John sets it up this way. He says, Who is the liar? But he this is first John 222, but he who denies that Jesus is Messiah, Jesus is God. Jesus is the Christ, is the actual quote. He's saying if you have someone who is denying that Jesus Is literally God incarnate who died and rose again. Messiah means that he is the one who comes as savior for us.

And he takes on our place. He is our righteousness. He rose from the grave. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He is now the Messiah interceding on our behalf. He is the God man who is the savior of the world. If they deny that Jesus is that. Fully God, fully man. If they deny that, they're a liar. They're the liar. We're not the liars, they're the liar. They had people in the church who were teaching that Jesus was not fully human.

that he did not be that he was not fully God and fully human. They were denying the reality as Jesus is God. He continues to say, this is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No, it's not that they're just false teachers. They are against Jesus. Okay, now now we're getting a picture here. We've got this weak church that's been beat up.

These poor shepherds have been trying to lead their congregation. Maybe it was an elder or a pastor, but it's definitely people of influence, potentially a an elder, potentially a pastor. Um, and they are teaching antichrist. They be have they are anti-Christ, the Christ. They have, they are leading people away from Jesus. Whoa. Now that changes the story. That changes the seriousness. That changes the battlefield. The battlefield is for Jesus.

That we're it's not a church full of worldliness. It's not a church full of people who are um, you know, just. saying they are a Christian but this kind of living however they want, uh treating Jesus as a a hobby on Sunday, you know, where they come and they kind of just listen to good music and then they live like the world the rest of the time. He's like, no, no, no. Nah, we're dealing with people who are actively participating and leading the sheep away from Jesus.

and trusting in another gospel and another Jesus. Hey, you know what? That changes the intensity and that changes the the context and the content of what John is saying. I mean, are you tracking with me? I'm not, I'm not reading to you a commentary.

I'm just reading you John's words so that you can start creating the picture in your mind. I just I want you to be sitting in this, you know, house church or you know, temple or where they're where they're sitting there and they're they're engaging with one another. And they're realizing you have one people over here who are teaching the apostles teaching and they're being faithful to to lead people to Christ. And then you have these opposing people who are smart and wise.

and influential and they're questioning and they're starting to engage and say, but did is did Jesus was he really? And they're you know we'll start going to learn here is that the entire teaching of Jesus was being accosted. Uh let's keep going. So later on in the letter, Just so we can get the whole picture. So we're gonna look at sections of the letter later on in the jet letter. John tells them why he wrote this.

It was it wasn't writing them to wake up the sleepy, lethargic, um, lazy, unholy Christian. No, he was trying to keep one, either get out of these whoever these followers of these false teachers were, they needed to get out of the church, and then protect those who were like being

exhausted by this. The the the exhaustion from controversy in a church. I m a lot of people have experienced that it's exhausting. You want to quit. You don't want to go to church. It's so hard. You just kind of feel like you're always in a battle. and you just wanna rest. You just wanna ju wanna you want joy. I mean, the world is so hard, right? We've got cancer and death and violence and

w money problems and this and that. And it's like, can we just have a place where there's a moment of just pure rest and joy. And what does Satan do? He brings in controversy, the place that's supposed to be our joy. Most people hate. I had a family visiting on me on church church on Sunday in tears.

because they can't find a church that just will preach to them the sufficiency of Jesus. Like Christ for you. It's it's a show or it's legalism. And it's like Satan has done a a masterful job. I will applaud him. As my opponent, I applaud him for Victor victoriously winning over many Christians and churches. uh creating a place of exhaustion and it vile like well a lot of churches are vile. Um and so uh it uh it's

So when people criticize churches, I'm like, I I agree. I think Satan's winning. And I don't always criticize pastors because some pastors are trying their best. They're trying to do their best. Um, with whatever resources that they have. So I don't think that my church is the only church that you start thinking that, like, oh, John's church is the only true church. Turn this off.

Call me a heretic. That's just don't move here. I don't have the perfect church. I'm just exposing what the problem is, which is what uh You got you got disciples of Jesus who are struggling to shepherd their own churches, right? Like you have the apostle Paul who's struggling to shepherd his own church, man. Like It brings me so much comfort. Like I I didn't I haven't messed up. Uh I mean what I what I mean is uh me messing up is is normal.

And so he's this is what John says. First John five thirteen. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Like I I want you to affirm the gospel back to you that you're not crazy. Like Paul when he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. John is saying, I am not ashamed to affirm to you. I want you to be uh convinced of this, that this is good for you.

And so he says, I'm writing this to you so that you will know that you are safe in Christ. Okay. So the key point is this. This letter is about false teachers disrupting a church, not weak or disobedient believers who need to be corrected. Right. Just to be correct. To like set the tone.

Um, and one of the some of the issues that they were dealing with, and this particular one that was denying Jesus, we're gonna get into some other issues, but they were Basically saying that the church is not a priority. Like, you know, Paul comes and says Christ laid his life down for the church. That the church is where we are built up into one, that we are to prioritize the church, that we are to submit ourselves to each other and we are to submit ourselves to our elders.

and that we are to advance the kingdom of Christ through the church. Like we need eyes, owl eyes and ears and mouths and nose and hands and feet. Um, and he says the most stringent and strict and harsh things about those who divide the church. Right. So just go read Ephesians and Corinthians when my Paul comes down with some pretty heavy handed accusations against those who try to mess up the unity of the church. So you have

The in this particular context, it's the same thing. John is worried about false teachers in this. And this is why he's writing. He's like, I'm writing to protect those who are in Christ, and I'm writing to expose those who are not in Christ. And these are these false teachers. Okay. Let's move on. Uh oh, I was gonna say, yeah. So it was uh the uh

They were not prioritizing the local church. They were not prioritizing loving one another. They were basically like you could treat people however you want. It doesn't matter, which is a direct violation of what Jesus says. Okay, you could just be mean and nasty and ugly.

And just act however you want. And one, uh, John, it was even worldliness, like net, like a vulgar worldliness. So like you, you don't have to love your brother. You can just live however you want. And oh yeah, Jesus isn't God.

It's like none of this makes sense. None of this aligns with who Jesus is. All right. Let's get back down to the verse where it says. um keep his commandments. W let's talk about the word keep. So Again, going back to that illustration about how something is used, how does John use this? Because everything really hangs on this one word. Like this is how you know that you know him if you keep his commandments. Well, that word keep is

um can mean uh depending on who's interpreting it, right? Depending on the culture. So let's let John define it according to his use of it, and I would say the use of scripture, and then we'll be able to interpret, do we know Jesus? Because this is this is important to me. I want to know if I know him.

Because I don't want to be standing out there on the day of judgment and Jesus looks at me and says, I never knew you. Like that. I don't want that. I know you don't want that. And this is the kind of preaching that's been used by I've been exposing this like. We don't nobody wants to hear that that criticism of I never knew you. Do you ever wake up already feeling spiritually behind? Like no matter how much you pray, how much you read, or how much you serve, it's just never quite enough.

You're not lazy and you're not faithless. You're tired and you're not alone. So many of us are living in a quiet prison. The one that whispers, Grace saved you. But now it's up to you to keep it up. The one that turns rest into guilt. The one that makes you wonder if God is a little disappointed in you today. I wrote a new book just for you. It's called Enough in Christ, Freedom from a Performance-Driven Life.

It's a book that takes you back to what Christ actually said from the cross, it is finished, and shows you how to stop living like there's still work for you to do. You can download the whole book free at theocast.org. Christ really is enough. And in him, so are you. So thankfully John has more than one book and he has written quite a bit.

about this idea of keep, this Greek word that is used um multiple times throughout his writings. So we're gonna go look at it in other places and how it's used in the tense and context of how it's used. Uh this is John eight fifty one. He says, Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my words, he will never see death. Now, that's helpful, right? Okay, so keep do we think in that particular um word it means uh obedience. to moral to moral obligations, right? So lying, stealing, cheating,

Or even it's love God. So he Jesus goes on to say the two greatest commandments to love God with all your heart, so mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. So let's say his words, that's what it means. So when we perfectly love God and love one another, then we will never see death.

Well, we have a problem because James says no one has perfectly kept the law. And if we fail in one area of the law, we failed in all of them. So we've never perfectly loved God or loved neighbors. So what does he mean by keep his words? Right? Because Uh, we don't want to see death. I don't want to see death. I want eternal life. So we have to keep digging. So now we know that it's being used not in obedience. If it's used in obedience, we have a problem.

So what does he mean by that? John fourteen twenty three. Uh it says here, Jesus answers him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and he will come to him and make our home with him. Okay, again He's using this word, uh, this idea of keep, like he will keep uh if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. All right. So there is this idea where if we say we love Jesus, there's a response to his words. Like there's a way in which we are reacting to what Jesus says.

So this is important. Um, and I think this is helpful. Verse 24, whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the father who sent me. So he's like, Look. There's this idea of keeping. So Jesus is now using this. So Jesus is saying it first, and John's regurgitating it now.

So now we know that this isn't just the way John uses it, this is the way that Jesus uses it. And John is writing in how Jesus uses it. And in this particular area, he's saying, if you say you love me. You can't say you love me and then reject what I'm saying. Okay, that's important. So we're starting to get some clarity here. Um, so there are things that Jesus has said, so my word. my words. So the words of Jesus, things that he's saying. So

Uh, what is it that Jesus said? Well, in those particular contexts, you have Jesus fighting With Pharisees and Sadducees and false believers who are rejecting Jesus as Messiah. It's the same issue of first John. It's the same exact issue because they don't believe that he's God. As a matter of fact, they get upset with him and John about this. They're like, dear, you're not God. Prove to us you're God. He's like, look, if you don't accept my words, you're not going to be saved.

Uh you're you're you're you I have given you enough information. The prophet I have fulfilled prophecy. I have done the miracles. I have shown to you that I am God. These are my words. I am God. I have come to give life and life eternal. And no one can come to the Father except through me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one will ever reach. There is a narrow road and none find it. Very few that find it. Why why is it? Because that road is me.

Like you cannot find your way into the father's acceptance through another path. I am the path. I'm the door. I'm the way. I'm the like he gives so many illustrations. He goes, if you reject those words. Then you don't love me. And if you don't love me, then you do not have eternal life. So he's setting he's setting up this very helpful scenario for us, in that the words of Jesus is that I have come to give eternal life. to sinners. I've come to seek and to save not the righteous.

Not the obedient, not the repentant. Lost people aren't repenting. Lost people have to be found. So he says, I've come to seek and to save that which is lost. This is important. And I have the capacity to do so because I am the righteous one. I am the second Adam. I am God. And I have come to save sinners. Do you accept my words? Do you accept my claims? Do you accept? My command.

And he says, for those who do, yes, this is true. You are Jesus. You are the Son of God. This is true. You are perfect and righteous. This is true. You can and will save me. And Jesus says, if you love me, you accept those words. Now, there are many people who said they would love Jesus, but they loved him for the wrong reasons. They because he provided food and he provided comfort and he provided healing. And he's like, look.

You can't just love what I've done.'Cause he he he got upset if remembering John He feeds the five thousand and he's like, Look, you're coming after me. This is John six. You're coming after me for the wrong reasons. And then all the decided you know, everybody leaves because he's like basically you're coming after me because I'm feeding your belly. And then he looks at the disciples and says, Are you going to leave too? And what does Peter say? Why would we leave?

you have the words of eternal life. Where would we go? Like where would we go? And that's the point that Jesus was trying to make is that Peter accepted the words of Jesus to be true. He kept his words. So again, we're starting to uh get this idea of keep keeping the words, right?

Uh first John 323, so going back into his letter, he says, and this is his commandments, that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he has commanded us. So John's now defining commandments. It's like, look, you've got to define the commandment. Jesus is the son of God. Like that is the command. And that in doing so, you become part of his family. And becoming part of his family, you love, you love your siblings.

So so now we have a little bit more of a definition of what does it mean to keep his commandments because sometimes people immediately go into law, like it's like you are obeying the law uh in moral performance. And he's not. He's saying is that to keep means to value, to accept, to uh live up underneath, uh to uh um to embrace as true in reality, right? Um This is uh the reason why I know this has to be the case.

It's not moral performance and it's not perfectionism, but it is I believe that Jesus is who he says he is. Therefore I accept all that he said about himself and I will put myself up underneath that. How do I know this? Because in the beginning of the letter, he sets up the situation where he's defining the difference between those who are of Christ, they admit in their sin, and you had these Literally, you had these false teachers who were saying that they were sinless.

That makes sense because you don't need a savior if you are sinless. Think about that. You just don't need Jesus to be Messiah. This is why it's hard for me to be around self righteous people. I I just don't I'm not I'm not sinless and I'm not even close to being a righteous good person.

I like being around broken people because um we encourage each other to look to Christ instead of patting ourselves on the back or feeling judged all the time. Well, these poor congregants were getting blasted because it was like You know, it's like, well, I I and it was like they redefine sin anyways. So it's like there's a whole new system of judgment. First John 1.8 says, if we say we have no sin, we are deceived. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.

So if these false teachers over here saying, like, I don't have any sin, point to where I've sinned. Where have I disobeyed? Well, because they have created their own law and they've created their own system of moral acceptance. And because they are achieving that, then they are seen as acceptable. Well, that that is an issue, right? And so John is saying that person is a liar. He starts the letter this way. He's not talking about moral perfection.

He actually is saying uh to accept the words of God is that. Uh Jesus is Messiah. If Jesus Messiah, that means he is savior. He is the one who is saving me. I am a sinner. I am not perfected perfect. And I therefore keep his commandment, meaning that he is savior. And I am thankful that he saves me, right? By faith alone. That's his command. His command is you are saved by faith alone. If you believe in me, you have eternal life.

And he who is it that believes in me? Those who accept my words. So now you're starting to see it. Keep means, oh yeah, I I embrace that. I I I totally agree. Like that I I am a sinner. I need a savior. So accepting the commandments of God is to ab is to embrace them uh embrace them as real.

But not only do you embrace them as real, but you have this idea in the Psalms where it talks about hiding it in your heart. I have hid your word in my heart. Well, what we hide something that we don't want to be lost or stolen or taken away, right? So it becomes this value to you. Like it's important to you. And there's a difference between I really value that. Like I accept that to be true and real. I don't always obey it.

Often I do not. As a matter of fact, I accept First John. I am the sinner who needs Jesus, but I am thankful and I fully keep. his promise and his words and his commands. I keep them Because how else am I to be saved if it not for the Messiah? And therefore I agree with him. I should love my brothers. I totally agree with him on that. I don't always do it and I need to repent when I don't. But I agree with him I should. And I want to. And so I'm going to keep that. I'm going to keep it.

I'm not gonna abandon it. For self-righteousness. I'm not going to abandon it for false teaching. I'm not going to abandon it for something else. I'm not going to let go of it. I'm going to keep it. I'm going to hold it to be true from my life. See the difference? He's saying there are many who've let it go. They're like, well, I don't need that. They haven't kept it.

They have embraced a new truth. They've embraced a new reality. So those who have embraced this new reality from the false teachers, who's like, they don't know Jesus. That is another gospel. That is not Jesus. That is not how one is saved. And that is not how one lives who is saved. those who uh are in Christ uh accept all of his teachings. and obey them.

What does it mean to believe them? We we walk by faith repenting of our sins, right? That uh this is why Hebrews says that when we fail and we need mercy and grace, we have a great high priest who will offer it to us. Without reproach, right? We could go to him constantly and get these things with confidence. So to keep his commandment is not a performance. It's a heart posture. It's a heart posture. It is an acceptance of the truth.

Like these things are true. And I'm going to live according to those things. And part of living according to that is I have a broken nature. I am a sinner and I constantly sin and I need to repent and I need to look into Jesus. Right. So that's different.

That's different. So if someone comes to me and say, John, are do you keep God's commandments? I'm like, Yeah. With great passion and great joy and great wonder. Because I don't why would I ever want to keep this lies of Satan? I don't want to keep those. Not gonna govern my life according to that. Not gonna put my hope on that. I'm not gonna put my hope on anything else.

Right. He is our rock. Go back to the illustration that Jesus uh gives about the sand and the and the and the foundation, the stone, right? We if we build our life, we keep the promises. of Jesus, we have built our life on the solid foundation of Jesus. But if we build our life, if we keep something other than Jesus, we have put it in sand and we will be washed away. See that see how those illustrations work? I'm being kept by these truths.

And I'm keeping them. Like I don't I will not accept any other gospel. I will not accept any other teaching. I will not accept anything else because. I can't be saved by it. All right, so let's keep moving.

Um, this is uh first John two one. So this is right before that section of first John two four of the verses that we have. He says, My little children, I'm writing these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Man, this is so great, right?

Like looking onto Jesus and accepting his commands and allowing them to shape in shape in our hearts and and these truths. Um, that the goal of it is so we don't sin, which is good, right? That's wonderful. I'm really glad that John said that because Give me every opportunity and every hope I can to not sin because man, sin has just wrecked my life and so many other people's lives.

He says, uh he says that uh, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate. Like the advocate is Jesus Christ the Messiah. If you're rejecting Jesus Christ the Messiah, then you have no hope. Right. So part of accepting the commands, keeping the commands, is keeping who Jesus is. You see that? Like Jesus is my advocate because I'm a sinner. That's part of keeping the command.

Because he commanded us to confess our sins. He commanded us to trust and believe in him as the Messiah. He commanded us to believe that his righteousness is sufficient to us. Right? Like these are all a part of what God has given to us in his command. And so when we keep and believe and trust in those things, we put our faith in that, then we have the benefits of them. Right. This is wonderful. Um so keeping cannot mean obedience and performance.

Obeying the commands of like, don't steal, don't cheat, don't lie, don't kill, don't be worldly. It is encapsulates who Christ is. For us, right? And then the re realities from that.

The reality of from that is that I've to love God and to love my neighbor. Right. That that is part of the reality of what that's not what saves me, but it's part of me accepting the reality of who he is. That's why, you know, when somebody says to me, um, you know, can you Can you believe like, does God accept um well, I'll just use like homosexuality.

Does God uh accept that? Is that acceptable? Can you live that type of a lifestyle? And I'm like, well, you can't live any kind of sexual deviant lifestyle because the Bible is very clear that Um, what those are things that we are to repent of. So if you are coming to him and say, I accept Jesus. I um I'm keeping the commands of Jesus. And I would have to raise my hand and say, Well, but you're not And this is part of the issue with first John is that they you had m you had um

Clear teachings of scripture that says we need to be saved from that. He is the Messiah to save us from our sins. Um, and therefore we are trusting him to cleanse us from our sins. And that is a sin. And if you come and stand before uh the Almighty Father and say, This is not a sin. Uh according to scripture, I have to stand up and say, okay, um, you are deceived.

Or you need to be rebuked, or you need to be discipled. And if you're unwilling to change your perspective on that, like, nope, I can live in open rebellion to God, you're not gonna call it open to rebellion to God. You're gonna say, No, this is acceptable before the Lord. But if scripture is clear, that uh anything and it's very clear on its moral code as far as what is God has accepted within and without marriage.

Um, even premarital intimacy is not accepted. Um, like that is you, you, you, you cannot live in open rebellion against the father and have his promises. Um so but there's a difference between I ex, I believe, and I and I repent. And I don't want to, I don't want to be a part of this lifestyle. I don't want to struggle with these things. And I'm gonna continue to repent and ask the Lord for help and I'm gonna seek discipleship and I'm gonna

You know, I I'm fighting against my flesh. There's a difference between I struggle and I fail. Paul says the things I don't want to do, I keep doing the things that I I need to do. I'm not doing them. Who will save me from this body of death? Thanks be to Christ, right? He doesn't say thanks to be to my performance or my repentance. Oh, thanks be to repentance that I will be saved. No, he says, thanks be to Christ, because Christ is so Paul's keeping the commandment of Jesus.

In those moments. What is that what does it mean to keep it? That that Jesus is Messiah and Savior. And that he agrees that he needs to repent. And he agrees that he needs to trust in Christ. And he agrees that he needs to love his brother. Right. So that's hopefully that's starting to make sense. Um, so to keep his commandments means to receive them, to affirm them,

and to live up underneath them and not to reject them. It doesn't mean to perfectly obey them or you got fifty fifty or fifty one forty nine. Like that's not what we're doing here. It is to accept them. And now there are times I might fully obey them and at times I may not. Uh, and when I am not, I obey John what he says. He says, if I have sinned, I need to repent and be restored. So there's a difference there, okay? Stay with me. We're gonna finish this up. Um

The short version is, you haven't walked away. He says they left us because they were not of us. What did they leave? They left a congregation that accepted that Jesus is God, fully God, fully man. And that Jesus is the only means of salvation, and that we are to be only saved by Jesus Christ. And that uh those who are saved by Christ live under his authority and live under his and live under his joy and and live under his way.

And his way is to love God and to love one another and that we will never do it perfectly. That we will sin. And as we sin, we have an advocate. And that advocate goes back to why it's the most important thing that we believe is our advocate is the righteous one. Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is our righteousness. Right. So it it all keeps working in cycle. So it's like, well, I'm not loving my brother.

That doesn't mean you're not keeping the commands. Do you agree that you should? Yeah, I agree that I should. Okay, great. Where should you go? It always circles back to Christ. What you're going to learn with the Bible according to Jesus is that it's about Jesus. It's like John does this. Like I write these things that you might know that you know him. Like I want you to know him. Well, I don't know if I know. All right. Well, do you believe he's God?

Yeah, yeah, I believe it's God. Okay, great. Do you believe his righteousness will save you and his death, build, and resurrection will cleanse you? Yeah, yeah, I believe that. Do you believe that he is your great high priest and advocate right now before the Father? Right now, he's doing this.

Perfectly, without fail. Yes, yes, I believe that. And do you believe that now that you're part of this family, you should love your brothers? Yeah, I I I definitely believe that. And do you bel you should align your life with This wonderful, holy, glorious way that He has given for us. Do you should you do that? Yeah, I agree with that. Now, do you do it all the time?

No, I don't. Oh, okay. So first John one nine applies to you, that you're a sinner. And then what does he say? He says, Well, repent and confess and that he will cleanse you. So, oh, okay. Then you know him. You can know him. You you, as a matter of fact, you should have no doubt that you know him. But you start rejecting one of those things that he's not the Messiah. You can live however you want.

You don't need to repent. You don't think it's sin. You don't think you need to love the brothers. Then you're not of us. You have gone from out underneath the teaching of Jesus and you're just proving that you were never part of his. family anyways. They go from out from under of us because they were not of us. That's the fruit that he's talking about. The fruit of the evidence is the rejection of Jesus. The fruit is the rejection of the commands. That's the fruit.

Right. Sometimes we're like, we're trying to do all this fruit checking. And he's like, look, the fruit is they've they've like if you want to know what a false tree. looks like. They reject Jesus, they reject his commands, they reject his people, and they live outside of the way in which they have been called to live. And it all circles back to if they got Jesus right, then everything else would have fallen down. But they got Jesus wrong. That's why he gets so upset with them.

Saying they got Jesus wrong. When you get Jesus wrong, everything go everything goes with it. And that's why I think the theocast matters is because we want to create clarity and comfort. If you don't have clarity on who Jesus is, you're not going to have comfort. Then if you don't have comfort, you're gonna live in constant fear.

And you're either going to go off a descent or you're going to live ineffective. Like you're not going to help anybody because you're so worried about, you know, am I truly saved? Uh it's hard to ask somebody, you know, can you can you imagine if someone's in the boat but they still think they're drowning? And it's like, hey, can you help me rescue this person? And like, ah, I still need to be saved. It's like, bro, you're in the boat.

And it like they're curled up in a ball and you know they're they're they're so worried, like I think I'm still drowning. It's like, yeah, you can feel the waves. And the storm, but bro, you're in the boat. Okay. Life is hard. Life is complicated. And at times you're going to get tossed about, but you're being carried by the boat.

You, dear Christian, are getting tossed about. You're you're carried, but you're getting hit by the waves and you can feel it and things are unsteady. But look to see how are you floating in this tormest to this tormental storm? How is this happening? Because you're being held by Christ.

So what John is saying is, hey, let's create some stability. You're okay. You're in have you are you in have you kept have you kept have you kept uh the commandments, meaning that do you hold to them? Do you believe in them? Do you trust them? Okay, great. Then let's separate from these people who are trying to lead us astray and let's rescue those who are hurting. Then it creates a a Christian who is strong in their faith, right? So we're anchoring or we're anchoring ourselves in Christ.

Um, this is John 6.37. It says, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Well, what are what are we coming to Jesus as? Right? Why would we come to Jesus? And first John says, Well, you're coming to him as your Messiah. As your savior, right? And if you come to him, he's not going to throw you out. Why would he say that it's important, like if you ever think about that for a moment, like why would Jesus say, Well, I won't cast you out?

Because we didn't do something we did something wrong. That's why you would say that. Like hey, we clearly messed up. He's like, I'm not gonna cast you out. You're gonna mess you up. You're gonna fail. You're gonna falter. But You're mine. And I'm not gonna get rid of you. I'm not gonna get throw you out. That's why in Romans eight one, Paul says, There is now, right now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now why

Why would he say that? Because we have reasons to be condemned. That's why. Y you should have said it like He wouldn't say that if you became sinless, perfect, like sinless perfection. Like you became perfect. Like as soon as you're in Christ.

You have no more struggles with sin. I mean, what comes before Romans 8? Romans 7. And what does Romans 7 say? Well, I keep struggling. And Paul's like, even though you struggle, you're not condemned because you're covered in Christ. Keep that. Hold firm to that. Stand firm in that. Stand firm in what? Your obedience? No, stand firm in the fact that if you're in Christ, you're not condemned. That's where you stand, that's the strength that you have.

This is what it means to keep his commandments. Are you are you tracking with me? It's important that we do not think keep is obey in performance moralism. Like that's just not what's going on. So when you hear this Uh, I know Jesus because I've kept his commandments. That should comfort your heart. You should be comforted by that. Because what does it mean to keep his commandments? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you trust everything that he has said? Do you really believe he's Messiah?

Do you believe he's perfect, that he's holy and he's right and he's God? And he died and he rose again, and that his obedience is your obedience, and right now he is your great high priest and king, and he will return. And when he returns he will give you a new body and a new home. And that he never fails you and he never forsakes you. Do you believe that? And if you do, you've kept his commandment. You've kept it. You've not forsaken it for something else.

So again, we have to reinterpret not only keep, now we got to reinterpret the word commandment. And I think you've kind of figured that out. I don't need to go through that again. But the idea of commandment, we immediately think law. We immediately think ten commandments. We need to understand the context in that. He tells you what Jesus means by that. And his understanding is that I am Savior.

I can cleanse you and that in when you become my family, then we have a different heart posture towards our other family members. And if you don't agree to that, then you don't, then you don't know who I am and you've not kept my commandment. You either agree with Jesus about Jesus. And if you disagree with Jesus about Jesus, then you've not kept his commandments. You've not held them. You've not embraced them to be yours. There's a difference between performance

Because you're gonna be a center. You're not gonna perform well. Like that's all a part of the command. I have come into seek and save that which is lost. If you confess your sin to me, he'll cleanse you. Like that's what he's saying. That's all a part of that. So dear were he saying, I've said all of this. So I'm talking to the to the person who is just sitting there and you're like, I don't know if I've kept his commandments. Do you think Jesus is powerful enough to save you?

And do you agree that there's a different way once that God has changed you and you've brought you into this family, there's a different way of living. And that when you fail, that he'll cover you over and over and over and over and over again. Do you believe that his grace is sufficient to cover you? In not only your salvation, but in your failure to love him and love others. Do you believe that? Then, dear child, you've kept his commandment.

You've not abandoned it for another gospel. You've not abandoned it for another life, for another way. You're not seeking self-righteousness, and you're not seeking to live however you want. You're seeking first the kingdom of God. That's what you want. You embrace that. Your assurance is that he is able to author your salvation and to finish your salvation, and that he holds you fast and you cannot be condemned, and he will not cast you out and he will never let you go.

You hold on to those commandments. You don't let them go. You keep them in your heart and you trust them. Don't let someone rip one commandment out and replace it with another, where it's all performance. Listen, we are called to obey. But we're also told we're going to fail. And that's why we walk by faith. We don't walk by performance. So I am not saying live however you want. That's to disagree with Jesus, and that is not to keep his commandments.

I am saying, let Christ be your savior. And if Christ is your savior, then he becomes the wonder of your king. And your king tells you how to live. And when he says, by the way, you're gonna fail a lot. And as you fail, come to me and I'll cleanse you. I'll I'll comfort you. And I'm gonna put you amongst other siblings, and they're gonna guide and protect you, and you're gonna build one another up.

And it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And we're going to pick this up next week and keep talking about the wonder of Christ and building up our faith. And trusting in him.

If you want, you can get enough. That's where I teach you that Christ is enough for all of your life. That's the new free ebook. You can go download that. If you want the paperback to that, you can go to our website, theocast.org, get that there, or on Amazon. And then I've got this in Kindle, paperback, and hardback. Uh, this is where I teach you how to read the Bible in the way in which I just showed you. So really simple to read.

Not academic. Uh, if you understood this podcast, then you'll understand this book. And I go through all the Old and New Testament teaching you how to read it. So you can see it's not a huge book, simple easy, simple to read. Um, hopefully that encourages you. And we'll see you next week. I I am in a community. If you want to come and join us, we have these type of conversations all the time. I answer questions.

Um, it's a fun group of people. They are tender and they are great. And we really protect that group of people so that if you're a pastor and you're looking for resources or help, you want to connect with me as a pastor, I love connecting with other pastors. So I love to learn from you.

We create a really cool community there. You can go check it out at theocast.org. Hey guys, real quick, some of you are listening to this and it's encouraging to you, but you have questions. So where do you go? How do you interact with other people who have the same questions and share resources? We have started something called the Theocast community, and we're excited because not only is it a place for you to connect with other like-minded believers, all of our resources there.

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