What does matter is whether we are faithful in the calling to which God has called us. The Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). That end has not yet come. So you and I still have the task of preaching it.
With the start of chapter 12, we come in our studies of Paul’s letter to the Romans to the practical section of the book. Ours is a practical age and most people want “practical” teaching. But to call these chapters practical suggests that the doctrinal sections are not practical, and whenever we find ourselves thinking along those lines we are making a mistake and contributing to great misunderstanding.
If revelation is the basis for social morality and ethics, then it is impossible to have valid, effective or lasting morals without it. We must have Romans 1-11 in order to have Romans 12-16.
In Monday’s study I commented on Francis Schaeffer’s book How Should We Then Live?, saying that “then” is the all-important word. Now I note that when we come to the first verse of Romans 12 we discover exactly the same thing, only in this case the important word is “therefore.”
“Therefore” is a linking word, as I have said. We have looked back to what it refers to. Now we should look forward to see what the doctrinal material of chapters 1-11 connects with. I am handling it in seven sections.
True conversion makes a difference in a person’s life. If there are no differences, there is no genuine conversion. But what are the differences? They are precisely those that are spelled out in the remaining chapters of this letter. Laws in themselves change nothing, or at least very little. It is changed people who change everything. And the only thing that ever really changes people is God Himself through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have been called to faith in Jesus Christ, you are part of a radically changed community, the new humanity. It is your privilege to begin to make changes in our world.
I do not like the word “paradox” used in reference to Christian teachings, because to most people the word refers to something that is self-contradictory or false. Christianity is not false. But the dictionary also defines “paradox” as any statement that seems to be contradictory, yet may be true in fact, and in that sense there are paradoxes in Christianity.
The principle of sacrifice is so foundational to the doctrine of the Christian life that we must be very careful to lay it out correctly, and in order to do that we need to review the foundations for this foundation.
Redemption from sin by Christ is not the only doctrine the Christian life of self-sacrifice is built on. A second foundation is our having died to the past by having become new creatures in Christ, if we are truly converted.
So I ask, who are you willing to believe? Yourself, reinforced by the world and its way of thinking? Or Jesus Christ? I say “Jesus” specifically, because I want to remind you of His teaching from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. He speaks there about how to be happy. Indeed, the word is even stronger than that. It is the powerful word “blessed,” meaning to be favored by God.
Paul’s words in Romans 12:1-2 are an urgent appeal to us to do something, to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. This is not done for us. It is something we must do. This leads to the fourth and final foundational truth. It is the “obedience that comes from faith,” which Paul wrote about early in the letter, saying, “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5).
We are to sacrifice ourselves for Jesus, of course, if we love Him. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13), and He did it for us. He did it literally…Now, because He loved us and gave Himself for us, we who love Him are likewise to give ourselves to Him as “living sacrifices.”
What exactly is meant by “sacrifice”? How are we to do it? The first point is the obvious one. The sacrifice is to be a living sacrifice rather than a dead one. This was quite a novel idea in Paul’s day, of course, though we have lost this by becoming overly familiar with it.
Sin can control us through our bodies, but it does not need to. So rather than offering our bodies as instruments of sin, we are to offer God our bodies as instruments for doing His will.
Paul uses the word “holy” to indicate the nature of the sacrifices we are to offer God. Any sacrifice must be holy. That is, it must be without spot or blemish and be consecrated entirely to God. Anything less is an insult to the great and holy God we serve. But how much more must we be holy who have been purchased “not with perishable things such as silver and gold…but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
The final word Paul uses to describe how we should present our bodies to God as living sacrifices is “pleasing.” But this is also a conclusion for what I have been saying this week since the point is that if we do what Paul has urged us to do, namely, to offer our “bodies as living sacrifices, holy…to God,” then we will also find that what we have done is pleasing (or acceptable) to Him.
What is it that motivates people to achieve all they are capable of achieving or to “be all that you can be,” as the Army recruitment ads have it? There are a number of answers.
What is it that motivates Christians to live a Christian life? Or to use Paul’s language in Romans 12:1, what is it that motivates them “to offer [their] bodies as living sacrifices…to God”?
This is not the first time we have had to think about mercy in studying Romans. Mercy is one of three words often found together: goodness, grace and mercy.
Imagine yourself in Adam’s place, living through what I have described. God had told Adam and Eve that they would die, but they had not died. There had been judgments, of course, consequences. Sin always has consequences. But they had not been struck down; and, in fact, God had even announced the coming of a Redeemer who one day would crush Satan’s head and undo his work.
That is the nature of the goodness, love, grace and mercy of our great God. If you are a Christian, shouldn’t it motivate you to the most complete offer of your body to him as a living sacrifice and to the highest possible level of obedience and service?
Today we come to the last phrase of Romans 12:1. The Greek words of this phrase are ambiguous, and can therefore be translated more than one way.
To understand this verse well we must understand the kind of service that is required. We have already spent a good bit of time exploring what this kind of service is about. It concerns what Paul calls “sacrifice.” When we were looking at it in detail earlier we saw that it involves three things.
God intervenes to save us by the work of Jesus Christ who died for us, and by the work of the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand what Jesus has accomplished, repent of our sin, and trust Him for our salvation. Then He has also joined us to Jesus Christ to make us different people from what we were before.
Let me make what I have been saying personal. Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Are you trusting Him for your salvation? Has the Holy Spirit made you alive in Jesus Christ? If he has, what can be more reasonable than to give yourself to Him? What is more logical than to serve God wholeheartedly in this way?
It is reasonable because God is worthy of our very best efforts. In the fourth chapter of Revelation we read, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Rev. 4:11).
There are some verses in the Bible that are enriched when we read them in other translations. Romans 12:2 is one of them. In the New International Version the first part of Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.”
Secularism is an umbrella term that covers a number of other “isms,” like humanism, relativism, pragmatism, pluralism, hedonism and materialism. But it, more than any other single word, aptly describes the mental framework and value structure of the people of our time.
In yesterday’s study I said that there is a proper concern for secular things but that secularism as a worldview is wrong. I need to say the same thing about this next popular “ism,” humanism.
Since we’ve been talking about humanism this week, we also have to talk briefly about relativism. Because if man is the focal point of everything, then there are no absolutes in any area of life, and everything is up for grabs.
I want to look ahead one phrase to what Paul says we are to be: not “conformed,” but “transformed” by the renewing of our minds. There is a deliberate distinction between those two words, as I am sure you can see. Conformity is something that happens to you outwardly. Transformation happens inwardly.
In our time there is no longer a distinctly Christian way of thinking. There is to some extent a Christian ethic and even a somewhat Christian way of life and piety. But there is no distinctly Christian frame of reference, no uniquely Christian worldview, to guide our thinking in distinction from the thought of the secular world around us.
Television is certainly capable of imprinting “the pattern of this world” on us. An academic study of the negative impact of television on culture has been provided by a man named Neil Postman, a professor of communication arts and sciences at New York University. It is called Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.
A great deal of what Postman develops in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, is reinforcement for what I have been describing as mindlessness. And “the pattern of this age” today is certainly mindless. So let me review two specific areas of bad influence, as he sees it.
Was Jesus amusing? Were Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley or Jonathan Edwards entertainers? We must learn to seek truth, and avoid being caught up in the search for entertainment which has so permeated our culture.
This week we’ve looked at different ways that “the pattern of this world” eases its way into our worldview. And this is the point at which we also need to talk about genuine mind renewal for Christians, which is what I will continue with next week.
As believers we need to reject the world’s thinking and begin to think as Christians. This is what the apostle Paul is writing about in our text from Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This means that our thinking is not to be determined by the culture of the world around us, but, rather, we are to have a distinctly different and growing Christian worldview.
Where do we start if we want not to conform to this world? There is a sense in which we could begin at any point, since truth is a whole and truth in any area will inevitably lead to truth in every other area. But if the dominant philosophy of our day is secularism (which means viewing all of life only in terms of the visible world), then the best of all possible starting places is the doctrine of God, for God alone is above and beyond the world and is eternal.
To avoid being conformed to the world we must also understand the doctrine of revelation. The God who exists has revealed Himself. Do you remember how Francis Schaeffer put it in the title of one of his books? He called it, He Is There and He Is Not Silent. That is exactly the point. God is there, and He has not kept Himself hidden from us. He has revealed Himself in nature, in history and especially in the Scriptures.
If there is a God and if he has made us to have eternal fellowship with him, then we are going to look at failure, suffering, pain and even death differently. For the Christian these can never be the greatest of all tragedies. They are bad. Death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). But they are overbalanced by eternal matters.
In 1989, Westerners were astounded by the political changes in Eastern Europe. Country after country repudiated its seventy-two-year Communist heritage and replaced its leaders with democratically elected officials. We rejoiced in these changes, rightly. But, though the American media with its blindness to things spiritual will not tell us, the changes in the Eastern bloc have not come about by the will of one person, Mikhail Gorbachev or any other, but by the spiritual vitality of the people.
The only resurrection that counts for anything is a resurrection of the body. The disciples knew Jesus’ resurrection was real when they touched His body, and it was only because of their deeply grounded conviction that He was raised that they were willing to launch out from their obscure corner of the earth to the whole of the Roman world with the Gospel.
On reaching the tomb they were astonished to find that the stone had been moved from the entrance. We can imagine them standing at a distance, afraid to go close, wondering what had happened. Who had moved the stone? Had the body of Jesus been stolen? Grave robbing was a common crime in the ancient world. Perhaps the robbers were still around. Or had Pilate ordered the body’s removal? What should they do? At last they decided the disciples should be told. So Mary Magdalene was sent back to the city to find them. Not one of them imagined that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
At this point, however, neither Peter nor John had seen the resurrected Lord. He was seen by the women first, those who had been last at the cross and were now first at the tomb. Jesus met them on their way home after they had gone to the tomb, seen the angels, and heard about Jesus’ resurrection. The angel’s message contains four imperatives which are as important for us as they were on that first Easter day for those women (vv. 6-7).
We concluded yesterday by looking at what we should see when we look into Christ’s empty grave. I had pointed out the first three of the five Spurgeon mentions. We’ll continue that in today’s lesson with the fourth point, the most important one. We must look into the tomb to see that Jesus is not in it. He is risen, as He said. He has conquered death.
How perverse are the sinful hearts of men. When Jesus was dying on the cross the leaders had taunted him, saying, “Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him” (Matt. 27:42). But now Jesus had done something even greater than that. He had been raised from death. Did they believe in Him? Of course not. They could not believe because they would not believe.
Each year at Easter time, when I turn to these stories of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I find myself wondering what I’m going to find new to preach on. When you’ve been doing this as many years as I have now, you begin to have the feeling that you have preached just about everything you can, given the rather limited corpus of material. And yet, each year as I turn to these stories, I find that there’s something there I never saw before.
The soldiers had left their post, and the tomb was empty. They must have been terrified, wondering what was going to happen to them. After the religious leaders met together, they did not seek to have the soldiers punished. Instead, the guards were told to lie about what had happened. They were to go out and say nothing about angels or a stone being rolled away, but simply to say that while they were asleep, His disciples came and stole the body.
Here’s a case, which like so many others, shows us a man who proposes a theory to explain away the reality of the resurrection. And instead of being rebuffed or forgotten, as Schofield and his book should have been, he is rewarded. It’s a case of rewards instead of punishments.
But now I want you to look at something else. I want you to turn from thinking about those enemies of Christ, who are exemplified by the soldiers and the priests on that first Easter Sunday, and instead I want you to focus on Christ’s friends, those who learned of the resurrection and who met with Jesus Christ following His resurrection.
One day there will be a great reversal. As is often the case in this life because of sin and the commitment that men and women have to unbelief, that unbelief is rewarded and the truth is punished. That’s happened before, and it will happen again. But, nevertheless, God is on His throne. The day is coming when all of that will be overturned. Unbelief will be judged, sin will be punished, and those who stand with the Lord Jesus Christ will hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
In our last study from Romans 12, I introduced the Christian doctrines of God and revelation as the biblical response to the world’s way of thinking. The Christian doctrine of God is the Bible’s answer to secularism, humanism, relativism and materialism. The only one I did not write about explicitly was humanism, and I come to the answer to that “ism” now. The answer to humanism is the Christian doctrine of man.
In the last twenty years something terrible has happened to Americans in the way we relate to other people, and it is due to the twisted humanism we looked at yesterday. Christians have become conformed to the world in this area, and we must take a good hard look at this to be sure we don’t get swept into the pattern of our culture.
If we are to have renewed minds, we need to stop thinking about ourselves and other people as the world thinks of itself and others and instead begin operating within a biblical framework.
If human beings are more important and more valuable than the humanists imagine, why is it that things are so bad? The answer is the Christian doctrine of sin, which tells us that although people are more valuable than secularists imagine, they are in worse trouble than the humanists can admit.
The doctrine of redemption—the fact that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)—infinitely intensifies man’s value, because it teaches that even in his fallen condition in which he hates God and kills his fellow creatures, man is still so valuable to God that God planned for and carried out the death of His own precious Son to save him.
I find it significant that this is where Paul’s statements about being transformed by the renewing of our minds, rather than being conformed to the patterns of this world, end. They end with proving the way of God to be the best way and the will of God to be perfect.
In this verse “will” is to be interpreted in its context, and the context indicates that the will of God that we are encouraged to follow is the general will of offering our bodies to God as living sacrifices, refusing to be conformed to the world’s ways, and instead being transformed from within by the renewing of our minds. It is this that we are to pursue and thus find to be good, pleasing and perfect, though, of course, if we do it, we will also find ourselves working out the details of God’s specific will for our lives.
The will of God that we are talking about is good, pleasing and perfect. In other words, it teaches about the nature of God’s will for us as well as the fact that God has one.
We need to prove by our experience that the will of God is indeed what Paul tells us it is, that is, that it is good, pleasing, and perfect. We need to check it out. Moreover, it is by checking it out that we will begin to find out what it actually is.
The Lord Jesus Christ took it upon Himself to prove that God’s will was indeed good, pleasing and perfect, even though it involved the pain of the cross, which in itself hardly seemed good, pleasing or acceptable.
It is a matter of handling first things first: first, the matter of my relationship to God; second, a proper evaluation of myself; and third, a right relationship to other persons.
In discussing right relationships, there are two possible errors in self-evaluation, and Paul suggests both of them in what he says: first, to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; and second, to think too lowly of ourselves, which is to have a false humility. Today I want to spend time talking about the problem of thinking too highly of ourselves.
One of the problems we have is that we usually think about ourselves too much. Yet the solution Paul offers is not to stop thinking about ourselves entirely but instead to start thinking about ourselves in a right way. We are to think of ourselves “with sober judgment.”
The second phrase Paul uses in Romans 12:3 for thinking rightly about ourselves is “in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” This is a little bit more than simply seeing ourselves as made in the image of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and having part in the overall plan of God. It involves what each one of us is uniquely, that is, as different from other people, and it leads to the discussion of spiritual gifts that follows in this chapter.
A proper humility in which we learn to think soberly about ourselves does not lead to self-abnegation or inactivity, which honors no one. Instead it leads to the energetic use of every gift and talent God has given, knowing that they have come from Him— that no glory is ever due to us— but because they do come from Him, they must be used faithfully and wholeheartedly for His glory.
Anyone who is interested in the doctrine of the church and senses its importance must be a bit surprised to notice how little the word “church” actually occurs in the Bible. The word is not found in the Old Testament at all. The first time it occurs is in Matthew 16:18, then again in Matthew 18:17. But it is not in the other gospels. It is scattered throughout Acts, of course (about eighteen times), but it is only found five times in Romans, all in chapter 16 (vv. 1, 3, 5, 16, 23). There are quite a few instances in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians (eighteen and nine times respectively), but then the references become infrequent again.
Paul’s image is very helpful at this point. For when he speaks of the body of Christ, obviously he is speaking of those who belong to Christ, who are joined to Him in exactly the sense in which he speaks about our being joined to Christ in Romans 5 and elsewhere. This is a spiritual reality, invisible but supremely real.
There is a second important truth about the Church taught by Paul’s image of it as Christ’s body. Not only does that image define the Church as the community of those who have been joined to Christ. It also teaches that there is but one Church. That is, there are not multiple churches, even less mutually competing churches. There is but one Church, because Jesus has but one body.
Since we are part of a body with many members, what is the challenge we face in an individualistic age like ours? Well, the answer is not the ecumenical movement. Our task is not to create the unity of the body, above all not from the top down. The unity of the body is a given for those who are “in Christ.”
Different gifts! It is hard for many of us to recognize this and accept it, because we are always wanting other Christians to be like ourselves and function like ourselves, or be cogs in our machine rather than contributing to another Christian work. Paul knew Christians who had this trouble too, but he tells everyone that we must accept this diversity if the church is to function as it should.
How many gifts are there? Nineteen are mentioned in the New Testament. But the number is not absolute. Different words may describe the same gift, for example, serving and helping, and there are probably gifts that could be mentioned but are not. In Romans 12 there are seven items, and we’ll look at all of them as the week goes on.
Today let’s look at two more of the gifts God gives us for the building up of His body of believers.
Today we’ll look at the gifts of encouraging and contributing to the needs of others. These gifts are important to the ministry of Christ’s body, as are the other gifts we’ve talked about this week.
I want to end this week’s study on spiritual gifts by looking at the remaining two gifts in the listing of Romans 12:6-8.
After the first two verses of Romans 12, which establish the principles by which sound doctrine is to be applied to godly living, Paul has begun to write about the church. Yet his words are no abstract theologizing.
Romans 12:9 states two specific things about love. First, true love is genuine. “Love must be sincere,” says Paul. Second, love must be discriminating. “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good,” is how the apostle puts it.
Today we’re continuing our look at Paul’s commentary on love from 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth…”
Today we will look at the section of 1 Corinthians 13 which says that love will endure even when things like prophecies, tongues and the quest for knowledge have ceased. And we’ll see why love is more important even than such enduring things as faith and hope.
There are times in Bible study when an examination of the Greek text is very helpful. This is not always so, because most Bible translations convey the meaning of the original languages accurately and a person who does not know Greek can get along very well with the English. But sometimes the Greek is helpful, and one of those times is now.
As we continue our study of how love functions, we come to the second of Paul’s dative cases, which is about honor and is closely related to what we studied yesterday about brotherly love. This is why the two ideas are combined in verse 10. A literal translation might be, “And in respect to honor, lead the way for each another.” In other words, “Don’t wait around for people to recognize your contributions and praise you. Instead, be alert to what they are contributing and honor them.”
In our study of how love functions, we come today to the sentence which reads, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (v. 11). The word “fervor” (NIV) or “fervent” (KJV) is from a verb meaning “to boil.” So a literal translation of this phrase would be: “In respect to the spirit (or Spirit), boiling.” Unfortunately, since boiling suggests heat and we think of heat as having to do with anger, it would be better to think of this as a Christian “bubbling over” or even, as the Revised Standard Version has it, “being aglow with the Spirit.”
As we continue to learn about love in Romans 12, verse 12 introduces three more items, and these three go together. This might be paraphrased, “In so far as we have cause to hope, let us be joyful; in so far as we have cause of pain, let us hold out; in so far as the door of prayer is open to us, let us continue to use it.”
Did you know that someone who loves is also someone who prays consistently? It’s right here in verse 12. A literal translation of this verse might be “and in regard to prayer, continuing.” Isn’t “continuing” an interesting word to use? We might have expected any one of a number of other words. But Paul says “continuing” because he was aware that this is just the problem. It is not that we never pray. We almost have to, if we are Christians. But we get tired of praying, our minds wander and we neglect prayer precisely when we most need it.
My good friend Michael Scott Horton has written a book called Made in America, in which he examines the impact of American culture on Christianity, especially evangelical Christianity. The impact comes from a variety of cultural sources, he says, but one of these is our consumerism. In America everything is sold, from toothpaste to politicians. And the way it is sold is by appealing to the dreams and desires of the people. Nothing bad is ever faced. Disappointments are ruled out. This has its effect on Christianity.
Today we come upon the most radical teaching in Romans 12:14-16. Having spoken of the application of Christian doctrine to the way the individual is to think of himself and of the way he is to think of others within the fellowship of the church, Paul moves on to speak of those who are not yet Christians and of how we are to treat them. In fact, to put it even more radically, he moves from how we should treat those who love us (or should love us) to how we should treat those who hate us because of our relationship to Christ.
The fact of persecution is well established. If we are Christ’s and if we stand for Christ against the world, we will experience it. But now the question is: How we are to respond to persecution? In Romans 12:14 Paul tells us that we are to “bless” our persecutors. We are to “bless” and “not curse.” Again, this is a conscious reflection of Jesus’ common teaching.
Yesterday we talked about prayer as a means for blessing those who persecute us. But there are more ways than that of being a blessing, and Paul discusses these in verses 15 and 16. The way they are written, these verses could apply to Christians as well as to enemies. But since they are bracketed by references to those who persecute us, in verse 14 which comes before and verse 17 which comes after, Paul must be thinking of how Christians should relate to unbelievers.
We should bless our enemies by showing them empathy and getting along well with them. We should behave in humility, with a willingness to associate with those we think are lower than we are. The trouble with exhortations of this nature, practical as they may be, is that they seem very far beyond us and therefore discourage us if we start to take them seriously.
Right or wrong? Making that distinction rightly is what civilization—not to mention right religious behavior—is all about. But that is what we have lost in America. We do not believe in right and wrong. Therefore, it is against that serious national problem that we come to Paul’s challenge to Christians in Romans 12:17, where we read, “Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”
In order to pursue a goal, there must be a goal. To have a strong moral society, we must have moral absolutes. Otherwise, all we can have is what is pragmatic or expedient, which is what education, politics and American life as a whole has come to. It is why we do not have any heroes today and why we do not have any moral leadership in the country.
We need to have our national morality renewed. But, of course, that is only another way of talking about the problem. Corporate morality is the one thing we cannot have if the only thing we can say about values is that they are relative.
We live in a trashy culture, worse—a sinful, evil, ugly and perverted culture. It is hard not to be sullied by it. Yet it was no different in Paul’s day. The Greek and Roman world of the first century was a slime pit. But in spite of it, Paul says that Christians are to set their minds on good things, things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. We are to seek the best rather than the worst of the world around us.
In spite of everything I have said this week about America’s moral decline and the loss of a fixed moral standard for most people, the real problem is having the will to do what is right even when we know what it is.
Some divisions are based on important matters of theology and practice, of course. But many are not, and the self-righteous, antagonistic, fighting spirits that lie behind these unnecessary divisions and perpetuate them are a scandal among those who profess to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt. 5:9). He asserted, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35).
The first thing we notice about Paul’s challenge to Christians to live a life of peace is his sobering realism. He begins, “If it is possible” and “as far as it depends on you…” (v. 18). This way of speaking recognizes two potential sources of difficulty: 1) the behavior of other people may negate peace; and 2) there may be issues at stake that will make peace impossible even from the side of the Christian.
“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (v. 19). We see in this verse that an important point Paul has to make about keeping peace is forbearance. This is categorical teaching. It does not say, “Do not avenge yourselves except under the following three or four conditions” or “except under extreme circumstances.” It says, “Do not avenge yourselves.” That means never. Fighting back is not Christian.
As we continue our study of what it means to “live at peace with everyone,” I want to examine verse 20, which develops a contrast with the thought of taking vengeance into our own hands. “On the contrary,” it says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
This week I have been working through what Paul is teaching about peacekeeping or peacemaking, and I have stressed that it requires realism, forbearance and active goodness to those who do wrong. But perhaps you have been thinking—I know the thought comes to me—“But I can’t do it. I don’t care if this is the Christian way or is the example of Christ, I can’t do it. Nothing is ever going to get me to the point of wanting to do good to those who hate me.”
Today we come to the last sentence of Romans 12, and it is worth noting, as we look back over the preceding verses, that Paul has said three times that we are not to return evil for evil. Verse 14 commands, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” Verse 17 urges, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” Now, verse 21, the last verse in the chapter, demands, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is Paul’s overriding theme in this section.
Our text has two parts. The first part says, “Do not be overcome by evil.” That is the negative. The second part says, “But overcome evil with good.” That is the positive, and of the two it is the hardest to accomplish.
Triumphing by overcoming evil with good sounds great, but how are we to live like this? That is the real problem. How is this to be done in our lives, we being what we are?
If we are to learn what it is to overcome evil with good, and actually overcome, we must study the example of Jesus Christ. For this is what Jesus did, and if He is our Savior, we will love Him and want to be like Him in this as in His other acts and characteristics.
We have come to the end of Romans 12. As we look back over this remarkable chapter, starting with the offering of our bodies to God as living sacrifices and ending with the offering of ourselves and our own best efforts to others in order that, by the grace of God, we might overcome their evil with good, we marvel at the wisdom, scope and power of a Gospel that can do that.
I want to begin a brief but entirely new series of studies of 1 John. And to begin with I want to look at the purpose for which 1 John was written. It is possible to read a book without understanding the purpose for which it was written. Indeed, much reading is done on this level by many persons. But it is not possible to study a book without dealing with this primary question.
The first is the test of practical righteousness in the believer’s life. It does not mean that the Christian must be without sin—indeed, John says that the one professing to be without sin deceives himself and makes God a liar (1:8, 10)—but it does mean that he must be progressing in righteousness so that his profession is increasingly matched by his conduct.
The second purpose that John had in writing his letter is related to the first one, but it is rightly considered a distinct purpose, in that by it John was dealing with a new and dangerous movement in his day and was warning Christians about it. The movement was what today we would call an early form of gnosticism, and John’s objective in writing against it is to stress the historical origins of Christianity.
The third purpose for the writing of 1 John is to explain or elaborate upon Christ’s new commandment: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another” (John 13:34).
What, then, are the major emphases of John’s first letter for ourselves and our contemporaries? There are five of them.
The first message of John is his insistence upon the truth and value of the old message of the Gospel as opposed to new or modern alterations of it, such as would change its character.
The most important thing that John has to say in his preface is that Christianity is Jesus Christ. Without Christ there would have been no Christianity, for Christianity began by God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus and continues by the authoritative testimony of the apostles and others to that revelation.
In yesterday’s study, we ended by drawing our attention to the phrase “the word of life” and mentioning the way this might be understood at first glance. We said that we would tend to interpret it as “the life-giving Word” or “Christ who gives life.” There are several reasons for questioning this first and easy identification of “the word of life” with Jesus, however.
The second channel through which John gained knowledge of Christ was the eye, for the apostle says that he and other apostles “have seen” Him. Of all the sense words used by John in this preface—hear, see, look upon, and touch—this one was apparently the most important to John personally, for he repeats it in each of the first three verses.
As objective and tangible as the revelation of God in Christ was, this would nevertheless have gone unnoticed by John and the others unless God had also intervened to reveal Christ to them subjectively.
At the conclusion to yesterday’s study, we saw that the first word used to describe how the Gospel is shared is martyrein, which originally denoted the bearing of testimony in a court of law.
Second, John says, we “proclaim” what we have seen and heard to you. On the surface this verb seems much like the other, involving a verbalized testimony to what has been seen and heard. But it also suggests something else. It suggests a commission from Christ, and therefore authority.
What is God? John answers: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” This statement is John’s first great thesis, leading naturally into much of the material that follows. In this section of the letter John presents his thesis (both from a positive and negative perspective), deals with three related denials concerning the nature and consequences of sin, and issues a call to holiness, “without which,” as the author of Hebrews states, “no one will see the Lord.”
In biblical thought two special ideas are associated with the image of light, however. First, the image generally has ethical overtones. That is, it is a symbol of holiness or purity as well as of intelligence, vision, growth and other realities.
John’s definition of God as light is followed by a denial of three false claims in which the reader is probably right in hearing an echo of the erroneous teachings of John’s Gnostic opponents. These men claimed to have entered into a higher fellowship with God than was known by most other Christians. They professed great things, but there was a flaw in their profession. They claimed to know God, but even as they made their claims they showed by their actions that they failed to take sin, which is opposed to the nature of God, seriously.
In yesterday’s study we looked at the first result of walking in the light, which concerns fellowship with other Christians. Second, John says that the one walking in the light will find the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ available to him for continued cleansing.
The application of this section of John’s letter must be to each man or woman individually. John has contrasted the nature of God (“God is light”) with the nature of man; and he has begun to show the characteristics of those who walk in the light as opposed to those who walk in darkness. It is not enough that a man should claim to be in the light. He must actually walk in it. He must be a child of the light.
A question still remains, however. John obviously wants those to whom he is writing to keep free of sin, but how precisely do the truths about which he has been speaking lead to godliness? He has spoken of God’s faithfulness in forgiving sin. But how does the assurance of forgiveness actually lead to holiness?
This is the principle of 1 John 2:1-2: forgiveness in advance for any sin that might ever come into our lives. This is God’s promise, and it is given to us precisely that we might not sin. God is not shocked by human behavior, as we often are; for He sees it in advance, including the sins of Christians. Moreover, and in spite of this, He sent His Son to die for the sins of His people so that there might be full forgiveness.
The second term used by John of Jesus is “righteous.” Indeed, it is this word rather than either “advocate” or “propitiation” which is emphasized. In what sense is it used?
It is in the Old Testament sacrificial system that the true idea of propitiation is observed, for if anything is conveyed through the system of sacrifices (in the biblical sense of sacrifice) it is that God has Himself provided the way by which a sinful man or woman may approach Him. Sin means death. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4, 20). But the sacrifices teach that there is, nevertheless, a way of escape and of approaching God.
Anyone who has worked with young Christians knows that often shortly after a person has believed in Christ doubts set in. The initial experience of the Christian is usually one of great joy. He had been lost in the darkness of his own sin and ignorance; now he has come into the light. Formerly he had not found God; now he has found Him. But then, as time goes by, it is also frequently the case that the new Christian begins to wonder if, in fact, anything has really changed. He thought he was a new creature in Christ, but, to speak frankly, he is really much as he was. The same temptations are present; they may even be worse. There are the same flaws of character. Even the joy, which he once knew, seems to be evaporating. At such a time the new Christian often asks how it is possible to be certain that he is saved by God. He may ask, “How can I truly know that I know God?”
In contrast to either of these two Greek ideas, John’s understanding of the knowledge of God is essentially personal and practical. So it is satisfying. It is satisfying because it is knowledge, not of an idea or thing, but of a person, and because it issues in a profound change of conduct.
Why is the righteous life a proof that we know God? Because it is not natural to sinful man. Consequently, it is proof of a divine and supernatural working in our lives if we obey Him. Paul makes the same point when he follows his admonition to the Philippians to “work out” their salvation with the profound observation, “For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
Yesterday, we pointed out that there are two kinds of men, and considered the first category. This is the man who claims to know God but who does not keep His commandments. Today we continue with a description of the second category of men.
This conclusion also comes to Christians living in our own time. Do we say we are Christians? Then “he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Clearly, in this verse the first “he” is the Christian; the second “he” or “him” is Jesus. The call is to emulate Jesus in our conduct.
In an appendix to his very excellent book, The Church at the End of the 20th Century, Francis Schaeffer speaks of love as “the mark of the Christian.” His study is based upon John 13:33-35, in which Christ is recorded as having imparted a new commandment to His disciples: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Schaeffer’s point is that “only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.” He is quite right. It may be added to this, however, that it is also by love that Christians may know that they are Christians.
The command to love is old in that it existed and was known before Christ’s coming. In its simplest form it is found in Leviticus 19:18, which says: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.” This is the verse to which Jesus referred when He was asked His opinion regarding the first and greatest commandment. He said that the greatest commandment was that recorded in Deuteronomy 6:5: “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” But the second, he said, was Leviticus 19:18. In what sense, then, is the command to love a new commandment? It is new in that it was raised to an entirely new emphasis and level by the teaching and example of Jesus.
John has stated that the darkness is passing away and that the true light is shining; but, nevertheless, the darkness is not completely gone yet, nor is the light seen everywhere or in everybody. Therefore, he brings forward three examples of those to whom the test of love may be applied. There are two negative examples and one positive one.
This last verse introduces a term which may also in conclusion be applied to the life of love. It is the term “walk,” which suggests practical steps. What is love after all? It is not just a certain benign feeling. It is not a smile. It is an attitude which determines what one does.
What does love mean? What will happen if those who profess the life of Christ actually love one another? Francis Schaeffer, who was referred to at the beginning of this study, has several suggestions.
In these references John writes to the newborn in Christ to assure them that he is writing, not because they are not saved (which some of his remarks might lead them to question), but because they are and because he wants them to progress in their Christianity.
John’s two statements to the spiritually mature of his congregations, the fathers, are identical; what is more, they are also quite similar to the second of his statements to children. There is one difference, however, and in this difference lies the distinct nature of John’s reference.
The first part of John’s long parenthesis, verses 12-17, was written to reassure his readers; for John did not want them to think that he was questioning their salvation. Rather, he has written to them because their sins have been forgiven and because they do know the Father. If they miss this truth, they have misunderstood him. On the other hand, John does not want them to think that what he has written regarding the tests of life has no relevance for Christians, for this would be a misunderstanding too. Thus he now goes on to show how what he has said should be applied to their lives.
In the first sense, Christians are to receive and be thankful for the world, for it is God’s gift. Jesus Himself was appreciative of the world in this sense. In the second sense, Christians are to love the world and seek to evangelize it, for God also loves the world. In the third sense, however, the sense we have here, Christians are to reject the world and conduct their lives according to an entirely different set of values.
But does nothing at all abide? Yes, says John. The one who does God’s will abides forever. The object of his love, even the Father, abides forever. His love itself, having its source in God, abides forever. His works, being an aspect of the work of God, abide forever, for he is the possessor of eternal life and heir to all God’s riches in Christ Jesus. The conclusion is that Christians should therefore love God and serve Him fervently.
It is a characteristic of our time, often pointed out by contemporary Christian apologists, that men and women no longer strictly believe in truth. To be sure, they do use the term in a certain colloquial sense, referring to that which is the opposite of false; nevertheless, most twentieth-century men do not mean that when a thing is said to be true it is therefore true absolutely and forever.
Being faced with a major defection in their ranks, the Christians of Asia Minor might be tempted to be discouraged, but now John adds that the defection has a good purpose. These “went out” from us, he says, “that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” In other words, the defection has the effect of purifying the church and revealing both truth and error in true colors.
Over against the antichrists who have left the church John sets God’s true children. These are distinguished by two essential characteristics: first, they have been anointed by the Holy One and second, they all know the truth centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The mention of lies versus truth in verse 21 leads John quite naturally to an analysis of the Gnostics’ errors. But it is not their errors in general that he seizes upon but rather the fundamental error which is their denial that Jesus is the Christ. Indeed, as he states it, this is not only the Gnostics’ error but also the most fundamental error that can be made by anyone. Therefore, it also has the most serious consequences. In writing about this denial of Jesus as the Christ John calls it the lie and the one who embraces it the liar.
The other element—the second weapon—which his readers have and the false teachers do not have, is the Holy Spirit who indeed teaches the Christian by making the Word come alive for him and who abides in him.
John has already spoken of righteousness and the need to be obedient to Christ earlier in chapter 2, and of the need to abide in Him just one verse before this. But although he repeats these ideas here, he nevertheless does so in a new context which is that of Christ’s return. John’s point is that those who are Christ’s ought to abide in Him and live righteous lives in order that they might have confidence and not be put to shame at Jesus’ return.
All these texts testify to the prominence of the doctrine of the Lord’s return throughout the New Testament. But the unique aspect of the reference before us is that John refers to it here, not as a mere point of doctrine considered in itself, but rather as an incentive for living a righteous life. Righteousness, like purity of doctrine, is to come only by abiding in Christ. But we are encouraged to do that by knowledge of the fact that one day we will have to give an account before Him. This, then, is a very practical doctrine.
In the last words of chapter 2, John says that it is by doing righteousness that the one who is really born of God demonstrates that he is born of Him. The idea here is of inherited family traits. God is righteous. Consequently, everyone who is born of God must show traits of that righteousness.
God did not bring children into spiritual life to thereafter abandon them and let them go to hell, however. He brought them into life in order to make them completely like Jesus and take them with Him into heaven. Therefore, John cannot stop his rhapsody with the mere thought of what we are, but rather goes on to reflect on what we shall be when Christ shall appear and we shall be made like Him.
The Christ we are to imitate is the Christ of history. It is the Christ of the opening pages of the epistle, the Christ who was seen and heard and touched and indeed proclaimed from the beginning as the heart of the apostolic Gospel. That is the Christ who is coming back and to whom we must answer for how we have lived. He who truly hopes in Him will live for Him. He who has truly known Him will seek to be like Him.
To separate truth from error is one of the goals of 1 John, of course, as we have seen. Consequently, it is frequently the case that the letter’s affirmations and teachings are accompanied by strong repudiations and denials.
As we read this section we detect what must be a further reference to the tendency of the Gnostic teachers to underestimate sin or excuse it. Perhaps the Gnostics excused sin as being essentially negative in nature; that is, as being connected with what is finite. Again, they may have related it only to their bodies and not to their minds, which they may well have said were above any dispositions to sin. But John will not have this. Sin is not merely negative. It is willful rebellion. Moreover, it involves the mind as that in which rebellion originates. It is only when we see this that we begin to abhor sin and turn from it to seek a Savior.
John has reminded his readers that it is characteristic of the devil to sin. Now he also reminds them that it is a characteristic of Christ to work to take away sin. He states this in two forms, corresponding to the parallel structure of these verses. First, Jesus appeared to take away the sins of His people; second, Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
At the conclusion of yesterday’s study, we looked at the first suggestion for understanding the presence of sin in the Christian life. Today, we look at the other six ideas.
Herein lies the explanation of John’s initial test and the reason behind it. If a person has truly been born of God, then something quite radical has happened to him. He has received a new nature and is therefore and for that very reason launched on a new course. The course is a course in holiness. If he does not go on in holiness, this indicates that he has never in plain fact been born again. On the other hand, if he does go on, he can be encouraged by this and take confidence.
At no point is the contrast between one of John’s tests and its opposite more important for contemporary men and women than the contrast between love and hate. This is so simply because the meaning of love has become so debased in modern culture that practically anyone will claim to have love according to his own definition.
Just as jealousy and hatred in a life indicate that the person involved is of the world and not of the family of God, so also do love and self-sacrifice indicate that such a one has passed out of the world and into God’s family. John therefore turns to an analysis of Christian love, elaborating his statements over against the background of the world’s hatred and murderous designs. In this section he restates and elaborates upon the social test itself, digs deeper into love’s essential nature, and finally suggests two ways in which Christians may show love practically.
Here the continuing contrast between Cain the murderer and Christ the Savior is seen in sharpest focus. Life is the most precious possession anyone has. Cain showed his hate by killing righteous Abel. Jesus revealed His love by sacrificing His own life for those foul creatures of sin He chose to make His brethren.
A second area in which self-sacrifice must be practiced is in the Christian home, particularly in love between a husband and wife. Today’s culture glorifies self-satisfaction. It teaches that if one is not personally and fully gratified in marriage, one has a right to break it off, whatever the cost to the other spouse or to the children. But this is not God’s teaching. God teaches that we must die to self in order that the other person might be fulfilled, for it is only as that happens that we will find the fullness of God’s blessing and personal satisfaction.
How does a Christian deal with doubt? Although there are many causes for it, there is only one answer. It is by knowledge. The Christian must simply take himself in hand and confront himself with what he knows to be true concerning God and God’s work in his life. In other words, faith (which is the opposite of doubt), being based on knowledge, must be fed by it. This is the point that John develops at the close of this third chapter.
Yesterday, we looked at the most common meaning of peithein, which is “to convince” or “to persuade.” Today we begin by looking at another meaning.
There is a second truth which we may also use to reassure our hearts. The first by its very nature was related to ourselves specifically; it had to do with God’s specific work in our own individual life. The second is more general in that it refers in equal measure to all who are God’s children. It is simply that whatever our hearts may say, God knows us better than even we ourselves do and nevertheless has acquitted us. Therefore, we should reassure ourselves by His judgment, which alone is trustworthy, and refuse to trust our own.
The first advantage of an uncondemning heart is what John calls “confidence before God.” This must be understood, not in the sense of confidence of things in general, but in the sense of confidence of one’s standing before God and therefore of access to Him. The Greek phrase literally says, “confidence toward God,” meaning that confidence by which we turn toward Him trustingly. It is one fruit of justification in the Christian life (Rom. 5:2).
In the last verse of chapter three, John introduces two new ideas into the letter, neither of which has even been suggested up to this time. He mentions the idea of a mutual abiding, of Christ in the Christian and of the Christian in Christ; and he mentions the Holy Spirit, through whom the abiding is effected. Because of the development to come in chapter five, the idea of the witness of the Holy Spirit is the more important of the two new concepts.
We do not know precisely what was happening to the churches to whom John was writing, of course. We know that at the very least there was a schism in which those who professed to have greater knowledge in spiritual matters withdrew from the original Christian assembly.
In these verses John deals with this problem of the need to discern teaching in the church and, therefore, also with our own need to exercise such discernment. His reply has three parts. First, there is the command to test those who claim to be inspired. Second, there is a standard to be used in testing them. Third, there is an application of these ideas to the problem of distinguishing between true and merely professing Christians. In this last section John deals once more with the radical distinction between the church and the world and shows the relation of each to the apostolic doctrine.
John has already indicated that behind every prophet stands a spirit, either the Spirit of God or the demonic spirit of antichrist (v. 3). He has spoken of the need to test the spirits by their origin. But how are they to be tested? How can a normal Christian know whether the spirit is of God or of antichrist? Here John applies precisely the test given in Deuteronomy 13, though in terms appropriate to the situation occasioned by the Gnostic challenge. “What do they say about Christ?” is John’s question. Do they acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh or do they deny this? If they deny Christ, they are not of God no matter how marvelous their activity.
At this point we may feel that the discussion has become somewhat theoretical and even unreal, for we are not often confronted today by those who claim to be prophets. Our difficulty is rather of knowing on the purely human level whether or not a teacher speaks truly. Can we test those who speak on this level? Can truth be distinguished from error here? The objection is valid, of course, and the questions are good ones. Consequently, we are not surprised to find John turning to deal with this matter in the remaining verses.
The tragedy of our time is that we have not enough men and women to proclaim and defend that doctrine. So the truth is not clearly defined, and the way is not clearly illuminated. The doctrine of the apostles, the only true doctrine of the church, illuminates it; and the incarnation of God’s Christ defines and gives a focal point to that doctrine. It is for us to determine whether or not we believe that doctrine and, if we do, to respond to it. There are not three ways, according to the apostle. There are not four, or five, or more. There are only two ways: the way of truth and the way of error, the way of Christ and the way of antichrist. We are called to serve Christ, and those who are truly of God will do so.
To this point much of John’s letter has been given over to developing the three tests by which a person who has become a child of God may know that he truly is a child of God. They are: the moral test, which is righteousness; the social test, which is love; and the doctrinal test, which is the test of truth or of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as God incarnate. The tests have been developed one by one, but it has been obvious even as John talks about them that they belong together and that each is important.
John begins with a passionate exhortation to his readers to “love one another,” a phrase which is repeated three times in verses 7, 11, and 12. This is his great concern, and the reasons for that concern are given in connection with this threefold repetition. The first reason is that love is of God’s own nature; therefore, Christians are to “love one another.” The second reason concerns God’s gift in Christ; therefore, Christians are to “love one another.” The third reason is God’s present activity in and through His people; for this reason, too, Christians are to “love one another.”
The fact that the Trinity is involved in these statements leads naturally to the second of John’s reasons why Christians must love other Christians. The second reason is God’s gift of Jesus Christ His Son for our salvation.
Yesterday, we concluded by speaking of the first two factors that enable us to measure God’s great love for us in Christ. The final factor is that God gave His Son to die for sinners. As John says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (v. 10).
There are three reasons why Christians are to love one another: first, because God is love and we are of God; second, because God loved us in Christ and so revealed His love to us; and third, because God is at work in us by His Spirit to bring that love to completion.
In the last verse of the preceding section John has concluded that if we love one another, two things may be said to follow: first, that God abides in us, and second, that God’s love is perfected in us. These two conclusions give the outline for the next two sections of this chapter. In the first section (vv. 13-16) God’s indwelling of the Christian is discussed in greater detail; in the second (vv. 17-21) the perfection of love is analyzed.
The confession of Christ is mentioned as the first evidence of the Spirit’s activity because it is at the point of confession that the Christian life may properly be said to begin. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (vv. 14-15). Once again, as in numerous spots throughout the letter, John phrases his confession of Christ in words which would be especially challenging to those faced with the Gnostic heresies. He emphasizes that God the Father sent the eternal Son to be the Savior and that the historical Jesus is that eternal Son.
In verses 13-16 John has developed the first of two ideas introduced for the first time in verse 12, the indwelling of the Christian by God. Now he returns to the second of those two ideas, the perfection of love, and explains what he means practically.
The sinner must begin by fearing the God against whom he has sinned; but, having believed in Christ who has atoned for sin, he may put away fear and grow in confidence before Him.
The second area in which love finds perfection is in reference to our love for the brethren; for it is there, according to John, that real love is to be seen and measured.
At the end of the preceding chapter John has spoken quite sharply about the need to love, saying, “If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?” But it is entirely possible that a person might try to escape this demand by asking, “And who is my brother? Just whom precisely am I to love?”
In John’s understanding, the potential child of God is first made alive by God, as a result of which he comes to believe on Christ, pursue righteousness, and love the brethren.
When a birth takes place the individual involved is not born into isolation, nor is he a totally unique individual in the sense that his characteristics and attributes have no connection with those who have gone before. For one thing, he is born into a family and into family relations. For another, he possesses at least some of the characteristics of the one who has engendered him. Spiritually, this means that the child of God exhibits those characteristics about which the letter has been teaching.
The second thing that John is probably thinking of is suggested by this passage. Here he is writing of the new life which Christians have from God and of the resulting love which they bear to Him. Without this life and love the commands of God, even in the form in which Christ gave them, could be burdensome. But now, the life of God within makes obedience to the commands possible, and the love which the Christian has for God and for other Christians makes this obedience desirable.
The third of John’s tests is expressed in these verses as belief. Indeed, it is with this concept that the section both begins and ends (vv. 1, 5); between belief that “Jesus is the Christ” and belief that “Jesus is the Son of God” is found John’s discussion of both love and obedience. The implication is that, just as it is impossible to have love without obedience or obedience without love, so also is it impossible to have either love or obedience without belief in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God.
John does three things in this passage. First, he marshals witnesses to Jesus in which the testimony of the Father is found. Second, he contrasts the testimony of men with God’s testimony, stressing that God’s testimony is to be believed and trusted. Third, he sums up God’s testimony and joins it to a final statement of his purpose in writing the letter.
At the time of the late Renaissance and Reformation, when classical texts were first being edited critically, Erasmus of Rotterdam produced a Greek text in which the words “in earth” were missing. At this time most of Europe was using the Latin Vulgate as its Bible version, so Erasmus was quickly criticized for omitting the passage. He replied that the words were not in any of the Greek manuscripts.
In yesterday’s study, we looked at the first interpretation of the expression “water and blood” as a reference to that which flowed from Christ’s side at His crucifixion. We noted a couple of important similarities. Unfortunately, the similarities are not as great under examination as they seem to be on the surface.
If a person does believe God, he has an internal assurance that what he has believed is trustworthy. This is the work of God’s Spirit, the testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum, as the Reformers termed it. It is in addition to the assurance provided on other grounds.
The first chapter of Matthew begins with a genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ followed immediately by an account of His birth. So with the exception of this genealogy the first words of the entire New Testament are our text: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18). What a remarkable beginning to the account of Jesus’ life!
The first person we want to interrogate is Gabriel, the angel of God. He appears at least twice in the Christmas story, once to announce the birth of John the Baptist to John’s father, the aged Zechariah, and once to announce the birth of Jesus to Mary.
The second person we wish to question is the angel who appeared to Joseph, as described in the verses immediately following our text. This angel may have been Gabriel, but he is not named. He is only “an angel” who appears to say, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20-21).
Yesterday’s study concluded with the name given to Joseph for the son that would be born to Mary. It had both a general and specific application, and we mentioned the general meaning then. Today, we continue by describing the specific application.
Only one thing remains: not to seek for further witnesses, but meekly to add our confession to God’s own. Is this child of Christmas God’s Son? Is He God with us? Then let us acknowledge Him as such. Let us worship Him and show by the obedience of our lives that He is indeed who He is so clearly declared to be.
There are several reasons why you or I might be unable to describe a Christmas gift. We might be overcome with emotion so that “words fail us,” as we say. Or we might be unable to identify the gift. We might open it (as my father opened a gift on one occasion) and say, “It’s beautiful, just what I always wanted. Uh—what is it?” Or we might care so little for a gift that we might not even bother to describe it. What can possibly make a gift indescribable? Since all human presents are describable, it is clear that the only thing that can make a gift indescribable is that it is more than human.
Why is the gift of God beyond description? There are several reasons and the first is the nature of the gift itself. The gift is Christ. So, in order fully to describe this gift we must be able fully to describe who Jesus is and what He has done for our salvation, which we cannot do.
It is not only the gift but also the gracious manner in which it is given that exceeds our powers of description. Reason falters, logic fails, oratory stammers when confounded by this mystery.
There is a third reason why the gift of God is indescribable. We have seen that the gift itself is indescribable. We have seen that the grace by which it is given is indescribable. God’s gift is also indescribable for the effects it produces. This is unmeasurable by human beings.
Seventh, we have a home in heaven prepared for us by Christ. Just before His crucifixion Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).
There are few subjects in the Christian life more puzzling to more of God’s people than prayer. On the surface we might think that prayer should be the most natural and uncomplicated part of Christian living, for what should be more natural than to speak out of one’s heart to one’s heavenly Father? Nevertheless, in practice Christians are often confused by prayer and ask: What is prayer? Does prayer change things or does prayer merely change the one who is praying? How should we pray? What should we pray for? Can we be sure that God always hears prayer? Can we be confident that He will answer it?
Certainly these were new and bold teachings that Jesus gave on prayer, and they were remembered as such by John. They are the basis of his extraordinary confidence. But the Christian is not to suppose that God will grant just anything he might happen to pray for, however foolish or sinful it may be, just because he prays for it. He must pray according to God’s will.
The encouragement to pray for others is based on a great promise, namely, the promise that God will hear and “give… life for them that sin not unto death” (v. 16). John has spoken often in this letter of the need to pursue righteousness as one evidence that the individual involved is truly a child of God.
In yesterday’s study, we concluded by looking at the first view of the “sin unto death.” Today we look at two other approaches.
We do not need encouragements not to pray. That comes naturally. But we need great encouragements to pray, particularly for others. In this responsibility we are greatly encouraged by John’s teaching and by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ in His prayer for Peter.
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