|
|
|
- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
|
|
EVIDENCES
OF SAVING FAITH - 2 (1 John 5:6-13) Grace
Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor
Daryl Hilbert A. Evidences
of Familial Relationship (1Jn 3:1-10) B. Evidences of Love - Part 2 (3:11-18) C. Evidences of Truth (3:19-4:6) D. Evidences of Love - Part 3 (4:7-21) E. Evidences of Faith (5:1-5) 1. Saving
Faith is Continuous (1a) 2. Saving Faith Exhibits Love for the Father
(1b) 3. Saving Faith Exhibits Love for the
Children of God (1c) 4. Saving Faith Exhibits Obedience for God’s
Commands (2-3) 5. Saving Faith Overcomes the World (4-5) 6. Saving
Faith Believes the External Evidence of Water and Blood (6-8) a) Jesus,
the “Son of God” is the object of vs. 5 and becomes the subject of vs. 6.
Jesus is the “Son of God” (vs. 5), which speaks of His deity, and the
“Christ” (vs. 6), which speaks of His redemptive work on the cross. b) John describes Jesus the Christ as the one
who came by “water and blood.” (1) Both
of these descriptions refute the false teaching of men like Cerinthus, who
believed the spirit Jesus departed from the human Jesus at the cross. (2) “Water” (húdor)
speaks with reference to the baptism of Jesus. (a) It
was at the baptism of Jesus that the Father and the Spirit confirmed that
Jesus was the Son of God and Savior (Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22). (b) It was also at the baptism of the Son of
God that He identified Himself with sinful man as their mediator (Lk 3:21). (3) “Blood”
(haíma) speaks with reference to Jesus’ death
on the cross. (a) The
blood confirmed that Jesus, the Son of God was human and that He indeed died
(Jn 19:34). (b) The blood also confirmed that Jesus, the
Son of God was man’s sacrificial atonement on the cross (Ro 5:9; Ep 1:7). (4) The
external evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is not
by His baptism (water) only, but also by His death (blood). (5) The Spirit, who is “the Truth” (cp. Jn
14:6), is the One who testifies to these things (Lk 3:22 cp. Jn 1:32). c) 1Jn
5:7-8 state that the Spirit, Baptism (water), and substitutionary death of
Christ (blood) testify to the person and work of Christ. (1) Furthermore,
these three establish sufficient credible evidence to confirm the person and
work of Christ. (2) The KJV reads, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (3) External manuscript evidence, however, is
against them being in the original epistle. They do not appear in any Gr.
mss. dated before ca. tenth century a.d. Only 8 very late Gr. mss. contain
the reading, and these contain the passage in what appears to be a translation
from a late recension of the Latin Vulgate. Furthermore, 4 of those 8 mss.
contain the passage as a variant reading written in the margin as a later
addition to the manuscript. No Greek or Latin Father, even those involved in
Trinitarian controversies, quote them; no ancient version except the Latin
records them (not the Old Latin in its early form or the Vulgate). Internal
evidence also militates against their presence, since they disrupt the sense
of the writer’s thoughts. Most likely, the words were added much later to the
text. (The MacArthur
Study Bible in loc.) 7. Saving
Faith Believes God’s Testimony about the Son (9-11) a) John
uses a “lesser to greater” argument to testify about Christ. If in human
courts, we accept the testimony of man, how much greater is God’s testimony
(9). (1) It
is a great and more reliable testimony because it is the testimony of God,
and God is a God of truth who does not lie (Nu 23:19; 1Sa 15:29). (2) God has testified and continues to testify
(perfect tense from marturéō) about His Son through His
Word and through believers today. b) There
are several propositions that John makes concerning God’s testimony about His
Son (10). (1) The
one who believes God’s testimony has an internal witness of the testimony
through the Holy Spirit (cp. Ro 8:16; 1Jn 4:13). (2) The one who does not believe God’s
testimony makes God out to be a liar. (3) The testimony is that God has given eternal
life to sinful (11). (4) God testifies that eternal life is found
only in the Son through His substitutionary death on the cross (Jn 14:6; Ac
4:12). 8. Saving
Faith Embraces the Son (12) a) Based
on the previous fact that eternal life is found in the Son, there are two
logical and simple conclusions. b) Either one has the Son and has life or he
does not have the Son and does not have life. c) The term “has” in “has the Son” is an
interesting Greek word. It is the simple Greek word échō and
means to have, hold or possess. In terms of having the Son, one may think of
the idea of embracing Christ. The arms of one’s faith desperately take hold
of the Savior for salvation. d) When a person embraces Christ wit saving
faith, he “possesses” (same word échō) eternal life. In
addition, that person continues to have eternal life échō is
a present participle (cp. Jn 5:24). e) However, the person who does not embrace
Christ is in a constant state of not having eternal life (cp. Jn 3:36). 9. Saving
Faith Results in Eternal Life (13) a) John
reveals his purpose for writing this epistle, which was to assure his readers
how they could know if they had eternal life. b) “These things” were written “for the
purpose that” (hína) believers would “know” (oida - know by perception and induction) that they possessed eternal life. c) It becomes a simple syllogism: (1) All
those who believe on Christ possess eternal life. (2) The believers to whom John writes believe
on Christ. (3) Therefore, the believers to whom John
writes possess eternal life. d) John
has given his readers the principles of truth whereby then can those who are
true believers from those who are false teachers. 10. Applications a) Assurance
of the Word b) Assurance of the Truth c) Assurance of Salvation |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
