I John 3:23-24
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 And this is His commandment,
that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another,
just as He commanded us.
24 Indeed the one who keeps His commandments
abides in Him, and He in him.
And by this we know that He abides in us,
by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Introduction
Our text this morning continues our study of John’s first epistle.
Now remember John has told us that the way we are to respond to the world’s false teachers is by abiding in (remaining faithful to) Christ and His Gospel.
Not only that John has shown us that righteous living and genuine love are the two key components of what it means to abide in/belong to Christ. Why? Righteousness living and genuine love are the two key components of what grace and salvation are unfolding in every believer.
(The grace that saves you is a grace that changes you. New living and a new heart are the two key aspects of the new life that Christ gives)
Not only that, John says that the fruit/change (the righteous living and love) that grace has already brought to your life provides you the assurance that you are God’s child and that God’s salvation is truly yours. (The result of grace is a sure sign of the presence of grace)
In our text this morning, John continues his discussion on the assurance that abiding provides.
Verse 23
Notice at once, last week in verse 22 John told us that the fruit/change that grace provides gives assurance to our prayers. In other words, because we keep God’s commands and seek to please Him, we know that our prayers are facing in the right direction. Therefore, we have confidence that God hears our prayers and responds to them with His favor, love, and mercy. Notice then the clarification: John says this is His command. In other words, if we have confidence because we keep God’s commands, then John turns to specify exactly what those commands are. However, notice the surprise: notice what God’s command is not: John does not say that God commands us to believe in Jesus. Why? To simply require us to believe in Jesus would leave the question “what exactly are we to believe about Jesus unanswered and unclear (are we to believe that He was a historical figure, a great teacher, a wonder worker, one of many ways to discover more about the divine?). Remember, the false teachers in John’s day (just like the false teachers today) all offer their own speculative revisions of who Jesus is. Thus, it is not enough that we merely have an opinion about Jesus, regardless of how sincerely or firmly we hold it. Instead, what John actually says is that God commands us to believe in the name of Jesus. Importance: remember throughout Scripture the names of God represent God’s self-disclosure about Himself. In other words, the names that God reveals tell us specific things about who God is. Thus, when John tells us that we are to believe in the name of Jesus, what he is saying is that we are to believe what God has said about His Son. Not only that, notice we don’t have to guess what God has said/revealed about His Son. Instead, John gives us the name and the title that God has bestowed. John says that we are to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Importance: remember, the name Jesus means “YHVH saves”, while Christ/Messiah is a descriptive title FN#1. In other words, what God has revealed is that Jesus is the “Son of the Most High God”; He is the Messiah proclaimed throughout the Old Testament, who is sent to accomplish the deliverance that God has promised. Simply put, what God says and what we are to believe is that: Jesus is eternal God, sent by God to make God known and to accomplish the full salvation that God alone can provide.
Next, notice John tells us that God commands that we love one another. Think about it: love is the single basis/reason for your salvation. Therefore, it is no surprise that a key part of the new life that salvation bestows is a heart that reflects this love more and more. However, there is a problem: notice the shift from plural to singular: In verse 22 John says that we have confidence because we keep God’s commandments (plural). Here in verse 23 John turns to show us what the commandment (singular) of God is. Not only that John then proceeds to give us two (plural) requirements (love and believe) Why? Is this shift from plural to singular a typo or is there more to it FN#2? Simply put, the singular “command” points to the inseparable nature of the love and belief. In other words, we cannot believe/follow Christ and yet not love our neighbor. On the other hand, to truly love another is to treat them as God commands/desires them to be treated. Thus, love and belief are an inseparable singular. Not only that, the singular of “command” underscores that love and belief are the heart of every instruction given in Scripture. In other words, every command comes down to this one requirement to love and believe FN#3. Notice then, the fulfillment of any commandment in Scripture requires a trusting in/reliance on God. In turn, the keeping of any command will always be an act of love towards God and others. Simply put, love and belief are the inseparable singular heart of every command in Scripture. They are the essence of what every command requires FN#4.
Verse 24
Next, notice the assurance that grace provides: John says that the one who keeps God’s commandments abides in Christ and Christ abides in him FN#5. In other words, the change that grace has already brought to your life provides the assurance that you are God’s child and that salvation and grace are truly at work in you. However, please note: this brings us to a second problem: notice in verse 22 John tells us that we have confidence because we are keeping God’s commands. Why then is John giving us a 101 lesson on what God requires if we already know and are already doing it? The answer is this: remember the false teachers who are troubling John’s flock not only deny Christ, they also have their own brand of morality (their own version what God requires). In turn, they use religion/morality to manipulate and mistreat others for their own gain. Therefore, in the face of the world’s false version of morality, John turns to give us the essence of what God requires in every command. Thus John reminds us that every command of God is fulfilled by belief in Christ, a reliance on His grace (not self), and a love for one another. Notice then the point: John alerts his readers (then and now) that any teaching, teacher, or practice that denies/dilutes Christ or disregards the well-being of others is not from God and thus is not to be followed. Simply put John points us to the essence of every command so that we can identify and pursue this this essence in both what we practice as well as in who we follow.
Finally, if John has given us the tools to identify the charlatans, he now turns to identify the assurance of our legitimacy before God. Notice then John says “by this we know that Christ abides in us (what?) by the Spirit whom He has given us” FN#6.
Importance: remember, it is the Spirit who applies to us the very grace, healing, and renewal that Christ accomplished for us. In other words, once again John points to the concrete fruit/change that that the Spirit’s guidance, cleansing, and renewal have already provided as the assurance of Christ’s abiding presence and grace FN#7. Notice then the point: John reminds the believer that we do not require the approval of the world’s false teachers. Instead, God Himself (through the Spirit) has given us the seal of His approval and presence.
Bottom line: John reminds me that the essence of every command is faith in Christ and love for others. Therefore, any morality that denies Christ or disregards the well-being of another is not from God nor is it a part of the new life that grace is unfolding in every believer. Therefore, we are to avoid it in both who we follow and what we practice.
Footnotes
1] Throughout Scripture the names that God reveals tells us specific things about God. Notice then how the giving of the name Jesus carries with it an explanation/revelation of the one to whom it is given
Luke 1:31″And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”
Matthew 1:21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, because it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
2] The question here is why does John put commandment in the singular when in verse 22 it is plural (we keep His commandments). Not only that, here in verse 23, two commandments are listed (believe and love). Furthermore, in verse 24 commandments is once again plural (the one who keeps His commandments)? Is this a typo or is there more to it? Notice the fourfold singular here in verse 23 (the singular pronoun “this”, the singular verb “is”, the singular definite article in the Greek “the”, and the singular noun “commandment”) all indicate that this is not a simple oversight or typo. Rather, it is a repeated, intentional shift to the singular.
3] Note this is the very point that Jesus makes:
Matthew 22:37 And Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
4] Just as He commanded us– a couple of points here not touched on in the sermon: First, “just as” indicates not only that love and belief are commands that God has given us (the very things God has required), it also underscores that these two aspects are at the heart and are the substance of every command that God has given. Thus love and belief are the essence of all the commandments God has given. It is just what every command requires. In the same way, “just as” underscores the exactness of our compliance. We are to love and believe just as God has called us. That said, “just as” seems mainly to function here as emphasis and warrant. We are to love and believe because this is exactly what God has called us to do.
Second, notice who gives this command. The unspecified 3rd person singular (he commanded us) points back to the personal pronoun His (His Son). In other words, the active agent in this verb is the same active agent found throughout this verse. It is God the Father. Notice then it is God the Father who names (discloses) the Son. In turn, it is God the Father who directs us how we are to respond to the Son.
5] Again, we are reminded that John is not the Apostle of perfection. Rather he is the Apostle of incarnational grace (grace as it impacts real people, in real life, in real time, amid real struggles. Notice then when John tells us that the one who keeps God’s commands abides in Christ, that participle “keeps” is a Customary Present tense participle. As such, it points to the regular normative practice of keeping (versus merely a periodic, convenient, or selective keeping). The result is that the Customary Present points to the underlying governing disposition of a person without requiring perfection or invariance. Thus, it is the believers governing desire to please God and follow His commandments. In turn, when he does stumble, he does not persist in hardened sin. Instead, he returns to God for forgiveness and healing.
In turn notice the causal order: we do not keep God’s commands so that Christ will eventually count us good enough to abide in (abiding is not in the future tense here). Instead, the growing desire to keep God’s commands is a sure sign that Christ and His salvation are at work in us (notice then in verse 24 abide and keep are simultaneous verbal realities. They are in the same verb tense). Simply put, keeping is the result (not the cause) of Christ’s abiding presence with us. It is the fruit of the real change, healing, and renewal that grace brings to the believers life (however gradual and uneven it may be).
6] Note the question here is how is the Spirit definitive assurance to the believer? How is the Spirit’s presence more than a self-attested subjective feeling? Is our assurance no more than that we feel holy or spiritual or that we claim some certain spiritual gift? How is the Spirit’s presence an objective independent verification?
7] For a more thorough explanation: remember it is through the Spirit that the whole Trinity dwells in and with the believer (the Spirit always signals God’s presence). Not only that, it is the Spirit who seals salvation to the believer and irrevocably marks him as God’s child. Finally, it is the Spirit who applies to us the very grace, healing, and renewal that Christ accomplished for us. Notice the result: the believer’s assurance is not speculative nor is it a self-derived peace of mind. Instead, the believer’s assurance is an indwelling existential reality. Thus the Spirit assures us that Christ abides in us because:
(a) Scripture tells us the Spirit is given to every believer (God’s Word not our own);
(b) we can identify/recognize/encounter the otherness of God’s
presence and work in us;
(c) we see the real fruit/change that the Spirit’s guidance, cleansing, and renewal have already brought to our lives.
Simply put the basis of our assurance is not our ever changing feelings or unreliable self-assessments. Instead, it is based on God’s Word, God’s presence, and God’s grace as these impact our lives.