2. SURE OF RELATIONSHIP
Question 1: Who do you know that almost always exudes confidence?
THE POINT
My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Life has a way of surprising us and throwing us into a sea of unknowns. We saw this in early 2020 when a virus from the other side of the globe came crashing down on us.
- One day parents were dropping off their kids at school. The next day, the schools were closed indefinitely.
- One day people had steady, stable jobs. The next day, many businesses had to shut their doors. For many, not working meant not getting paid. Even worse, many lost their jobs.
- One day people were free to move about, but suddenly they were told to stay in for fear of catching or spreading the COVID-19 virus.
When life is full of unknowns, confidence and assurance can disappear. In their place come fear and doubt.
We all need confidence and assurance, and when it comes to living the Christian life, confidence and assurance become critical. David Allen said trying to live the Christian life without either is “like driving a car with the brakes on.”1 These passages show us we can take our foot off the brakes!
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
1 John 2:3-6
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
In short order in these passages, John used the word know four times. John wrote that Christians can know with certainty they are in a relationship with God. Assurance of salvation is based on the right conditions.
The right conditions for a Christian to have the assurance of his or her relationship with God result from walking in obedience to God’s commands. We don’t obey out of legalism, but out of gratitude for all God has given us, especially the gift of His Son.
Obedience happens as we keep His word. This phrase stresses the importance of consistent compliance with the Word of God. We still will falter on occasion, but all true Christians seek to live their lives in obedience.
Obedience is the natural outcome of the new birth. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). We demonstrate our love for Jesus through our obedience. Therefore, if we lack assurance of salvation, we should look at the pattern of obedience in our lives. Obedience to God’s commands doesn’t save us; we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus. Now we obey because we have that relationship.
Question 2: What do you find challenging about walking in Jesus’ footsteps?
However, for those who don’t obey, John had some harsh words: “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person” (v. 4). It’s like the guy who claims to be a football player but never shows up to practice or for the game. His claim is not backed up by reality. Unfortunately, this is the same for many so-called Christians today. They profess Christ without any life change whatsoever.
True love for God is reflected through gracious obedience to His commands. If you desire to obey the Word out of gratitude for all Christ has done for you, and if you see that desire producing an overall pattern of obedience, then you have no reason to doubt your salvation. Your relationship with God is reflected in how you live.
1 John 2:7-11
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Love repeatedly shows up in 1 John. It appears 24 times in the 105 verses that make up this letter! In this passage John wrote of love as both an old and new command. Love is “an old command” in that it is mentioned in the Old Testament law (Lev. 19:17-18; Deut. 6:5). In fact, Jesus said the whole law could be summed up in the commands to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-40).
So, in what sense is the old command also new? We see the newness of this old command in how Christ perfectly obeyed and manifested it. Up to that point, no one had demonstrated love perfectly on earth. Jesus showed us what obedience to these commands looks like. Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Shortly before He spoke these words, Jesus had even given them an example of love by washing their feet. Love humbly serves others no matter how insignificant the task.
When God’s children choose to love, they walk in the light, and the darkness flees. For this reason, John wrote, “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness” (v. 8-9).
The light John referred to is God’s kingdom, which was inaugurated at Christ’s first coming: “the true light is already shining.” Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), and His kingdom is characterized by both light and love. Our love for God and for others is proof we are citizens of that kingdom.
As citizens of Christ’s kingdom of light, we push back the darkness when we walk in love. If we don’t walk in the light, we will be blinded by the darkness. Loving as Christ loves doesn’t come easily. Love can be costly. God’s love for us led Him to the costly sacrifice of His Son. But when we love sacrificially, we are reflecting the love of God, and we are reflecting a right relationship with God. Of course, there will be times when we don’t love as we should, but the Christian life is characterized by light, not darkness—love, not hate.
Question 3: How would you describe spiritual blindness?
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
John taught us the critical importance of loving our brothers and sisters, but there is a limit in what we are to love. We are not to “love the world or anything in the world” (v. 15). When John used the word world, he was not referring to the people who inhabit this planet. That would be a glaring contradiction to what he wrote in his Gospel: “For God so loved the world . . .” (John. 3:16). Nor was John’s use of world referring to creation. It would be a contradiction to love God if we hated what He created. Instead, John was talking about the organized evil system of darkness that encompasses this world. This sin-filled, worldly mindset is manifested in those actions and attitudes that oppose the things of God. This corrupt system loves nothing more than to tempt us away from God.
Question 4: What are some things in the world we are tempted to love?
The world’s temptations can be grouped into three categories:
- The lust of the flesh. This is the desire for selfish pleasure; the person who cares more about himself than others.
- The lust of the eyes. This type of temptation is tied to the greedy longing for gain, always wanting more but never satisfied.
- The pride of life. This temptation refers to envy and the love of popularity, recognition, and applause.
We are all vulnerable to these sins. Satan and the world are good at marketing these sins to us! The world appeals to humanity’s greatest needs, but it tempts us to meet these needs in wrong ways. The great news is that “whoever does the will of God lives forever” (v. 17). Only God can give meaning and hope through life’s trials. The person who seeks the things of God is someone who can be assured of eternity through their relationship with God.
Question 5: How can our group help one another overcome the ways of the world in our lives?
LIVING OBEDIENTLY
Choose one of the following images that best represents an opportunity for you to live obediently this week. Then ask God for strength to make it happen.
My prayer:
______________________________________
“True love for God is expressed not in sentimental language or mystical experience but in moral obedience.”
JOHN STOTT
LIVE IT OUT
My relationship with God is reflected in how I live. Choose one of the following applications:
- Examine your life. Consider the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. If, after examining your life, you feel as though you have fallen short in manifesting a true Christian’s character, then repent and trust in Christ now.
- Align your life. Perhaps through this study, you have been assured of your relationship with God. However, you also realize there are a few things in your life that need to be re-aligned under God’s will. If so, begin making those changes this week. It might be something as simple as waking up earlier so you can spend quality time with God.
- Make a difference in someone else’s life. Be intentional this week to share about your relationship with Christ. Look for opportunities to serve someone, and when you see it, don’t hesitate. Serving others gives a great opportunity for sharing the gospel.
This past year has certainly thrown us plenty of curveballs, things that could cause us to doubt. But our relationship with Christ gives us confidence and assurance to overcome anything that seeks to undermine our faith.
Teacher's Notes:
No
Doubt: Six Things We Can Know for Sure
A lot of people struggle with certainty in their
spiritual lives. Am I really saved? Will I go to heaven when I die? Those are
questions we can answer with confidence! The apostle John’s short letter, 1
John, was written to answer those very questions. “I write these things to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have
eternal life” (1 John 5:13). No doubt about it: John wanted us to have no
doubt!
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of
the 9-11 attack that many describe as the Pearl Harbor of the 21st
Century – a day that will go down in infamy. (FDR)
If you look at the home page of any news site
right now, you will find a million things that are going terribly wrong in the
world. At the end of August, we watched in horror as Afghan civilians attempted
to flee the Taliban in desperation. The Covid-19 Delta variant is ripping
through much of the country, and the world, renewing fears of Covid-19 that we
thought were finally in the past. Flooding in Tennessee is claiming lives, and
there is a hurricane whipping toward the northeastern states. And these are
just the news headlines from this past week.
Adding to this daily deluge of terrible news is
the isolation and social anxiety many experienced after quarantining and social
distancing in some form for the past year. Now, even attempting to “go back to
normal” is stressing people out, as they attempt to navigate relationships that
were once a daily part of their lives and find themselves feeling lost. We are
in a world full of people who cannot seem to find their footing. Everything
feels unsure.
But through it all, God has given us the gift of
His relationship with us. His ever-loving presence has never diminished in this
time, even when the world appears to be on fire. The more we trust in the truth
of His love and power, the more freedom we have to live in joy, even in the
face of trials and tribulations. When we trust fully in the love of our Savior,
we can still mourn with the world—but we can mourn knowing that in the end,
Christ will return and wipe away every tear. Our ultimate truth is the eternal
hope of our heavenly Father.
How has this past year changed your relationship
with the Lord?
Sure
of Relationship: Who do you know that almost always exudes
confidence?
Video:
Ali visits a Kid in School
It’s tempting to view our relationship with
Christ in terms of what we have accomplished or what we can do. Our confidence
comes from past achievements, good deeds, or times of Bible study and
prayer—proof that we have earned our relationship with Christ. But we can’t
earn our salvation, nor can we buy it. Christ has paid that price and there was
a price He paid. Therefore, instead of clinging to past accomplishments, we can
have confidence of our relationship with Christ when we walk in His footsteps, and
sacrificially love others.
THE
POINT: My relationship with God is reflected in how I live.
Setting: To
this point in our series, John has established the basis for having fellowship
with God, that is, forgiveness of sin through the atoning advocacy of Jesus
Christ. The person in right relationship with God is not perfect, but neither
does he adopt a lifestyle of sin. John’s word of choice for referring to lifestyle is a walk.
Walk denotes the way a person regulates and conducts his life, his deportment,
the way he lives. Therefore, when one is in
right relationship with God it will be seen in how he conducts
himself before God and toward others. Believers ought to be obedient to
the Word of God, walk in the light of the love of Christ, and determine to
follow the will of God.
When
we walk away from God, from His Word, and from fellowship with other believers,
we can begin to question our relationship with God. This is not always a bad
thing because God often uses that questioning to bring us back into fellowship
with Him. The relationship always stays intact, but the fellowship may be
better at times than at other times.
1. Walk
in obedience - Walking with Agreement
1 John
2:3-6
We know that we have come to know
him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,”
but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that
person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in
them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever
claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
John
used the word know four times. John wrote that
Christians can know with certainty they are in a relationship with God.
Assurance of salvation is based on the right conditions. The right conditions
for a Christian to have the assurance of his or her relationship with God
result from walking in obedience to God’s commands. We don’t obey out of
legalism, but out of gratitude for all God has given us, especially the gift of
His Son.
How do
you know if you are walking with God?
We
start to think more like Him. We start to act more like Him. He begins to
influence us by His presence in our lives. As we walk with God in His Word and
through His Spirit, He begins to make His love complete in us and it changes us
little by little. We may not be all that we want to be, but we are not what we
used to be. People sometimes say that those who spend time together start
acting alike, talking alike, and some would say even looking alike. Certainly,
this is true in the spiritual realm as we see ourselves and see the Lord and
realize that changes need to take place in our lives. As we walk in agreement
with God, we begin to look more like our Father.
Liberty
Mutual dog/man look alike
Our
obedience to the Father is evidence that we are in a right relationship with
Him. Jesus is the preeminent example of what it means to live in right
relationship with God.
Obedience
happens as we keep His word. This phrase stresses the importance of consistent
compliance with the Word of God. We still will falter on occasion, but all true
Christians seek to live their lives in obedience. Obedience is the natural
outcome of the new birth. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John
14:15). We demonstrate our love for Jesus through our obedience. Therefore, if
we lack assurance of salvation, we should look at the pattern of obedience in
our lives. Obedience to God’s commands doesn’t save us; we are saved by grace
through our faith in Jesus. Now we obey because we have that relationship.
True
love for God is reflected through gracious obedience to His commands. If you
desire to obey the Word out of gratitude for all Christ has done for you, and
if you see that desire producing an overall pattern of obedience, then you have
no reason to doubt your salvation. Your relationship with God is reflected in
how you live.
2. Walk
in the light - Walking with Vision
1 John
2:7-11
Dear
friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had
since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am
writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the
true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
Anyone who loves their brother and sister
lives in the light, and there is nothing in them
to make them stumble. But anyone who
hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and
walks around in the darkness. They do not know
where they are going, because the darkness has
blinded them.
Love repeatedly shows up in 1 John. It appears 24
times in the 105 verses that make up this letter! In this passage John wrote of
love as both an old and new command. Jesus said the whole law could be
summed up in the commands to “Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-40).
What
makes this kind of love so difficult?
Loving
as Christ loves doesn’t come easily. Love can be costly. God’s love for us led
Him to the costly sacrifice of His Son. But when we love sacrificially, we are
reflecting the love of God, and we are reflecting a right relationship with
God. Of course, there will be times when we don’t love as we should, but the
Christian life is characterized by light, not darkness—love, not hate.
We
were introduced to this light and darkness last week. John says to walk in the
light – what does that mean to you?
The
light John referred to is God’s kingdom, which was inaugurated at Christ’s
first coming: “the true light is already shining.” Jesus is “the light of the
world” (John 8:12), and His kingdom is characterized by both light and love.
Our love for God and for others is proof we are citizens of that kingdom. As
citizens of Christ’s kingdom of light, we push back the darkness when we walk
in love. If we don’t walk in the light, we will be blinded by the darkness. Those
who live without Christ live in darkness and will be blinded by the world;
hence, they are unable to know the will of God.
Those
who abide in Jesus live in the light of His love.
Those
who abide in Jesus love their fellow believers.
3. Walk
according to God’s will - Walking with Purpose
1 John
2:15-17
Do not
love the world or anything in the world. If
anyone loves the world, love
for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father
but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does
the will of God lives forever.
Why
does loving the world come more naturally than loving others?
The
world’s temptations can be grouped into three categories:
1. The
lust of the flesh. This is the desire for selfish pleasure; the person who
cares more about himself than others.
2. The
lust of the eyes. This type of temptation is tied to the greedy longing for
gain, always wanting more but never satisfied.
3. The
pride of life. This temptation refers to envy and the love of popularity,
recognition, and applause.
Walking
with God gives us a heart for heavenly things rather than the things of this
world. It takes our focus off of the temporary and puts our eyes on things that
will matter for eternity. When we invest only in temporary things, we are
shortsighted and will fall short of what we could have done and been in this
life. John said that the one thing that remained forever was the will of God.
Have
you ever raised a strong-willed child? Maybe you were that strong-willed child.
You can see the tension brewing between parent and child when they refuse to
give in to the will of their parent. They have strength of will, but they do not
have wisdom. The parent has wisdom, and they have to summon the strength of
will to correct the strong-willed child. Thankfully, God knows that His will is
best, and He knows how to deal with His strong-willed children.
Believers
do not crave the world or things of the world but in love give themselves
completely over to God and the things of God.
When
we are driven by our natural appetites, seduced by what we see, and succumb to
self-centered ambitions, we are treading the path toward destruction.
The
one who loves God and does what pleases Him will enjoy the eternal life only He
gives.
LIVE
IT OUT
My
relationship with God is reflected in how I live. Choose one of the following
applications:
Examine
your life. Take a look at the fruit of the Spirit listed in
Galatians 5:22-23. If, after examining your life, you feel as though you have
fallen short in manifesting a true Christian’s character, then repent and trust
in Christ now.
Align
your life. Perhaps you realize there are a few things in your life
that need to be re-aligned under God’s will. If so, begin making those changes
this week. It might be something as simple as waking up earlier so you can
spend time with God.
Make a
difference in someone else’s life. Be intentional this week to
share about your relationship with Christ. Look for opportunities to serve
someone, and when you see it, don’t hesitate.
This
past year has certainly thrown us plenty of curveballs, things that could cause
us to doubt. But our relationship with Christ gives us confidence and assurance
to overcome anything that seeks to undermine our faith.
Conclusion: Our
relationship with God is evidenced by the way we act and our actions will
reflect our desire to be obedient to God’s Word. Adopt a lifestyle that puts you
on the path of being more like Jesus. Have a love for others that manifests the
light of life that comes from our relationship with Christ. Love for God and others
is the central responsibility of every Christian believer. If you have
experienced the love of God, then you will live by the love of God. Such a commitment
and practice affirm that we are in right relationship with Him.
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