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| Source: homedepot.com |
We talked a post or two ago about the message of 1st John and one way it deeply challenges me: namely, by equating our treatment of people with our true love for God (regardless of what we might say or think to the contrary!).
But this wasn't the first and only way that this epistle has challenged me in my faith journey.
Allow me to explain.
My first exposure to the book of 1st John was through my college roommate and her church's campus ministry. Without bringing up labels or denominational names (which usually serve only to divide), I'll just say that she and her church believed that to be a Christian is to be without sin. Her campus ministry friends were often seen on the main campus thoroughfares, drawing large crowds as they preached very frankly about sin, death, and hell. They would unequivocally call out people waiting outside the local bars on Friday nights, calling them sinners and urging them to repent to escape the flames of hell.
In truth, my roommate and her campus ministry challenged me in profound ways.
First, it gave me admiration for the courage these college students exhibited to stand up against the worldly culture around them and boldly proclaim Christ.
Secondly, it made me examine my own theology about sin in the life of the believer.
Thirdly, over quite a bit of time, it gave me a better perspective on the biblical view of sanctification.
That's a lot to cover for one blog post, so I'll just hit the most impactful aspects of these considerations in my own experience.
1st John makes a LOT of bold statements about the Christian life. Here's a sampling of just a few:
At first blush, these verses seem to say that a true Christian does not sin. And the challenge for me, as a Christian college student, is that I knew that I did sin.
Often.
I would routinely overeat at mealtimes (yep, I fell into that "freshman 15" statistic of packing on some weight that first semester or two), entertain lustful thoughts about classmates (I was in a male-dominant major of science and math), and study for long hours on the Sabbath (bona fide "work" for a student)...just to name a few sins off the top of my head (two decades later!).
You see, as a college student, I knew Christ had radically altered my heart before I started middle school, and yet I also knew that I sinned on a daily (hourly?) basis.
And these two facts just did NOT jive with what I seemed to be reading in 1st John and hearing from my college roommate and her ministry friends.
Soooo, I shelved 1st John for a bit. Okay, for a long time! I've read it through in my Bible reading plans, but I've never stopped to study it until this year while doing this study by Kelly Minter.
And dear friend, I understand it a lot better now, and hope that you will, too.
What I have come to understand from John's epistle is that he is discussing habitual, coveted sin patterns. I've come to place the quoted verses above alongside other verses in his epistle, like those quoted below, to get a fuller (and I'd argue, more biblical) perspective on sin in the life of the believer.
I see now that in light of these verses, John is not saying that a Christian is sinless. Instead, these verses speak to the fact of being honest with the sin we DO see in our hearts and confessing them to God on a regular basis. He speaks, as a father to his children, about the amazingly GOOD news that we have an advocate to the Father through Jesus the Son (side note: the Apostle Paul speaks about Jesus interceding for us in prayer (see Romans 8:34) and the author of Hebrews speaks about Jesus as our High Priest, allowing us to approach the throne of grace with confidence (see Heb 4:15-16)).
In effect, 1st John is not making the case that Christians are sinless, but that, as we grow more to be like Christ (i.e. progressive sanctification) we will delight to follow God's law and sin...less.
No doubt about it, John's first epistle packs a punch. Am I surprised? This beloved disciple saw, touched, and heard Jesus in the flesh (AND saw him transfigured in all His glory!) and was part of Jesus' most intimate inner circle of apostles. Of course, he brings a lot of hard-hitting truth to share because he lived it and breathed it! But I thank God that He provides for all that He requires--both in our personal hearts, and in the way we love and treat our fellow man.
(Note: We've talked a lot on the blog about the counter-intuitive reality of becoming more aware of our sin, the more we grow in our faith. If you'd like to learn more, be sure to check out this post, this one, and this one here.)
But this wasn't the first and only way that this epistle has challenged me in my faith journey.
Allow me to explain.
My first exposure to the book of 1st John was through my college roommate and her church's campus ministry. Without bringing up labels or denominational names (which usually serve only to divide), I'll just say that she and her church believed that to be a Christian is to be without sin. Her campus ministry friends were often seen on the main campus thoroughfares, drawing large crowds as they preached very frankly about sin, death, and hell. They would unequivocally call out people waiting outside the local bars on Friday nights, calling them sinners and urging them to repent to escape the flames of hell.
In truth, my roommate and her campus ministry challenged me in profound ways.
First, it gave me admiration for the courage these college students exhibited to stand up against the worldly culture around them and boldly proclaim Christ.
Secondly, it made me examine my own theology about sin in the life of the believer.
Thirdly, over quite a bit of time, it gave me a better perspective on the biblical view of sanctification.
That's a lot to cover for one blog post, so I'll just hit the most impactful aspects of these considerations in my own experience.
1st John makes a LOT of bold statements about the Christian life. Here's a sampling of just a few:
"And by this we know that we have come to know him [Jesus], if we keep his commandments. Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him...By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." 1 John 1:3-6
"No one who abides in him [Jesus] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him....Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil...No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:6,8-9
At first blush, these verses seem to say that a true Christian does not sin. And the challenge for me, as a Christian college student, is that I knew that I did sin.
Often.
I would routinely overeat at mealtimes (yep, I fell into that "freshman 15" statistic of packing on some weight that first semester or two), entertain lustful thoughts about classmates (I was in a male-dominant major of science and math), and study for long hours on the Sabbath (bona fide "work" for a student)...just to name a few sins off the top of my head (two decades later!).
You see, as a college student, I knew Christ had radically altered my heart before I started middle school, and yet I also knew that I sinned on a daily (hourly?) basis.
And these two facts just did NOT jive with what I seemed to be reading in 1st John and hearing from my college roommate and her ministry friends.
Soooo, I shelved 1st John for a bit. Okay, for a long time! I've read it through in my Bible reading plans, but I've never stopped to study it until this year while doing this study by Kelly Minter.
And dear friend, I understand it a lot better now, and hope that you will, too.
What I have come to understand from John's epistle is that he is discussing habitual, coveted sin patterns. I've come to place the quoted verses above alongside other verses in his epistle, like those quoted below, to get a fuller (and I'd argue, more biblical) perspective on sin in the life of the believer.
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:8-9
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1
I see now that in light of these verses, John is not saying that a Christian is sinless. Instead, these verses speak to the fact of being honest with the sin we DO see in our hearts and confessing them to God on a regular basis. He speaks, as a father to his children, about the amazingly GOOD news that we have an advocate to the Father through Jesus the Son (side note: the Apostle Paul speaks about Jesus interceding for us in prayer (see Romans 8:34) and the author of Hebrews speaks about Jesus as our High Priest, allowing us to approach the throne of grace with confidence (see Heb 4:15-16)).
In effect, 1st John is not making the case that Christians are sinless, but that, as we grow more to be like Christ (i.e. progressive sanctification) we will delight to follow God's law and sin...less.
No doubt about it, John's first epistle packs a punch. Am I surprised? This beloved disciple saw, touched, and heard Jesus in the flesh (AND saw him transfigured in all His glory!) and was part of Jesus' most intimate inner circle of apostles. Of course, he brings a lot of hard-hitting truth to share because he lived it and breathed it! But I thank God that He provides for all that He requires--both in our personal hearts, and in the way we love and treat our fellow man.
(Note: We've talked a lot on the blog about the counter-intuitive reality of becoming more aware of our sin, the more we grow in our faith. If you'd like to learn more, be sure to check out this post, this one, and this one here.)
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