The Lifestyle of a True Christian

Scripture: I John 2:15

C.I.: War of the Worlds

In H.G. Wells novel (1898), there was a war between earth & Mars. – But there is a real war; the spiritual realm vs. physical realm!
Today we will conclude our series on I John – and see that the key to victory is found in 5 things we know….

•  Five Things We Know for Certain, (I John 5)

A. We Know the Love of God, (vs. 1-5)

1. ( vs. 1-3 ), “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; - and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
– By this we know that we love the children of God, - when we love God and do His commandments – For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”
a. In order for blood to clot – there is a cascade of things which must occur.
1) There are two types of hemophilia. – If either of these two factors are not present – blood won't clot!
2) To truly be able to say “I love God,” – all the parts of this cascade must also be present!
3) If people complain of “legalism” or “his commands are too hard” they don't know meaning of “Love.”

b. The phrase “Born of God” is used 7x in I John. – In I John, he describes the “birthmarks” of those born of God ..
1) Practice righteousness, ( 2:29 ), “…you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
2) Do not practice sin, ( 3:9 ), “No one who is born of God practices sin .”
3) Love others, ( 4:7 ), “…everyone who loves is born of God.”
4) Overcomes the world, ( 5:4 ), “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has…”
a) Faith is only as powerful as what it is “plugged into” (e.g., self, religion, group, etc.!?).
b) But faith “plugged into” God – can do great things, ( Matt. 17:20 ), “If you have faith as a
mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing...
5. Thus, we gain victory in the war of the worlds – because we know the love of God!!!

B. We Know Who Jesus is, (vs. 6-13)

1. ( vs. 6-9 ), “This is the one who came by water and by blood, Jesus Christ; not with water only, but with water and with blood. –
And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. – For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the
water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. – If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the
witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.”
a “Water & blood” is problematic to define specifically. – There are two primary schools of thought…
1) Defeat Gnostics: Christ had to come in the flesh, ( Jn. 19:34 ), “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a
spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”
a) Jesus was truly flesh and blood – and did not just “seem” to come in the flesh.
2) These ( “Water & Blood” ) are two times the Father acknowledges His relationship with Jesus.
a) Water = baptism, ( Matt. 3:17 ), “…this is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.”
b) Blood – cross, ( Jn. 12:28 ), “‘Father, glorify Thy name!' There came a voice out of heaven: ‘I have
both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'”
3) One way proves Jesus humanity – the other proves His deity (and perhaps then John means both)!

b. So if we are to gain the victory in this war of the worlds – we must know who Jesus is!
1) ( vs. 12-13 ), “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. –
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God – or order that you may know…. ”
2) Not, “One religion is as good as another (Moslem, Buddhism, etc.).” – Only Jesus, ( Acts 4:12 )!
3) Thus our salvation is NOT based on an experience, or a feeling, etc. – But the facts in God's word!!!

C. We Know How to Pray with Confidence, (vs. 14-17)

1. ( vs. 14-15 ), “And this is the confidence we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. – And if
we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, - we know that we have received the requests which we have asked from Him.”
a. In I John we are told how to have confidence in prayer – by remembering three important things...
1) #1 – Ask in faith, ( Matt. 21:22 ), “All things you ask in prayer believing, you will receive.”
2) #2 – According to His will, ( II Cor. 12:8-9 ), “…concerning this (thorn in the flesh), I entreated the Lord 3
times that it might depart from me. – And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you…!'”
3) #3 – We need to be living right, ( I Jn. 3:22 ), “…whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His
commandments – and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”
4) In order to be a people who are victorious in the war of the worlds – we need to be a people of prayer!!

b. ( vs. 16-17 ), “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask & God will give him life to those
those who commit sin not leading to death. – There is a sin leading to death; I do not ask that he should make request for this
1) This is not talking about the size of the sin (i.e., BIG vs. little ). – For we know, ( Rom. 6:23; I Jn. 3:4 ).
2) Rather, this deals with the person's attitude towards their sin, ( cf. I Jn. 1:8, 10 ), “If we say….”
3) The person who is willing to confess their sin ( 1:9 ) – will be forgiven! - “But if we confess our sins….”
4) Therefore, we are victorious in the war of the worlds – when we will confess & repent of our sins!!!

D. We Know How a Christian Lives, (vs. 18-19)

1.. ( v. 18 ), “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him & the evil one does not touch
him.”
a. Again we looking at a lifestyle !
1) ( 3:7-8 ), “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is
righteous; - the one who practices sin is of the devil.”
2) Even though Christians will stumble from time to time – we will not remain down!

b. ( v. 19 ), We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
1) By not coming to God – (whether they know it or not) this world has chosen to make Satan its ruler.
2) Which is why ( II Cor. 4:4 ), …the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, - that they might
not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”
3) It is also why each day we go to war, ( Rev. 13:17 ), “And the dragon…went off to make war with the rest of
her offspring, who keep the commandments of God – and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

E. We Know the Truth, (vs. 20-21 )

1. ( v. 20 ), “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true,
and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. – This is the true God and eternal life.”
a. From the very beginning – Satan has gained the victory over God's people – by deceit & deception!
1) When Jesus spoke to the religious of His day, He warned them, ( Jn. 8:44 ), “You are of your father the
devil, and you want to do the desires of your father … he does not stand in the truth for there is no truth in him. –
Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
2) Satan can only gain the victory over us – if we accept his lies as though they are truth!

b. ( v. 21 ), “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” (Idol = Anything that comes between us and God!)
1) 3 Themes (Satan works on the “other” side): darkness ( cf. 1:6 ), hate ( cf. 3:10 ), error ( cf. 4:5-6 )!!!
2) If we allow ourselves to be drawn away into any of these things – we have put an idol before us & God.

CONCLUSIONS: 1. Review “Things We Know for Certain”
2. Matt. 3:17; Gal. 3:26-27; He was declared God's Son at His baptism… and so are we!!