Exposition
Verse 1
1. Born of God - Faith is a sign of the new birth – fruit of faith = love
a. Gal 5:22ff – love is the first fruit mentioned
2. Born of God - Faith is a condition of the new birth.
John 1:12–13 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
3. Both are evidence revealing where a person stands vis a vis with God
4. Faith is a sign of adoption (sonship)
a. Right behaviour
b. Rights over sinful dominion (sin will no longer have dominion over you)
c. Responds with love to other believers.
5. The regenerate person (past) will live out (present) their faith in Christ
6. Confession of the true Christian – the Lord was both God and Human.
1 John 4:1–3 (ESV)
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
7. All those who love God will be marked by their love for the children of God. Contra to 4:20
1 John 4:20–21 (ESV)
20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Verse 2
1. We Know
a. To Know - to possess information about—‘to know, to know about, to have knowledge of; to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel. 1A to become known. 2 to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
2. We Love God
a. Love (αγαπαο – agapeo) ; 1 of persons. 1A to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.
b. John stresses the love of the Father for the Son (Jn. 3:35). The love of God reaches us through him (Jn. 17:23ff.). The death of the Son crowns and releases it. This is a condescending love, yet it achieves victory in spiritual and moral action.
3. We Love God’s commands
a. We love because God first loved us.
b. We love because we have been born of God.
i. Displayed by loving other Christians
ii. Displayed by loving God’s word
c. Love displayed in action – not to earn or keep, but rather as confirmation that we do love, and we are loved by, God.
Colossians 1:21–22 (ESV)
21And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Romans 8:7–8 (ESV)
7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
James 4:4 (ESV)
4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
4. We Obey His Commands
a. John states that whether or not people love the children of God can be determined by the presence or absence of love for God and obedience to God’s commands.
b. John’s logic appears to be circular. This is perhaps because the two things involved, as far as he is concerned, cannot exist apart from one another. One cannot love God and keep his commands without loving the children of God, and one cannot love the children of God without loving God and keeping his commands.
Verse 3
1. Love Displayed Through Obedience
2. God’s Commands are not Burdensome
a. Metaph: burdensome, severe, stern
b. Could be translated: ‘it is not difficult to do what he has commanded.’
c. Caveat – circular argument that when we love God we do what he commands, and the commands are not hard to follow because we have the Holy Spirit empowering us to do them.
“Give what you command, and command what you will” – Augustine
“Give what you command” - Augustine taught that no one could obey God’s commands without first receiving the grace and ability from God to do so.
“Command what you will” – Augustine taught that it is God’s right to set the terms for humanity. God is the only true autonomous being in the universe.
Verse 4
1. Born of God
a. No one comes to the Father except those whom the Father draws and he will. Not cast away those who come.
b. Jesus talks with Nicodemus re: born again.
2. Overcomes
a. to conquer, to carry off the victory, come off victorious; of Christ, victorious over all His foes; of Christians, that hold fast their faith even unto death against the power of their foes, and temptations and persecutions.
b. to win a victory over—‘to be victorious over, to be a victor, to conquer, victory
c. to win in the face of obstacles
d. to overcome someone
e. to surpass in ability
3. The World
a. Spheres of mankind, which through its sin stands opposed to, and in desperate need, for God – the world needs reconciliation!
b. Mankind organized in rebellion against God
c. As a source of opposition to God and temptation to sin
d. In darkness – John 1:5, 12:46
e. Under divine judgement – John 9:39
4. Victory – nike – νικe – root to ‘overcomes’
a. Contrast with those who do not believe will not overcome, will not have victory, over the schemes of the world and the devil – they will perish without hope.
5. Faith (Belief)
a. Complete trust, reliance, confidence
b. Abraham believed God – put his trust in God and God’s promise
c. Whoever believes in God will not be disappointed! (1 Peter 2:6 – Isa 28:16)
1 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV)
4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
d. Its Faith in God that is the source of the victory in Christ
Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)
6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Proverbs 8:17 (ESV)
17I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Verse 5 – great rhetorical question!
1. Who is it that overcomes?
2. Overcoming the World
3. Belief in the One who is the Son
Doctrine
Ephesians 2:8-9
Grace (charis): of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
Saved (sozo): to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction. 1A one (from injury or peril). 1A1 to save a suffering one (from perishing) ; to cause someone to experience divine salvation ; to save or preserve from transcendent danger or destruction, save/preserve from eternal death fr. judgment, and fr. all that might lead to such death, e.g. sin, also in a positive sense bring Messianic salvation, bring to salvation ;
Through (dia): A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act ; of means;
Faith (pistis): conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it. to believe in the good news about Jesus Christ and to become a follower—‘to be a believer, to be a Christian, Christian faith.’ ; state of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted, trust, confidence, faith in the active sense=‘believing’, in ref. to deity;
Gift (doron): gifts offered in expression of honour; that which is given or granted—‘gift, present.’
Not a Result: not out of or from; denotes origin; Who is the source? God or Man? If God is the source, then what? Source; markers of cause or reason, with focus upon the source;
“…not a result of you, but a gift of God…” | “…not a result of works, because [you] would boast…”
Boast: to express an unusually high degree of confidence in someone or something being exceptionally noteworthy ; to take pride in something/someone; to glory in a thing
No One Comes to the Father
John 14:5–6 (ESV)
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
No One Comes to Christ Except Those Drawn by the Father
John 6:44 (ESV)
44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
Draw: 1 to draw, drag off. 2 metaph., to draw by inward power, lead, impel.
The Best Promise from Son and Father and Spirit
John 6:47 (ESV)
47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
The Spirit Gives Life
John 6:63 (ESV)
63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
Regenerated (born again) – then Faith – then Justification…
1 John 5:1
John 1:12
John 3:7-18
Why the Order?
Anthropology and Hamartiology
Amazing Grace of God
Hopeful in Prayer and Evangelism
2 London Baptist Confession of Faith – 1689
Chapter 10 – Effectual Calling
In God’s appointed and acceptable time, He is pleased to call effectually,1 by His Word and Spirit, those He has predestined to life. He calls them out of their natural state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.2 He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God.3 He takes away their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh.4 He renews their wills and by His almighty power turns them to good and effectually draws them to Jesus Christ.5 Yet He does all this in such a way that they come completely freely, since they are made willing by His grace.
Application
1. Do you believe?
a. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus and you will live.
b. Believe God when he says that this is not the only life you can have. You think you’re living now, but life does not end once you die.
c. Believe that Christ died in your place, to redeem you and reconcile you to God in order that you may have victory over sin, death, fear and possess a joy that you have never known before!
2. Beloved…
a. Return to your first love, forsake the sin that so easily entangles and run the race with perseverance!
b. Return to the cross and the empty tomb and trust once again the Lord with your life and all its outcomes, repent and believe!
c. Return and love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
3. Beloved…
a. Remember that in Christ you are more than conquerors, be faithful!
b. Remember that you will be victorious, Christ has defeated the devil!
c. Remember to keep loving God and loving his people, draw from the Lord’s example!
Benediction
Hebrews 13:20–21 (ESV)
20Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
21equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.