Biblical Obedience

Okay. Very good, brethren. Good evening. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Cornerstone. I'm going to invite you to please open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle John.

The first letter of the Apostle John. We come to the time of our service in which we are going to be doing the exposition of God's Word. So I'm going to invite you, please, brethren, to open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle John. Today we're going to be reading together verses 1 through chapter 2, verse 6. And we are going to continue with our series of studies on biblical salvation.

As Brother Pedro was mentioning in the beginning of the service, today we are going to consider biblical obedience. And we are going to make the assertion that biblical salvation produces biblical obedience. If there's going to be a person that by grace is saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, then the work of the Spirit in that person will be that there will be biblical obedience. I want us to consider together biblical obedience as a sign of biblical salvation. Today, we are going to be addressing together 1 John 1, verse 5, all the way through chapter 2, verse 6.

As I said before, we're going to be reading from verse 1, but we are going to be addressing, I hope, by God's grace, verse 5 in chapter 1, all the way through chapter 2, verse 6. And the reason why we are connecting salvation with obedience is because of what the apostle says in chapter 2, verse 3. Pay attention there. to verse 3 in chapter 2. There the apostle is going to make a clear connection between knowing the Lord or being saved and obeying the commandments of the Lord.

Pay attention to chapter 2 verse 3. It says, And by this we know that we have come to know him. if we keep his commandments. We know that we have come to know the Lord if we keep his commandments. So we are making the assertion that biblical salvation produces biblical obedience.

Those who have come to know the Lord, they will have a fruit, and that fruit will be biblical obedience. We're going to be reading, as I mentioned before, we're going to be reading together from verse one all the way through chapter two, verse six. But before we read the scriptures, let us come before the Lord and let us pray together that the Lord will help us, empower us to speak, and also for you to receive the words of the Lord. Let us pray together. Father, as we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I give you thanks, O Lord, for the power of your Holy Spirit in saving us, redeeming us, making us more like Jesus Christ, illuminating your Word into our hearts, and giving us, Lord, everything that is in Christ Jesus.

We praise you, Lord, because blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. We're coming before You, Lord, and we're humbled before Your presence, knowing that apart from You, Lord, we can do nothing. And apart from Your Holy Spirit, the words that are written in the Scriptures are going to be closed to our eyes. We ask, O Lord, please, that You will bless us by the power of Your Holy Spirit with truth, We ask, O Lord, that you will speak into our hearts through the word. We are in need, Lord, of seeing Jesus Christ through your word.

So I ask, O Lord, please, that you will do that for your people. For those who need consolation, Lord, that you will grant the consolation that comes from the Spirit of God through your word. For those who need exhortation, O Lord, I pray that you will grant what their soul needs. And for those who need encouragement or directional or a pray, that you will do with all your all sufficient word what is needed for the souls of your people. As we come before you, Lord, we know that apart from your Holy Spirit, we can do nothing.

So we ask that your Holy Spirit will empower us to speak with clarity and also will empower us to receive your words also with clarity, Lord. We're nothing without you, Lord. So please bless us. and be among us, even with the children, Lord, as they listen to the words, many of those words perhaps difficult to understand, I pray, Lord, that by your grace and by your Holy Spirit, you will bring the words to bring understanding into their minds and that you will keep our children for you, Lord. We praise you and we bless you, Lord, because you have given us one more day to be gathered here together on this Lord's day.

We pray for our brothers and sisters who are not able to be here, but we do pray for those who are present here, Lord, that you will feed our souls through your words and that you will strengthen us and empower us by it, because faith comes by the hearing of your word, the word of God that is the one that is granted to the church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bless us, I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Very good. As I said, 1 John chapter 1, We're going to be reading from verse 1 all the way through chapter 2, verse 6.

Let us read the Word of the Lord. This afternoon, we are considering that biblical salvation produces biblical obedience. This is the Word of the Lord. I'm reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible. It says, "...

that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and have touched with our hands concerning the Word of life. The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testified to it, and proclaimed to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was made manifest to us. that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that you or our joy may be complete."

Verse 5. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you. that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have not sinned, 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. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 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.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in Him.

Whoever says that he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. And as I said, brothers and sisters, this afternoon we're going to be addressing this idea that biblical salvation produces biblical obedience. Those who by grace through faith are spiritually united to Jesus Christ are going to produce the result of biblical obedience.

As we see there in chapter two, verse three, there is a natural connection between knowing the Lord and keeping his commandments. If someone says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments, he says in verse four that that person is a liar. Why? Because there is a natural connection between biblical salvation and biblical obedience. Biblical salvation produces biblical obedience.

And what the apostle does there in verse 3 of chapter 2 is that he says that by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. We have certainty that we are in the Lord if we keep the commandments of the Lord. Once again, like in last week, we are speaking or at least we are addressing this topic of assurance of salvation. The idea that a person can be certain that they belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, that they can have certainty. And certainly, as I said last week, this is perhaps one of the most important practical questions in the life of a Christian.

How do I know that I am a real Christian? How do I know that I'm genuinely in the Lord Jesus Christ? How do I know that this which I profess with my mouth is a reality in my heart? Because the Scriptures very clearly tells us that it's not only about what we say with our mouths, but it's more about the reality that is supposed to happen in our hearts. So how do we know that we are genuinely in the person of Jesus Christ?

And of course, as we said last week, This reality of knowing or being certain that we are in the Lord Jesus Christ is not something that happens with our mind, but rather this is the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit says through Paul in Romans chapter eight, that is the spirit of the Lord, the one who testifies with our spirit that we are the children of the Lord. So if we were going to ask ourselves the question, how do we know that we are genuine believers? The immediate answer to that is through the testimony of the Holy Spirit that, taking the words of the Lord, points us to the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ and illuminates us in believing that he is sufficient so that we are not to trust in our works or deeds, but that we are to trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ. The testimony of the Holy Spirit teaches us that it's by faith that we become the children of God.

And it's, of course, when it comes to the practical life of the Christian that we ask ourselves, but what is that testimony of the Spirit that tells me that I'm a child of God? How can I know that? And, of course, the answer that the Scripture tells us is that it's by faith. faith. It is my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in what is written in the word of the Lord that we can have certainty the testimony of the Holy Spirit that points us to the fact that we are the children of God.

But faith is not only an ascent of the mind. Faith is not only something that we say with our mouth that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Genuine saving faith according to the scriptures is a faith that is going to produce works, because faith without works is dead. So works are going to be the qualifier of a genuine saving faith that is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, making us His children. And here is where it comes, the place of obedience.

Obedience is following the commandments of the Lord. Obedience is to produce those good works for which we were created in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. Obedience is to follow the commandments of the Lord, as we have it there in 1 John chapter 2. But it's very important for the Christian church and for the believer to understand that works and obedience and deeds are supposed to be the result of genuine saving faith that is started or begotten by the Holy Spirit. This obedience in and of itself is nothing if it's not rooted in the work of the Holy Spirit.

And of course, when it comes to the practical topic of obedience, there's always a risk. Because, brothers and sisters, we are humans, and as humans we are tempted to see our lives in light of that which is tangible, or that which we can see, or that which we can measure. We measure our Christian life based on the things that we do, and sometimes based on the things that we don't do. We measure our success and our performance based on the things that we accomplish, and also based on the things that we do not accomplish. So it is a very difficult and complex topic to address, because if we do not understand biblical obedience, then we're going to be tempted to live our lives in the idolatry of our works and deeds, having no substance in our hearts.

And we may be tempted to say, I do, I do, I do, when there is absence in my heart of a spiritual reality. And that is what the Apostle John was addressing in the context of the churches of whom this letter has been written to. That is that there were some people in the context of a local church that they were saying with their mouth that they were in Jesus Christ, and even perhaps doing certain things, but secretly they were walking in darkness. The point of the Apostle John in this text that we have read is going to be very simple. To obey God's commandments is the result of being united with God.

And because God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all, the person who professes to have fellowship with God is going to be partaker not of the darkness of our nature, but is going to be partaker of the light of the Lord. That is what it says in verse 5 and 6. If you pay attention there to verse 5, it says, This is the message we have heard from Him, and proclaim to you that God is light, and in Him, that is God, there is no darkness at all. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Then it comes in verse 6, and it says, if we, as professing Christians, if we say that we have fellowship with Him, God who is light, and while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

Why? Because the point of the Apostle is very simple. That is that biblical, genuine obedience is meant to be the result of our fellowship and our union with God, who is light. Biblical obedience is not the result of the letter of the commandment. The letter of the commandment tells us what we ought to do.

But biblical obedience is the result of my fellowship, of my union with the Lord. Because he's the Spirit of God, the one that empowers a Christian to hear the written word and to follow it, not because of the written commandment, but because of the Lord of the commandment. So, biblical obedience is not following the commandments for the sake of the commandment, but biblical obedience is to be partaker of the light of God in whom there is no darkness at all. The more that a person enters into fellowship with God, the more than that person is going to produce the light of God. Because the more separated that we are from God, the natural darkness that is within us, it is what is going to be manifested.

Biblical obedience is equal to walk in the light. And the only thing that I want us to do today, it is just to simply give a little bit more depth to the topic that I have already mentioned from verses 5 through verse 3 through verse 6 of chapter 2. Perhaps we're not going to be able to do the whole thing, but we're going to try to make some observations biblical observations from the text so that we can learn and know from God and the scriptures the meaning of biblical salvation biblical salvation is sorry biblical obedience biblical salvation produces biblical obedience and according to the Apostle here biblical obedience is equal to walk in in the light. Why? Because God is light.

Biblical obedience is fellowship, union with God. And the outcome of it is going to be that I keep the commandments. So a person that is not united to the light is going to be unable to fulfill the commandment because we do not have the power in and of ourselves to obey the commandment. So let me just make some observations here about this meaning of what it is biblical salvation, of what it is to walk in the light. If we were going to ask ourselves, how do I biblically obey?

Or how do I walk in the light? Then the observations that I hope I can make out of these texts are going to help us give an answer to that question. How do I walk in the light of the Lord? And the first observation that I want us to make from verses 5 through verse 10, it is that walking in the light, brethren, it is going to be equal to practicing the truth. Walking in the light is equal to practicing or doing the truth.

not only knowing the truth, but biblical obedience, walking in the light, is equal to practicing the truth. And that is the main point of the apostle in verses 6, 8, and 10. Pay attention to them with me. It says in verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship or union, communion with him who is light, that is me just making some comments there. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, he says, We lie and do not practice the truth.

Literally, do not do the truth. We lie and do not do the truth. The main point, or the first point that I'm making here, is that walking in the light of biblical obedience is equal to practicing the truth. The apostle continues with this idea of having the truth in verse 8. Pay attention to verse 8.

It says, if we say we have no sin, We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Biblical obedience is equal to practicing the truth. Biblical obedience is equal to having the truth of God in us. not in the brain, but having fellowship and communion with God who is light and who is truth. So biblical obedience is going to be the result of my fellowship with God that is going to nurture me, his truth, and is going to empower me to walk in that truth.

That truth, of course, is the word of the Lord. And that's why in verse 10, the Apostle John is going to say that the person who says, we have no sin is a liar and his word is not in them. We can read it together there in verse 10, it says, If we say we have not sinned, in the verb, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him, that is God, a liar, and his word is not in us, or his truth is not in us. Biblical obedience is equal to having the truth of God, not in my head, but having the truth of God in me. As I have fellowship with him, I have this truth of God in me, and then I'm able to practice the truth.

But the way that the puzzle is going to help us understand what it is to practice the truth, it is by pointing us to the opposite of what was happening there in this church. Because in this church there were some people that were saying certain things with their mouth, but their private, individual, secret lives were in disagreement with the things that they were saying. And these were people that were spiritual liars. By seeing the example of these spiritual liars, I want us to deepen our understanding of biblical obedience. Once again, biblical obedience is about walking in the truth.

But we are going to be tempted, because of our flesh and because of the sin that is within us, to be at times spiritual liars. And if we identify the spiritual lies that are within us, then we're going to be able to cling to the truth of God and then to allow the Word of the Lord that comes into us by the Spirit to cleanse us and to rescue us from the spiritual lies that are so natural to our flesh. spiritualized, those who say with their words that they follow the Lord while they're walking in darkness in the secret place. That is what was happening there in this church, in First John, all of these churches, perhaps. Now, brothers and sisters, the apostle is going to give us the example of three different types of spiritual liars.

These three different types of spiritual liars that we find them in verse six, eight and ten. These three types of spiritual liars are going to help us to understand in a deeper way the meaning of biblical salvation or biblical obedience equal to the truth of the Lord. The first type of spiritual liars that the apostle is addressing is the hypocrite. The hypocrite, the one that says with the mouth that they are something when in reality they are not that something. The person that is speaking with their mouth that they are in the Lord while secretly they are walking in darkness.

And the example of the spiritual hypocrite or the liar that is a hypocrite is given to us in verse 6. Pay attention there to verse 6 of chapter 1. It says, if we say we have fellowship with him, While we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. The person that is described in verse 6 is a person that opens his or her mouth to say, I have fellowship with the Lord. It is a person that presents themselves as someone who is in fellowship communion with the Lord.

They do not have any problem in saying righteous things and that they have righteous things while in secret. They walk in darkness. We are told that if a person walk in darkness while they say with their mouth that they're in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are liars, spiritual liars. There is a disconnection between the things that they say with their mouth and the spiritual reality that is supposed to take place within their heart. Why?

Because biblical obedience is equal to having the truth. Truth not only in the things that I say with my mouth, but truth that is inside of me. So if I'm not real and truthful to the things and the sins that I commit, but rather I cover them with the hypocrisy of my words, even though people and the outsider might hear my words, there's always going to be a disconnection between the reality of what I say and the reality of what I live. And I might be speaking that I'm in the light, but if I'm walking in darkness, then in the eyes of the Lord, I'm genuinely in. darkness, because biblical obedience is equal to having the truth of the Lord, not only in the mouth, but also in practice.

The second type of a spiritual liar that the apostle is going to address is found in verse 8. The first one was this hypocrite that says certain things, and that's the opposite in the secret place. The second type of a spiritual liar is going to be the self-righteous person. Pay attention to verse 8. It says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Verse 8, it says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Am I speaking too fast, brethren? Is it all clear? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. This type of spiritual liar is not a hypocrite only, but this is a self-righteous person that is able and even says, there is no sin in me.

So if the person comes to the conclusion that there is no sin in me, then that person is saying what it is in me, it is righteousness. But the person is a deceiver. He has deceived himself because there's none of us who can say that there is no sin in us. If you pay attention there to verse 8, The apostle is not using a verb, but he's using a noun. He's speaking of the presence of sin.

He says in verse 8, if we say that we have not seen the presence of sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. There is a sense in which sin is going to be present in all Christians. And if a person says, I have not seen, then that person is trusting in themselves rather than trusting the Lord. Perhaps they have just disguised and make their works and deeds, religious things, so that they please their own standard of righteousness. And they can come to the conclusion with their mouth that they are in the light when they are not in the light.

Because the person who says that they have not seen, then he's a person that does not have the truth of God in them. Because the truth of God is going to reveal that which is in us. And one of the things that the truth of God is going to reveal in us, brethren, is that we're wretched, that we're sinful, that we're broken. And even though as we advance to walk in the Lord, there is sin still within us. But the sin that we find in us through the Word of God does not break us or does not destroy us.

It points us to the Savior in whom we have forgiveness and in whom we have rest and peace. The first spiritual liar is the hypocrite. The second spiritual liar is the self-righteous. And the third spiritual liar is found in verse 10. And I don't know how to say this in English.

I'm just going to put in a sentence. He's the person who has a heart. hardened. The hardened hearted person. That make sense?

The hardened hearted person. That is the person now that when they have committed sin, the truth of God comes and instead of receiving the truth of God that convicts them of their sins, they sin, I have no sin and that conviction of sin they are making God a liar that is not convicted of that sin and the word of God is not in them. We know that this is the practice of sin because of the verb that the apostle uses in verse 10. He's not using the noun of sin, he's using the verb. It says in verse 10, if we say, I'm not reading if we say at all today, if we say we have not sinned, We make him, that is God, a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is the hardened-hearted person, that when the convicted power of the Holy Spirit comes to them and reveals what they are doing, instead of responding, Lord, I have sinned, and the only thing that I have is your forgiveness through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the hardened-hearted person, that instead of responding in agreement with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, that person says, I have not seen. And when the person responds to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, I have not seen, what they are saying is, you're a liar, Holy Spirit. You're telling me that I have sinned, that I have done all of these things? You're a liar. I have not seen.

And the conclusion that the apostle makes here is that in that person, the word of the Lord is not present. Why? Because when there is a spiritual, a convicting power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord speaks to the Christian, this is wrong. You have sinned against me. And the word of God that is in the heart of that person will respond in agreement to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

And the person who is now in sin will say, Lord, I have sinned. And that person will confess their sin, verse 9, and that person will repent of their sins, and that Lord that receives the confession of sin from the person he has acknowledged is just and faithful to forgive the sins of that person and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. This is the problem that was taking place in this church. These are the spiritual liars that they don't want to be exposed with the truth of the word in their hearts, but rather they want to disguise and to cover the unrighteousness of their hearts with their words. What?

have I won if I say I am this when my heart is the opposite brethren? What have I won or obtained if I say or I present myself as something that I'm not when in the secret place of my heart of my thoughts I'm something different? These were the spiritual liars. Of course the response of the one who is in Christ or the one that is led by the Holy Spirit is going to be given to us in verse 6 or in verse 7 and 9. There are two interesting characteristics of the one who is actually walking in the light.

Biblical obedience is equal to walking in the truth, and this truth is the Holy Spirit given to us, convicting us of our sins. If we don't hear the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, but we deny that we're walking in darkness. I have no sin, there's no sin in me, and the truth of God is not in us. But here the puzzle is going to make actually two important observations, at least two important things that we are going to learn from verse 7 and verse 9 about what it is to walk in the light and to walk in biblical obedience. In verse 8, we are told, In verse 7, we are told that if we walk in the light as God is in the light, the result of it is that we are going to have fellowship with those Christians who are also in the light.

Because if we are one with the one who is light, then we are also one with those who are light. So as we are in fellowship with God, we are also in fellowship with those who are in Christ Jesus. Because if God is light, All of those who are in him are going to be light and they are going to be together in the light of the Lord. And the interesting thing here is that the apostle is going to tell us that if we walk in the light as he's in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of his son, Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all sin.

Pay attention to verse seven. It says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. This is speaking of Christians. And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Very difficult verse to interpret, to be honest.

It is very difficult to be certain about what the apostle is meaning there. But one thing we do know, and that is that having fellowship with the brethren is not what cleanses us from all sins. Because that which cleanses us from all sin is the Lord Jesus Christ alone, right? Belonging to the church or having fellowship with one another does not cleanse us from our sins in that way, in which we are forgiven in the divine court. We know that the only way to be cleansed from our sins in that way, in which we are innocent and we are made the children of God, it is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So if that is not what the apostle mean, then what the apostle may mean here is that from a practical point of view, The communion of the saints is what cleanses us from all our sins, and that will make sense with verse 9. So I think, and I'm just simply saying this is my understanding of this verse there, that what the apostle is saying here is that if we walk in the light, as God is in the light, then we're going to have fellowship with the brothers and sisters who are in the light, and the fellowship of the brothers and sisters is what is going to cleanse us from all unrighteousness or from sin. That is, that in the community of the saints, in the community of the church, in the being together, the role of the Holy Spirit in my brothers and sisters at times is going to be used to expose in my darkness, and in the communion of the saints, I'm going to be cleansed from the darkness in which I walk. That is the exercise of God working in the context of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. If that is what the Apostle means, this will be in alignment with what he says in chapter 3 from verse 11 and onwards, and even what the Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew chapter 18.

That is, in the context of the local church, there is a purifying work of God through the brothers and sisters, sometimes through discipline, sometimes through exhortation, sometimes through the preaching of the word, sometimes through the encouragement, sometimes just simply by pointing to each other, brother, you should not be doing that, or sister, you should not be doing that. And if this spirit uses a brother or sister of the context of the church, then that is the light of God that purifies those who are in the context of God. So if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins. That is the importance at least of the being together with the body of the Lord Jesus Christ not in a superficial way but in a spiritual way because the belonging of the Christians to the church in a spiritual way, it is going to cleanse us by the power of the Holy Spirit of our sins. Second, and very important, there in verse 9, it is that also our genuine confession of sin, it is what is actually going to cleanse us from all our sin and from all unrighteousness.

Let me just summarize it like this. The problem of sin for you and me, brother, sister, the problem of sin is only dealt with the gospel. This is perhaps the greatest lesson, and I'm sorry that I'm going to say I, but I have learned, not even as a pastor, but as a Christian, that the problem of sin in my life, in my marriage and in my family and in the context of the church is dealt through the lenses of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem of sin is not dealt with a psychological program of how am I going to overcome pornography or how am I going to overcome, you know, like a lying mouth or how am I going to overcome marital issues or how am I going to overcome lack of communication. It is not overcome by a fleshly program, but the problem of sin is dealt with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is very simple, and that is that the only way that we can be forgiven and the only way that we can be cleansed from our sins is when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that is able to cleanse us. He is the one that is able to rescue us. He is the one that is able to deal with the problem of sin in us. Not ourselves, only the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's why the apostle says in verse 9, he says in verse 9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now you remember the hardened-hearted spiritual liar of which we spoke in verse 10? That is that the Spirit of God convicts them of sin. Sorry about that, but you know what I mean. When the Holy Spirit speaks unto them and they are convicted of sin, Once they are convicted of sin, instead of saying, yes, what you say is true, instead of saying and agreeing with the convicting power of the Spirit, they lie and say, we have no sin, the truth is not in them.

When the Spirit is leading a genuine Christian, the result is going to be different. The Holy Spirit convicts that person of sin, and that conviction of sin is resulted in confession of sin. So it says in verse 9, if we confess our sins, if we confess our sins, literally the meaning of that word there, confess, you've heard this before many times, I think, or perhaps I've said it in the past, it is to speak the same word. It is to speak the same word. Confess is to speak the same word.

That is that the Holy Spirit convicts you of a sin and then you speak the same word. So instead of saying, I have no sin and making him a liar, you agree with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Confession of sin, genuine biblical confession of sin. It is the spiritual result of the spirit convicting a person that that is wrong, that that is a sin. And that person coming to the Lord and saying, I have sinned.

And Jesus Christ is the only one that is just and faithful to forgive the person who confesses and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. It is a spiritual exercise. It's a spiritual thing. Apart from the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, I do not have the ability to see my sins. Apart from the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, I'm blind to my unrighteousness.

Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, I think that I am good. I think that the things that I do are right. But is this Holy Spirit the only one that is able to convict a person of sin? And I know that convicting is perhaps a word that you don't use very often in English. But what I'm saying is, is the Spirit of God the one that tells you You have committed a sin, and it's the same spirit that makes that person realize that indeed they have committed a sin.

So biblical confession, biblical genuine confession of sin, it is an agreement with the Holy Spirit that speaks into your heart that you have sinned, and you respond in truth and in faith, knowing Not that the convicting power of the Holy Spirit is there to tell you, you're wrong, you're bad, you should go to hell, you should go into a cave, you should kill yourself, you should put into that place. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit is not there to point you to that. It is pointed to Christ who is just and faithful to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Because a spiritual confession by faith is the one not only that agrees with the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, but the one that also responds by faith, knowing that Christ is the only one that can forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A fleshly response to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit is the one that says, oh yes, I'm a sinner.

I'm going to run, and I'm going to fix myself, because I can fix myself, and because I have the strength and power to fix myself, and I have the wisdom to fix myself. I'm going to find some way of fixing myself, because certainly I have proved myself over 40 years that I have the power to fix myself. That is a fleshly response. Why? Because it's been 40 years and I have not been able to fix myself.

I have not been able to fix the problems that are within my heart. The only one that is able to do so is the Holy Spirit in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convicted of our sin and our response is to be lower. I am a sinner, but I also know that the problem of my sin is dealt with at the cross, and because of that, I believe in You, and I trust in You, and I surrender to You, and I humble myself before You, and yes, I'm a sinner and broken, and it's very likely, Lord, that I'm going to do it again, but I know now that you are faithful, that you are just, and in you alone I find forgiveness, and in you alone I'm cleansed from all my sins, and in you alone I find the freedom that nobody else can give me. And that is when the Spirit comes and cleanses your conscience, cleanses your mind of your sin, and receives you in Him.

Welcome, my son. Yes, you've broken that commandment. Welcome, my daughter. Yes, you've done all of those things, but my son died upon the cross to pay for those sins that you've committed. You are forgiven.

You are cleansed. And the more that we exercise the power of confession, the more that we exercise by faith, trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, the more that we're going to be victorious over sin. Because victory over sin is not that you don't sin anymore. Victory over sin is that you pursue righteousness, and when you fall, you pursue the one who is righteousness. But being fleshly is that you're pursuing righteousness, and when you fall, you pursue yourself, and you're not trusting Christ.

Victory over sin is that every time that we sin, we come to Christ and that we know that the gospel is sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins. So the apostle says there in verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Biblical obedience is equal to having the truth of God in us, and that truth of God in us is going to lead us at times to be convicted of our sins, and our response is not to be one of a defensive, I have no sin, I don't have any sin in me, but rather one of humility of coming before the Lord. I have sinned, but I also know that you are able to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Biblical obedience is equal to walking and living in the truth of God, not only here but also in the heart.

Second, and this is only going to be my last point because it's 36 minutes now, but second, Biblical obedience is not perfection, but is dependence upon Christ. Biblical obedience is not perfection, but is dependence upon Christ. We can see that in verses 1 through 2, at least, of chapter 2. Pay attention to chapter 2 of 1 John. It says, My little children.

My little children, I am writing these things to you, everything that we've said and expounded up to this point. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. In other words, I'm telling you all of these things about spiritual lies, the spiritual lies that are within our flesh. I'm telling you all of these things about biblical obedience being equal to walking the light. Walking the light is to have the truth.

I'm telling you all of these things about the Spirit convicting a person in the Word to confess our sins, and He's just and faithful to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm writing all of these things so that you may not sin. That is, that you may grow in understanding of what it is to be in Christ, in His light and in His love. What it is that it costs for Him to forgive our sins. What it is that it is to be united to Him.

So by understanding spiritually, we will not sin. So he says, I'm writing these things so that you may not sin. But he does not leave us with the reality or with the burden, you are not to sin. Rather, he comes and acknowledges the reality of the Christian by telling us, but if you sin, It says, "...my little children, I am writing these things to you, so that you may not sin, but if anyone thus sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Here's the apostolic and spiritual acknowledgement, and that is that biblical obedience is not equal to perfection. In other words, that you never sin and that there is no sin within you. But biblical obedience is going to be to walk in the truth and to obey the truth, but also to depend upon Christ. Because what the apostle tells us here is that if anyone does sin, We are not to look to ourselves and now go and fix yourself, but rather that we are to look to heaven where Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and who is our advocate. He tells us there that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

That is that when guilt comes, That is when the reality of the mistakes and the sins that you've committed comes to your mind. When the reality of the commandment that has been broken is piercing your conscience. And when you know that you have done what you were not supposed to do, that at that point in which you are convicted and you have guilt within yourself, You're not to look to self, but rather you're to look to heaven, knowing that at the right hand of the Father, there is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. And we're told that Jesus Christ is the righteous. That is that it is this Jesus Christ, the one who lived a perfect life.

It is this Jesus Christ. The one who never sinned is this Jesus Christ, the one who kept all the requirements of the law, the one who kept the requirements of the Father on your behalf. And because of His victory, He's now seated at the right hand of the Father, not passively, but now He's advocating for you. That is that he's on your side. You know, when you have a criminal, a person who has been caught in the crime that they are committing, and all the cameras and all the evidence points to the fact that this person is generally a criminal.

So then this person is taken into the court. And when they walk into the court, it is the obligation of the government, I suppose here in Australia, as it is in America, to give them a lawyer, right? I think you call it a defendant, but a lawyer. The lawyer is given to this person that is a criminal. All the cameras and everything points to the fact that they are a criminal.

But I'm going to give you this lawyer, the structure says, and this lawyer is going to be on your side. This lawyer is going to defend you. This lawyer is going to try to make a case to protect you and to defend you. And what a poor illustration that is. Because in that court, human court, that lawyer is trying to convince the judge of the innocence of the criminal based on the works and deeds and the actions of the criminal.

But the lawyer that we have in heaven, the advocate that is advocating on our behalf, the one that is seated at the right hand of the Father, who is the judge, who is the master, who is the Lord, The one that is advocating for us is not presenting evidence from the life of this person or that person. He's not coming to make a case before the judge to say they are innocent and perhaps they are not guilty, perhaps they have issues in their minds and they did not mean to do the things that they did, but rather Jesus Christ is advocating for us based on his works and his completed deeds. He's advocating on behalf of us saying, I have fulfilled the law on their behalf. I have lived on their behalf. I have already paid for that sin that they committed right now, this sin that they are now repenting of.

They're convicted by the Holy Spirit. I have died for that. I have paid for that, and I'm righteous. I was resurrected, and now I'm sitting at the right hand of the Father. That is the reality of the advocating work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Spirit.

So we have This certainty, brethren, that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus, not because of our ability to be convicted of sin, not because of our ability to repent, not because of our ability to confess, not because of our ability to go inside and inspect my mind and my heart so that I correspond to this standard of Christian that I want to be, but rather because there's one who is victorious already and is seated at the right hand of the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And if that was not sufficient, if that will not deal with the problem of our guilt, the apostle tells us there in verse 2 that this Jesus Christ, who is our advocate in heaven, that is interceding for us, who is Jesus Christ the Righteous, he is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. The apostle does not tell us he was the propitiation for our sins as pointed to what happened at the cross. That would be true, that he was the propitiation of our sins there at the cross, but that he is the propitiation of our sins.

In other words, not only that the problem of guilt is dealt with, verse 1, but also the problem of our penalty is completely dealt with because Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. There is no penalty. There is no result. There is no condemnation that will come for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why?

Because if we are genuinely in the light and we have genuinely received forgiveness of our sins in Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for our sins, and Jesus Christ is the propitiation of our sins. That's why the Christian can have absolute certainty that when we are convicted of our sins by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have absolute certainty that we are going to be forgiven because Christ Jesus has already been victorious. And the victory of Jesus Christ is not only happening at the cross 2,000 years ago, but the victory of Christ is seen now when He's seated at the right hand of the Father in the majesty on high. There are many people, brothers and sisters, outside of this room and outside of Christianity that deal with the problem of guilt in a fleshly way. Even society has progressed in such a way that even the secular world offers people alternatives and solutions to deal with the problem of guilt, to deal with the problem of their darkness, to deal with the problem of their past, to try to understand themselves and what happened to them when they were five years old so that they make sense of the behavior and the things that they're struggling with.

While there may be certain benefit in looking back to the sins that we have committed, let me submit this to you, that the problems that are within us, and that the issues of our heart, and that the issues of our mind, and that the issues of our soul, are only dealt with the power of the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ. When we fully and genuinely understand that being broken, and that being sinners, and that deserving the wrath of God, instead of receiving what we deserve, God so loved the world that he sent his only beloved begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That is, that the person that genuinely comes to Christ generally can say, I am forgiven and I am free. And because I'm forgiven and I am free, I have a living hope that is ahead of me. And I continue to walk with that hope that is ahead of me, not based on the circumstances of which I live, but based on the truth that Jesus Christ died, that He's resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father.

And there is going to be one day with all my darkness and all of my thoughts and my obscurity and all of my weaknesses and the infirmities of my flesh are going to be fixed, not because I have grown in maturity and not because I have learned, but rather because He will come to rescue me and I will be with Him forever. This is the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that is not awaiting the Christian in the future for this power to be given. It is the power and the freedom of the gospel that cleanses our conscience, that cleanses our hearts from guilt and from the darkness of what it is to know that we're broken and that we cannot do what we want to do. It is the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that tells us, yes, you are broken. Yes, you are a sinner.

Yes, you have done the things that you are not supposed to do. But the power of biblical obedience is not that you try to save yourself, but that you depend upon Christ. Biblical obedience is not only equal to walking in the truth, but biblical obedience is equal to, not perfection, but dependence upon Christ. Whether we do that which is right and we depend upon the Lord, or whether we broke the commandment and we come to the Lord to repent of our sins and to confess that we have broken the commandment, it is dependence upon Christ. Spiritual maturity is not an amount of information that we store into our brains.

Spiritual maturity is growing independence to the Lord, that we depend upon Him, and because we depend upon Him, we pray, and because we depend upon Him, we read the Scriptures, and because we depend upon Him, we treasure up the Scriptures in our hearts that we may not have seen against the Lord, because we depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We see our future, our plans, and the things in light of who Christ Jesus is. That Jesus Christ is not only an appendix to my life that I use every time that I'm in trouble, but Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord. Dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ is equal to spiritual maturity. And spiritual maturity is to walk in the light as he is in the light.

Biblical salvation will produce biblical obedience. Not because the Christian is perfect, is good, and is powerful, but because biblical salvation requires that we have fellowship with a person who is light. God is light and in him is no darkness at all, and is the light of God the one that produces in us the light of God, the good works that were prepared beforehand, before creation began. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, these good works in which we walk, Because we are not walking in them because we are all smart and we are just doing things that nobody has done, but because the one who obeys the commandments of the Lord is walking at the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read this with me and let us conclude with this.

It says in verse 3, And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments, not the commandments of men, but the commandments of the Lord. By this we know that we have come to know him, 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. But whoever keeps his word, In him, or whoever keeps his truth, in other words, or whoever keeps his scriptures, or whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him.

Whoever sees, whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same manner in which Jesus Christ walked, in which he walked. Because good works are not following the commandment Good works is not the result of following the commandment. Good works are not the result of following what I want to be. Good works is not the result of following the better version of myself. Good works is the result of following the one who is light, Jesus Christ.

And then the good work is going to be the natural outflow of my fellowship with the one that is light, And then the commandments of the one that I'm pursuing are going to be treasured up in my heart genuinely, not only in my mind, but in my heart. And then I will be desiring the words of the Lord, as honey that is more precious than gold, more precious than silver, to treasure up his words in my heart, that I might not sin against the Lord. Psalm 119, perhaps 378 or 9. That is that keeping the word of the Lord in our hearts. Not as an intellectual exercise, but as communion with the one who loved us and gave himself for us.

Of course, the practical question that will be derived from that, and this is two minutes only, are we walking in light? Are we, brethren, walking in the truth? Are we, brethren, responding to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in our flesh and saying, I have no sin, I have no sin within me, there's nothing wrong in me? Are we responding to the convicting power of the truth of God in that way? Are we walking in the light?

Are we walking in the truth? Are we walking in the ways of the Lord? Perhaps you may be convicted right now and then you may say, I have not. If ye have not, or I have not, the solution to it is not to be convicted in the church, and then just to the darkness of my guilt will come upon me. It will be verse 9.

If we confess our sins, he's just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the glories of the gospel. That is the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what empowers to have fellowship with one another. That is what empowers to be truth and lied one to another in the context of the local church.

Because brothers and sisters, we are here to become like Jesus, and whatever amount of time we have, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, whatever amount of years that we have, we are to walk in the ways of the Lord, and somehow to be a little bit of Christ to those who are around us. And then there, when we come and see him, then we might receive the words from our Savior, come, faithful servant. Faithfulness that not is rooted in our works or deeds, but is rooted in the power of the Spirit working through his people and in his church. That is the glories of the gospel, may the grace of the Lord be given to his people, so that every time that we sin, that we may come to the feet of the Savior, knowing that Christ Jesus is sufficient, and he is the one that can deal with the problem of our sin, and in him alone we find forgiveness and freedom. Amen?

Amen. Let us pray. Father, we give you thanks, Lord, for your goodness and your patience towards us, Lord, the many times that we deviate from our ways and the many times, Lord, that we deviate from the things that you've called us to do, Lord. We are so distracted, we are broken, and we're feeble, Lord. But we do know that you are so just and good and faithful and patient towards us, Lord.

You've forgiven us of our sins. And Lord, now, as we consider all of these things of biblical obedience, Lord, we come before you and we ask, Lord, that you will forgive us of our sins. The sins that we have committed in our minds, the sins that we have committed with our eyes, the sins that we have committed with our mouth, the sins that we have committed, Lord, with our actions or with our lack of actions, Lord, we are so many times tempted just to pursue that which is more comfortable to our flesh. We ask, Lord, that you will forgive us if there is anything in us, Lord, that you can bring conviction to us, Lord, even right now. We pray all together, Lord, that you will bring the light of your Holy Spirit into our hearts and that you will convict us and point us to that which we are to repent of, Lord.

And as we are convicted or as we are pointed to the things that we are not to do, Lord, We also pray that the same grace that is given to us in pointing us to the things that we've done that we are not supposed to do, Lord, that the same grace will point us to Christ to know that in Him we find forgiveness. That we will not be left in the jails and the prison of guilt or in the prison of our own flesh, Lord, but rather, Lord, that we will humbly and powerfully be taken by your Holy Spirit to the feet of Christ. And then when we look back and then we see the vast amount of sin and the unrighteousness that is in us, Lord, that we will look to the cross and then we will see that the cross is greater, that the mercy of Christ is greater, that when our sins are many, his mercy is more. I pray, Lord, that you will help us and grant us this, this glorious union that we have with you. We pray that you will do this in Jesus' name.

Amen.