Simplified Christianity
1 John 3:23-24
June 26, 2022
This morning we return to our study of 1 John and we do so right in the middle of a conversation about confidence and assurance.
Last week we pondered that remarkable statement by John (19) “We will know by this that we are of the truth…”
• John spoke of having assurance.
• John spoke of obtaining confidence before God.
• Even if “our heart condemns us”, “God is greater than our heart”.
• We take the truth and convince our heart and receive assurance.
Today John gives us another promise of assurance.
(24b) “We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
It is again a picture of confident assurance.
“We know by this”
It is another one of those forensic truths.
It is not emotional, it is not mystical.
It is verifiable criteria that we can look at
And come to a rational conclusion
Regarding whether or not we are a child of God.
And John’s answer here is: “by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
We’ve discussed recently how practical purity is a proof of salvation.
We’ve discussed recently how brotherly love is a proof of salvation.
But really those are merely the effect of a different reality.
There is a reason why believers walk in purity.
There is a reason why believers love their brother.
There is a ROOT CAUSE for both of those things,
And that root cause is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit
• Who sanctifies and causes believers to walk in righteousness.
• Who pours the love of God into the believer’s heart.
THERE IS NO GREATER OR MORE DEFINITIVE PROOF OF SALVATION THAN THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
There is no such thing as a lost man who is indwelt by God’s Spirit
And no such thing as a saved man who does not have God’s Spirit.
Peter made the promise clear.
Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a promise God gives to those who believe.
And it is the presence of the Holy Spirit which became
The sole indication of whether or not a person was saved.
Remember when Cornelius was saved?
Acts 10:47-48 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”
Later when the church debated the necessity of Gentile circumcision Peter again spoke up and referenced the day Cornelius was saved.
Acts 15:8 “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;”
There Peter called the presence of the Holy Spirit
“A testimony to their justified heart.”
The point is that, at the core, there is really only 1
Definitive evidence of salvation and that is God’s Spirit.
Romans 8:14-17 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
The Holy Spirit is the One who testifies that we are children of God.
And John knows this because of what Jesus taught in the upper room
The night before He died.
John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
John 15:26-27 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
John 16:13-14 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
You see now where John gets it.
• The Holy Spirit was expressly promised to those who belong to Christ.
• He was being sent to believers.
• The world couldn’t receive Him, but believers in Christ will.
His presence in your life is the definitive proof of your salvation.
BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Satan distorts this today.
• Is it the “initial evidence” that charismatics have talked about by speaking in
tongues?
• Is it the ability to work miracles and cast out demons and such?
• Is it a new feeling?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
Can I suggest again that it is not mystical?
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He said:
John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
It’s not something you see, but you do see the effects in your life.
Like what?
Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
In short, when God’s Spirit abides in a person you see
The crucifixion of the flesh and the expression of Godliness.
Things like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” begin to dominate a person’s life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
There are new passions and desires.
When God’s Spirit abides in you, there is a measurable
And verifiable difference in the behavior of a person’s life.
This is HOW YOU KNOW you have the Spirit of God
And this is HOW YOU KNOW you are saved.
And that is what John is discussing here in our text this morning.
I simply refer to these 3 verses as “SIMPLIFIED CHRISTIANITY”
We spent some time a few weeks ago talking about “Obvious Christianity”,
Now let’s talk about “Simplified Christianity”.
John simply answers the question for us,
“What is a Christian and how do you know if you are one?”
Well, let’s just look at 4 realities here that will help you answer that question.
#1 CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST
1 John 3:23a
Last week, up in verse 22, John defined Christians as those who “keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”
John said that is who Christians are.
Here he gets a little more specific in that regard.
“This is His commandment…”
John is telling you specifically what he meant.
“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ…”
CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST.
Now, there is a subtle Greek nuance here
That isn’t immediately recognizable to us,
But language scholars help us see it.
And that is that the word “in” is NOT actually in the Greek text.
For example, when you read popular verses like:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
We see that John is clear that a man must believe “in Him”
That word “in” is EIS (ice)
And it is more than just a directional word,
It is a word that speaks of a point reached or entered.
For example you could also translate the phrase,
“that whoever believes into Him shall not perish”
The point there being is that the faith we give
Is not just some intellectual assent we give to Christ,
But rather faith is the means by which we are justified.
Our faith doesn’t only acknowledge Christ as the Son of God,
But it is our faith by which God unites us with Christ.
It is faith by which we are crucified with Christ and raised with Him.
Faith is the means by which we are counted to be “in Him”
Faith is how we are clothed in His righteousness.
Faith is how our sins are reckoned to Him.
And that is commonly how we think of this command to believe.
Namely that it is a command for lost people
In order that they might be saved.
John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”
John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
And we commonly remind those who are lost that you cannot get salvation any other way.
• You cannot work your way into Christ.
• You cannot earn your way into Christ.
• The only way to be justified in Christ is by believing; through faith.
And we rightly preach that message to a lost world.
You must believe into Jesus.
And WE COULD make the statement that Christians believe in Jesus.
But really in truly it would be more accurate for us to say that
Christians HAVE believed in Jesus.
• Christians are already justified.
• Christians are already in Him.
• Christians are already clothed in His righteousness.
But when talking about the fruit of Christianity
John doesn’t actually include that word “in” in his statement.
John actually says, “This is His commandment, that we believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ.”
THE POINT IS THIS.
Christians don’t just believe in Jesus, Christians believe Jesus.
We are NOT talking about a one-time decision in the past,
We ARE talking about a continual present lifestyle.
There have been FAR TOO MANY today who have tried
To give people assurance of their salvation by asking,
“Was there ever a time in your life when you believed in Jesus?”
And if someone can say, “Yes, when I was 8 I did.”
And far too often then the answer to them is, “Then you’re saved.”
You understand how foolish that is.
If you ask me if you are alive I’m not going to say, “Can you ever remember a time in the past when you were alive?”
Christians certainly believed in Jesus in the past,
That’s how they became Christians,
But the measurable fruit of their life is that they still believe Him.
They “believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ”
“the name” there indicates His fullness of person and ability.
It is the culmination of all that He is.
That is to say that Christians don’t just believe He is real,
• They believe He is God,
• They believe He is Savior,
• They believe He is Lord,
• They believe He is King,
• They believe He is sufficient,
• They believe He is alive,
• They believe He is returning.
• AND THEY LIVE THEIR LIVES LIKE THEY BELIEVE THOSE THINGS
The faith they gave at salvation
Is the same faith they continue to give the rest of their lives.
If you don’t believe Jesus today then there is no salvation,
I don’t care what happened at some event in the past.
Christians are marked by their current and unyielding faith.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
1 Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”
We are not those who shrink away from Christ during difficult moments,
We run to Him, we trust Him more.
Hebrews 10:38-39 “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
In the upper room Jesus emphasized this.
John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
And so this is a great place to start and a great indicator of salvation.
Do you believe Jesus?
• How about when your world is crashing in around you?
• How about when the future is uncertain?
• How about when grief overwhelms?
DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS?
If you do believe Him, do you know why you do?
It’s not because you are just stronger minded than other people.
The reason you believe Jesus regardless of life’s circumstances
Is because you have the Holy Spirit who is causing you to believe.
Do you realize that true saving faith is a gift to you from the Holy Spirit?
There is a basic sort of human faith that is prevalent today.
• You have faith when you push the brake in your car that the car will stop.
• You have faith that when you turn on the faucet water will come out.
• That’s natural faith, everyone has that.
What we are talking about is saving faith or supernatural faith.
We are talking about faith that endures even when understanding fails.
That faith does not originate in you.
If you have that faith it is because the Holy Spirit is in you providing it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
There we read that faith “is the gift of God”
2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”
Faith is something that is “received”
So we say: CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST
• They trust Him
• They follow Him
• They obey Him
It is not a one-time belief that expires later in life.
It is continual and ongoing.
#2 CHRISTIANS LOVE THEIR BROTHER
1 John 3:23b
Here is a point John is certainly driving home.
He just keeps circling back here and he is unwilling to let you forget it.
“and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
This is obviously also something Jesus emphasized in the upper room.
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.”
Jesus drove this point home to them the night before He died
And John has echoed that sentiment.
This is a mark of genuine salvation.
This is a fruit of salvation.
This is what allows us to “assure our heart before Him”
When you lay down your life for your brother.
When you sacrifice yourself for your brother.
That is Christ-like-ness.
THAT IS WHAT JESUS DID.
We read them all earlier in the chapter
When studying brotherly love about how Jesus became poor for our sake.
• How Jesus humbled Himself to leave heaven
• How Jesus was born under the Law.
• How Jesus gave up His riches and comfort and schedule
• How Jesus laid down His life.
• How Jesus now intercedes on our behalf.
And certainly this is the command to believers.
But more than that, it is a fruit of genuine Christianity.
WHY?
Because love is also a supernatural expression of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
And again, not just a fond affection,
But when you love “just as He commanded us.”
That is to say,
When you love like Jesus loved, that is a love that is absolutely alien and foreign to the world.
Love is not natural to the unredeemed.
Self is natural to the unredeemed.
What is typically referred to as “love” by the world
Is really nothing more than selfish affirmation.
It is a willingness to give someone what they want
But for a selfish motive.
But genuine life-sacrificing love comes only through the Holy Spirit.
He gives it.
Love is a fruit of the Spirit and so love is a proof of Christianity.
Christians believe Christ Christians love their brother
#3 CHRISTIANS ABIDE THROUGH OBEDIENCE
1 John 3:24a
John says, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him…”
John loves that word “abide”
MENO in the Greek.
It means “to remain” or “stay”
And certainly John received this directly from Jesus.
John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
We understand that a Christian is one who remains with Christ.
• A Christian is one who endures with Christ.
• A Christian is one who does not deny or apostasize or fall away.
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Just as faith is a mark of saving faith, so is endurance.
Christians stick with Jesus.
Christians cling to Him and do not defect.
But here John is talking about MORE THAN
Just the fact that Christians stick with Jesus.
John is discussing HOW they stick with Him.
Or what abiding looks like
“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him…”
In other words John is explaining
Exactly what kind of abiding we are looking for.
If I ask you,
Do you stick with Jesus? Do you remain in Jesus?
And you say, “yes”
And then I ask you,
• “How do you abide in Him?”
• “How do you remain with Him?”
• “What does remaining with Jesus look like in your life?”
• Well, I put a fish on my car back in 1988 and it’s still there.
• Well, I go to church pretty regular.
• Well, I make sure to like posts on Facebook about Jesus.
John clarifies what abiding in Jesus really means.
It means keeping “His commandments”
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
John IS NOT simply endorsing
Anyone who maintains association with Jesus.
John IS talking about the one who maintains submission to Jesus.
The type of abiding that John is talking about
Is the person who endures in obedience to Christ.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
That is how Christians abide in Christ.
Christians are those who endure,
Not just by maintaining that Jesus is real,
But by continually obeying Him in this world.
When you understand it like that,
All of a sudden the problem of apostasy and defection in our culture gets all the more real doesn’t it?
• People who say they are Christians but who continually refuse to obey Christ.
• People who maintain they are Christians but who continually obey the pressure of the culture instead of the words of Christ.
Those who abide in Christ are those who obey Christ, not the culture.
I’ve always loved the VIVID IMAGERY that is afforded to us
Near the end of the book of HEBREWS.
• You know those Hebrews were facing enormous pressure to leave Christ and
return to Judaism.
• Some had already been imprisoned and had their property seized.
But one of the most devastating consequences of sticking with Jesus
Is that they were going to be ostracized from the temple
And would lose access to the sacrifices.
That was the Jewish understanding of atonement.
If you leave those feasts behind
(which has been Israel’s symbol of forgiveness for thousands of years)
And Jesus isn’t real, then you have just made the greatest mistake of your life.
It was quite a dilemma.
I love what the writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 13:10-14 “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”
I especially love when the writer says,
“let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”
What is he asking?
• Remain with Jesus.
• Stick with Jesus.
Even if it means you are ostracized in the world.
Even if it means you suffer reproach in the world.
You obey Christ, you stick with Christ.
Do you understand that in our world today?
To follow Christ and to obey Christ and to stick with Christ
Will put you at odds with the world and may bring down on you reproach.
CHRISTIANS EMBRACE THAT.
If given the choice between obeying the culture or obeying Christ,
They choose Christ.
That is what a Christian is.
It is certainly NOT someone who says they are a Christian while actually following the world.
WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?
• A Christian is one who believes Christ.
• A Christian is one who loves his brother.
• A Christian is one who abides through obedience.
#4 CHRISTIANS ARE INDWELT BY GOD
1 John 3:24b
John noted that Christians abide in Him.
And then John says, “and He in him”
Not only do we abide in Christ, but Christ abides in us.
John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
As you see there, this is NOT the case for the world.
“the world cannot receive” Him.
The Holy Spirit only abides in believers.
• He is the promise given only to those who believe.
• He is the promise given only to those who are saved.
And He is given to everyone who is saved.
And He is the definitive proof of salvation.
As we said at the beginning,
The Holy Spirit is the total evidence of salvation.
Take for example the men of Ephesus.
Acts 19:1-7 “It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.”
So Paul comes to Ephesus and he comes across some men who were “disciples”.
• They were religious men.
• They were certainly moral men.
• They were repentant men for they were baptized “Into John’s baptism.”
But Paul wanted to know if they were saved.
Paul wanted to know if they were Christians.
But notice what he DIDN’T ask.
• “Do you guys go to church anywhere?”
• “Have you guys been baptized?”
What did he ask?
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
Why ask that?
Because that is the only definitive mark of salvation.
And when Paul learned that they had not,
PAUL commenced to telling them about Jesus Christ.
When a person believes they receive the Holy Spirit.
He remains with a believer just like a believer remains with Christ.
And you know He is in you,
Not because of something mystical but because of the fruit He produces.
• Belief in Christ
• Love for the brethren
• Obedience to Christ
This is a Christian.
One who has the Holy Spirit within them.
And then John concludes the thought with this statement.
“We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
We know we are in Christ
And Christ is in us because we have the Spirit.
THIS IS SIMPLIFIED CHRISTIANITY
And this is again a text meant to give you assurance.
It is not complicated.
• Do you believe Jesus?
• Do you love the brethren?
• Do you obey Christ?
The only reason you even want to do that is because of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit is certainly the only reason you can do that.
If you see that in your life,
THEN REST IN ASSURANCE THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.
“We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
