The Love of God

April 11, 2010

Lesson: I John 2:1–6

Key Verse: I John 2:5

Introduction

As Christians, our inclination to sin is fed by our fleshly desires when not abandoned at its early stage; as the beloved apostle teaches us: “If we confess our sins, (our Father) is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). These are words of comfort to the believer. There were times when a pastor or elder had forgotten to comfort the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s pasture with words of condemnation without words of hope. The apostle John calls his readers “my little children”—indicating his love for God’s children “as being dear to him in the bonds of the gospel. Certainly the gospel most prevailed where and when such ministerial love most abounded” (M. Henry). For the Christian, the love of God the Father, the Gospel of Christ the Son, and the comfort of the Spirit, always embraces conviction of sin; as John reaches out with these words of grace: “these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (2:1).

John urges us to keep the Word of God that we may be able to know the love of God, and that “we are in him” (2:5). For “We are chosen, to be holy and blameless before him in love; we are redeemed, to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works; we are pardoned and justified, that we may be partakers of larger measures of the divine Spirit for sanctification; we are sanctified, that we may walk in ways of holiness and obedience: no act of divine love that here terminates upon us obtains its proper tendency, issue, and effect, without our holy attendance to God’s word” (M. Henry).

Our Advocate—I John 2:1–2

The wonderful relationship we have with our Father in heaven is that which Christ has established for us; “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of

God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16–17). That love which Christ has toward us is manifested in John’s love for the saints. John, the beloved Apostle, representing Christ, writes to the saints, calling them “My little children”—for we “have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15).

The children of God belong to their Father in heaven. Yet they sin, but not to death, for their sanctification is in the hands of their Advocate, Christ Jesus. Therefore, when John writes to the saints, “that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” John is directing the eyes of the children of God to see that their life is in the hand of their Savior. Christians are convicted of sin, not to condemn them but to keep them in the household of God, to assure them of the love of the Father who holds them in his hands and will never let them go. Conviction of sin leads us to confess that sin, and to know that our Father “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (John 1:9). Not a day goes by that Christ Jesus our Advocate does not make intercession for us; “for he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” For “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Christ is our Advocate, making “intercession, by appearing in our nature continually before the Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring his will to have it applied to all believers; answering all accusations against them, and procuring for them quiet of conscience, not withstanding daily failings, access with boldness to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their persons and services” (L.C. A. 55). Christ is “the propitiation for our sins”—“Who, being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). Therefore come without hesitation and assurance of God’s love, “boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Discussion: What does it mean to have Christ as our Advocate before the Father?

Commandment Keepers—I John 2:3–6

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (82) reminds us that “No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.” Scripture teaches us: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20); and that “no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by faith” (Gal.3:11). If we are unable to keep the Law, then what does John mean when he writes, “And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.” The Law, being unable to save us except to condemn us as sinners, our justification rests in Christ alone, in whom the Father pardons “all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone” (S.C. 33). John now speaks, not of justification, but of our sanctification that we know God experientially; being able to keep his commandments which are signs of our being in fellowship with our Father in heaven. Sanctification being “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (S.C. 35).

John further identifies us with the commandments of God as quite necessary to our growing in the knowledge of God: “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.” Understand, this does not mean that we can keep God’s commandments, grow in the study and practice of his Word, walk righteously as Christ so walked, upon our own power; it is by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whereby we learn to, and thus practice righteous thoughts and actions. John calls us to keep the Word of God that the love of God be perfected in us, “hereby know we that we are in him.” Calvin gives us this understanding that “Whosoever, then, desires that his life should be approved by God, must have all his doings directed to this end. If any one objects and says, that no one has ever been found who loved God thus perfectly; to this I reply, that it is sufficient, provided every one aspired to this perfection according to the measure of grace given unto him. In the meantime, the definition is that the perfect love of God is the complete keeping of his law. To make progress in this as in knowledge is what we ought to do.”

Discussion: What does it mean to be able to keep the Word of God?

Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2010 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.