I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A while back I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline for our meeting on May 30, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 5:1-5 and discusses the idea that Christians should live a lifestyle that is counter to the values and desires of the world. This lifestyle manifests itself in a new birth, a radical faith, and an obedience that puts Christians at odds with the world. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!
Counter Culture Christians
1 John 5:1-5
Theology Matters
Introduction
My childhood
When I was a kid, being counterculture usually meant being a “hippie” or resisting the “establishment”
In the 60s and 70s, that had a lot to do with drugs, rock and roll, and sex
What do you think of when you hear the words “Counter Culture”?
How about the words “Counter Culture Christians”?
1 John 5:1-5 speaks of Christians as being world beaters, those who overcome the world
John describes them (in a sense) as counter culture
To be born of God is to oppose the world’s culture
Let’s take a look at 1 John 5:1-5
I’m going to approach this passage in a different manner than I have in the past
I’m going to let you help me with the exegesis a bit
How many times do the following words (or their equivalents) appear and where?
1. Born of God (3 times)
2, Faith or believe (3 times)
3. Love (5 times)
4. Commandments (3 times)
5. Overcome (3 times)
6. Obey (2 times)
Here is a copy for you to consider
1 John 5:1-5
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
“Born of God”
“Born of God”, “born of him” appear in verses 1 and 4
In verse 1, those who are born of God are those who believe in Jesus as the Messiah
In verse 4, those who are born of God overcome the world
Verse 5 gives us further information: Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God (i.e., the one “born of him” mentioned in verse 1?) are also described as those who overcome the world
Faith in Jesus as Messiah/Son of God results in being born of God and being an overcomer
Born of God=overcoming the world
We’ll come back to this later
Before we unpack this further, let’s define faith
What is “faith”?
John uses the word “faith” or “believe” three times in verses, 1, 4-5
What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1-3
Romans 10:8-17
James 2:14-26
Faith is active—it acts on the object on which it relies—faith acts on the trustworthiness of its object and responds to that trustworthiness
“It is not the size of the miracle of faith that matters, but the size of our God.” Dr. Jerry Falwell
“Faith is putting everything in God’s hands and then letting Him tell us what to do. What’s the essence of faith? It’s doing what God wants us to do, not what we desire.” Dr. Jerry Falwell
Faith works—our faith that overcomes the world is something we do
The Result of Faith: Obedience
If faith is active, what kind of action does John expect as a result of faith?
Two words to consider here: “Love” and “obey”
“Love” appears five times in verses 1-3
Some form of “obey” appears twice in verses 2-3 (i.e., “observe” and “keep”)
What do “love” and “obedience” have in common in 1 John 5:1-3?
Verse 3 tells us
Loving God equals keeping his commandments (“Commandments” used three times in verses 2 and 3, right along with the words for “obedience”)
What does John mean by “commandments”?
May be a reference to the whole Law or just the 10 commandments
According to Jesus, what are the two most important commandments?
Matthew 22:34-40—on these two commandments rest the whole Law and the Prophets
Love God with all you are, and love others as yourself
Active faith keeps God’s commands and loves
John’s Argument
John’s argument here seems to be something like this:
1. Those who believe in Jesus as Messiah are born of God, and that birth results in faithful activity in loving as God loves
2. Loving as God loves equals keeping God’s commandments
3. When we love, we are obeying
4. When we love, we are acting in faith
Those who believe that Jesus is Messiah/Son of God are born of God, love others, keep the commandments, and overcome the world. Being “born of God” equals “overcoming the world” in some sense, so loving as God loves is victory
So, those who believe that Jesus is Messiah/Son of God are born of God and by that birth of faith they overcome the world.
Those who act upon the truth of the Incarnation (i.e., the “our faith” of verse 4) are born of God and that birth results in victory
Now, let’s consider some questions before we come to our conclusion
Some Questions
1. According to 1 John 4:21 and 5:1-2, those born of God love, but what do they love?
They love what God loves
2. What does God love?
Those who are born of him—our brothers and sisters
3. According to 1 John 5:2-3, how do we love God?
We love God by observing and keeping his commandments
This means we must be reading and obeying his Word
This means we must be spending time in the Scripture in order to observe and obey it
4. What are the commandments we should keep?
Love God (by obeying his Word) and love others (as a result of obeying his commands)
5. According to 1 John 5:4, what overcomes the world?
Our faith
6. What does that look like?
It is a reliance on what God has accomplished in the Messiah, the Son of God, the Incarnation
Faith is active and obedient, not passive and mental
How does faith overcome the world?
Conclusion
Faith acts in opposition to the world’s values and that is our victory over the world. Jesus, the self-sacrificing Messiah/Son of God, God incarnate who comes to die for sins (two things God had never experienced—death and sin), set the standard for a love that the world does not understand and cannot comprehend (John 1)—love is sacrificial, it is active.
Belief in the Incarnation makes us victorious.
John returns to his first chapter here with an emphasis on Incarnation and faith. In fact, 1 John 5:1-5 is almost a summary of the first four chapters of 1 John
Verses 1a and 5 represent chapter 1, verses 1b-3 represent chapters 2 and 4, verses 4-5 are chapter 3
John says here, “Faith that acts on what God has accomplished in Jesus is antithetical to and overcomes the world.”
Overcoming the world then is living in a way that is “counterculture” to the world’s approach
The world is that which is in opposition to God
It is selfish, vain, and arrogant
1 John 2:15-17
“lust of the flesh”—selfish and desiring its own gain
“lust of the eyes”—vain and focused on appearance
“boastful pride of life”—arrogant and self absorbed
Those who have been born of God and overcome the world by their faith will live in opposition to these
They will be selfless and sacrificial in their lives
They will not stake their lives on reputation or titles
They will not put themselves first (Phil 2:3-8)
Victory over the world comes by faithfully obeying God’s Word—there is no other means
Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
What do we do now?
If we are to overcome the world by our faith, then we must act on the trustworthiness of the object of our faith; namely, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God
To act on his trustworthiness requires us to know him and to spend time with him
The first step of application is to be born of God by placing our faith in what he has accomplished in Christ
For those of us who are Christ followers, there are things we can do (acting in faith) to live as victors over the world.
1. First, we need to know what we believe. If faith is acting on what we believe, then knowing what we believe is a starting point. This requires us to spend time with the One who saved us and reading the things he has told us in his Word. This week spend an extra 10 minutes a day with Christ reading his Word. In fact, use that time to read 1 John or the Gospel of John or even Psalm 119 (a praise of God’s Word)
2. We need to put our faith into action by obeying what God says in Scripture. We cannot claim to have faith if we do not act, so we must obey. This week set aside time to share the truth of God with a friend. Find someone who needs the love of God and be creative in sharing that love. Be exuberant, be extravagant in your obedience. God doesn’t need “secret Christians.”
3. Finally, we need to be intentional in living against the world’s purposes. We need to follow the sacrificial example of our Lord and put the needs of others before our own. We need to pray for those who mistreat us, we need to show Christian concern for those who do not reciprocate, we need to be “counterculture” to the world and its intentions. What can you do this week to show that you are “born of God” and not a part of this world’s culture?
Thanks for reading!
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