Confident Prayer, 1 John 5:13-17, Theology Matters Series

Hello all:

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 June 26-July 3, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 5:13-17 and discusses the idea that Christians should have boldness in their prayers because of the confidence they have in Christ. In fact, confident prayer starts with assurance, is built on a confident relationship, and results in life. We have to remember that the life God has given us in Christ is not for us alone, it is a gift to be shared with others. One means of doing that is through prayer for those who have fallen into sin. This lesson looks at that issue and even considers an answer to the question of the sin unto death. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!

Confident Prayer
1 John 5:13-17
Theology Matters Series

Introduction
Let me start with a confession
I have never been what you might call a prayer warrior
In fact, my batting average at getting positive answers from God is not very high
Truth be told, I know I could do more in prayer

No doubt we all share a similar view
We are pretty sure that we don’t pray enough
Maybe when we do pray we aren’t real sure that we know what we are doing or that God will hear us

We lack confidence

Our passage today addresses that issue

In 1 John 5:13-17, John gives us three parts of confident prayer
1. It starts with assurance
2. It continues with a confident relationship
3. It results in restoration and life

Confident prayer is a desperate need for the body of Christ today

1. Confident Prayer Starts with Assurance

1 John 5:13—John ends his letter by letting his readers know his purpose.

In the Gospel of John 20:30-31, John says that he wrote so that people may believe in Jesus the Messiah/the Son of God (i.e., the Incarnation) and that by believing receive eternal life in his name.

In the letter, John’s purpose is to assure those who have put faith in the Incarnation. His purpose is to give them confidence in their salvation. Verse 13 states this purpose clearly.

John begins this section with a statement of assurance
He says that faith in the name of Jesus leads to confidence in salvation

He speaks of knowing our relationship to God
John uses some form of the word “know” in his short letter over 40 times
At least 8 of those uses are found in chapter 5

John seems to be saying that our confidence begins with our salvation and our salvation is something we can know

Throughout his book, John has given us indications of how we know we belong to God

In our passage from a couple of weeks ago (1 John 5:6-12), John tells us that we have an internal and an eternal witness by God’s Spirit in us, but we also have a historical and a supernatural witness to salvation in the testimonies of God’s people and God himself

We also saw that we can be confident of knowing God when we keep his commandments (1 John 2:3-5), when we love as God loves (1 John 3:14-16, 4:7-16), when we have the witness of the Spirit in our confession of Christ (1 John 4:13-16) and when we love God and love his children (1 John 4:19-5:3).

Assurance of salvation is based primarily on what Christ has done for us
We have confidence because God has provided salvation
God manifested his love for us in Christ, and that love is our assurance

Confident prayer begins with assurance in salvation/eternal life

Has your life been transformed by the salvation that only comes through a knowledge of Jesus?
If so, then you have assurance that the God who saved is the God who will hear

This is good news: Our Father hears us

2. Confident Prayer Continues with Confident Relationship

1 John 5:14-15—John continues his conclusion by reminding his readers of their intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:1 reminds us that faith in Christ has resulted in our becoming children of God
This means that we have a family and a familiar relationship with God
As a child has special privileges with his or her parent, so we have the privilege of confidence as children of God

“Confidence”—remember that we defined this word as meaning in some sense “freedom of speech” (cf. 1 John 2:28; 4:17 both regarding judgment)
1 Jon 3:21-24 is almost a parallel passage here regarding prayer

John is saying that because of our relationship with God as children, we can come into his presence to make our requests with boldness—we have confidence and freedom to speak directly to our Father

Ray Stedman says that God delights in bold praying and in bold people—our prayer to God should be confident, bold, and certain because he loves us

This confidence arises from two principles given in these verses: the certainty of being heard (a promise) and the certainty of receiving (a qualification)

The promise: When we pray, God hears us and responds
a. We ask confidently (Hebrews 4:16)
b. We come into his presence (the words “in him” in verse 14 could be rendered “before him”). We come confidently into our Father’s presence to speak freely with him
c. We must ask for him to respond
d. We have an audience, so we must talk to our Father and we must listen for and anticipate his response

Remember as Andrew Murray says, “Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. Gods voice in response to mine is its most essential part.”

Prayer isn’t a magic lamp or a secret code by which we obtain all our wishes, but rather as Ray Stedman says, “Prayer is a means of obtaining the will of God, and is limited always by the will and purpose of God.”

That brings us to the Qualification—we must ask according to God’s will (cf. Matthew 6:10; John 14:13)

John is not saying that we can get God to do whatever we want by adding the magic words “in Jesus’ name”
a. Prayer is not asking God to move towards us, but for God to move us towards him
b. Pastor E. Stanley Jones: "If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. "

Remember, James 4:3 reminds us that we can pray and ask improperly
In fact, James acknowledges that we often fail to receive answers to our prayers because we ask for selfish reasons

John says that if we know we have eternal life through our relationship with God by faith in Christ, then we can be confident that our Father God will hear us when we pray

If God hears us, it then follows that like a good Father he will respond to us

But John goes a step further—not only does God hear us, but “we know that we have obtained the request made of him”
This sounds like we can be assured of a favorable response
So, does God answer all your prayers with “Yes”?
Yeah, me neither!

The problem goes back to that little phrase: “according to his will”
a. This means we must line up with God—like Jesus in Gethsemane, we must make sure our hearts cry out “Not my will, God, but yours”—our focus must be on the best interests of God and his kingdom and not our selfish desires
b. We must not harbor un-confessed or habitual sin (Psalm 66:13)
c. We must trust God for the answer (Matthew 21:22)—he will respond, but not always in the way we desire or expect!
d. We must be sure to seek what God wants, for in doing so we will pray for what he longs to accomplish—we can only do this by spending time with God in his Word and in prayer (remember the Sears catalog—Ray Stedman)

Confident prayer keeps a relationship with God fresh
This kind of prayer also has amazing results

3. Confident Prayer Results in Restoration/Life

1 John 5:16-17—John now gives application to his lesson on praying according to God’s will by giving an example to his readers

Praying isn’t just about us, praying is for our brothers and sisters
We should pray confidently for each other
We should pray for restoration and life

Again, John gives a promise and a qualification here
a. The promise—if we pray for a brother or sister who is not committing a sin unto death, then God will give them life
b. The qualification—the promise does not apply to the one committing a sin unto death

A quick disclaimer: We tend to get tangled up in a discussion of what a “sin unto death” may be, but John assumes his readers know this already. The point John seems to make here is that praying according to the will of God means that we should pray for each other, that we should pray for restoration and life for those committing sin
a. We have a responsibility to each other
b. Part of loving God’s children is to pray for them

John doesn’t say, “If you see your brother or sister sinning, quickly get on the phone and talk to others about it!” He doesn’t say, “Let the pastor know so that he can deal with it!” No! John says, “Pray for your brothers and sisters and God will give them life.”
a. We are brothers and sisters, not competitors
b. All sin is serious
c. You can’t be indifferent to sin if you love others

If our prayers are for children of God who sin, then in what sense do they need “life”? John says our prayers will result in life from God for those who commit sins not unto death

To answer that question is to continue on to the qualification—What is the sin unto death?

Take a few minutes, get into groups of two or three, and scan through 1 John. Find places where the words “sin,” “death,” and “life” show up.

What did you find?

There are typically three responses to what the “sin unto death” may be
a. Some specific sin that causes the person to die physically (cf. Moses, Achan, Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira, the folks in 1 Corinthians 11)
b. The unpardonable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or rejecting Jesus
c. The sin of the false teachers who denied the Incarnation and lived immoral and unloving lives

It seems likely that the background for John’s comments here is to be found in 1 John 3:11-18 and the contrast between the children of God and the children of the devil
1 John 3:14—”We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers. He who does not love abides in death.”
The sin unto death, at least in part, seems to be a persistent and intentional disobedience of Jesus’ command to love one another. It is denying the love of Jesus and following the unloving example of the false teachers

1 John 3:23—disregarding this command leads to death

Regardless of the view one takes on this issue, John expects his readers to pray for one another especially when they fall into sin

So, when should we not pray?
That is difficult to say, isn’t it?
Apparently there is a time in which prayer is no longer useful—note that John does not command us not to pray, but he seems to suggest that when a person reaches the point of “sin unto death” prayer will not help
We should respond, then, by continuing to pray unless we get some indication from the Spirit to cease praying

If all wrongdoing is sin, then praying for restoration of our brothers and sisters is the best starting point

Confident prayer results in restoration and life for those who sin
We cannot ignore the sin of others
We should pray for God to work in their lives

Application

How do we respond to this difficult passage?

There seems to me to be only one response, we must become a people of prayer, and not just any prayer, but a confident prayer that comes from an assurance of our relationship with our Father through his Son, Jesus Christ

As E. M. Bounds says, “"What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but people whom the Holy Ghost can use – people of prayer, people mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through people. He does not come on machinery, but on people. He does not anoint plans, but people, people of prayer."

How does this look in every day life?

First, we must be diligent in keeping our relationship with God current. That requires time with God, with his Word, and with his people

Second, we must pray. We need to carve out time to meet with God in prayer. This week set aside at least 10 minutes a day where you simply get with God to pray for others.

Finally, we must avoid sin. We need to live accountable lives with each other so that we can honor God. Remember, everything we do reflects on the character of God. Our lives are the best (or worst) witness for the grace of God in Jesus Christ. How are we doing?

Confident prayer begins with salvation, continues with a confident relationship, and results in restoration

Will we practice it?

Thanks for reading!

Confidence Before God: How Our Hearts are Reassured, 1 John 3:19-24, Theology Matters Series

Hello all:

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 meetings on February 20-27, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 3:19-24 and discusses the idea that our hearts can have confidence before God because of God's character and the things his Spirit has done in and through us. When we think rightly about God and love others as he commands, we find assurance for our hearts and minds. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!

Confidence Before God
How Our Hearts Are Reassured
1 John 3:19-24
Theology Matters Series

Introduction
Questions
1. What comes to mind when you think of the terms “assurance” or “confidence”?
2. Describe what you think a confident person is like
3. When do you lack confidence?
4. When do you feel confident?

Contrary to appearances, I am not a very self-confident person
I constantly ask my wife (and others) for reassurance
I seem to think I am continually lacking confidence

Many of you can identify with my personal struggles, while others think that these things are a bit strange

Our passage today focuses on the issue of the confidence a Christian can have before God

In 1 John 3:19-24, John lists three ways we can be confident before God
1. Our knowledge gives us confidence/assurance
2. Our kinship with God gives us confidence/assurance
3. God’s commandments are a source of confidence/assurance

God’s character is our confidence

1. Knowledge
1 John 3:19-20, 24b

When I read this passage, I was struck by the repetition of the phrase “by this we . . . know” in verses 19 and 24.

Verse 19—”By this” refers to the information just above this verse—1 John 3:18
John is saying here that we will know (it is future) that we are in the truth (i.e., children of God) if we love in deed and in truth (i.e., we practice the kind of selfless love Jesus exhibited)

Verse 24b—”By this” refers back to the verses just before (vv. 23-24a) and to the end of verse 24

John is saying here that we know (it is present tense) that we abide in Christ if we keep his commandments—the command is to believe in Christ and to love one another (more on these later)

John is also saying that we know we abide in Christ by the Spirit he gave us
The reference to the Spirit here is not necessarily only a reference to the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15-17), but may also refer to the presence of the Spirit in our lives as the One who empowers us to believe in Christ and to love one another

The Spirit here is a reference to God’s character and God’s presence as a means to obey God’s commands

2 Peter 1:3-4

John seems to be saying that our changed behavior is evidence (i.e., something we can know) that should give us confidence

The knowledge that God has changed us is a source of assurance/confidence
But our actions are not based on our own abilities, our changed lives flow from the character of God

In verses 19-20, John brings up the idea of our hearts (or consciences) and the possibility of condemnation

“Whenever our hearts condemn us” speaks to those times when we feel condemned or less than confident in our relationship to God

John assumes that the people to whom he writes have struggled with their confidence, they have felt condemned

Perhaps your heart/conscience has condemned you in the past
a. You aren’t good enough, you can’t live up to God’s standard
b. You don’t do the things you should
c. Why would God choose you?

John responds by noting that we can “reassure” our hearts before God because “God is greater than our hearts and knows everything”

What does John mean by this reference?

When John says that God is greater than our hearts/consciences, he seems to be referring to God’s character –a source of confidence for us is the knowledge of God’s character

God’s character is greater than our conscience—he is the one who redeems us (and as shown in v. 24) who puts his Spirit in us

James Boice states “… whatever our hearts may say, God knows us better than even we ourselves do and, nevertheless, has acquitted us. Therefore, we should reassure ourselves by His judgment, which alone is trustworthy, and refuse to trust our own.”

God knows the change he has made in us if we have indeed come to know him through Christ

God judges us not by our conscience but by his justification of us in Christ (Rom. 8:31-39)

When we face condemnation, we can look at two things to reassure ourselves—God’s enduring love and character, and the actions his Spirit has worked out of our changed lives as we obey his command to love

God’s character is our confidence

2. Kinship
1 John 3:21-22—in the previous section, John told us that we can “know” confidence by knowing how we love others and by knowing God’s character. In these verses he introduces the idea that we can be confident before God because we have relationship with him—we are God’s kin

This relationship is shown by two things—answered prayer and God’s abiding Spirit (vv. 23-24)

B. F. Westcott states, “The thought here is of the boldness with which the son appears before the Father, and not of that with which the accused appears before the Judge.”

The Christian has boldness in God’s presence because he or she is a child of God—the child of the emperor has privileges with the king that simple subjects do not have (Rom. 8:16-17; Gal. 4:31-5:1; John 1:9-13)

This family relationship should produce confidence and assurance

John continues this idea by talking about the blessing of answered prayer

What John does NOT mean
a. God is not a cosmic Santa Claus who simply gives you whatever you ask
b. God will not answer all of your requests with “Yes”

What John means
a. God loves to respond to his children
b. God’s children love to respond to their Father
c. When we obey God, we have freedom to come into his presence
d. Of course, when we obey God, we will ask primarily for those things that will give God the most pleasure (i.e., our praying will not be selfish but will be “according to his will”)

God’s character is our confidence

3. Commandment
1 John 3:23-24—John now returns to the idea that our confidence/assurance before God is evidenced by what we believe and by how we live

What “pleases God” (v. 23) is two fold
a. My theology—what I believe about God and Jesus Christ
b. My ethical practice—how I act in response to theology

In fact, theology should drive ethics—right living should flow from right doctrine

John gets very specific here about the commandment
a. We must believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus
b. We must love one another

This commandment is similar to Jesus’ response in Matthew 22:37-40
The call of every Christ follower is to love God and to love others

Believing in the name of Christ refers to the ground of our salvation—it is only in what Christ has accomplished that we can be saved or brought into proper relationship with God

We cannot love God without Christ’s sacrificial love

Our confidence is grounded on what God has done in Jesus

Loving one another is the practical result of our salvation—we show the love God gave in Christ by loving others

This action is not the foundation of our confidence, it is the evidence of it

The gauge of our relationship with God is how we love others

Obedience to God’s command is the manifestation of God’s love poured into our lives (1 John 4:12-17)

Abiding in Jesus is shown by obedience to Jesus

God’s character is our confidence
Our obedient response is the evidence that we have come to know him

Application
The foundation of our assurance or confidence before God is always and only faith in the person and work of Jesus—Jesus is our Rock, our Cornerstone, and our Foundation
Any attempt to have boldness before God without faith in Christ will end in shame
Faith alone in Christ alone is the only means of security before God

Once we have that settled, however, there is room for obedience, and that obedience is also a source of assurance

This week, find ways to obey the word John gives
1. Spend time cultivating your relationship with God—this week set aside an extra 10 minutes a day to get into God’s presence, to pray, to read his Scripture—your confidence is in that relationship

2. Spend time cultivating your relationships with others—this week make time to love one another—be creative, but be purposeful—make a plan to show Christ’s love and follow through—where can you serve this week in a way that would make Christ’s love know?

God’s character is our confidence
What can we do this week that will reveal God’s character to others?

Thanks for reading!

Living in the Light of Jesus' Coming, 1 John 2:28-3:3, Theology Matters Series

Hello all:

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 meetings on December 12-19, 2010. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 2:28-3:3 and discusses the idea that we need to consider how we live our lives in the light of the promised return of Jesus. Jesus' second coming (according to John) offers motivation for us to pursue righteousness in our lives. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!

Living in the Light of Jesus’ Coming
1 John 2:28-3:3
Theology Matters Series

Introduction
About a month ago we ended a church-wide series on “Living Like You Were Dying” where we focused on the characteristics our lives as Christians should exhibit if we expect to die soon

Today’s passage is like that in some ways, except instead of thinking of our own mortality, we will look at our Lord’s return as a motivation for pursuing certain characteristics in our lives

This being the Christmas season, we typically speak of Jesus’ first coming, the time he revealed God to us by the Incarnation (a topic that John addresses earlier in this very epistle)

The first time Jesus came to earth, things changed dramatically
The lives of many in the first century were changed eternally
The calendars that track our lives were affected
Judgment came in the way people respond to the life and ministry of Jesus

What kinds of changes will come when he returns a second time?

When Jesus’ comes the second time, everything will change
Life as we know it will be completely different
There will be judgment
Things will be revealed and made known that we think are secret

John mentions this return of Jesus (described as his “appearing” twice) in 1 John 2:28-3:3

In this passage John gives us three things to pursue as we wait for Jesus to come. We must pursue:
1. Assurance by abiding
2. Acceptance by his love
3. Purity to be like him

Where will you be when he returns?

1. Assurance from Abiding
1 John 2:28-29

The idea of abiding
Last week we spent some time on this topic
Abiding carries the idea of “remaining” or “continuing” or even (to some degree) “possessing”

Our passage last week reminded us to abide in God’s Word and in God’s Spirit
This passage reminds us to abide in Christ

What does it meant to abide in Christ?
John 15—the vine and the branches
The call here is to stick close to Jesus
As we mentioned last week, we must let everything about Jesus permeate everything in our lives
We must be possessed by him, inundated with his character
In short, we must be so vitally connected to him that we draw life from him

John tells us that this abiding will lead to assurance, but the lack of abiding could lead to shame

John wants his readers to have confidence and not shame when Jesus returns
Shame results in a “shrinking away,” a subtle denial or exclusion of Jesus and his claims on our lives
Shame (and “shrinking away”) is first recorded in Genesis 3
Adam and Eve were “ashamed” at what they had done
Living a life of sinful selfish indulgence leads to shame at Jesus’ appearing

Assurance/confidence comes from what Jesus has accomplished
Jesus is righteous, and his righteousness is ours by faith in what he did in his life, death and resurrection (1 Cor. 1:30-31; 2 Cor. 8:9)
We can be confident in God’s accomplishments
Our confidence/assurance is not in what we have done (Romans 3:21-26)
But what we do can exhibit the assurance of God in our lives
Remember, what we abide in possesses us
John is calling on us to abide in Jesus and receive assurance from what he accomplishes

To avoid being ashamed at his coming, do what he wants you do to do
Abide in him

Where will you be when he returns?
Will you shrink in shame due to selfish living?
Will you stand in confidence due to his righteousness?

2. Acceptance by His Love
1 John 3:1

Note the amazing proclamation here—God loves us
“See how great a love the Father has given us”

The Greek here indicates an “otherworldly” type of love—”from what country”
John depicts God’s love as something that is beyond our normal experience
John describes God adopting us into His family out of pure, raw, unconditional love—for no other reason than the fact that He loves us!

God’s love is what makes us children of God
We are not born Christians, we are “born again”, we are born of him (John 1:10-13; John 3:3, 16-18; Romans 8:14-17; 2 Cor. 5:17-18)

We are adopted into God’s family

We need to spend some time contemplating the great privileges that come from being adopted into God’s family
We are joint heirs with Christ
We lose our sin and gain Christ’s righteousness
We have the joy of calling God “Father” and enjoying the protection and provision that a Father offers

Such contemplation will result in assurance

We need to gain an appreciation of what God’s love means for us
It means life and redemption
It means living in assurance and without shame
On the other hand, it means that we will not gain acceptance from those who are not of God

God’s love for us gives us acceptance
We are accepted as his children
Acceptance gives us assurance in God’s presence
Acceptance gives us confidence when Jesus returns

Where will you be when he returns?
Will you stand with the world, conformed to their mindset and ways?
Will you stand in and shine out his love?

3. Purity to be like Him
1 John 3:2-3

John tells his readers that they are destined for great things
We are destined to share Jesus’ glory when he returns

As children of God, we have a present and future status
John speaks of a “now” and a “not yet”
Our present status has to do with our adoption and its privileges as mentioned in v. 1 above
Our future status has to do with the likeness of Christ

When Jesus returns, we will see him in his glory
Seeing him in his glory has an effect on us (Col. 3:4)
Seeing Jesus results in our being like Jesus
When we see him as he is, we will be made like him (2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:20-21)

Jesus’ return promises us a future glory (Rom. 8:28-29)
While we wait, however, we have responsibilities too

John tells his readers that they need purity
Knowing we are destined for glory should motivate us to live for Jesus’ glory now
If we are bound by God for greatness, shouldn’t we strive to live great lives while we wait?
Living for Jesus’ return means living pure lives for his honor now (Col. 3:4-5)

A mind set on meeting Jesus will discover a renewed passion to pursue righteousness now

If we know Jesus today, that knowledge should lead us to pursue the kind of life that will honor him now
We should live in the light of his coming by purifying our hearts
This purification will have an effect on how we live

Where will you be when he returns?
Will you stand in the shame of selfishness?
Will you stand in the purity of his likeness?

Application
It may seem that applying this passage is easier than others, but the truth is that speaking of Christ’s imminent return does not always lead to motivation for godly living

Nonetheless, there are some things we can do this week to put this passage into our lives

First, learn to abide in Christ and to pursue his righteousness. That may sound a bit esoteric, but it really isn’t? If abiding means being possessed by something, then find ways this week to be gripped and possessed by Jesus. To do that requires some time in his presence. Pursuing righteousness may be understood as doing the right thing. What “right things” would Jesus want you to do? Where do you struggle to do what is right? What can you do to overcome this week?

Second, spend some time actually thinking about the wonderful benefits that come from being a child of God. How can the reality of God’s provision of adoption have an impact on your daily life?

Third, look for ways to purify yourself. Where do you need purity? What can you do to “purify” yourself?

Where will you be when Jesus returns?

Discussion

1. Why does John tell his readers to continue in Christ? (2:28)

2. What do those born of Christ do? (2:29)

3. Why doesn’t the world recognize Christians for who they are? (3:1)

4. How should Christians be different than non-Christians?

5. What will happen to believers when He appears? (3:2)

6. What does John mean by “abide in Him”? How does one do that?

7. What does Christ’s return have to do with how we live now?

8. What can you do to “purify” yourself?

9. How can you allow the reality of Christ’s return to have an impact on your life today?

Thanks for reading!