Gospel of John [Joh 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 51. Eph 4:30; 1Jo 1:5-2:2; Rom 8:12-18.

Title: Gospel of John [JOH 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 51. EPH 4:30; 1JO 1:5-2:2; ROM 8:12-18.

 

 

 

The remedy for sin was Calvary. The solution to the effects of sin in our lives is simply confession or acknowledgment of it before the Father as we lay it aside and pursue the divine will.

 

It should be noted that laying aside the habits of the old man, as Paul so often says, is done through the power of the Holy Spirit and not through our will alone.

 

When a believer acknowledges sin he is agreeing with the will of God and the recovery to correct thinking can now be accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the believer's heart. God will only empower in a pattern that is consistent with His divine will and thinking truth is certainly that. It must be also understood, and is common sense, that the believer doesn't lose consciousness or his ability to choose, but the marvelous work of the Holy Spirit enables him to lay aside that which is against God and walk in that which is for God.

 

We noted the many passages that clearly state that we are forgiven and cleansed. We have completed a list of passages that teach that our thoughts, words, and actions can be unclean, and although this does not change the believer's status as fully cleansed in Christ, it does hinder the experience of fellowship with God in time and fruit production that glorifies God and gives the believer exceeding joy and perfect peace, all of which flow from a Spirit filled life.

 

Fellowship, partnership, communion with God = same mind, same love, united in spiritSpirit, same purpose.

 

"fellowship" - koinwni,a[koinonia] = association, community, joint-participation, intercourse, the share which one has in anything, participation. [J. Thayer]

 

1JO 1:5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

 

1JO 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

 

Fellowship and walking in darkness [in the manner of the heathen] are mutually exclusive.

 

"If we say," means that we are lying to ourselves and others. This presumes that the believer knows fellowship with God is required for spiritual living and that he is proclaiming to be spiritual while walking in the manner of the heathen, like a Corinthian or Galatian believer.

 

Walking is lifestyle. It is not impossible sinless perfection that is in view but a certain lifestyle of compliance with the will of God as a rule of life.

 

This would be dependence upon the Spirit and walking by means of the Spirit. If I am walking on a journey with someone and I trip and fall but pick myself back up I am still walking with them on the journey. If I fall and hurt myself so that I need to remain on the ground a while, but pick myself up again and continue, then I am still walking on the journey with them. If I turn away from the journey all together and go a different direction then I have quit on the journey with my friend and have chosen another one, and I cannot say that I have fulfilled a journey with my friend.

 

While we are pursuing the ways of darkness, the Trinity is not assisting us on that path, but the Father is disciplining and the Spirit is convicting. This is the bit and bridle and not walking.

 

Fellowship does not depend upon an impossible sinless perfection, but on the willing compliance with all that God desires and makes known. If we are willing then He will empower, guide, and reveal.

 

1JO 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [no more consciousness of sin].

 

HEB 10:1-2

can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?

 

Agape love is applied to self in terms of virtue as opposed to guilt or condemnation.

 

1CO 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails

 

1JO 1:8 If we say that we have no sin [no OSN], we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 

1JO 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

"confess" - o`mologe,w[homologeo- homo = same; logeo = to speak] = to say the same thing, to agree with, to speak or say together, to come to terms, to allow, to admit, to grant.

 

The papyri give examples of the Koine use of the word. There is an agreement between two individuals, a person gives his consent, another one acknowledges having found something. The noun is used of a contract, an agreement.

 

This is the only place in the NT where this word is used in reference to sin, and as many of you know, it has caused much debate, not only in our own age, but since the early Church.

 

Though not stated, it would seem proper to agree, acknowledge, confess with God the Father as to the sinfulness of sin. A method of prayer is not mentioned and so no specific ritual or way is strictly stated. Read clearly, it would indicate that the believer is to acknowledge, confess, agree with God the Father of the fact of sin when it is recognized. No believer can intelligently deal with unknown sin.

 

If a believer desires to speak to the Father in a formatted prayer about his sin, there is nothing prohibiting him from doing so, but it is not specified and therefore we cannot conclude that it is necessary.

 

In light of all that we have seen in the scripture so far, the acknowledgement of sin has a purpose, much like all things that we do by means of faith, and that is to change the heart from sinfulness of thinking to thinking in accordance with the divine will.

 

EPH 4:31-32

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

 

In this process, the believer has the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to assist in the proper thinking since He is the teacher and guide. Once the decision has been made to put it away, God the Holy Spirit ministers to the believer in order to do just that. Even in recovery we are to trust Him.

 

Many have asked why Paul never uses this word and I suppose you would have to ask him yourself when you get to heaven. As we have seen, Paul is fully concerned with the change of heart or change of thinking in the believer. When he wrote that the Corinthians should judge themselves he was indicating that they should come to the same conclusion that he did about their conduct and change it in accordance with divine will. The self-evaluation must certainly be accomplished and agreed upon, which is a definition of homologeo. For them to agree with Paul that they were carnal would be to agree with God for Paul was God's witness unto them.

 

Many have also asked about the date of 1Jo. This book is one of the last to be written. Paul's letters were fully completed about 20 years prior. No one can give a certain answer. It may be that Gnosticism had gotten so rampant and infiltrated the churches so much that verses 8-10, unique to this book, had to be made clear in writing. That is the best explanation I have heard since John's first epistle deals greatly with the problem of Gnosticism in the Church.     

 

1JO 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned [become sinless], we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

 

1JO 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

 

The work of our Lord in propitiating the Father for all our sins is not to give us a complicit attitude about sin. We are not to sin, but if and when we do we are not to have a consciousness defiled by it. This implies that I did recognize it and so confessed, acknowledged, and agreed with God that it was against His will, but my conscience is not defiled because I know with certainty that I have an Advocate, my Lord, Jesus Christ the righteous, seated at the right hand of God who alone has satisfied the Father's justice concerning all my sins.

 

1JO 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

 

Prevention of sin: the word of God and the indwelling Spirit.

 

I am writing these things that you may not sin. Walk in the light and enjoy the fellowship of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the royal family of God.

 

The word of God is a protection when it is cherished in the heart.

 

PSA 119:11

Thy word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against Thee.

 

Not only is the word of God inevitably a power in preserving from sin, but it is a power in detecting sin within the life. The believer who attempts a course in Bible study and at the same time attempts to live a life in the world system in sin against God will eventually get uncomfortable with one or the other. You can't serve two masters, for you will eventually love the one and hate the other.

 

HEB 4:12

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 

2TI 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.