First John 2:3-6 His Comandments

Let's begin where we probably should each week in terms of looking at what we learned from last week. And I was in Arizona last week, but listened in for Roy's lesson. It was really a thrill to hear him speak, not at a distance, that wasn't the thrill, but the thrill is the word of God that he was sharing and teaching with us.

So I'm going to summarize this very succinctly and Roy correct me if I haven't done this justice. So this is a text written to the believer. This is not really for the unsaved, although today we're going to get the one verse which may relate to the Gnostic atmosphere that existed at the time John was writing this. Remember, this is a pretty late book. And as I've said many, many times, if you're going to take on these epistles that are later in the New Testament, particularly those written by John and Peter, ultimately you have to be founded in Pauline scripture.

So I think we, and I'm summarizing a lot of what Roy said, and if they, we sin, We have an advocate with the Father because of Christ's once and for all propitiation for all of us. And that's not only for our sins, but the sins for the entire world. The neat thing there is there is no cross that's going to follow the once and only crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. that ultimately, you know, John introduces in his first chapter that really the desire is to have fellowship with the church, with the body. And ultimately, if we do fall short and we sin, ultimately, we take that to the Father, we confess our sins, there's a restoration, if you will, of fellowship with the Lord.

And ultimately, this is a nice comfort zone for us as believers. And these verses in 1 John 1 are shared frequently in terms of when we do fall short. Alright, so I think that's kind of the background of what we're going to be looking at today. So I'm going to read verses 1 through 8, so join me in your own Bibles as I read along.

My little children, these things write unto you, that you sin not, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know him, and if we keep his commandments, 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 barely is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him.

He that says he abides in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. And again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shines or shineth. All right, so our first verse today, now by this or herein in many texts, we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. So I guess if you could look at the alternative, if we don't keep his commandments, we don't know him.

So what's that kind of relate to? Well, let's begin first, now or herein by what? Why is that an introduction to verse three? three through six to follow it, entitled by Roger His Commandments. Now or herein would tend to, just like therefore, what's it there for?

It's what's preceded, what's preceded verse three, and by this, we know that we know him. Well, look up what I put up above. It's written to believers, and that we may not sin, and if we do sin, we have an advocate. So that's, so therefore, or herein, or now what? Yeah. Bob, actually, in New American Standard, they have an, it's like an accompanying thought with the previous verse.

Always good to interpret scripture with what precedes it. And I think I'm getting more in the habit of seeing what we learned last week to introduce what we're doing this week. So I think the lead in there, as Roger's indicated, is what we're talking about.

What are his commandments? Belief in the love. Okay, is that a commandment? You got me there. Well, that's why I'm supposed to be up here teaching you here today. Remember, the teacher always learns more than the class. So bear with me on this. So it's interesting here. And Roy and I had a nice conversation this week about this.

Commandments here is the Greek term entole, which really is an order or command or a charge or a precept. This is not the what's used typically in the Old Testament. So, you know, Weist has a nice comment here, says the word commandments is not here, nomos, which is law, which John never uses for the rule of Christian obedience. and which is reserved by him for the Mosaic law. So, you know, the commandments that were there in relationship to Israel is a different Greek term. And this really relates to the Mosaic law. the law of the nation of Israel.

So now we're looking at a different interpretation here by John, where commandments really is just a charge or, you know, it's an order, a command, you know, you could overly interpret that. I kind of like it's a precept or a charge. It's really an encouragement is what it is. And I'm going to share, I think, a very important section of scripture here.

Taking you back now to the Gospel of John. In verses 10 through 12, it says, 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. These things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you. Think about the joy we have as believers when you're founded in Pauline doctrine. You know, anyway, but well, that's an aside. That's a rabbit trail. And that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I loved you.

How y'all doing at that? I mean, this is His charge or His precepts or His order of our performance. And Jim, you hit it on the nail. I mean, what are those things that are His order or charge to us as believers? Well, it's faith and love and the things that Scripture really clearly identifies in the New Testament. Yeah, Jim. I think chapter 3, verse 23 and 24. because there's more completely. Okay, you want to read that for us? This is my commitment that you love phenomena. Oh, you're talking about...

I'm talking about 1 John. 1 John, yeah. Well, 23 and 24. By the way, when Jim's looking that up, you can jump forward into John a lot and since we're going to take it sequentially, you know, there's about 15 texts in 1 John that really relate to what he's already dealing with here. Go ahead, Jim. Well, 1 John 23 and 24 says, in chapter 3, not there yet, here it is.

This is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ, believe, and love one another just as he has commanded us. So believe and love are basically the only two commandments we as Christians really need to obey. So let's reflect on Paul again. How can we love one another as he has loved us?

How's your flesh doing at that anyway? It doesn't work very well. No, it's not only not working very well, it's a total failure, isn't it? We love the spirit. Yeah, go ahead, Roy. Just a thought on this. It has always impressed me. In John's writings, he remembers the two commands that our Lord gave. You've read one of them.

This is my commandment that you love one another. But I want you to notice that last phrase, as I have loved you. The Old Testament command that you love one another is as you loved yourself. That is totally new, what he is saying there, as I have loved you unto death. is very true, is you, you know, shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and so forth. That takes expression by our Lord this way, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.

So, definitely, Jim's right there, that there are two commands, or entoules, that are using God's word here, precepts, that our Lord taught, were indeed, believe on Him whom He has sent, and love one another as I have loved you. Well, I think to put, you know, you know, shoes on our feet in terms of our walk, this loving one another as he's loved us can only be through the new life we have in Christ Jesus, isn't it?

I mean, when we quit measuring performance and we quit making people measure up to a certain metric, which is really kind of the flesh and maybe the Old Testament law, Ultimately, we fail because nobody's going to perform. Isn't it really important that we focus on who's doing the loving?

Absolutely. Yeah, that's the point, Roy. This is another life lived out in us. And by the way, you know, liking someone's not so easy. But loving them in the new nature really is all of him, or is it not? So that takes the pressure off of us, doesn't it? We still exist in these human bodies and have the flesh lived out too often in each of our lives. So we ultimately fall short of this loving one another as he loved us. But nevertheless, that's his charge or precept of our Christian life.

You know, love and obedience. And what's the obedience to? The obedience is not to the Jewish law. The obedience is to the faith. Any other thoughts? The obedience is basically walking in the Spirit. Okay, and the Spirit's much needed third person of the Godhead, is it not? Okay, good, good discussion. Go ahead. So the question is, is this possible in the absence of identification lived out? I mean, we've talked about that before I put up the next slide. But no, it's not possible.

We can't love another as much as he's loved us. So unless we see ourselves born again as new creations in Christ Jesus in spirit, you know, ingrained and ultimately expanded, we have no capability of this in our own right. Think about a new believer who gets turned to this epistle without really being well-founded in identification. It's really very frustrating. And if you read 1 John all the way through, you're going to think you lost your salvation.

All right, good, let's continue. A verse that is kind of in line with this, you know, the law of Christ. Galatians 6, to bear one another's burdens. I mean, if that's the Christ's life, it's so fulfilled, the law of Christ. What's the law of Christ? It's effectively this commandment or precept or organization of our lives in what he calls entole, or his command. Okay. Isn't it good that we don't have, you know, how many times have people referenced, gee, in the schools, we need the 10 commandments put up on the wall. Well, that may, you know, ultimately operate to motivate the flesh.

But that's, what's the law given for, as Galatians says? What's Paul saying in Galatians about the law, the Jewish law? Why is the law, is the law, can the law be kept? No, the law is to convict us of sin. Yeah, it's a schoolmaster, I love that term, schoolmaster. The law shows the perfection of God. Oh, yeah, His holiness is never questioned. The law is God's perfect agenda, is it not? It's His perfect person. Shows us the perfection of God and that we cannot meet that. Right.

Thus the cross, thus the disciple and apostle John, thus the epistle of John in addition to the gospel. Okay, and by this we know that we know him. And you know, by the way, knowing him is the same gnoska that's used frequently by John, which reflects the nature of God the Father, especially the holy will and affection by which he aims to sanctify and redeem men through Christ. Let me read that again. By this we know that we know him is a very special knowledge, which reflects the nature of God the Father, and especially his will and affection by which he aims to sanctify and redeem men through his son, the God-man, Jesus Christ. Remember, the theme that John has outlined in chapter one is fellowship, and fellowship which is inseparable from knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. the fellowship is entirely with the son. And through the son, we get to the father. I mean, and the Holy Spirit, of course, engages us and energizes us to perform this principle of God. Constable provides a neat metaphor. I really kind of like this. And I pondered this a lot.

Occasionally, a person who has been married for a long time and then gets a divorce, will say of his or her spouse, I really never knew her or him. Isn't that kind of interesting? I mean, we've all heard people say this, haven't we? Well, I really never knew him or her. You know, they've been married to him for years, but I really never knew.

I mean, in a sense, that kind of is a metaphor that relates to our knowledge of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may be saved, but if we don't get to know him, ultimately, it's like our earthly existence is a divorce from what we've been called to.

You like that? People are looking at this kid with curiosity. But anyway, I thought that was kind of an interesting one, because we've all heard people say, I really never knew him. And that's why he's a dirty, you know. Actually, the Lord tells, remember, in one of the judgments there with the nations, he says, at the minute. You got your mic on? Yeah. Well, I think it's on. OK, good. Yeah. OK, good.

Matthew, he talks about the fact that the ones on his left and right and the ones on his left, he says he never knew me. No, he says I never knew you. Actually, I flipped it around my mind here. So, OK, Christ says I never knew you. So if he never knew you, then you didn't know him either. And that's not a good situation.

So Christianity, what why do we call this Christianity? Because it's Christ. Christ is Christianity. Is he not? It's all about a person. And I think sometimes we get distracted from the person. We get more... I'm sorry, Jim? The focus is all on Christ. Entirely. And we dismiss that at times, don't we, I think.

Hebert is kind of lanky sometimes, but anyway, get the idea that the Gnostic environment is there. What was the Gnostic view of the world? They claimed that Jesus Christ was who he was, but their performance didn't relate at all to that. They went ahead and did whatever they want. Their moral temperature was really about as low as you can get. So Hebert says, but in contradiction to the Gnostics, He, meaning John, maintained that no professed knowledge of God is valid if it does not have moral consequences.

So we're talking about the walk now. In a sense, the walk is something that relates to the person. And if the walk isn't consistent with a person and doesn't reflect the person, this can become a very theme consistent with the Gnostic view of the world. That maybe Jesus Christ is who he says he is, but it doesn't influence what I do. I can do anything really I want. That's a simplistic view of Gnosticism. And by the way, Gnosticism comes in several different flavors too. All right, if we keep his commandments. So the verb keep is to attend to carefully, or I kind of like it, to take care of, to keep, to take care of his commandments. His commandments, how are you doing at that? Again, loving one another as he loved you, right? I mean, again, it's not something you intellectualize, is it? It's getting to know him and the power that he gives us in our lives. JFB, which is Jason Fawcett Brown.

I like a lot of what they say in it as a commentary. Literally, watch or guard and keep safe as a precious thing, observing to keep so Christ himself. So, you know, you know, they get to the point here. It's guarding or keeping safe. It's a precious thing.

And that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the person and the life that he gives us. And I think, you know, we talked about this before, Jim, back to you, but I mean, what is not the commandment? It's faith, love, and obedience. That's what the commandment is. Faith and love, and by the way, the obedience isn't to the mosaic wall, the obedience is to the faith.

And that is reflected in the walk. Could we say that it's obedience to our walk in faith? Well, yeah, sure. I think so. I think obedience to the faith. What's our faith based on? It's based on our sins being forgiven and the power of the sin has been removed positionally. Now, does that affect our condition? And that's where the walk is.

So by faith, do we believe Romans 6? And Paul struggled, because that's what Romans 7 is all about. And then Romans 8 is the power of the Spirit in our lives. But to know what the power of the Spirit is in our lives, you've got to be in the Word. You've got to know the person in terms of who our life is now, rather than in the flesh.

Now, an interesting question for the class. We may or may not keep his commandments. What if we don't? Don't all answer at once, please. But back to chapter one. OK, back to chapter one. You want to. Well, could you rephrase that a little bit more succinctly? Verse nine, right?

If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And well, Roger, even the first part of chapter two, you know, we've been advocate, right? If we do the same thing, he's provided that that. But, you know, I would claim that So the most part, you know, his commandment of loving someone else as he has loved us is really a tough thing to follow at times, isn't it?

Think of the world environment, think of the power of St. Martin. I've been talking about this, you know, this whole thing in Ukraine is just part of this Satan ruled, you know, earthly domain that we live in. First of all, we can't do anything about Satan. We can't do anything about the world system. But the one thing we can do is by faith, influence our lives and how we walk.

And that's what John's all about. All right, good. On to verse four. He who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. To whom is that directed? I thought this epistle was written to believers, as Roy nicely pointed out last week. But then what about the Gnosics? So Roy, is this verse written to the believers? I believe it is, yes. I believe it is. Can you hear me? Yeah, I hear you fine. I'm asking the question. I don't have the answer. I'm asking the question. Yeah, I believe it is because he uses the familiar form here.

And his form is contrasting to our walking in the flesh versus walking in the spirit, using Paul's terminology. What does the Holy Spirit reveal? He reveals Christ to us. When we're intimate in Christ, if what he thinks is what we think, and we're walking contrary to what he thinks, there's something wrong. we must not really be thinking what he thinks. Okay, we're walking in unreality at that point. All right, so if we claim that we know him and our walk doesn't reflect that, we're lying.

Is that right? That's right, because what we really believe is more important to follow the dictates of something other than Christ. I believe that this is more important than what you taught me. I'm going to go my own way. Well, that's sin. And we can do that. All of us can do that. Yeah. A couple of verses that I've pointed out here that reflect on this, I think.

James 2.14.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? Alright, Titus 116. They profess to know God, but in works they deny him being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Is that what John's talking about here? Yeah, I think so, because he's talking about Christians there. You know, Christians can be disobedient. They may not walk in faith. They may not walk in the spirit. When they're not, they're walking in the flesh.

And the idea here is that keep is a present active participle. I don't need to be overly grammatical, but it indicates a continuous, repeatable lifestyle. And we all know people, maybe we don't, but I know people that are saved, that their walk is questionably a saved person. Yep.

One thing that might help us here a little bit, I don't know, but John uses very carefully the negatives here in this verse. He says he is not keeping, and that not is the may. It's the idea that he's not keeping. He doesn't even think the truth. Okay. That's interesting. And when you get down to the second half there where he says not being in him, it is a fact that the truth is not in him because he uses the negative oo. It is a fact. The truth is not in him. He's not thinking right. Okay, well, the truth is not in him in terms of his walk anyway, right? Well, that's him Unreality, isn't it? Not walking in truth, reality is untruth, unreality.

Okay, and to, Uist has a translation that I think may or may not be helpful. He says, he who keeps on saying, I've come to know him experientially, and as a present result, and in that state, and his precepts, notice precepts again, is not habitually guarding with salacious care, is a liar. And in this one, the truth does not exist. That's Roy's point right there. You like that translation better? And also that have come to know him is perfect tense. I have come to know him with abiding results.

Well, what happened to those results? And is this not what was stated in chapter one? verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. The same kind of inadequate or improper application of truth, if it exists at all. Yeah, Jim. Well, it's kind of the same as we discussed in verse 6 of chapter 1, you know, he says, we say that we have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness. We lie and are not acting consistently with the truth. We're not acting consistently with the truth.

Doesn't it seem like John presents, I've always looked at John's epistle as black and white. And in a sense, none of our lives are black and white. They're kind of gray at times, aren't they? I mean, in other words, we're white a lot of the times and black some. I mean, anyway, but John's very, very, very succinct, didn't he?

And I think ultimately, if you read the epistle of 1 John and were a new believer or naive, you'd think you were not saved, basically. I think that's the error that ultimately comes away. I think that's the error that comes up in verse 3. If you interpret verse 3 improperly, then you're going to think, yeah, this is a determination between salvation and non-salvation.

But if we interpret it in light of Paul's writings, then we're gonna realize, you know, this isn't talking about salvation, this is talking about fellowship. But despite the black or whiteness of the epistles, John continues to allow a cushion to be provided. If you do sin, we have an advocate who in fact has taken care of our sin. When we confess that, what's he talking about? Remember, fellowship of each one of us with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay.

It might help, Bob, if we want to look at the text itself, There is, in John's presentation of this verse, a contrasting verse where it says, if we say in chapter one, verses six and seven, versus if one is saying in verses four and five of chapter two. And the other contrast would be if we say in verse eight and nine, is in contrast with chapter 2 at verse 6. We'll get there. And if we say in verse 10 of chapter 1, it says, and one saying in verse 8 of chapter 2, really he is, I think, addressing for believers this false doctrine, isn't he?

This narcissism, if one is saying this. over and over. So is what you're saying, Roy, then reflecting that there is a Gnostic imprint then on this body of believers to whom John is writing? Well, it certainly was starting. I don't know that it really got full-blown during the time that he wrote this, but later on it really got strong. Really, Peter's epistles really kind of reflect that same atmosphere, don't they?

All right, let's go ahead to verse 5. But whosoever keeps his word Keeping, remember, this continuous action, a repeatable action of keeping his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. So Roy, I'm going to let you comment after I have a few things to say about this first. Roy and I really spent a lot of time on this first. All right.

What does it mean to keep his word? And that's not commandments here. By the way, his commandments is plural, but yet loving one another as he has loved us, I guess is one. But then we talk about reducing that to faith, love, and obedience to the faith, kind of. I mean, that's simplistic. What does it mean to keep his word and not commandments?

And Keats, just to help out a little bit, has a disjunctive participle, and that's, you know, grammar, you know, graduate school grammar, expressing a choice between two mutually exclusive possibilities that implies, again, a habitual continuous action. Now, I like to think of our Christian life as not a choice. Yes, we have a will, but ultimately the spirit-led life is not a choice, it's a life. And that life is exposed by the power of the Spirit walking in the new creations we are in Christ Jesus.

Okay, so what does it mean to keep his word? Logos is the term. Isn't his word a reflection of who he is? Okay, Roger says it's a reflection of who he is. A reflection, is that strong enough? It should be identical to who he is, right? It's an expression of who Christ is. So is it walking in his footsteps? Well, I'm saying that Christ's life, in a sense, we see it in his word, right? The person of Christ is shown to us in his word.

Okay, but the Logos term can reflect him himself too, right? Roy, you had a thought. One of the things that helped me a great deal was to come to understand that the word here is modified of him. It is very, very personal. This is his communication, his revelation of himself. The intensity of that is really magnified by the addition of that, of him.

And also, there's an adverb, modifying keeps, truly. Yeah, I'm going there, probably. Truly, meaning verily. In a general way, those words really help us, don't they, Bob? Yep, they do. I mean, Christ himself, verily, verily, I say unto you, which really provides additional emphasis on anything that reflects, actually, he himself, the God-man, okay?

Now, perfected is a perfect passive indicative. Why? Perfect tense means what? Passive is, did we play a role in that? I think it's interesting that one of the things that is being learned in the Greek understanding of the koine nowadays, is that when there's a change like this, from present to perfect, it isn't so much time, but kind, or the attributes are being emphasized in the text.

Well, the idea of the perfect tends to is this is constantly being grown in us, is it not? It's happened once and will continue, but that's the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to really direct ourselves to him. And truly, that's how God's love is perfected. And the idea of it being perfected is being made complete. I mean, in other words, as we continue to live by faith and obedience to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, then ultimately that increasingly completes us in that union we have with the Lord Jesus. This is our love of God, not for his, for us, but the relationship is truly reciprocal, isn't it?

I mean, in John 15, it says, as father loved me, I also have loved you, so abide in my love. I mean, it goes both ways, right? As my fathers loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. I mean, in a sense, that's the love of God. But then here it says, by his word, truly the love of God is perfected in us. I mean, so this is kind of an ongoing reciprocal relationship. He loves us unequivocally. And our love for him ultimately is because he first loved us. But our love for him comes from a relationship with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And really, this amplifies up in chapter one, that your joy might be full, our joy might be full.

Yeah. Oh, man, doesn't this amplify then? Boy, until I understood Pauline scripture, I was not having a joyful Christian life. I mean, you know, you feel like you're failing all the time. And, you know, you know, I failed this morning and I probably will fail some later today. I mean, you're never doing enough for God. And you kind of wonder sometimes whether you're really saved.

But once we understand Pauline doctrine, then this epistle makes a lot of sense. But this we know that we are in him. So this perfection is ultimately giving us a sense of completeness that only can be accomplished by the power of the spirit. And again, this is Gnoska, and I'm writing here, is this not? his life being perfected or completed by the power of the Holy Spirit without the sinful nature entering it. You know, John gives us this this venue, if you will, if we sin, we lose fellowship and we confess we're back in it. But ultimately, this completion of our relationship with him is the power of the Holy Spirit where sin does not enter in.

It's totally canceled, as we know in terms of our positional truth. So what we need to continue to remind ourselves is position we can't doubt. And when we know our position, then our condition is gradually being perfected as we walk by grace. Yes. Isn't there a great parallel here when we let Christ live that his love being manifested in us brings us great joy? Isn't that something? Oh, I just, I vibrate over that one.

And to reflect briefly on what I just said about grace, I just turned to Galatians 5.1. You know, Galatians, what was the fault of the Church of Galatia? They want to go back into Judaism. Yeah, they did. This other other gospel is what Paul calls it in chapter 1 chapter 5.

I hope chapter 5 is about this, but I'm just going to state 5-1 stand fast therefore in the liberty in which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. I mean, don't forget grace is the foundation for everything we are and do. and ultimately were not under law, but on a platform of grace. I have two, verse four, this is five, okay, I'm good. All right, so continuing on here. Acts 17, 28 was an interesting kind of verse that one of the commentators turned me to.

Paul in Europagus said, for in him we live and move and have our being. As also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. You know, you pull something out of Acts, you know, you kind of think of Acts as a transitional book, but you go back and see what Paul is saying in Orophagos, for in him we live and move and have our being. How about that for the walk?

All right, verse six, he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. So there's the command or the principle or the precept of his commandments. He who says he abides in him, is this something we should claim or speak? How often have you said, gee, I'm abiding in? You know, Wayne says this a lot.

No, never mind. I said, I think this is fraught with error, isn't it? I've said the negative of that. I'm not abiding. No, this isn't something we talk about. Gee, I'm abiding him. You're right. Your place is getting buffed up then. Anyway, no, that's not something to say.

Notice the theme of abiding is all John, is it not? And I kept 24 times in First John, he uses the word abiding. Fair. Abide is fellowship, communion, dependence, harmony, and friendship. Interesting. And Jude, or John 15, for abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear of itself until it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. So yeah, Wayne.

It makes it sound like that's a word, but abiding is the rest. It is a rest. It's already done. And to claim that you're abiding is almost like there's no rest. Anyway, so I don't think this is something we brag about or state. This is a life observed, isn't it not?

Ott himself also to walk just as he walked. Plummer says that, let me go ahead. Plummer says, Ott rather than must points to an abiding inner realization that he who declares his position is morally bound to act according to the declaration which he's made. ought, it's not must, it has kind of a different interpretation, must put you under law, but ought's a natural response to the precept or command, if you will, of the commandments of what the Lord is offering us here. Yeah, go ahead, Roy. Just by way of contrast, notice here the autos, or the him, he himself is obligated, he has to do this, to be walking in a like manner just as that one was walking? Yeah, Roy, and I think that's the result. The walk is ultimately the manner that reflects the truth that's in him, correct? Well, only if you're saying that you're abiding in him. Then you are obligated, you yourself are obligated to be walking like he did. You put yourself under that. And I'm cautioning us to say we're abiding when in fact that may ultimately not always be true. But yet, I think that the principle we understand. Luke 7, go ahead. No, I'm just agreeing with you.

So likewise, ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you, say, we're unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty. In a sense, it's our duty to, by faith, walk in the new nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same Greek word is used there. Yeah, Rob.

I was just thinking about that we say, actually we say that by the fact that we identify ourselves with Christ. When we say we're Christians, and we identify ourselves, we, in a sense, are to live out this verse, because we say we identify with our Savior, and therefore this ought to be our manner of life. So we say it just by our lives, by saying we are a believer, we are, so we say it all the time.

Yeah, the abiding is a principle that we all lift up and, you know, ultimately want to be doing is abiding. That's really what John calls it too. But I'm just, I'm just cautioning us to say, no, I mean, I think we should go around saying that the life itself is what reflects the abiding principle, does it not?

Just as he walked his aorist act of indicative, which means that it's, you know, happened once, but it's active, it continues, it's factual, it sums up the life of Christ on earth. And, you know, here's a verse that we in our Monday study conversed extensively about about a month ago, 1 Corinthians 11, 1, Paul says it well, be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ. So. A follower is really a life.

So what Paul's pointing out here is his life reflects what this abundant truth is of abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's not saying walk as I'm walking, but I'm a human example of what the scripture says the walk should look like. In other words, as I am of Christ, kind of interesting I am, it's not the same I am that Christ uses in terms of his relationship to the heavenly father. But it really does reflect what each one of us should think.

Be followers of Margaret or Jim or Marilyn or whatever as we are living that life of Christ. I think that's what Paul's saying. But Paul's representing that life really exemplified so well for us today, is it not? Okay, I'm gonna end with Wiest here. There are three Greek words which give us the three aspects of the believer's life.

The verb of being, or imi, refers to the saint's position in Christ. It's been placed into vital union with him by the act of the Holy Spirit baptizing or placing him in Christ. Our present word, memo, refers to the saint's fellowship with and dependence upon him, communion, closeness of intercourse. The word perpeteo, to order one's behaviors, to conduct one's life, speaks of the saint's manner of life. The first, the saint's position in Christ makes possible his Christian manner of life. The second, the saint's fellowship with and dependence upon the Lord Jesus conditions that manner of life and makes it what it should be. The word perpeteo literally means to walk around. And since the way of a person walks is often a good index as to the kind of person he is, All right.

I think time's up. So any closing thoughts here? Wow. There's a lot. There's just so much and so much in First John. I feel like we can go over it again and again and still have more to. Well, it really humbles you as you look at this, you know, because you keep questioning. Gosh, I've got a lot to learn, a lot to grow. And it is humbling.

Roy, would you close us in prayer, please? Thank you, Heavenly Father, for being so open through John in communicating the way you think through these words, Lord, that we have, revealing yourself. Thank you for that. We pray your blessing on each of us from the standpoint of coming to understand you, coming to the reality of you living through us. Help us in our unbelief, Heavenly Father, that we would come into the reality that you want us to live in. In Christ's name, amen.