The Result of True Biblical Fellowship

The Result of True Biblical Fellowship
Msg 3
1 John 2:3-11
by Cooper P Abrams III

INTRODUCTION: This is the third message on the biblical fellowship. The first message addressed what is biblical fellowship and the message last week was on the importance of fellowship with God and the relationship between believers.
John is saying, that if we have fellowship with God the Father, through His son Jesus Christ, we may have fellowship one with another. This Epistle is written to show this to us, to instruct us in this promise of God, and benefit of Salvation. One benefit is knowing we are saved and going to heaven.
I. ALL TRUE BELIEVERS KNOW GOD. 1 John 2:3

A. John said in John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).

1. In Salvation one comes to a knowledge and a relationship with God. That is what Romans 10:9-10 state: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
2. Salvation comes when one knows Christ Jesus. Christ cannot save those who do not know Him. This is a referring to a personal relationship and fellowship with Him. Some mock those of us who preach and teach and profess we have a personal relationship with God.
How blind they are to God's truth and to who He is and what He is to us.
3. Many "Christian religions" teach that salvation is in joining a church, going through regular religious rituals. These false churches are teaching one must "work" for salvation and earn it. They do not teach the biblical truth that God wants a personal relationship with us and the peace that brings to the believer's life.
4. One symptom of believing in a "works" for salvation is a lack of assurance. A person who is trying to earn his salvation cannot have any assurance of being saved. . . because he never knows if he has done enough or even done the right thing. He can never have true peace in his life. This person has no basis on which to know if he/she is saved or not, because the teaching is not found in the Bible. He clearly cannot have a close relationship with God, because he is always struggling to make himself good enough for God to recognize.
ILLUS: When I was in service I saw many men who "played up" to the Sargent or officer in charge. There were miserable little people and never had any real relationship with those who were over them.

B. Salvation is believing and by faith accepting the Lord Jesus as one's personal Savior. We are not worthy to be saved, but God in His love for us saves all who will believe in Him. There is no Salvation apart from knowing the real Jesus Christ and there is no assurance apart from true faith in God's truth. Salvation cannot be earned, worked for or merited...as Ephesians 2:8-9 plainly state it is the gift of God.

1. Some have no assurance because they do not have biblical faith. They live a life of uncertainly never being a peace with the Lord. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)
2. There are some who may act like Christians to a certain degree, but turn out to be pretender or imposters. Read. 1 John 2:19.
Read: Matt. 7:21-23.

a. Some people have been misled or misinformed as to who Christ is and what salvation is.
b. I believe most people want to go to Heaven. Sadly, there are a lot of false teachers who will for personal gain mislead people.

"For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain." (Titus 1:10-11)
John warns us to try the spirits, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)
3. There are people who believe what they have been told, but were not told the truth. Modern "easy-believism" which does not involve turning from sin. There are many false churches and cults teaching lies.

a. READ ACTS 20:18-21. Paul preached God's truth, "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
b. 2 Peter 1:3-12 says that we are saved by faith and we the saved person will turn to God away from sin: READ 2 Peter 1:3-12.
Peter is not talking about one losing their salvation, but the assurance that one has salvation.
c. There are Christians who lack confidence in their salvation. Why? Because they lack faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love that comes with salvation.
d. Peter encourages us as does John, to make sure those qualities are in our lives so we can have the security of knowing we are saved.

C. How then can one know if he is truly saved? This is a crucial question.

1. In Matt. 7:13-14 Jesus says there are two gates or ways men seek Heaven.
2. One is narrow and leads to eternal life, the other is wide and most choose it. The wide gate leads to destruction. The wide way the ends in destruction is trying to earn or merit salvation instead of believing in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sins. The other is of course believing God and believing in Jesus Christ to as our Savior an not ourselves.
3. Why is the question of one salvation so important? Jesus is saying most are going the wrong way.

NOTE: This is not describing the way of the world who are not seeking God or want any part of God, verses the way of the saved! Both of these people are seeking eternal life.
D. Basically there are three kinds of assurance.

1. The first is Factual.

First: What has God said! Romans 10:9-10.
Do you truly believe you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ died for you sin?.
Do you freely admit you are a sinner and in repentance turn to God to save you?
Do you believe God? Do you believe His promise, is real and true?
Did you turn over your life to Him? Many want to go to heaven, but do not want God controlling their lives.

2. Second one is Objective: (Objective means being without prejudice) You honestly look at the evidence.
What effect has Christ had on your life? 2 Cor. 5:17. READ. Did you become a "new creature."

a. Objective assurance comes when we see the godly things the Spirit produces in our lives. Jesus said the Pharisees who called Him Lord, "Why do you call me Lord, lord and do not the things I say."
b. If you see the things that Peter describes in 2 Peter 1, it confirms in your mind you have been truly saved.

It is not talking about miracles and healing and etc. Matt. 7:21-23, states there are those who do miracles and yet have not received Christ Jesus and eternal life. Note also V24 of Matt. 7., He who hears and does these sayings of mine is like the wise man who built his house on a rock.
3. The third kind of assurance is Subjective: (based on personal experience)

a. 2 Cor. 1:12, READ We know we are saved because: "the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. (2 Cor. 1:12)
b. How does one live, not by the fleshly wisdom, but by the Grace of God?
We know we are saved because we from personal experience know we obey God.

(True Christians do sin, but will hate it when they do. But disobeying God will not be the pattern of a saved person's life.)
All of this is to test our relationship and therefore our fellowship with the Lord to see if it is true or false.

II. SAVED PEOPLE KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD. V3-5

A. The knowing and accepting of God is also the knowing and accepting of God's principles. In other words...to know God is to know and accept Truth.

1. READ John 14:21-24.. John says that a person who loves Him will keep His commandments.
2. In verse 24, he says that "He who does not love me does not keep My words. . . "
3. You cannot saving know God and reject who God is or reject God's Truth.

B. Salvation first is in accepting Jesus Christ as who he is and trusting in Him.

1. A persons beliefs about Christ will validate his claim to be a Christian.

[1] Do you confess Christ? In Romans 10:9 that what is said. Confess means to say "the same thing" If a person says he does not believe that Jesus is God, then he is not saying the same thing God says. He is not confessing Christ.
Jesus said. "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30) God said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mat 3:17)
[2] Do you confess sin?" Note 1 John 6,8? Salvation means being "saved from something....that something is sin."
[3] Do you obey God" Do you keep God's commandments.

Not out of ritual! But out of acceptance of the truth and out of a heart felt desire to please God! Anyone can talk it, anyone can act it out....but Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." (Rom. 10:10)

Conclusion:

1. Why this message? "Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you."
There is nothing on earth more precious or more important than believing in Jesus Christ as one's Savior and having one's sin forgiven and receiving eternal life. That is the only basis of fellowship with our God and Creator.
2. The result of salvation is as John states: "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:3) This is what salvation produces in a true believer's life.
3. THERE is no shame in being misled. But sometimes our pride gets in way of our doing right.
Paul instructed us, that we should examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. A child of God will do this and be assured of their salvation if it is real.
The lost man, who may have been misled will be convicted of his lack of salvation, and have the opportunity to truly receive Christ as their savior.
The saved man will see the problem of allowing remaining sin and disobedience in his life and will make the commitment to repent, confess his sin and then live for God.