Bonus Content from 1 John
Bonus Content from 1 John
Thanks for sending in some questions this past month! Here are a few of them, along with responses from Pastor Tim.
I’m praying daily, reading God’s Word daily, but my communication with God often does feel like I’m the only one in the conversation. The words that come to me the most are “Please God, just SPEAK to me! Let me hear anything, God, please.” How are we to handle “no answers” from God?
For context, here’s an excerpt from the sermon that prompted that question:
So one major benefit of eternal life is this: We have direct access to communing with God in prayer.
Now, notice I’m asserting that 1 John 5:14-15 are about “communing with God in prayer” rather than “getting what we want in prayer.” But maybe I’m off; doesn’t v. 15 indicate he’ll say yes to whatever we ask? “And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.”
Some Christian traditions take this verse to mean that God will give us anything we pray for in faith. Call them “name it and claim it” Christians.
Of course, our experience contradicts their theology. We’ve all prayed for something and not gotten what we prayed for. But the “name it and claim it” folks have an answer to that: “you just don’t have enough faith!” Is that what this verse is teaching: that we should be certain that God will say yes to whatever we ask, if we just believe deeply enough that it’s already ours?
Well, when God said no to the prayers of Moses (to go into the promised land), Paul (about the thorn), and even Jesus (in Gethsemane), was it because those three just didn’t have enough faith? No. God sometimes says no because isn’t at our every whim. Verse 15 can’t mean that God is our personal genie. But what is John saying?
I like how one commentator thinks it through: John doesn’t see prayer as convincing God of what we think he should do. To John, the highest goal of prayer is communion with God. So if God hears us when we pray, a two way connection has now been established! We’ve been united with him intimately, face-to-face as it were! And so we have already attained the highest goal. And it’s in that sense that “we know that we have what we have asked of him,” because what we’ve ultimately asked of him is intimacy.
The above question, then, is asking about those times when we don’t experience that two-way connection, when it feels like all the communication is one-way. A few notes in response:
- For some people who crave a special word from God, God’s answer is probably something like, “I wrote you a 66-book love letter that you never open! Why do you want me to say something new when you aren’t even interested in what I’ve already said?”
- However, for others (like the person asking this question), that’s not the case. It’s possible to be in the Word and still desire a more direct experience. In such a case, I think it’s important that we ask ourselves “why do I want/expect this?” That said, I am not in the camp that believes such a desire is inherently wrong.
- Direct, novel speech from God (“an audible voice”) is a rare experience, even in scripture. Much more often, we pray through God’s Word and sense His Spirit bringing something to life there that was previously not brought to light. Or we gather with other believers to discuss the Bible and one of them speaks a word that seems like it was specifically meant for us. Or we listen to a sermon and the preacher says exactly what we needed to hear! All of those are God speaking through us; it’s just that he most often chooses to do so through other members of His body. The more we remove ourselves from His body, the less we should expect to be ministered to by Him!
- One more note: it’s also wise to consider distractions that may be hindering us from hearing God’s voice in the ordinary ways listed above. Unrepentant sin can make God seem distant; so can idols that we’re holding on to. If we crowd our minds with books, articles, podcasts, and shows (even good ones) that orient our minds in a different direction, we shouldn’t expect to hear God’s voice clearly.
Could you repeat the three sins that lead to death?
For context, here’s an excerpt from the sermon that prompted that question:
Is there a type of sin that even my community of prayerful believers can’t rescue me from? According to this passage (1 John 5:11-21), perhaps there is. A sin that leads to death.
Identifying this sin in detail is outside the bounds of what our time allows today, but since it does relate directly to our assurance, let me just point out this: nowhere does the Bible suggest that God will refuse to forgive anyone who repents and asks Him for forgiveness.
In other words, the so-called “unforgiveable sin” of the gospels and the “sin that leads to death” here both seem to be talking about sins that are unrepented of. That means that by definition, if you’re worried you’ve committed the unforgiveable sin, your concern itself indicates that you haven’t committed that sin!
Robert Yarbrough points out that in context, it seems that the sin that leads to death is sin that the person refuses to let go of, specifically along the lines of the three tests throughout the letter: resolute rejection of Christ, chronic disobedience, and persistent lack of love.
If that’s where a fellow professing believer has gone, John says there’s no obligation to pray for the person. But when there’s any sliver of hope that this person might not yet have set their face against God in a permanent, decisive way, we’re obligated to pray! Because God may use our prayer to turn them back.
As you see above, I’m not sure I’d say there are three sins that lead to death as much as I’d say John speaks of one sin that leads to death: the sin that a person refuses to let go of. And in the context of the letter, John probably has in mind the person who refuses to let go of their resolute rejection of Christ, their chronic disobedience, and their persistent lack of love.
The unforgivable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit!
This comment refers to Mark 3:29 and Luke 12:10, which record Jesus speaking of an “eternal sin” that “will not be forgiven.” In context, it seems pretty clear that the unforgivable “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” involves attributing the works of the Spirit to the devil.
However, it’s important that we don’t flatten out John’s words in 1 John by assuming he’s talking about the same thing Jesus was talking about in Mark 3 and Luke 12. These are very different contexts, and there is little evidence in 1 John that John has “blasphemy against the Spirit” in mind.
While there may well be overlap between “blasphemy against the Spirit” and John’s “sin that leads to death,” it seems best to let each text stand on its own terms.
How does this church community keep us in line when we gather together only on Sundays?
For context, here’s an excerpt from the sermon that prompted this question:
I hope you can see the role the community of believers is meant to play in keeping each of us Christian. This is why we hound each other about church membership and accountability and small group participation the way we do here at North Sub. Detached from this sort of community who will love us enough to pray for us and correct us, every one of us would run off the rails! The community is the primary means God uses to do His work of keeping us saved. But my community can’t help me if I don’t invite them into my life enough to let them see my mess!
That said, my community’s role in keeping me saved doesn’t absolve me of responsibility for my own walk. In fact, John chooses to use the last words of his letter to reiterate our personal responsibility: “keep yourselves from idols” (5:21). Effort isn’t a four letter word in the Christian walk. Even while my community is helping me and even while I know that ultimately Christ is preserving me, I need to be ruthless in uncovering my idols, doing whatever it takes to rid myself of them.
It would be an impossible task to take such a role in each other’s lives if we only saw each other at Sunday service. But if you remember, the expectation of members at North Sub is that we won’t just gather on Sunday mornings! In addition to informal conversations before and after church on Sunday, we expect:
- Regular attendance at a Growth Group, Life Group, or Life Course
- Attendance at 3x/year member meetings
- 2x/year check-in calls with one’s “elder shepherd”
All of these are opportunities for us to see sin in each other’s lives and be able to call each other out on that sin. Of course, people can hide if they want to! And some do. But if I’m in a group where we are asking each other tough questions week after week, I will have to do some intentional hiding to escape my sin being known.
Does John characterize a difference between “committing sins” (single actions) and “living in sin” (lifestyle/desensitization)? As in, is there a difference between “struggling with sin” and “living in sin”? Or are we projecting that onto the text?
It’s possible John would recognize the above language distinction as reflective of the point he’s trying to make. I wonder. A few reflections:
- Some commentaries assert that the interpretation above (single actions vs. lifestyle) is necessarily correct based on the use of the Greek present tense (which, they say, depicts ongoing action). But as I shared in the 5/15 sermon, this isn’t always the case, so it’s an invalid basis from which to make this argument.
- That said, a distinction like the “single actions vs. lifestyle” distinction has to be somewhere in the ballpark of what John meant. If everyone sins (in one sense), but Christians don’t sin (in another sense), what else could account for that distinction? So in the 5/15 sermon, I proposed (not original to me) “slipping into sin here and there” vs. “an advanced or confirmed posture of non-compliance” as the distinction… which isn’t all that different from “single actions vs. lifestyle.”
- If we wanted to nitpick, to say it that way (“single actions vs. lifestyle”; “struggling with sin vs. living in sin”) raises some questions. For example, what if I “live in sin” (i.e. I cease to struggle, I become desensitized, it’s my lifestyle) for two weeks? For two months? Am I definitely not a believer? Is it not possible for a true believer to go through such a particularly dark (though temporary) season? (I think I’ve seen much evidence that it is possible.)
- Sometimes I can tell whether I’m struggling with sin or living in it. Other times it’s harder to discern. For example, say I cheated on my homework each of the last five days and felt remorse each time (=repented?). Surely some sin struggles are prolonged, and five commissions of a sin doesn’t necessarily throw my salvation into question! But then again, I think to myself: if I commit a certain sin every day, in what sense am I not “living in” it?
For the reasons above, though I’m most comfortable with “an advanced or confirmed posture of non-compliance” as the distinction, I’m more skeptical than I once was that any such definition will clear everything up in every individual situation. As I shared in one recent sermon, these tests are better used over the long term than they are when looking at (for example) the past week.
If someone is in the circle of God’s light but is still stuck in darkness, is it possible that they need help or support (mentoring/discipleship) to get unstuck?
Though I think I understand the sort of situation envisioned by this question (and will seek to speak to that situation), it’s worth pointing out that the framing of the question might remove us from the black-and-white world of 1 John. Remember, to John, one is either in the light or in the darkness! I can’t find anywhere in the letter where he makes room for someone who is “in the circle of God’s light but is still stuck in darkness.” To John, if one is stuck in darkness, that one only says he is in the light (2:9).
That said, though we maybe wouldn’t use John’s light/darkness metaphor in this way, the person described in the question is familiar to all of us: they have been exposed to the things of God, have showed some signs of God’s work in their life, yet they haven’t broken free from certain patterns of disobedience/unbelief/lovelessness. What does such a person need?
There are many root issues that might make someone present this way, and each root issue calls for its own prescription. One such root issue is what we’ve called “the behavior gap,” or the “stuck point” we often reach when we value something the Lord has called us to but aren’t yet practicing it. As we’ve said, it’s rare that we cross the Behavior Gap by being told to do so (e.g. in a sermon); more often, this only happens when someone takes us by the hand and says, “Come do it with me.”
That’s a long way of saying “Yes! It is possible that such a person needs mentoring/discipleship to get unstuck!” Alternatively, it’s possible that they haven’t yet been regenerated (so their need is to be evangelized), or that they need to come out of hiding and into the exposing/revealing light of Christ, or that they need to cut out some influence that is hindering them from growing from the mentorship/discipleship they’re already getting.