Authentic Christianity Part 2 1 John 2

We have started into a series of messages exploring authentic Christianity.

But this time I need you to participate.

This time I need you to do the work of Bible Study.

So I’m going to give you a little background on the passage of scripture that

we will be looking at today,

then I am going to ask you to find three things,

then I want you to discuss, and talk and ask questions to

see if you can come up with three tests of

Authentic Christianity.

We are going to turn this auditorium into a research center.

You are the researchers on a quest for truth.

We’ll be looking at 1 John Chapter 2.

All of 1^st John is a letter written in response to a problem that a particular

faith community encountered.

You have to read between the lines and ask yourself,

What problem, situation, or difficulty prompted John to

write the response he did.

You have his written answer, but to fully understand that answer,

You need to know what the question was.

John is writing to a group of believers that are really concerned that they are

living out authentic Christianity.

The reason for their concern is because one of their own,

A man named Cerinthus, began teaching what is known

as Gnosticism.

Gnosticism was a competing interpretation of Christianity.

Cerinthus taught that Jesus was not God incarnate.

Instead, the Christ Spirit descended upon Jesus in the

form of a dove at Jesus baptism in the Jordan.

Jesus was just a temporary vessel that God used to reveal truth

that would set people free.

Salvation for Cerinthus came as special knowledge,

Enlightening select believers, so that when they died,

The could escape the prison of the material world,

Specifically the body, and as pure spirit return to God.

Cerinthus taught that once enlightened,

it didn’t matter what you did in the body,

because your spirit was right with God.

Sin was no longer an issue for you.

Because sin had to do with the material.

Cerinthus was preaching a different gospel than the one this

faith community had originally received,

presumably for the Apostle John.

The dispute grew until there was a church split.

The group loyal to the original message writes John,

They are shaken, they are wondering,

We haven’t misunderstood something have

we?

So John writes.

Questions?

Today we are going to consider chapter 2.

In chapter 2 John gives us three tests for authentic Christianity.

The first is the moral test.

You’ll find it in 1 John 2:3-6

The second is the social test.

You’ll find it in 1 John 2:9-11

The third is the doctrinal test.

You’ll find that in 1 John 2:21-23

Then John sums up all three tests in 1 John 2:29

This leaves a bunch of good stuff for us to study at another time.

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning sin in chapter 1:5-2:2.

If you recall our definition of sin as anything that deters, damages or

destroys right relationships you can see why those practicing

authentic Christianity do not purposely continue in such

behavior.

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning Christian conduct in

2:15-17, a believer is no longer driven by self-centeredness, lust and

arrogance.

John tells his readers that Cerinthus is partaking of the anti-Christ spirit in

2:18-19, anti means counterfeit.

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning the need for special

knowledge telling the congregation that they have the anointing of the

Holy Spirit already within them. 2:26-27

You have been warned that there is a huge difference between believing the truth

and living the truth.

What you believe is to be lived out.

So John gives us three tests to see if we are living out the

gospel.

The First Test is the Moral Test.

Morality deals with what is right and what is wrong.

Even today in our culture, right and wrong still exist.

John lays it out for us.

What I want you to do is discover what the test is.

After we read the passage together I’ll give you 3 minutes to figure

out what the test is.

1 John 2:3-6 (MSG)

Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments. If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

The Moral Test is:

1. 2. 3.

…obedience to God commands

….mature love

Love for God is demonstrated by obedience to His

commands.

Love for Others is demonstrated by seeking to meet their

need often at the cost of personal sacrifice.

Love for the Earth is demonstrated by your good

management of all the material blessings God has

given you.

Love for Self is demonstrated by your intent to become

the person God created you to be and do the things

God created you to do.

...living a life that is continually being transformed into Christ’s

likeness.

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by our obedience to God’s

commands.

Questions?

The second test is the Social Test

Christianity is a social faith, we live it out in community.

Recall last week I told you that the word fellowship, community,

is a translation of the Greek word koinonia

a community of intimacy with one another and with God.

So Authentic Christianity must have a social dimension to it.

After we read the passage I’ll give you 3 minutes to find out what the

test is to see if we’ve got it or not.

1 John 2:9-11 (MSG)

Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

The Social Test is

1. 2. 3.

…Brother or sister refers to other believers.

God has given us a special relationship,

Koinonia, in to me see.

…Together we are the body of Christ,

A diversity within a unity,

Each one belonging to the other.

…Hate is to detest, to treat with contempt, to persecute,

To be impatient, unkind, and envious of another believer

is to hate them,

To be rude, continually angry, and hold on to grudges,

Is to hate a brother or sister in Christ.

To hate a brother or sister is to hate yourself.

To hate is to endorse civil war in the family of God.

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by our love for one another.

Questions?

The Third Test is the Dogma Test

Dogma is what every Christian believes.

Dogma is the universal truths of the Christian faith.

You know the difference between dogma and doctrine.

Doctrine is commentary and teaching as to how dogma is

to be understood and lived out in ones life.

Doctrine varies from one faith community to the next,

But dogma is the constant.

John is going to tell his readers that here’s a test that separates right belief from

wrong, authentic Christianity from inauthentic.

Once we read the passage, you’ll have 3 minutes to discover what the

Dogma test is.

1 John 2:22-23 (MSG)

So who is lying here? It's the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that's who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son. No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.

The Dogma Test is

1. 2. 3.

…Jesus is fully God and fully human.

Revealing to us who God is, what God is like,

What God’s intentions are.

Revealing to us what it means to be human.

Jesus is God incarnate to believe something different is

not holding to the Dogma of the faith.

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by believing that Jesus is fully God,

Fully human, fully both at the same time.

Questions?

With just a little back ground information you have been able to discover three test

of Authentic Christianity.

John is saying if you pass the tests you a living a righteous life.

Righteous means rightly related, in sync, in harmony,

Correctly aligned, how things are intended to be.

John summaries all three tests in verse 29:

1 John 2:29 (MSG)

Once you're convinced that he is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.

So researchers what eternal truth have you uncovered today in your Bible Study of

1 John 2?

When we practice obedience,

When we love one another,

And when we believe that Jesus is God incarnate,

We are living out Authentic Christianity.

Proof of Authentic Christianity is right beliefs plus right conduct.

Questions?

BACK

Authentic Christianity Part 2 1 John 2

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning sin in chapter 1:5-2:2.

If you recall our definition of sin as anything that deters, damages or destroys right relationships you can see why those practicing authentic Christianity do not purposely continue in such behavior.

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning Christian conduct in 2:15-17, a believer is no longer driven by self-centeredness, lust and arrogance.

John tells his readers that Cerinthus is partaking of the anti-Christ spirit in 2:18-19, anti means counterfeit.

John refutes what Cerinthus teaches concerning the need for special knowledge telling the congregation that they have the anointing of the Holy Spirit already within them. 2:26-27

The First Test is the Moral Test.

1 John 2:3-6 (MSG)

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by :

The second test is the Social Test

1 John 2:9-11 (MSG)

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by our :.

The Third Test is the Dogma Test

1 John 2:22-23 (MSG)

Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by :

John summaries all three tests in verse 29:

1 John 2:29 (MSG)

Once you're convinced that he is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.

When we practice obedience,

When we Love one another,

And when we believe that Jesus is God incarnate,

We are living out Authentic Christianity.