Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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1 John 3:19-22 | God is Greater than Our Hearts

1 John 3:19-22 | God is Greater than Our Hearts

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19 And in this we know that we are of the truth, and before Him shall assure our hearts.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 

1 John 3:19-22

We come to the rub of John’s argument as to how the believer can be assured in their heart of their acceptance before God. He gives us another if/then argument as the way to assure our hearts that we are “of the truth.” If your heart condemns you, God is greater than any real or imagined condemnation you face; He knows all things after all. He knows all the truth about you, and still offers Christ to you to be your dwelling place (2:6), righteousness (2:28), Advocate, and Propitiation (2:1-2). 

The if/then argument in verse 20 is intended to flow into the if/then of verse 21:
-If your heart condemns you, then God is greater.
-If your heart doesn’t condemn you (because God is greater), then you have boldness to come to God.

It is vital to notice that condemnation is a legal term. This picks up on the legal language earlier regarding Christ as our propitiation and Paraclete, the one who comes alongside us to plead our case. Here the heart lays a charge against us. While there is an emotional component here, the legal terminology should lead us to think not in terms of subjective feelings but objective fact. 

Does your heart condemn you? Whose heart doesn’t? After all, we bear the guilt and shame of our sin. Our heart bears witness against us that we are violators of God’s Law. Our heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). Our heart is stone (Eze. 36:26). But God is greater. Sweeter words have never been spoken. 

How do we know that God is greater? It is all founded on the prologue, the Word has been made manifest. This is leading up to the gloriously simple litmus test of salvation in chapter 4 & 5: those born of God believe that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (4:2), and that Jesus is the Christ (5:1). Jesus dwells in you, as you dwell in Him by faith (2:24). He stands there, by the Spirit, to tell your condemning heart to hush. When the believer’s heart is silenced by the indwelling presence of the Great Triune God, it then has boldness, confidence, and courage to ask of God for whatsoever.

Now, as we ask we know we receive what we ask because we are keeping God’s commandments. As we walk in the light as He is in the light we are inclined to ask for the very things which will fortify and equip us to carry out His commandments, to do those things which are pleasing to Him. His love has been lavished upon us (3:1), and so we are compelled to love the brethren, and when we see our brethren in need (3:17-18) we will be compelled to ask God for such things as are necessary to assist our suffering brother. 

This boldness in prayer is not to be done to spend on our lusts, as the Apostle James teaches (Jas. 4:3); but we also must be careful not to so narrowly limit what the Apostles’ frequently make broad. The saint is entitled to ask for whatsoever, and as they are walking with the Lord their requests will not be amiss or improper or carnal, but will be the sort of requests that please the Father. Boldness in prayer is a mark of true evangelical faith. A clear conscience (by walking in the light and keeping His commandments) produces a fearlessness to make our petitions and requests known to our Father.

A.A. Hodge, in one places, teaches that, “Full assurance, therefore––which is the fullness of hope resting on the fullness of faith––is a state of mind which it is the office of the Holy Ghost to induce in our minds. […] [The Holy Ghost] gives origin to the grace of full assurance––not as a blind and fortuitous feeling, but as a legitimate and undoubting conclusion from appropriate evidence.”⁠1 Assurance isn’t a feeling, it is a legal standing. This passage is the crown jewel of God’s evidence to the saints of their assurance of welcome. Christ has quieted their condemning heart by His great love, and now they have boldness to ask their Father for grace & mercy to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

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1 Hodge, Archibald Alexander. The Westminster Confession: A Commentary. Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002. Pg. 242

1 John 3:4-6 | Sin is Lawlessness

1 John 3:4-6 | Sin is Lawlessness

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4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness; for sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that He was manifested in order to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.
6 Whoever abides in Him sins not, whoever sins has not seen Him nor known Him.

1 John 3:4-6

This passage turns up the contrast knob for us to see the difference between the workers of iniquity with those born of God who do righteousness (2:29). Again, John’s epistle is one of assurance. The faltering saint should read verses like this, and instead of curling up in a ball of fear, should have all their fears melted by the glory of the Gospel contained here.

John has already established that the saint is delivered from the sin nature, and provision has been made for sin due to remaining corruption. What John brings to view here is the individual who continues in their sin, relishes their sin, won’t leave their sin, won’t fight their sin. True saints have seen & known Jesus, and thus their sin stings them. Transgressors don’t care about their sin, they only love maintaining their appearance as a brother. But their continuation in sin marks them as a false brother.

Verse 4 provides a wonderful shorthand for what sin is. It is lawlessness. It is “anomos”: without law. This goes against the grain of our culture which wants to redefine sin as mental illness, or repressed sexual desires, or the results of social oppression. John makes a simple statement here that sin is the transgressing of the law, or living as if there were no law. 

Paul makes a similar point in Rom. 2:14-15. Though the Gentiles were without the Law, they generally follow that which is contained in the Law (e.g. prohibitions against theft, falsehoods, murder). This leaves them judged by the law which God has written on the conscience of all men. This means that there is a Law above us all. Sin isn’t decided by democratic process, or by chemical imbalance, or by social moulding. It is the breaking of God’s holy law.

Thus, we are all left as law-breakers. So, John brings us the sweeping grandeur of the Gospel. Again Christ’s incarnation of the prologue (1:1-4) is brought back to view. Jesus was manifested to take away sins. This is your only comfort. Jesus takes away sins. He takes away big sins, small sins. Sins of all shapes and sizes. The sins of pharisees and the sins of prostitutes and even the sins of politicians. He takes them all away for those who abide in Him. He can do this because He bore the cross in our stead. He took our judgement, because He became a man who could indeed take our place; yet because He was the Christ, He also could remain without sin and thus be a righteous substitute.

In light of this, verse 6 tells us that by abiding in Him, as John has repeatedly admonished, we sin not. In other words, our legal status before God is “not guilty.” One commentator makes a useful observation here about a contrast between 2:1 and here in the second part of verse 6. The verb tense in the latter is aorist, whereas the sin here is in the present tense. This contrast would be evident to John’s audience. The takeaway is “the believer may fall into sin but he will not walk in it.”⁠1 Sinning is not the same as continuing in sin. 

So then, we see that abiding in Christ is our only protection against the wrath that rests on those who continue in sin. John instructs us in the basics of Christian living. Abiding in Christ is to know and see Jesus

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1 Smith, David. The Expositors Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. Vol. Five. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Pg 184

1 John 2:28-29 | A Trumpet Blast for Feeble Saints

1 John 2:28-29 | A Trumpet Blast for Feeble Saints

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28 And now, little children, abide in Him; in order that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of him

1 John 2:28-29

John is bringing this particular section in for a landing. Like a skilled composer he has introduced themes and motifs that continue to build and crescendo throughout his letter. Here he introduces a glorious note which will grow in glory as the argument continues: confidence in our union with God. Our fellowship with God by abiding in Christ brings confidence, and leaves no room for shame. Abiding in the true Gospel is not only how we avoid being seduced by the false gospels of antichrists, it also brings confidence. Many saints have struggled with assurance of salvation, but this is a trumpet blast of boldness that should rally the confidence of even the most feeble and doubting saint. Have you been joined to the Father through baptism into Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh? Then have confidence that when He comes you will not need be ashamed. 

This is true generally for the believer, but John also introduces a new component, that of Christ’s appearing. This reference to Christ’s coming, or parousia, raises the question of which coming is being referred to here. Consistently in the NT this refers to Christ’s own prediction (Cf. Mt. 24) of His coming in judgement on unbelieving Jerusalem. If we take John to be referring to this event, this fortifies the view that John is writing prior to Jerusalem’s fall. Now, of course the Fall of Jerusalem (which John calls Egypt & Babylon in his apocalyptic vision) itself points towards Christ’s final coming to “judge the quick and the dead”. We should also be free to apply this as a principle when it comes to each of our individual deaths. For the saint, Christ comes to us in our death; thus we should live accordingly, by remaining in the unction with which He has anointed us, abiding in the faith once delivered to us. 

But for the saints John is writing to, they were on the cusp of world-altering convulsions. The persecutions and upheavals on the near horizon should not rattle them, for they abide in the Christ who is coming to bring judgement on Jerusalem. Those who abide in Him need not fear this judgement, but join in singing the song of the heavenly saints: “Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever (Rev 19:1-3).”

Verse 29 finishes the thought found in verse 24 that abiding in the Son means you are abiding in the Father also. Knowing Christ the Righteous (Cf. 2:1) enables the saint to recognize the proof of those who are born of Him. Seeing Christ as our righteousness, far from producing moral laxness, brings forth the moral uprightness which can only come by being born of Him. A finer point of doctrinal clarification should be mentioned here, we are born of God the Father through Christ. The “Him” should be taken as referring to the Father, rather than the Son.

Finally, one commentator makes a wonderful exegetical point about the mood of the verb εἰδῆτε (you know): “It enfeebles the sentence to take the verb as indicat[ive].⁠1” John is exhorting believers to take this knowledge up, that in so doing they might see also the birthmark of those begotten of God. Good works spring from this simple faith. Christ is righteous, rest in it, have confidence in it, and so also recognize those born of God, yourself included.

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1 Smith, David. The Expositors Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. Vol. Five. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Pg 182

1 John 2:7-8 | Nothing New, But All is New

1 John 2:7-8 | Nothing New, But All is New

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7 Brothers, it is no new commandment I write 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. 8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, this is true in Him and in you, because the darkness has passed away and the true light now shines. 

1 John 2:7-8

Given the discussion in 1 John 1:6-10 on the believer’s relationship to sin, it’s unsurprising that the next question to be answered, particularly for believing Jews, would be in regards to their relationship to the commandments. Believers in Christ are not “let off” from commandment keeping. Rather, it is only by Christ that we can be true commandment keepers (Cf. 1 Jn. 2:3).

Christ gave a new commandment, in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” The light which has shined into the darkness (Cf. Jn 1:5) is the converting light of the Gospel. This light is the birthright and experience of every true saint. When we’re converted by the heralded Gospel, we can truly say, “This is nothing new, but now everything is new.” The scales have come off, the day has dawned, the clear light is shining.

The commandment is the same as ever: love God, and love your neighbor. But there is new light shining, illuminating new glories in the old commandment. John isn’t giving a new command, but an old one which they had heard from the beginning. The phrase “the beginning” here is the same construction as in 1 Jn. 1:1, but here it is in reference to the beginning of their hearing of the Gospel which had been from the capital “B”Beginning.

The newness however, is that of a newly discerned glory. It’s as if under the OT the saints held a diamond, but in the dim light could only vaguely perceive the beauty of what they held. As soon as the rays of Gospel light caught in the prism, a new glory was revealed. This wasn’t a novel idea, nor did it just appear out of thin air. The newness is not that of recency, for it is from the beginning; it is a newness of quality.

The newly unveiled glory is that by dwelling in Christ, and thus being invited into the loving fellowship of the godhead, we’re not only receivers of this marvelous love (1 Jn. 3:1), we’re also empowered to actually love God in return and love the brethren. This is true “in Him”, because Jesus was indeed the Christ and thus enjoyed this perfect love, and now by Christ we might enjoy the assurance that God receives our love to Him (for He first loved us, 1 Jn. 4:19), and we are able to love and be beloved by our fellow saints. This is the glory which has come forth from the old commandment. All the enmity with God and our brother is settled in the substitutionary atonement of Christ on our behalf.

This is true in Christ, and it is true in us. It is only true in us, however, because we are in Christ. Thus, as John proceeds, he will show that union with Christ’s love makes enmity with one’s fellow saint an impossibility. As one ancient Christian commented: “The commandment is true in him because he loved us so much that he died for us, and it will be true in us also if we love one another.”⁠1

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1 Hilary of Arles. James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude. Compiled by Gerald Lewis. Bray. Downers Grove (Ill.): InterVarsity, 2000. Pg. 180

Assurance on the Table

Assurance on the Table

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The importance of the Lord’s Supper is that it is an objective truth. It is an immovable pillar in the midst of the shaking sands of our turbulent emotions, cultural upheaval, global uncertainty. Here is solid ground upon which your faith might stand, and stand firm.

A mistake that many make is to acknowledge a doctrine of salvation that is Scripturally sound: “I am saved by Christ alone;” they nod along vigorously and would gladly affirm this as true. And of course, this is marvelously and eternally true. However, when confronted with the question of their own assurance of this salvation, they go looking in all the dusty nooks and all the cobwebbed crannies of their own feelings.

The ground of your salvation and the assurance of your salvation are not in you. Just as your righteousness, filthy as it is, stained by sin as it is, is not the ground of your justification, neither are your inner feelings the ground of your assurance. Your salvation is here. Your assurance is here.

Christ saves sinners. Porn junkies, sodomites, religious hypocrites, women and doctors who abort babies, the politicians who advocate for it, liars, murderers, cheats, and idolaters. Christ came to forgive such sinners who turn in faith to him. He came not only to save sinners great and small, but that they all might rest assured in the objective salvation He won for them.

When so great a Savior is set before you, don’t draw back. Come to Him. Your salvation is a gift. Your assurance is a gift. Receive it now, with the simple faith of a grateful heart. Don’t try to gauge whether you feel assured, rather ask, “Do I believe what God says?” He says, “All who come to me, I will in no wise cast out.”

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

No Gleaning at This Table

No Gleaning at This Table

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God made gracious provision for the poor in ancient Israel. The practice of not harvesting the corners of their fields ensured that at harvest time, no one needed to go hungry. Those who were in need, or were sojourning through, would have access to a means of obtaining their daily bread. This practice gave the dignity of work to the poor, as they’d be responsible to come and glean that which the harvesters had left. It also allowed land-owners to spot potential talent for future harvests, and thus a way out of poverty.

While that arrangement is evidence of God’s kindness to all His people, regardless of their various circumstances, it is not how we should view the harvest which is laid upon this table. Some might think that they should be categorized as a sort of second-class citizen of heaven, left to pick up the crumbs of really holy people. You know the ones who pray for 10 hours a day, read the Bible for another 10 hours, and evangelize for 3 hours, before sleeping for one hour…then doing it all over again tomorrow. We might even have a suspicion that others are getting more out of this than we are, that God is somehow playing favorites.


Let me assure you, there are no gleaners at this table. The full harvest is here. It is extended to you, not by your deserving, or by your income bracket, or by your last name, or by your GPA, or by the size of your tithe check. All of Christ is given to you here. From the wisest to the simplest saint, from the eldest to the youngest, we share the full inheritance which God assures to those who look away from their works of righteousness, and turn to Him alone.


So come in faith and welcome to Jesus…

Assurance of Victory

Assurance of Victory

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Introduction

You are called to overcome sin. Unless you are perfectly holy you will not see God. This leaves us all––as the kids might say—hosed. Adam’s sin––and mankind’s daily sin––indicates our covenant union with the devil. The only hope for us is a new covenant.

The Text

1 John 3:1-6 ff.— Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. . . .

Summary of the Text

God’s great love to us is manifest in our new birth as His sons and this new identity sets us at odds with the world (v1). Though we aren’t entirely sure of all the glories the resurrection will unveil, we know that it is likeness to Christ, the Son of God, which will be the distinguishing feature (v2). Hoping in Christ secures our purification, because He is pure (v3). Man is a lawbreaker, and by definition is a sinner (v4); but Christ came to take away our sin (v5). By abiding in Christ we are no longer reckoned as sinners, because sinners don’t know Jesus (v6). Union with Christ not only forgives (cf. 1 Jn. 1:9), but justifies and sanctifies us. Because He is righteous, we are righteous and can now do righteously (v7). Sinners trace their lineage to the first sinner, Satan; but God came in the flesh to destroy the devil’s works (v8), and thus deliver us from positional and indwelling sin through the new birth (v9).

This difference of spiritual lineage is evidenced in love for one another (vs.10-12). Wordly Cain hated righteous Abel, just like the world hates the church (v13). The fruit (not the root) of the new birth is love for the brethren (v14), and murderous hatred is proof that the eternal life—which was with the Father in Christ (cf. 1 Jn. 1:2)—does not abide in you (v15).

God’s love is perceived through Christ’s sacrifice, and we are to model that (v16). Jesus’ sacrifice is not simply an example, but the reason we open the coffers of generosity to our brothers in need (v17). We don’t just pay lip service to sacrificial charity and love, we put it into practice (v 18).

Assurance of salvation is real (v19) but it isn’t found in our condemning heart (v20). Our hearts see our sin and condemns us, but God is greater than our condemnation and, in Christ, declares there is therefore now no condemnation (cf. Rom. 8:1); if He doesn’t condemn us, we shouldn’t condemn us (v21). Because we are now His children, we can ask for whatsoever of our Father knowing He will not only hear but also grant our requests, because of our covenantal obedience (v22). The terms of the covenant are: love God by believing on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, then love your neighbor, while all the while the Spirit grants assurance that “it is well with my soul” (v23-24).

A Defeated Foe

John spends a lot of airtime on the relationship between Christ’s incarnation and our sinful state and sinful actions. The devil doesn’t feature in this discussion of sin until we learn that sinners are covenantally descended from the devil. However, this is immediately followed by informing us that his works have been destroyed by the Son of God being manifested in the flesh. It was for this very purpose that Jesus came: to destroy all of Satan’s war-engines. Our covenant with Satan has been broken, and his siege upon mankind is overthrown. Now we are covenantally united with God through His Son––eternally with the Father (cf. Jn. 1:1)––because He became a man and dwelt among us that He might represent us. Christ’s incarnation sounded the death knell for Satan’s kingdom.

Remember, in your battle with sin, you are fighting a defeated foe. This is taught in WC: “In which war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Salvation By Commandment Keeping?

God hearing and answering our prayers because we keep His commandments might seem like works righteousness (1 Jn. 2:3 & 3:22). But notice that this whole letter hinges on our new covenantal status: born of God by His indwelling seed. 

John shows that union with Christ has cultural implications (both for Jews and Greeks); redemptive implications; ethical implications; covenantal implications; theological implications; relational implications; eschatological implications. It matters everywhere and permeates everything.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]The root of your salvation is you in Christ, but the fruit of your salvation is Christ in you. [/epq-quote]Assurance of salvation isn’t: you love your brother and therefore God is pleased with you. Rather, through Christ you have fellowship with God and this new birth undergirds, motivates and enables you to love your brother. The root of your salvation is you in Christ, but the fruit of your salvation is Christ in you. Prior to the new birth your so-called love for others is tainted by self-serving motives; on the whole, we love others for what we can get out of it. The new birth totally rearranges our motives. We no longer love to get. We love others because that is what our new nature, in Christ, does: it makes much of Christ.

Abiding in Christ: our Assurance of Victory

We shouldn’t mistake abiding in Christ for some abstract state of euphoric, spiritual nirvana that we must try to get into. Rather, it is an objective state of being which we are baptized into (1 Jn. 2:20), and this anointing produces a way of doing: believing obedience. God in the Flesh––Christ incarnate––is the only way to deal with your sin; both in the sense of justifying and progressively sanctifying.

This is why John spotlights assurance. Christ is the only way for your fallen nature to be reborn, and Christ is the only way to sanctify all your future good works. Does your sin weigh you down? Turn to God…He knows how filthy you are. You’re so sinful you won’t admit the half of it! When you turn to God, you’ll find He is greater than your dead heart. He specializes in removing hearts of stone, and replacing them with hearts of flesh. God can do so because Jesus discharged the debt of your sins and imputes His righteousness as yours. God no longer looks in wrath upon those in Christ, but in lavish love.

The simplicity here is striking: God commands you to believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another. Your assurance is rooted in the fact that Christ triumphed over Satan. All of our enemy’s schemes for our hurt have been undermined by Christ coming in the flesh. Our covenantal union with sin, the devil and the world and the death that came with that union, has been supplanted by our new covenant head—the incarnate Christ. He grants assurance of salvation and eternal life. You can have confidence toward God because you believe in His Son who defeated the devil.

Ben Zornes