Is My Faith Real?
1 John 2:7-11
John continues to intertwine the three categories of evidence that reveal whether or not we have authentic, saving faith:
- The Theological Test: Do we believe Jesus is the Son of God?
- The Moral Test: Are we practicing righteousness?
- The Social Test: Do we love others?
In vv. 7-11 John continues teaching with a series of contrasts and opposites:
- New commandment vs Old commandment
- Living in Light vs Living in Darkness
- Loving vs Hating
- Walking vs Stumbling
v. 8: The significance behind the two word phrase “in Him” transforms everything in life and love for those who follow Jesus. This phrase is used close to 200 times in the New Testament to describe followers of Christ.
“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5
“Christians are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’s sake.”
Tim Keller
“When the love of God is operating in our hearts, when we believe this gospel and reason out the meaning of this love, what happens is that we see the person rather than the thing that the person is doing. Is that not half the trouble in these human relationships? We see what people are doing – we do not see them. Now the gospel makes us see them as souls, objectively, and not only in terms of actions or in terms of what they are doing to us.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ: Studies in 1 John, p448
