Three Tests Authentic Christianity – p.2 1 John 2

Three Tests

Authentic Christianity – p.2

1 John 2

The answer: 1 John 2:1-2

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The answer: 1 John 2:1-2

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Question: Is sin a problem?

God hates the sin

but loves the sinner


That’s just the way

God made me


Christians aren’t

perfect,

just forgiven


I’m just a sinner saved by grace


Judge not lest

you be judged


• Our sin problem requires an advocate (v.1)


• Our sin problem requires atonement (v.2)

• There are two parts to atonement:

• Expiation deals with wiping away the penalty of sin and propitiation deals with turning away God’s wrath against the sin.


• John strengthens their faith by telling them:

• Don’t minimize your sin and don’t minimize the work of Jesus on the cross and in heaven.


• Authentic Christians abandon sin!

The Answer: 1 John 2:3-6

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.


But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Question: Can morality be a test for authentic

Christianity?• …obedience to God commands

• We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (2:3-4)


Christianity?• …obedience to God commands

• The life of an authentic Christian “will not be characterized by disobedience to his commands”.


Christianity?• ….mature love

• But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: (2:5)


Christianity?• ….mature love

• A mature love for others is demonstrated by seeking to meet their need often at the cost of personal sacrifice.


Christianity?• ...living a life that is continually

being transformed into Christ’s likeness

• Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (2:6)


Christianity?• ...living a life that is continually

being transformed into Christ’s likeness

• Authentic Christianity is living as an imitator of Christ.


Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.


But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

Can living in loving relationships be a test for

authentic Christianity? I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.


authentic Christianity? Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. (1 John 2:7-8 NIV)


authentic Christianity? • “A new command I give you:

Love one another” (John 13:34 NIV).

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


authentic Christianity? • Authentic Christianity is

demonstrated by our love for one another.


But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.


Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Question: Can dogma be a test for authentic

Christianity? • Dogma is the universal truths of

the Christian faith.

• Authentic Christianity is demonstrated by believing that Jesus is fully God, fully human, fully both at the same time.

Bottom Line:

• When our lives reflect the belief that Jesus is fully God, fully human, fully both at the same time, that Jesus is Lord…we are living “authentic Christianity”!

For those checking out the Jesus of the Bible…

• Accept the seriousness of your sin problem.

For Those who are following the Jesus of the

Bible…• Abandon all interest in things

that do not represent the heart of God.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.




For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father

but from the world.




The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:14-17 NIV)


Bible…• Any value that is opposed to God

is a value of the world.

• Lust of the eyes… or the things we see that lead us to covet or want.


Bible…• Don’t work to acquire things that

don’t capture the heart of God”.


Bible…• Lean hard on your anointing.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (1 John 1:20 NIV)

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Three Tests Authentic Christianity – p.2 1 John 2