Plan A for Righteousness
The Plan A for Righteousness
1 John 2:1-6
I am not a gymnast and I do not have a body of a gymnast. Although I am not fit to do gymnastics, I was known in college as the voice of women’s gymnastics. I worked for our sports department and I had the illustrious job as the PA announcer for gymnastics as well as one of the technical “experts” to prepare the equipment for matches. I would begin every match like it was a championship fight, “Let’s get ready to Tuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!!!!” I was often the first person to arrive and the last person to leave the arena which means you guessed it, I had the opportunity to “try out” the equipment. I repeat, “I am not a gymnast nor do I have a body of a gymnast.” The Lord spared me from serious injury, but also used my brief stint surrounded by gymnastics to teach me how easy it is to fall off to the left and to the right of the theological center. Human nature is like walking across a balance beam. We are in constant danger of falling off one side as well as the other. It is difficult to stay in the center. We must have balance.
Theological balance is essential to the Christian life and it is essential to understand John’s epistle to the church. Like a good father, John wants us to walk the straight line but know the tendency of the human heart to fall off to the left or to the right. God set his love on Israel and chose them as a people of his own possession. The Lord promised to prosper and bless them if they obeyed the commandments by not turning, “aside from any of the words that he commanded, “to the right hand or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” We are called to worship the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength by staying on the narrow way and not move off the center to follow other gods. God said this through Moses and then through Joshua, Joshua 1:5–8
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
We must follow the Lord by not turning to the right or to the left, but in the center as we abide with Christ.
The Apostle John knows the tendency of the human heart and how easy it is for us to get off balance and fall off the path of Christ. One of the key theological concepts in the Johannine corpus is to abide or remain or to stay with Christ. John’s last words in this short book help undergird the entire purpose of his writing, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Keep yourself with Christ not turning to the left or to the right and go after other gods. We stay with Christ by thinking the right way and by living the right way. We meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night so that we may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. John is concerned that the church knows Jesus and abides with Jesus. We cannot just say we have fellowship with God, we must actually have fellowship with God. And we have fellowship with God through his Son by walking in the light as he is in the light. We have fellowship with God by walking in righteousness.
The balance beam of life is righteousness. Peter speaks of how Jesus bore our sins in his body on a tree that we may die to sin and live for righteousness. (1 Peter 2:24) Paul makes the same point in Romans 6:12-23, contrasts the life of righteousness and that of unrighteousness.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The center of the Christian life is a life of righteousness. How do we stay in the center? What is God’s plan for righteousness? Let us look at God’s Plan A for righteousness in these six verses. Six verses, and Six A’s of righteousness.
The Appeal to Righteousness
John laid out the message he has received from God, “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” To walk in the light as he is in the light shows that one has fellowship with God and that the blood of Jesus cleanses their sin. 1 John 1:10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar and his word is not in us.” John was attacking some of the underlying false teaching coming from the ‘secessionists’ who have left the community. The secessionists are commonly called Gnostics for they who believed that Jesus did not come in the flesh but was only of the Spirit and they needed a secret hidden knowledge to become enlightened to have fellowship with God.
John turns from speaking against these false teachers to speaking true doctrine to the church. 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin.” You can hear John’s pastoral heart and love for the church. My dear ones, my precious children, those who are my heart, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. It is not cold or abusive or dictatorial but the words of love from a father to his children, “Do not sin.” We do not want to sin in any of its forms. We do not want to lie, lust, or love worldly things. We do not want to be arrogant, prideful, or condescending to others. And yet, we are all tempted to sin. Some of us are tempted to sin because of the immense and abundant forgiveness that God offers in Christ. We fall off the left of the balance beam into licentiousness or worldly living as we express our freedom in Christ. Some of us have seared consciousness and abused the grace of God by presuming on his kindness not knowing his kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.
Friends, do not sin. Run from the world. Be careful what you allow to influence you. Take stock of your entertainment and screen time. Check your heart. Are you veering off the straight path by becoming too loose with sin? Do not make sin your pet lion. It may be small now, but it will one day destroy you. Sin leads to death. Do not sin. Do not take sin lightly. Confess your sin and he who is faithful and just will forgive you of your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Stay in your sin and he who is faithful and just will punish you for your sins and make you experience consequences from all your unrighteousness.
As your pastor, hear my heart, my people, my beloved, my joy and my crown, do not sin. Walking with the Lord is far better. Psalm 84:10–12,
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you! (ESV)
Stay on the straight path. Do not sin.
The Advocate of Righteousness
John is not only speaking to those who may be in willful rebellion, he is also speaking to those who have a tender conscience and feel undone by their sin. He writes to those who may feel that their sin has disqualified them from fellowship with God. God reminds us of his character and his ever-present love for us. 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” We are not made righteousness by our good works but by the good work of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the righteous that he might bring us to God.” Jesus Christ is righteous. He perfectly obeyed the Father. He committed no sin. He never left the straight path to the left or to the right, but did all the Father sent him to do. It is the eternal Son who was with the Father who was made manifest to us, who do not count equality to be grasped but emptied himself taking the form of a human servant, who was beaten, mocked, and ridiculed, who hung on a Roman cross for 3 hours while the sky darkened, who absorbed the very wrath of God on Calvary’s hill, who loves us so much that while we were yet sinners he died for us, it is this Jesus who is our Advocate.
Jesus Christ the Righteous stands with God the Father and says, “Mine!” over every soul that trusts in him. For those of you are in Christ, God never sees you without his blood covering you. He never sees you in your sin but wrapped in the righteous robes of the Redeemer. We have a glorious Advocate. The word Advocate here is the word Paraclete used in John’s gospel to refer to the Holy Spirit. Our English Bibles often translate Paraclete as helper or comforter. John uses the word paraclete here of the Lord Jesus to show us that he is our helper and comforter before God the Father. Those of you who feel condemned in your sin, know you do not have to fear, if you are in Christ there is no condemnation, only grace. Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died---more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Hebrews 7:25, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
We may fall off the straight path to the left and use our freedom to sin or we may fall off to right thinking that our works bring us favor with God or we may just fall down and think our sin is too much to be forgiven. Friend, the text says, “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is a glorious verse, if and only if, you are part of the “we” of the sentence. We, who have an advocate, are those who belong to Jesus Christ. Those of us who have repented of our sins and trusted in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Christ? If you haven’t let me tell you more of the good news of Jesus Christ, the righteous, who wants to be your Advocate before a Holy God.
The Atonement for Righteousness
We cannot be made righteous alone because we are sinners. Sin comes from the Greek word harmatano which means to miss the mark. We all have missed the mark of righteousness. Romans 3:10-11, “As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Romans 3:23, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have missed the mark and because we have missed the mark, the Bible says we are under the wrath of God and deserve death for our sin. God is holy and hates sin. To sin is to stand against God. In our natural flesh, we oppose God and are at war with him. Every single person since Adam and Eve in the garden have been born in sin and clothed with iniquity.
Even the best people are sinners. If you are a sinner what will you do when you have to pay for your sins? Think about every time you sin you make a credit card transaction. Every lie. Every slanderous word and thought. Every wrong judgment. Every arrogant or prideful deed adds a charge to your credit card. And at the end of your life, you have to pay the bill. The only way you get to heaven is if the balance is zero. You either have to pay it all or someone else us. This is the offer that Jesus makes to you today. He offers to pay your bill. He offers to pay it all. 1 John 2:2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Propitiation comes from the Greek word hilasmos means, “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath and turns it to favor.” Because he was truly man, born of a woman, he was able to pay for the sins of man. And because he was truly God, born of the Holy Spirit, he was without sin. And because he lived a perfect life, he was able to offer his life as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath against us. And because of his resurrection from the dead, God declared that those who belong to his Son, now have favor with Him. Jesus' death and resurrection not only satisfied God’s wrath but it changed our relationship with God. We move from sinner to saint, from enemy to friend, from lost creature to found child. He becomes our Father and adopts us into his family.
You can move from an enemy of God to one of his beloved children today if you repent of your sins and trust in the sacrifice of his Son as your only hope for righteousness. This is God’s plan A for righteousness. God sent his Son, the righteous one, for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. The text says, “He is the propitiation for our sins, (our meaning those who have made the choice to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior) and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus’ offer of righteousness is offered to the whole world. John is not saying all sins are paid for, but all sins will be paid for if Jesus is your Advocate before the Father. Because only in Jesus can you be righteous. Only the sacrifice of Jesus turns God’s wrath against you to favor for you. Friend, take the offer. There will never be a better one.
Beloved, Jesus is our propitiation. He has turned God’s anger against himself so we could experience his favor and love forever. This is our God. How can we not live for him? When we are tempted to sin, remember Christ’s love in dying for you on the cross. When you are tempted to believe you are unforgivable, remember Christ’s love in paying for your sins. How do we know that we are righteous and our sins have been paid for and God looks on us in favor?
The Answer to Righteousness
The heart is deceptive above all things. We can easily deceive ourselves. There are several tests that John gives us to help us know that we belong to him. This is a recurring test throughout the letter, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” Stay on the straight path of your theology. Our good works do not save us, but they give us assurance that the good work of Christ saved us. They are the fruit and not the root of our salvation. You can have assurance of your salvation. John says, “we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” If we do what God says we can have confidence that we know him. Jesus said it this way in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It is that simple.
John has already mentioned that we all are sinners and will all continue to sin. He does not want us to sin but he knows that in a fallen world we will fall to temptation which is why we rejoice in Jesus Christ, the Righteous, who stands before the Father on our behalf. He also does not want us to believe the lie that if our lives are characterized by sin to think that we are safe on the Last Day. Remember to stay on the straight path. Do not go to the left or to the right. We are sinners and forgiven by Christ and if forgiven from our sins. We will no longer be slaves of the flesh which leads to death, but slaves of righteousness which leads to sanctification and eternal life. The answer to whether you are righteous before God today is not entirely separate from how you are living today. We are righteous in Christ and in Christ alone. But if we are in Christ, we will walk in the light as he is in the light. Do not be deceived and have false assurance with false living. Do not be deceived that your works save you. Stay on the straight path.
The Adversary of Righteousness
Are you an adversary of righteousness? Are you lying about your relationship with God? 1 John 2:4, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in hum.” The false teachers in John’s day were saying that you could live any way you want in the flesh and still be saved. They were teaching as long as you have the hidden knowledge of God in the spirit then you are safe and it didn’t matter how you lived. John is very clear, if you say you know God but don’t live like him, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. Hear this in love, you may think you know God because you have had an experience with him in the past or you occasionally go to church or occasionally read your bible, but if you do not keep his commands you are lying to yourself.
The church was not given the task by Jesus to make disciples in teaching people what Jesus commanded. The church was given the task by Jesus to make disciples in teaching people to observe all that Jesus commanded. Too often the Christian church is only about teaching others the truth but not holding them accountable to live by the truth. Life and doctrine matter. If you have good doctrine and not life for Christ, you have fallen off the balance beam of faith. If you have a good life and the wrong doctrine, you have fallen off the other side. A good life and good doctrine give us assurance that we are not lying but truly know him. We show that God’s truth abides in us when we keep his commands.
The Abiding in Righteousness
We want to abide in Christ. We want to stay on the balance beam of faith. We have a perfect example to follow. 1 John 2:4–6,
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
To abide in Christ is accept or act in accordance with God’s Word and God’s way. One of the ways we keep God’s word is by hearing it each and every week in our public gatherings. We are hearing it together as a form of mutual accountability. When we gather we hear the Word and when we scatter we live the Word. And when we don’t live the Word, we have one another to hold us accountable. To know and love God is a community project.
The person who keeps God’s word it is said, “in him truly the love of God is perfected.” John uses similar language in Chapter 4 so we will spend more time on this idea then but let me make the general application that I believe John is aiming for the love of God completes is work (or is perfected) when we keep God’s command to love one another.[1] Jesus completed his work by loving us to the end. 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” The essence of abiding with Christ and walking in the way that Jesus walked is loving one another.
Are we a church that loves one another? There are so many good ways that we love one another. I hear about at least 5-6 ways every week that we are loving one another. From cards and text of encouragement, from dropping off food to people, to inviting over new friends over to your home to encourage one another, from serving behind the scenes in setting up for our service or to clean the building, praying for one another, building relationships with those who are not in your life stage, laboring to prepare and in teaching classes on Sunday and Wednesday, and sharing God’s word with one another and with those who do not know Christ. Praise God for the love we have for one another!!
Are we a church that could grow in its love for one another? Yes. We could grow in not assuming people’s motives and to look down on others who have different political opinions. We could do more to see those in our church who are lonely and hurting. We could take more time to study God’s Word so we can be better equipped to share the truth. We could be more charitable how we view other churches that may look or do things different than we do. We should never be satisfied with our love but pray that God will continue to complete his work in us as we keep God’s command to love one another.
I was reminded again this week how important it is for all of us to come to our gatherings with an eye on how to love one another. Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the Day drawing near.” We are called to consider, to think carefully, how to stir one another up to love God and to do good works because the Day of the Lord is drawing near. The Church is a community of the eschaton. We are a community that communicates the eternal truths of forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus Christ. What we do as a body and how we live and love one another gives us assurance that we have been made righteous and is a witness and a beacon of light shining into our dark world to those who need righteousness.
God’s plan A for righteousness is that Jesus Christ, our Advocate has made atonement for us through his sacrifice so that his love would be perfected in us as we go into all the world making disciples of righteousness modeling his great love for us. Jesus taught us love by laying down his life for us and now Jesus wants us to show our love to the world so that they may have fellowship with us and that his blood would cleanse them from all unrighteousness. John 13:34–35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Beloved, God’s Plan A for righteousness is that his people would stay on the path of righteousness by holding fast to the Righteous One as we display his great love for us in how we love one another. And by this love, all people will know that we are the disciples of Jesus Christ, the Righteous who is our advocate before the Father and the propitiation for our sins and not ours only, but the sins of the whole world.
[1] This suggests that what the author wishes to say in the present context is that our love for God completes its work when we obey his command to love one another. Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 80). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.