Now let's look back at that passage
that Brother Jim just read in 1 John 4 concerning this subject,
as he said, and it's written in your bulletin, assurance.
Talking about assurance of salvation, assurance in union with Christ. Now, to keep with the context
of what this passage is teaching, John had been talking about,
for the most part, loving the brethren. And that love is that
divine love that God, the Holy Spirit, sheds abroad in our hearts. Romans chapter 5 speaks about
that. The Holy Spirit shedding that
love abroad in our hearts. And that heart is the new heart,
the regenerate heart, the mind, the affections, the will, the
conscience. And he sheds that love abroad by showing us our
utter sin and depravity, our utter helplessness. We are totally
inadequate, totally unable to save ourselves from our sins.
We're totally unable to work or create the righteousness that
God requires. We're sinners. And God, if He
ever gave any of us what we deserve or what we've earned, it would
be eternal damnation and eternal death. It shows us that. And you say, well, how can that
kind of thing show us any love? Well, then He doesn't leave us
there. He drives us to Christ for salvation, for the cure of
all sin, to wash away our sins by His blood. God forgives sin.
He forgives sinners through the blood of Jesus Christ. And the
blood means His death on the cross as the payment for our
sins, in place of us. Our sins were charged to Him. That's how God does this, legally
and justly and really. He imputed, accounted, reckoned,
charged the sin debt, the demerit of our sins to Christ. And because of love for his father
and love for his people who were given to him before the foundation
of the world, Christ willingly agreed to come to this earth,
assume sinless human nature, walk this earth in perfect obedience
to the law and die the death that we deserved and earned on
Calvary's cross and put away our sins. And not only that,
give us in return his righteousness. the merits of His obedience unto
death, imputed, charged, accounted as, that's what the Holy Spirit
does. And in doing that, what He does, He sheds abroad in our
hearts the love of God. And that love of God to us, which
is totally unearned and totally undeserved, unconditional love
towards us, that forms the basis of our love for one another.
Believers, brethren in the Lord. That's what John's talking about.
Now he says that back up here in 1 John 4. Look at verse 7. I dealt with these last week.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Love is not
natural. This kind of love now. And this
love is a loyalty and a commitment to one another in the gospel.
That's what it is. Now it filters down into all
kinds of action, helping one another, being concerned for
one another, praying for one another, having fellowship with
one another, all of those things. But this love is of God, therefore
it glorifies God. It's not a feeling, it's not
a Hallmark card, it's not a valentine, it's not an emotion. You see, it's founded upon God's
love to His people in Christ. And I say this all the time.
There is no love from God for sinners outside of Christ. And the Bible actually tells
us that outside of Christ, there's only hatred from God. And I know
people don't like to hear that, but you need to read your Bible.
Now, God's hate's not sinful. And like our hate is. That's
why we're commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our hatred
is sinful. But God's hatred is His just
wrath against sin. See, God is just. And He must
punish sin. But this love is of God and it
comes to us through Christ. And He says in verse 7, everyone
that loveth is born of God. You see, this kind of love is
only for those who have been born again by the Spirit. Now
unbelievers can love. They can love themselves. They
can love their husbands, their wives, their children. They can
love their country. All kinds. But this kind of love
is not in us by nature. It has to be given, put in us
by God in the new birth. Back over in 1 John 3 and verse
14, he said, we know we have passed from death to life. That's
the new birth. Because we love the brethren.
So this love comes as a gift. This love is a gift from God.
in Christ and it says for love is of God in verse 7 of chapter
4 for everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God he
that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love and then he said
in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that
God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might
live through him and then herein is love not that we love God
but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation.
That's the sin-bearing sacrifice who brought satisfaction to God's
justice. That's what a propitiation is,
a satisfaction to God's justice. And it's for our sins, it's for
the sins of His people. And you know what? That ensures
the salvation of everyone whom God loves and everyone for whom
Christ died. Now, from verse 12 on, He goes
on talking about the love of God. and the love of the brethren. But he puts it in a context of
the assurance of salvation that we have, believers have. because
of our union with Christ. Now, first of all, look at verse
12. And see, as believers, here's what we have to understand. Let
me say this first. As believers, our union with Christ, and listen,
the only way that we know that we are in union with Christ is
because God the Holy Spirit has given us spiritual life and brought
us to faith in Christ and repentance of our dead works. You see, if
you're not a believer, in the truth of God's Gospel wherein
Christ is revealed as He's revealed in the Word. You don't have any
rightful claim of being in union with Christ. Now there is union
with Christ before we even know about it. I'm going to show you
that. But the only way that I can know
about any union with Christ is as God the Holy Spirit brings
me under the preaching of the true gospel and brings me to
faith in Christ. And that's when I know about
it. And that's what John is saying here. So this union with Christ
is the foundation of our salvation. It's one of the most reassuring
truths found in God's Word. And this truth applied to our
hearts by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God gives us peace.
You know, the Bible speaks of that peace that passes understanding. It's because of our union with
Christ. And let me tell you this, the knowledge of our union with
Christ is the strongest motivation for believers to fight sin. to
seek to obey God's word, to strive to be conformed to Christ in
our character, in our conduct, and consider the nature of this
union. First of all, look at verse 12. Here's number one.
He says in verse 12, he says, no man hath seen God at any time. What a statement. What's he talking
about? Well, I can show you scripture
where he talks about people who have seen God with the eye of faith. He's talking
about no one has seen God physically because God is not physical.
God is a spirit. You see, this speaks of union
and fellowship with God through Christ. It's union and fellowship
with God in and through Christ that brings us together in union
and fellowship and love as brethren. But no man has seen God. This
love is of God. This union is by God's grace.
God's spirit, He's not contained in or limited to physical things.
Remember when Christ was talking to the woman at the well in John
chapter 4? She said, well, you Jews say that God dwells over
there in Jerusalem. We say he dwells up here in Samaria. Remember what he told her? He said, look, you don't even
know God. That's what he told her, basically.
You don't even know God. God has revealed his presence
on earth spiritually in the temple at Jerusalem above the mercy
seat. That's what he said. But he said, here, God is spirit.
And God desires and wants those who worship him in spirit and
in truth. It's not physical things that
relate God or communicate God to you. It's not crucifixes.
It's not stained glass windows. It's not edifices and statues. Nobody has seen God. You know,
all the time hearing about people, they look up in the clouds and
they see a form and they say, that looks like Jesus. Well,
here's the problem. Nobody's seen Jesus. You don't
know what Jesus looked like. What they think he looks like
is somewhat some Renaissance painter painted. We don't judge
things, the presence of Christ by things like it. I saw where
some fool said that he saw the face of Jesus in a grilled cheese
sandwich. That's crazy stuff. You know
how you see God? By His Spirit, through His Word. Right here. Christ is the Word. You want to know who Christ is?
And how do you see Him? With the eye of faith. God-given
faith. Holy Spirit-wrought faith. That's
how you see God. I can tell you I've seen God.
in the face of, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
How God is just to justify the ungodly. There's God. How can
God, who is just and righteous and holy, how can he look upon
a sinner like me, save me, bless me, accept me, justify me, and
remain true to himself? A just God. as well as a merciful
God, a righteous judge, as well as a loving God. How can that
happen? There's not one philosophy or religion in the history of
mankind that can answer that question. Only God can answer
that through His Word. And His answer is this. He sent
His Son to be the propitiation. God charging my sins to Christ
and charging his righteousness to me based upon what Christ
accomplished on Calvary's cross. That's the answer. God can do
it. So he says in verse 12, no man has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected
in us. Now think about that. These verses describe the believer's
spiritual union with God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit
in bringing us to faith in Christ and repentance. And God in and
through Christ dwells in us by His Spirit and His Word. And
he says here, look at verse 13, Hereby know we that we dwell
in Him, that's union, and He dwells in us because He hath
given us of His Spirit. How does God dwell within His
people? By His Spirit and by His Word. So he's speaking of that union.
Now he says the love of God is perfected in us. Now what does
that mean? Well, hold on to that thought.
I'm gonna come back to that. But let me give you something
about this union with Christ. Here's how the Bible shows the
believer his or her union with Christ. Think about it this way. First of all, it's a representative
union. What do you mean by that? Christ
is my representative. before God. I don't stand on
my own before God. I have somebody who stands for
me as a representative. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the everlasting covenant of
grace, the father chose the son to stand and speak for his chosen
people. That's representation. You know
something about representation? We vote for representatives.
They're supposed to go to Atlanta or to Washington and represent
us. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But we who are saved,
sinners saved by God, we have a representative before God,
Jesus Christ the righteous. He speaks for me in the presence
of the Father. You say, well, I'd rather stand
on my own. Thou fool. Stand on your own, and here's
what you'll hear. We studied it earlier. Matthew said, depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. And then secondly,
it's a legal union. Now, a lot of people don't like
this, and they put it down. Most deny it. But here's what
I'm saying, this legal union tells me this, that Christ was
not only set up before the foundation of the world, as God chose me,
elected me in Him, and He's my representative, Christ is also
been made my surety. That's the legal union. What
does it mean, He's my surety? That means this, whatever debts
that I run up against God, Christ is surety. He's responsible for. He's responsible to pay my debt. Somebody says, well, how can
that be? I'll tell you how. Because the Father appointed
him, and he agreed. If I have a debt run up, and
you come to me and say, Bill, put it on my account. I'll repay
it. You're doing that willingly. Now if I put a gun to your head
and say, now you're going to pay my debt, that's forced. That's
coercion. But that's not what happened
between the father and the son before the foundation of the
world. Christ willingly agreed to be the surety of God's people. He said, if they have any debt,
put it on my account. I'll repay. There's a beautiful
picture of that in the book of Philemon. Our sins were imputed to Him,
charged to Him, accounted to Him, reckoned to Him. He said,
I repent. And He did it for the love of
His Father and the love of His people. Herein is love. So there's
a legal union. He's responsible for my sin debt.
And my sin debt was imputed to him. And for the righteousness
required for salvation, he said he'd work it out. It's imputed
to me. That's the legal aspect of it. It's real. God is just
to do it because he's God, because Christ is willing to do it. Christ
paid my debt in full. You ever heard the hymn, Jesus
paid it all? We sing all to him I owe. Sometimes
we sing all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. Now when you see language in
the Bible that talks about our sins being purged or washed away,
what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's what it's talking about. Christ as my surety, say, became
accountable, responsible to pay my sin debt. And then here's
the third part of that union. It's substitutionary. Not only
was he made my representative, and I'm in union with him because
he stands for me and speaks for me in the presence of the Father.
Not only is he my legal surety who's accountable for my debt,
but he actually had to come in time and pay that debt in full. And what was the price? Redemption
by the blood of Christ. He had to die. Remember what
God told Adam in the garden? In the day that you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. The wages of sin is death. Christ had to die. And in order
to substitute himself and put himself in the place of his people,
he had to take into union with himself a sinless human nature,
human body and soul. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
2. Look at Hebrews chapter 2. And
look at verse 14. He had to be God with us. He had to be God in human flesh. The word had to be made flesh.
God cannot die. But this person who is God did
die. And that's to be attributed to
his humanity. Man cannot gain and create and
give life. But this person who is man does
create and give life. That's attributed to his deity.
He's God-man. That's who he is. And to deny
either his deity or his humanity is to deny him. Did you know
that? Look at Hebrews 2.14. For as
much then as the children... Now who's the children? That's
God's children. God's elect. are partakers of flesh and blood.
He also himself likewise took part of the same. Christ took
part of the same flesh and blood. The only difference is he's without
sin. That through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Now the devil's
power of death is not the power to kill you or make you alive.
Devil can't do that. Devil's a creature. Now he's
powerful, but he can't give life and he can't take it. Remember
he had to ask permission from God even to touch Job. His power
of death is his accusations. You know, in Revelation 12, he's
called the accuser of the brethren. If somebody came along and accused
you of a crime, the power of that is only as they can prove
you did the crime, if the charge sticks. Now, what does the devil
accuse the people of God? We're sinners, aren't we? But
does that charge stick? No. And you know why? Because
blessed is the man to whom the Lord chargeth not with iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord charges righteousness without works. We're in Christ. He's
my substitute. He paid my debt. He died for
my sins. The charges don't stick. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. Who can condemn us? Satan can't
condemn us. Man can't condemn us. We can't,
John said in 1 John chapter 3, we can't even condemn ourselves. Because we're in Christ. And
He was condemned in our place. Think about it. Well look at
verse 15. And deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
You know what that bondage is? It's legalism. trying to avoid
death by your own works. And then verse 16, for verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. Now who does the Bible tell us
the seed of Abraham are in the New Testament? Not just Jews,
only those who trust Christ for salvation. That's the seed of
Abraham. Read Galatians chapter three,
we don't have time to go there. Verse 17, wherefore, or for this
reason, and all things it behooved him, that word behooved is the
Greek word for debt, he was indebted, as my surety to be made like
unto his brethren, to come to this earth and be God-man, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation or propitiation for the sins
of his people. And that he suffered, that's
what it says. So it's a substitutionary union,
representative, legal, assurity, substitutionary. He came to earth
and assumed sinless human nature in order to take our place under
the law of God, suffer judgment for our sins, satisfy justice,
and bring forth righteousness whereby God could justify sinners
like us. And then, fourthly, it's a spiritual
union. Now that's what John is mainly
talking about here. Those whom God chose and put
in Christ, made Him their representative, made Him their legal surety,
for whom He substituted Himself in His death, burial, and resurrection,
and is now substituting for us as our intercessor. It's an intercessor
reunion. He is our intercessor. So that when we sin, we have
Christ, an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ. He pleads
continually the merits of his blood, the merits of his righteousness
on behalf of his people. And then it's a spiritual union.
Look back at 1 John 4, verse 13. Hereby know we that we dwell
in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. Verse 14. And we've seen and
do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world. The world, there's not everybody without exception.
It's God's people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
All over this world, Jew and Gentile. You know who it refers
to? Anybody whom the Spirit has brought
to faith in Christ. Everybody whom the Spirit has
brought to faith in Christ. So he says in verse 15, Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him,
and he in God. This is the gospel wherein the
righteousness of God is revealed. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
in human flesh. What did He accomplish when He
died? He accomplished the salvation of His people who have been justified
before God based upon His righteousness charged to them and from whom
they are given spiritual life, they're brought to faith in Christ. And that's the spiritual union.
When a sinner is brought by the Holy Spirit to be convinced of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, believing in Him, trusting
Him, resting in Him, forsaking all else because of Him, counting
all things but done for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, looking to God in Him, through
Him, coming to God based upon the merits of His righteousness,
not our works, but resting in Christ. And he says in verse 16, And
we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. That's that love
union. Who is your salvation? What is
your hope of salvation? Well, in verse 17 through the
end, he talks about the assurance of that. And listen to what he
says. Listen to this statement now. Underscore this in your
Bible. Herein is our love, some translations say love with us,
made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment
because as He is, so are we. When? Sometime in the future? In the sweet by and by? No. Listen
at it. Because as He is, so are we.
right now in this world. What in the world is he talking
about? First of all, he said love made perfect. Back up in
verse 12, remember he said, God dwelleth in us and his love is
perfected in us. Well, in the New Testament now,
you got to be careful with that word perfect. The word perfect
here does not mean a sinless perfection within us. As if now
that God saved me, that I love everybody perfectly, I love God
perfectly, I do everything perfect, because we don't. Remember I
always say, two types of people in this world, sinners lost in
their sins and sinners saved by grace. You ever sing that
song? Only a sinner saved by grace. That's what we are. Even as believers,
don't we struggle with sin every day? Isn't it a daily warfare? Somebody
might say, well, when's it gonna let up? Well, when you draw your
last breath. One of the best descriptions
of a sinner saved by grace, Romans 7, 24. Oh, wretched man that
I am. Who will deliver me from this
body of death? So where's my assurance? Well,
Romans 7, 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. There's
my assurance. You see, my assurance doesn't
come from inside of me. It comes from looking to Christ.
And so this perfection of love, what's he talking about? The
word perfect has to be determined within its context. When we talk
about perfect holiness, perfect character, perfect conduct, perfect
thought, perfect deed, I'll tell you there's only one person we
can talk about there, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But in another context like this,
you know what it means? It means it's completed. It's
complete. It means it's reached its goal.
So when God the Holy Spirit sheds abroad within our hearts that
love, that unconditional, free, undeserved, unearned love that
He gives to me, a sinner, through Jesus Christ, it reaches its
goal when? When my hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness and I dare not trust the sweetest
frank but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
That's the completion of love. That's the goal of God's love
shed abroad in our hearts. That's when it's perfected in
us. When we see that Christ is our only hope, Christ is the
only way we can be forgiven of all our sins, Christ is our only
righteousness before God. That's it. And this is what he's saying
here, verse 17. Hearing is our love made perfect.
reaches its goal, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.
Confidence standing before God at judgment. Well, I grew up,
preachers telling me I better shake and quake because they're
going to put a movie screen behind me and show all the things that
I did that were wrong. And even though I wasn't saved
by works, they would say that I was going to be rewarded in
heaven according to my works, which is a lie. It's all Christ. Boldness in the presence of God.
How can I have boldness? I know what I am. If you're a
believer, you know what you are. The word of God is sharper than
any two-edged sword. It cuts asunder even to the very
marrow the thoughts and intents of the heart. That evil thought, I didn't see
it. God did. That evil intention,
that selfish motive, that anger, which Christ says is murder,
I don't see it right now. There's not a cloud above your
head or above my head that shows those things, aren't you glad? God sees them. How then can I
stand before God and have boldness, confidence, assurance, liberty,
Here it is. Because as Christ is, so are
we in the world. Now how can I say that as Christ
is, I am? I'll tell you how. He's my representative. He's
my surety. He's my substitute. He stands
for me. I'm washed in His blood. I'm
clothed in His righteousness. I have free access unto a holy
and just God as my Heavenly Father because of the merits, not of
me, not because of what I've done or been enabled to do, but
because of what Christ alone accomplished on Calvary. Turn to Hebrews 10. Let me show
you. I could show you all kinds of
examples of this one. But look at Hebrews 10. Look at verse 14, talking about the death of Christ
on the cross as a substitute of His people. For by one offering
He hath perfected, completed, finished forever them that are
sanctified, all whom God set apart, Christ perfected by His
one offering. Verse 15, where of the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us, For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their
minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. That's talking about the work
of the Spirit to tell us who we are as sinful people and drive
us to Christ as our only hope, our only forgiveness, our only
righteousness. And God says He'll remember our
sins and that means He won't hold them against us. When I
stand before God at judgment, He won't bring that up again.
Why? Because they're put away. They're
washed clean. Christ took those sins and He
drank damnation dry for me as my substitute. I stand before
God and His righteousness will go on. He says in verse 18, now
where remission, pardon of those sins are, there is no more offering
for sin. It's all done. What could I offer
God as payment for my sins? Nothing. That would be self-righteous. That would be unbelief. What
do I have to present before God as payment for my sins? The blood
of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 19. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. You see that? There's our assurance.
It's my union with Christ as my representative, my surety,
my substitute. How do I know that he's my representative?
How do I know he's my substitute? Well look on, verse 20, by a
new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over
the house of God. Verse 22, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith. A true heart is a new
heart. A true heart is a cleansed heart. A true heart is a convicted heart.
in full assurance of faith. What is full assurance of faith?
It's the full assurance that I have in looking to Christ. That's what faith is. Somebody
said, well, that's talking about how much you believe and you
never doubt. No. Faith cannot be separated in
the Bible from its object. It's not how much faith you have,
it's in whom do you have faith. My faith, Paul said, I know And
I'm assured, for I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him
against that day." What have I committed unto him? My whole
salvation is committed to Christ. None of it's on me. It's all
in Christ. And so he says, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience. An evil conscience is an unbelieving
conscience. An evil conscience is a legal
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Now turn back
to 1 John 4. That's what he's talking about.
As Christ is right now, I am right now in this world. What
does that mean? That means I'm washed in his blood, I'm clothed
in his righteousness. I stand before God in him, in
union with him. And so he says in verse 18, there's
no fear in love. He's talking about that legal
fear. That defiled conscience. There is a godly fear, which
is reverence and respect for God, which is consistent with
faith. But this is legal fear. But perfect
love, love that has reached its goal to put our confidence in
Christ, casteth out that legal fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. If you're in that legalism that
stirs you up to try to establish your own righteousness before
God, You see what it says? You have torment. Verse 19, we
love him because he first loved. This is where that love goes.
If a man say I love God and hateth his brother, he's a liar. For
he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen? See, he's already established
the foundation of our love and commitment to one another. In
verse 21, in this commandment have we from him that he who
loveth God loveth his brother also. This is what binds us together. You know, every true believer
here this morning, we have a bond that cannot be broken, and that
bond that cannot be broken is our assurance in Christ. and
what he accomplished for us. You see, somebody said, you know,
when I got mad at someone, so I'm going to leave that church.
Somebody said, well, where are you going to go? I got no place else to go. I'm
bound in the gospel of God's grace in Christ, and that's where
I've got to be. I've got to be where that gospel
is preached. I can't sit under the lie. I can't sit under legalism. I can't sit under a false gospel.
I've got to be where that assurance that is based on that union with
Christ is presented by the grace of God. All right.