2014년 6월 1일 주일 영어예배 설교
요한일서 2:1-2 (1 John 2:1-2)

(1 John 2:1-2)

     The apostle John, in the previous chapter, succinctly explained an important idea in Christian gospel: God is light. If we are in Him, we also walk in the light, not in the darkness. If we confess our sins, the faithful and just God will forgive our sins and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleans us from all unrighteousness. But if we say that we have no sin, it is to deceive ourselves. John, then, mentions the reason why he is writing these things. He is writing these things to believers so that they may not sin. And he indicates the strong appropriateness for not sinning. Today, we are going to be appreciating why believers should continue to struggle not to sin.

In verse 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.” The expression ‘my little children’ shows the affection in which John held them. Here, ‘these things’ means the contents that John revealed in the previous chapter, which I summarized above. John was aware of that he was writing the word of God. In chapter 4 verse 6, he said this “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” So the apostle John is writing ‘these things,’ the word of God, as a strong caution to believers. John’s aim is that we not sin. Sin is much greater than we simply think. Sin is much more serious than unbelievers think just in terms of a moral and social legal sense.

What then is sin? First of all, sin is to not acknowledge God as the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. That is to say, if one does not acknowledge and believe God, it is considered the most serious sin. This is not a matter of just religious opinion of an individual, but a matter of value and reason of the existence of being itself. This is a matter of the ultimate identity and outlook. So the apostle John proclaims that God is the light in the world, and if we are in Him that is, if we acknowledge and believe Him, we are in the light, but if we are not in Him that is, if we do not acknowledge and believe Him, we are still in the darkness. Sinning is not a matter of just whether we do something or do not do something. Sin is serious mainly because it is insubordination against God. Second, sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. This can be understood in the same vein of the first definition above. This view of sin is beyond the general view of human beings, which means that sin is anything that proves to be harmful to men. This is because God alone defines right and wrong. Lastly, sin includes not only violating social law but also acting contrary to moral law. Christian people, of course, should follow any social and moral rule as members of society. Therefore, John strongly admonishes believers not to sin, which means to struggle not to sin. As he revealed by writing ‘these things,’ since believers are walkers in the light, not in the darkness, there is a good appropriateness for not sinning.

But in the same verse, he mentions a different aspect of believers. He says this “…But if anyone does sin…” This is a different matter from struggle not to sin. That is to say, even though believers, as walkers in the light, make the best effort not to sin, there are some occasions when believers sin. This is because believers, during living in the flesh in the world, are still imperfect. Even though they have a perfect guarantee for their salvation being forgiven all their sins ultimately, there is still a possibility for them to sin due to both any temptation of Satan and their own weakness. They are, in this world, still in the imperfect flesh, not a perfect resurrected body like Jesus Christ our Lord. So as Christian gospel always does, John reveals reality, and his message is based on the fact, ‘If anyone does sin.’ John is about to give believers consolation and encouragement. John is saying, “Don’t despair when you sin despite your struggle not to sin.” How is he able to say like this? Why does he say this? In the same verse, he says this, “…we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

This is the reason that believers do not have to despair and have to keep making effort not to sin, “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus Christ is the advocate who defends His own people before the perfect and holy God, the Father. Jesus Christ functions as our advocate, speaking up on our behalf in the presence of his Father when we sin: he is our advocate with the Father. He knows our hopelessness, helplessness, unworthiness, weakness, sinfulness and our failure. He came to earth as the advocate for these weaknesses of us. His Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection restored the broken relationship between God and us, and collapsed the wall between God and His own people. Now, he is still sitting on the right hand of God the Father as our advocate.

How can Jesus Christ be the advocate for us? The verse says, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” Here, ‘Jesus Christ the righteous’ means that Jesus Christ has acted perfectly righteously rather than that Jesus Christ is a righteous being. While we have not acted righteously before the holy God, Jesus Christ our Lord has perfectly acted righteously before God the Father. Why did Jesus come to this world and show this perfectness? That is for us, His chosen people, the sinners like you and me. The apostle John suggests more reasons why we don’t have to despair despite our sinfulness. He stresses on not only Jesus Christ as the advocate who speaks on our behalf in the presence of God despite our sin but also Jesus Christ as the propitiation, or ‘the atoning sacrifice’ for those sins. In verse 2, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus Christ already paid the price of our sins. He offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins including original sins and committed sins both in the past and future. He figured out all our sin problem once and for all. That effect is ultimate, radical, unchangeable and eternal. In chapter 4 verse 10, John declares this, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Jesus is the one who speaks to the Father in our defense when we sin. This suggests that he is, as it were, pleading for mercy for sinners, and this in turn suggests that his role as the atoning sacrifice is to be secure that mercy; that is, he is the propitiation for our sins. The verse also says that the propitiation is effective enough not only for our sins but also for the whole world, so the effectiveness is for the chosen people in the future as well.

Therefore, we find very a strong and good ground for our struggle not to sin as the walker in the light in the world. We must keep making the best effort not to sin, not despairing. Why? Because our struggle not to sin is on the basis of the perfectness of Jesus Christ our Lord, not of our own weakness. Even though there are still occasions when we sin apart from our intention, we never have to despair and have to keep going. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the advocate on behalf of us in the presence of God the Father. Because Jesus Christ is the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus Christ is the unique ground and appropriateness for having to walk in the light and not sinning, and being able to walk in the light and not sinning. Without Jesus Chris our Lord, there is never any ground for having to walk in the light, and being able to walk in the light, not sinning. This is because we are sinners and desperate, and only ‘in Him,’ Jesus Christ there is a hope and life. Your religious enthusiasm or highly moral behavior is never able to give any possibility for walking in the light, not sinning because you are sinners and doomed without Jesus Christ, the advocate and atoning sacrifice for you.

Everyone, remember that you are in Him in the light, not in the darkness. As the Bible testifies everywhere in it, if you do not acknowledge and believe God, you are still in the darkness, and you die in there. And again as the Bible testifies everywhere in it, if you confess your sins and believe God, you are moved into the light from the darkness, and you have the eternal life with God. Are you in the light with God? Then stop sinning as the children of the light in the world. But you sometimes find yourselves sinning contrary to your wishes and effort. But even in that case, you also stop despairing because we have the advocate on behalf of us in the presence of God, Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. I want to close this sermon by reading today’s verses once again, “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. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”