In all the soccer of my youth I had no small number coaches who employed a particular tactic to assess whether or not any of us were practicing on our own: they would look at the wear and tear on the ball we brought each week. The more wear and tear the more likely it was the player was doing hard work on his own time to increase his skill. Devotion to the game would show on the ball itself.
Something similar happens with God’s word; devotion to the Bible will show in our lives. As we begin to close I want to think about a few ways in which 1 John ought to rub off on us, ought to show up in our life together. In our passage John is continually addressing the church—the pronouns are overwhelmingly plural. One of the great things about John’s repetitive teaching is that even though these things I’m about to mention come out of 4:1-6 they are found several other places in the book.
Living in the Truth of 1 John 4:1-6 Means an Authentic Church Will . . .
Think discerningly. This is the crux of John’s teaching on antichrists: “Don’t believe everything you hear, be discerning.” What is discernment” We can define it as: “the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.”1 The degree to which you are growing in understanding and applying God’s word will be the degree to which you are able to think discerningly. Where devotion to God’s word increases, discernment increases.
Now, I think we need to recognize “[t]here is a sickness behind this command: it makes me unteachable.” 2 Soon I’m weighing the teachings of anyone and everyone to a point where I become the final arbiter of truth. So how to we combat this? First, by remembering the command to think discerningly is a corporate command. Second . . .
Listen eagerly. John says in 4:6, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us.” For us in the 21st century that means, “Whoever knows God, listens eagerly to his word.” The Bereans in Acts 17 are commended for their humble discernment and hear the key: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
How is your eagerness to hear God’s word read, preached, and studied? If you aren’t devoted to listening to his word, how will you grow in discernment? John says, “How can you be sure you are a Christian?” Think discerningly, listen eagerly, and finally . . .
Fight confidently. We’ve said enough on this point, but lets settle our souls here. The cosmic battle we are in is primarily a war over truth. False teachers and antichrists abound, but we need not fear our position in the battle “for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Faithful churches don’t believe everything they hear and fight for truth without fear. They are places where the Spirit of truth saturates their life together. And where the Spirit is moving we know joyful exultation in Christ will be growing. For the spirit of error distracts attention from Jesus, while the Spirit of truth empowers our souls to concentrate on the majesty of Christ. May God help us to live in the Spirit of Christ and so exult in the truth of Christ.
This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Love of Truth,” on 1 John 4:1-6.
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