Belonging to God

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 23rd of July, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

As we read the Apostle John’s letters, and remembering what he’s told us in his Gospel account, we can see that John is very much concerned with the subject of love.  This should be expected, as Jesus commands us to love one another, and John is very diligent in following Jesus’ command.

Throughout his Gospel account and his letters, John emphasizes love, and especially God’s love for us.  God loves us so much that He sent His own Son to wash us clean of our sin and offer us eternal life.  God loves us so much that He adopts us into His family as His own children, equal heirs with Jesus.  The world may hate us, just as it hates Christ Jesus, but God dearly loves us.

In his 1st letter, John also contrasts the children of God with the children of the devil, Satan’s workers.  For John is very concerned that we understand how our faith and belief should directly affect our relationships with others.  He encourages us to be in fellowship with one another, to practice righteousness and brotherly love.

One thing to keep in mind while reading his letters is that at the time John wrote them, the heresy of Gnosticism was beginning to make inroads into the early church.  The Gnostics pretty much rejected the teachings of the Apostles and disciples of Christ, holding to their own set of beliefs that ran counter to even early Christian standards.  For instance, they rejected the immaculate conception, stating that a spiritual being, such as God, could not directly unite with a physical being, like a woman.  So then the birth story of Jesus would be a fabrication.  And since they also did not believe in resurrection, if there had been such a person as Jesus, He could not have risen from the dead back to life again.

So a lot of what John addressed in his letters, without mentioning them by name, was to counter these heretical beliefs before they could fully take root.  Since the moral standards of the Gnostics was quite low, John stressed that true Christians must maintain a high ethical standard, better reflecting those of the earthly life of Jesus.

So let’s continue our examination of John’s 1st letter to the early church by opening the 3rd chapter and reading verses 1 through 10, from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.

4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.

7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

--1 John 3:1-10 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Almighty God, Thank You for reminding us through the writings of the Apostle John of just how much You love us.  By this we know that we are Yours, we belong to You.  Thank You, Father, for calling us and accepting us as Your children.  Sadly, though, Father, sometimes we are very disobedient little brats.  Sometimes we just can’t find it in ourselves to love others unconditionally, especially those that don’t love us and that wish us harm.  Forgive us these times, Father.  Please help us be more like Jesus.  Help us maintain a higher ethical standard than those of the world around us.  Remind us that we bear the name of Your Christ, so it is important that we represent Him in the best possible way.  And please protect us, Father.  Shield us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Help us recognize heresy when we hear it and counter it with the truth.  Help us avoid those children of the devil who try to drag us down with them.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

The Sunday Express of London once reported that, “Most people wish to serve God -- but in an advisory capacity only.”

That’s a rather funny remark, but also a sadly true commentary.  Of those people who say they believe in God, too many would rather give Him lip service than actively go to work for Him.

Think about it a moment…  How many times have we advised God on what He should do?  How many times have we told Him to send some rain, or to rain down judgment on our enemies?  How many times have we demanded He damn someone because of what they did to us?  Compare that to how many times we love unconditionally, seeing to the needs of others, visiting the institutionalized, helping the lost find their way to the truth, breaking the chains of those still captive to sin and death.  The Apostle James says that faith without works is dead.  We've all been given a measure of faith.  What do we do with our measure?

Now I will admit I’ve often served God in an advisory role in my past, and sometimes even still today.  But I pray that now my role is that of more active service, helping to build His family, spreading the Gospel truth, leading others to Jesus.  Belonging to God is more about serving Him than serving ourselves and our own selfish wants and desires.  So let’s resign from our advisory positions, put on our work clothes, and get out there in the fields.

Like I said earlier, John is all about love.  Our reading this morning starts out talking about God’s love for us.  But there is also a cautionary note in this letter.  The world does not love us.  We are God’s chosen children, but the world refuses to believe that because the world refuses to accept God.

The people of the world sin against God by breaking His law, which John says is the very definition of sin: not keeping God’s law.  Since Jesus came to take away our sin by taking them all on Himself, if we continue to live in Him we must strive to no longer sin, for those who do continue sinning, who go back to the ways of the world, do not understand who Jesus is or what He did for us.

Now if we understand what the church was going through at the time, we can see that John was addressing part of Gnosticism here.  The Gnostics were not keeping themselves pure.  They continued to sin, refusing to accept even what Jesus Himself taught.  We who follow Christ must strive to keep ourselves pure, just as Jesus was pure.

And here is where John warns the church not to let the Gnostics or anyone else deceive us or mislead us.  When people do what is right, it shows they are righteous, just as Christ is righteous.  But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the very beginning.  So John draws a distinction between those who refrain from sin being the children of God, and those who keep on sinning being children of Satan.  Those who do not live righteously and do not love others do not belong to God.

If we truly belong to God, we will do as He commands.  For that is the key to righteous living.  And what does He command us to do but to love others, just as Jesus loves us.  The Apostle Paul, in the 13th chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, verses 8 through 10, puts it like this…

8 Owe nothing to anyone — except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These — and other such commandments — are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

--Romans 13:8-10 (NLT)

If we’re not helping Jesus, if we’re not out there working the fields for Him, then we’re harming Him, we’re driving nails into His hands all over again.  If we’re not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem.  And all those people not helping Him are anti-Christ, in His own words.

Love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.  In his 1st letter to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds us that, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.”  In all of this, love does no wrong to others, so love meets our requirement of God’s command.  And we’re talking true love here, the kind of love Jesus showed, taking care of others, acting without any consideration of personal reward or recognition, showing God’s love through our love.

John says we Christians must keep ourselves pure, do what is right, act righteously in all things.  Jesus freed us from our chains of sin and now we must stay free.  For if we truly belong to God, we will be a new creation, cleansed of our sin and obeying God's word, just as we heard from Peter a few weeks ago.  In the 1st chapter of his 1st letter to the early church, verses 22 and 23, Peter reminds us that…

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

--1 Peter 1:22-23 (NLT)

We have not been given new life just so we can return to our old worldly life.  We have not been saved from death just to die again.

We have been shown great mercy and love by our heavenly Father God, and now we must show our love, our sincere love, by loving each other as brothers and sisters, loving each other with all our heart.  This is how to live the new life that Jesus has given us.  This is how to show we’re that new creation, by loving what the world would hate.  This is how we show we belong to God.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us so much that You would have mercy on us and send Your Christ, Your Son, to offer us forgiveness and freedom from our sin.  And thank You for the faith to believe in Jesus and to follow Him.   He was pure and without sin, but He took all our sin upon Himself and washed us clean.  Forgive us those times, please Father, when we return to our old sinful ways and the lustful life of the world.  Forgive us when we care more about ourselves than about others.  Please help us be more like Jesus.  Help us see others through His eyes, recognizing their need and acting on it.  And please, Father, shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You gave of Yourself for us, to set us free from our sinful life.  And all You ask is that we love one another.  If we truly do love one another, even our enemies and those who would do us harm, then we will try to help make disciples of them, so that they too can be saved from eternal torment and punishment.  Please forgive us when we slip back into our old ways.  Forgive us when we let the world whisper in our ear and tempt us.  We pray, dear Lord, that You please help us let go of the world and all its charms.  Help us refrain from sin and be more righteous as You are righteous, doing what is right in God’s eyes.  And help us love as You love: unconditionally, selflessly.  And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.

And Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.