Putnam Church Message – 08/17/2025

Last week, we explored 1 John 1:5-10 with the focus of “God’s Light and Our Blight.”

This week, we continue through the letter of 1 John, and we will cover 1 John 2:1-11 as we explore how to live a ‘Clean Life’ with “Wise Words from a Family Meeting.” Let’s read 1 John 2:1-11 from the NIV, which is found on page 1899 of your Pew Bibles.

Books of the Bible are a little like museums. Some are large, focused on several themes treated in a logical, linear manner. Others are small, narrowing in on one particular topic. The book of 1 John is a moderately long letter and follows a meandering path around several themes that are on display. The apostle John, our personal tour guide through these topics, may lead us first to the matter of walking in the light, then to confession of sin, back to light, then to love, then to sin again, then to truth, back to light, and so on. For the more linear thinkers, it can get a little bewildering. But if we realize that John is taking us on a journey of transformation, we can trust that we won’t leave the museum having missed something important. We can enjoy the journey.

Because of the winding nature of the book, it helps to step back and remind ourselves of the big picture periodically: John wanted to communicate to his readers>that Spirit-enabled fellowship with the Father and Son produces a joyful life, a clean life, a discerning life, and a confident life.

We’ve already visited the first section, which focused on the joy that comes from intimate fellowship with God and others by walking in the Light. In this second section, John develops the truth that fellowship produces a clean life (2:1–17). Here, the tone becomes more personal. He addresses his readers with familial terms that suggest a close, endearing communion between them. When we share this kind of intimate relationship with God and fellow believers, it has obvious effects on our spiritual lives. We begin winning battles against sin. And we start loving others with the love of heaven—an unconditional, self-sacrificial love. Both of these help us experience what it means to truly walk in the Light.

Back in the 1980s, a best-selling book by Robert Fulghum delighted the world with a surprisingly simple thesis: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. In the opening pages of that book, Fulghum asserts, “Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.” Some of his basic rules of life are “share everything,” “play fair,” “don’t hit people,” “clean up your own mess,” and “say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.” Those simple rules resonate with us not only because they make good sense but also because we tend to forget them. I’m convinced that the more we return to the basics, the easier we’ll be to live with.

As we get deeper into our study of 1 John, it becomes evident that John is taking his readers back to the basics—not in a condescending way, but in an endearing way. He addresses them sincerely as members of a spiritual family—little children, fathers, young men (2:12–14). This is a “family meeting,” in which his readers are sitting at their spiritual grandfather’s feet and gleaning timeless wisdom. When he opens his mouth, his words aren’t meant to impress or to chide. This isn’t a rebuke or a scolding. These are words of loving instruction and concerned warning. This isn’t lofty sophistry but loving wisdom.

Hearing these wise words from a family meeting should change how we see ourselves. If John is placing himself in the role of family patriarch, we, too, should receive these words as his spiritual children, members of the same spiritual family. Don’t think of John as a crotchety killjoy, even though some of his language may be firm and convicting. He isn’t a puritanical curmudgeon. Remember, his words of exhortation and warning at this family meeting are meant to bring true fellowship and joy!

Let me present some notes from John’s family meeting in the form of “family rules for little children.” I see at least seven straightforward, basic principles in these eleven verses—six in 2:1–6 and the foundational command in 2:7–11.

John addresses his readers for the first time as “my dear children” in 2:1. The Greek term is teknion, a diminutive form of the word for “child.” In English, the diminutive form of “bird” is “birdie”; the diminutive of “dog” is “doggy.” Clearly, John wants to communicate close, loving affection, like a grandfather addressing small children. Because of this, as I outline what I see as John’s basic list of family wisdom, I’m going to follow his lead and present these principles as I would to a child. In fact, if I could write them in crayon, I would. Bulletin Insert

Rule 1: Don’t ever mess with stuff that gets you into trouble. That’s the gist of John’s opening words: “I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.” (2:1). Remember, John has just mentioned in the previous chapter that God will be faithful to forgive us our sins if we confess them to Him (1:9) and that all of us have sinned (1:10). The reality of ever-present sin in our lives and of God’s ever-ready forgiveness must never become an excuse to sin like there’s no tomorrow! John pulls up that weed of misunderstanding before it gets a chance to sprout. He’s not giving us an excuse to sin, but urging us to avoid it. Why? Because it’s dangerous.

Rule 2: When you foul things up, remember you have Someone who’s always in your corner. No matter what happens, we’re never alone. No matter how far we might stray into the murky waters of temptation and disobedience, no matter how wrong the action or how severe the consequences, “we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father” (2:1). This is the second time that John has made this point. Back in 1:9, he stated that if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

The word translated “Advocate” is paraklētos [3875], the same Greek word used of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[a] who will never leave you.”. It refers to “one who appears in another’s behalf” as a mediator, intercessor, or helper. Warren Wiersbe puts it well: “Christ is our Representative. He defends us at the Father’s throne. Satan may stand there as the accuser of the brethren (Zech. 3; Rev. 12:10), but Christ stands there as our Advocate—He pleads on our behalf! Continuing forgiveness, in response to His prayers, is God’s answer to our sinfulness.”

Like a defense attorney, Christ constantly pleads our case before the heavenly court. But a couple of key differences distinguish our divine Advocate from an earthly attorney. An attorney tries to defend a client’s innocence. Our Savior comes to our aid as we acknowledge our guilt. An attorney works within the law, arguing the merits of our case and trying to persuade a judge or jury of our innocence. Our Savior came to our aid by becoming “as a substitute for our guilt.” (1 Jn. 2:2). He paid the penalty for the sins of humanity. As the one perfect God-man, He took the place of all humanity through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. The term “atone” can be defined as an “offering that turns away (or satisfies) divine wrath against us.” When Christ steps in for the believer who confesses their sin, the divine Judge responds to our Advocate who has paid the price for the sins of the world, saying, in effect, “I’m satisfied. Case dismissed.”

Rule 3: Behave like a member of the family. The best proof that “we know Him” and therefore are members of God’s family is that we obey his commandments. (2:3). How many of us have heard an obstinate child look defiantly at an adult and shout, “You’re not my dad!” If children try that with their real fathers, though, there’ll be consequences! We obey God as our heavenly Father. And our obedience should come out of love and respect, not constant fear.

I wonder if John was reaching back in his memory to the Last Supper, where Jesus drove home this point: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.… He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and My Father will love him who loves Me, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:15–23). With each statement, the believer's relationship with the Father and Son becomes deeper, more intimate, more personal. Members of God’s family obey their Father.

Rule 4: No matter what you say, your actions tell the real truth. The old adage is true: Actions speak louder than words. Here’s another one: Talk is cheap. Anyone who announces, “I’ve come to know Jesus,” but doesn’t take a single step into the light or lift a finger to do what He commands is a hypocrite. John’s language in 1 John 2:4 is even stronger: that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. This is true of all our relationships. Imagine a man who says he loves his wife but constantly does things that hurt her—treating her disrespectfully, unfairly, or abusively. His actions say, “I don’t love my wife.” A man who truly loves his wife will treat her with dignity, respect, faithfulness, and kindness.

Now, before you misunderstand, this isn’t referring to someone who blows it occasionally. We all do that. We all snap at our spouses, shout at our kids, or neglect our families at times. That doesn’t mean we don’t love them. It means we’re frail, fallen, finite humans. The same is true of our relationship with Christ. The verb translated “doesn’t obey God’s commandments” in 2:4 is a present participle, which reflects a constant or habitual practice (in this case, disobedience). This is not simply a person who loves the Lord but occasionally fails to keep His commands. This is a person who says they love the Lord but is characterized by a constant sinful lifestyle.

Rule 5: Always remember that your obedience reveals how much you respect your Father. Whereas in 2:4, John draws the conclusion that a person who is constantly breaking God’s commandments lies about having come to know Christ, in 2:5, he looks positively at a person who habitually keeps God’s word. Even if we haven’t heard that person’s verbal profession of their relationship with Christ, we can see from their life itself how much love and respect they have for God.

When we see a woman constantly loving her neighbor as herself, turning the other cheek when wronged, giving sacrificially to those in need, showing hospitality to Christian workers, and contributing faithfully to her local church, we wouldn’t take her aside and ask, “Listen, do you really love and respect your heavenly Father?” Our question is answered before we even ask it—not by her words but by her deeds. Compare this to a man who treats others with disrespect, neglects the needs of others, and stirs up strife in the church. That man is rightly challenged regarding the depth of his relationship with the Lord. And if he says, “Oh, Jesus and I are tight. Like two peas in a pod. Super close,”/ we’re justified in our skepticism.

Rule 6: When you’re looking for an example to follow, choose Jesus. Another sure sign of a person who has spiritual family ties with the Lord is that they “ live their lives as Jesus did.” (2:5–6). If you’re looking for a hero to follow, take your eyes off the sports star, the influential politician, the high-rolling entrepreneur, or even the megachurch preacher. Turn your focus to Jesus. Put your feet in His footprints, take your cues from His life, study His ways, learn from His example, and emulate His actions. This means getting to know Him through a careful reading of, and reflection on, the Gospels. It also means falling so in love with the Savior that you can’t help but spend time with Him … and you spend so much time with Him, that you can’t help but act like Him.

Rule 7: Love your brothers and sisters. I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up in a family in which no one ever said, “I love you.” Or to live in a family that never showed affection through hugs, appreciation through gifts, or commitment through staying faithful in thick and thin. But such families are certainly out there. Maybe some of you here grew up in one of those families, and for your whole life, you’ve longed to hear those three words we all want to hear.

The truth is, we never outgrow these words, never get tired of them, never find a substitute for them. We say, “I love you,” and demonstrate our love in many different ways. Expressions of love are the lifeblood of relationships. Without love, a marriage or a family will shrivel and die.

In communicating these seven basic rules for spiritual family life, the apostle John focuses several verses on what is without question the most central principle: Love your brothers and sisters. No doubt, John emphasizes this rule because Jesus had driven the same point so deeply into His disciples’ memories decades earlier, not only in words, but also in deeds. John recorded this in the thirteenth chapter of his Gospel. He began with a profound statement concerning Jesus’ own love for His disciples:  He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.[a] (John 13:1). Jesus demonstrated this unending love when He washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:1–17). He modeled self-sacrificial, humble, other-centered actions as a sign of authentic love: And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15).

That experience likely changed the apostle John’s heart, mind, and actions, and he was probably never the same. At that moment, love was demonstrated to John. And when Jesus followed up His profound actions with clear words, the lesson would be etched into John’s soul forever. Jesus said, 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34–35). Now, I’m sure at least some of the disciples—steeped in the teaching of the Old Testament—would have known that the command to “love each another” wasn’t really “new.” It went back to the Law of Moses, where God says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the...