{"id":19138,"date":"2017-02-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-047\/"},"modified":"2017-02-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-05T06:00:00","slug":"soteriology-047","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-047\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 047"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[110],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19138","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-jude","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 047","sermon_date":"20170205","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":5074,"sermon_slides":4327,"sermon_mp3":4331,"sermon_id":"251794584","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":110,"chapter_and_verse":"11","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 47, Jude 11\n\nFebruary 5, 2017\n\nFather, we thank\u00a0 You for today, thank You for a new month, and I do pray You\u2019ll be with us in our Sunday School class today as we try to continue to navigate our way through some difficult issues related to eternal security.\u00a0 And I do pray for Your hand of blessing on the worship service that follows, the communion table, fellowship after church and I just ask that Your hand would be in everything.\u00a0 And we lift these things up in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nIf you can open your Bibles to the book of Jude, verse 11, we are in Sunday School class, this class anyway, continuing to look at the subject of eternal security, which is a big deal.\u00a0 Eternal security is the idea that the God that saves you is the God that\u2019s going to keep you.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve gone through a lot of arguments favoring eternal security and the reason this series is sort of stretching out is we\u2019re responding to the passages that people use to deny security.\n\nHere\u2019s all the ground that we\u2019ve covered in that left hand column, and I added a verse; the verse is Jude 11, I was planning on getting into 1 John today which we may have time to do a little bit but I wanted to just make a pit stop at Jude 11. It says,\u00a0 \u201cWoe to them!\u201d \u00a0Jude, of course is speaking out against false teachers, \u201cWoe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.\u201d\n\nSo the word \u201cperished\u201d gives people the idea that these people were not\u2026 either they weren\u2019t saved or if they had salvation they lost it.\u00a0 So you might remember from the Old Testament what the rebellion at Korah was, I think it\u2019s recorded in Numbers 16 and it really has to do with that generation that came out of Egypt and they were in route to Canaan, and they had just failed at Kadesh-barnea because of giants in the land and they lapsed into unbelief.\u00a0 And\u00a0 they were a disgruntled people and so they all decided to rise up against their pastor, which happens to spiritual leaders sometimes.\u00a0 And God dealt with it pretty aggressively; I wish God would do this today sometimes in the life of the church, He just liked opened up the ground and all the dissenters disappeared into the earth.\u00a0 And then God said any other questions\u2026 I didn\u2019t think so!\n\nSo Jude is making a reference to these false teachers that they emulate this pattern of rebellion against authority, referring back to Numbers 16.\u00a0 The troubling thing is it says these folks \u201cperished in the rebellion of Korah.\u201d\u00a0 So does \u201cperished\u201d mean they went to hell or lost their salvation?\u00a0 As we have talked about when we were going through the problem passages in Hebrews one of the things to understand is\u2026 and I\u2019ve tried to make this point a number of times, is the folks that came out of Egypt were all believers so you shouldn\u2019t get the idea that those that rebelled in Korah\u2019s rebellion were some unbelievers in the mix.\u00a0 And I say that because that whole generation had placed the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts, and if they hadn\u2019t have done that then all of their firstborn would have been killed in the land of Egypt in plague 10.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0\u00a0 So they obviously exercised faith, that whole generation, just by virtue of their participation in Passover.\n\nAnd so then the Red Sea parts and they come out of Egypt and they\u2019re in route\u2026 about a two month voyage from where they came out on the other side of the Red Sea down to Sinai where they\u2019re going to receive the Law.\u00a0\u00a0 And this is what it says right after God closed the waters on the pursuing Egyptians.\u00a0 It says, as Israel was safely on the other side of the Red Sea it says, \u201c\u2026the people feared the LORD, and they\u201d what? \u201cbelieved in the LORD\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 [Exodus 14:31, \u201cWhen Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.]\n\nAnd I\u2019ve tried to make the point that that\u2019s the same Hebrew construction, the only difference is the switch from singular to plural. \u00a0That\u2019s the exact same Hebrew construction you have in the famous Genesis 15:6 passage, which says Abraham believed God and it was\u201d what? \u201ccredited to him for righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 And when Paul defends the doctrine of salvation by faith alone that\u2019s Paul\u2019s favorite verse to quote.\u00a0 He quotes it in Galatians, he quotes in Romans a number of times.\n\nSo since that\u2019s the exact same Hebrew construction here in Exodus 4:31 that we find in Genesis 15:6 my conclusion is that these people were all saved, in other words, they were justified before God.\u00a0 And Dr. Ronald Allen, who first alerted me to this Hebrew construction, one of my professors in seminary, he writes in a commentary, \u201cwhen we read \u2018so the people feared the LORD\u2019 and the words that follow we are meant to understand the community had come to saving faith, and so were a reborn people.\u00a0 They believed in the Lord (the same wording used of Abraham\u2019s saving faith in Genesis 15:6, and read Paul\u2019s comments in Romans 4) the people were transformed spiritually as they were delivered physically.\u201d\u00a0 And the reason I bring this up is because this is the same group, some of them anyway, that failed to trust God to enter Canaan and they also rebelled against God-ordained authority in the time of Korah.\n\nAnd so what people like to do is they say well, those that rebelled were the unbelievers in the group.\u00a0 If I\u2019m understanding this right there were no unbelievers in the group; these were all people that had come to saving faith, the best we understand it in the Old Testament.\u00a0 And these were people that had been justified before God but they were stumbling in which tense of their salvation?\u00a0 The middle tense, progressive sanctification.\n\nSo the issue with Korah\u2019s rebellion is not a loss of salvation; when God opened the ground up and swallowed the dissenters it\u2019s not getting into the issue of salvation at all.\u00a0 What was happening is divine discipline because \u201cwhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cchastens.\u201d Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelation 3:19.\n\n[Hebrews 12:5-11, \u201cAnd have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, \u2018My son, do not make light of the Lord\u2019s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, [6] because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 [7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? [8] If you are not disciplined\u2014and everyone undergoes discipline\u2014then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11]No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 3:19, \u201cThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.\u201d]\n\nAnd so what I would call Korah\u2019s rebellion and God\u2019s response to it is maximum divine discipline.\u00a0 In other words sometimes the divine discipline of the Lord can be so severe that God can actually take someone\u2019s life and take them home early (so to speak) even though that person happens to be a believer.\u00a0 And that\u2019s exactly what happens four times in the New Testament.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll rehearse all those verses to you because we\u2019ve been down this road before, but you\u2019ll see that in \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Corinthians 11:30, people were\u2026 by the way, we\u2019re celebrating communion today so this might be a good time to bring this up, people were drunk and disorderly at the Lord\u2019s supper and they were turning communion into a common meal where it was like, in Corinth it was like a day to play thing that they had going on there.\u00a0 And the poor were excluded and it was dividing the body of Christ.\n\nSo Paul says because of this\u2026 he doesn\u2019t say you\u2019re going to hell or you\u2019re not saved, he says because of this some of you are sick and have fallen asleep.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 11:30, \u201cFor this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.\u201d]\u00a0 He\u2019s talking there to believers and he\u2019s talking about chastisement against the believer in the maximum sense, which is ending someone\u2019s earthly life prematurely.\n\nI think John alludes to it in 1 John 5:16, we\u2019ll be going over to that passage probably next week, and you\u2019ll see Jesus alluding to the same thing in Revelation 2:22-23 as He is speaking to the church at Thyatira.\u00a0 He\u2019s speaking of maximum divine discipline. [1 John 5:16, \u201cIf anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 2:22-23, \u201cBehold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.\u00a0 [23] And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.\u201d]\n\nAnd of course the most famous case of it in the whole Bible is Ananias and Sapphira who were slain in the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Now a lot of people think being \u201cslain in the Spirit\u201d is something you should seek.\u00a0 I\u2019m not personally interested in being slain in the Spirit.\u00a0 There is very little doubt in my mind that Ananias and Sapphira were believers because Acts 5:11 says when this happened, because they lied to the Holy Spirit, and God took them home early, the whole church was afraid.\u00a0 So would the church be afraid if an unbeliever was struck dead?\u00a0 I kind of doubt it.\u00a0 The church was afraid because God dealt very severely with His own people and it had a purifying effect on the infant church.\u00a0 Now maximum divine discipline is common in the Old Testament.\u00a0\u00a0 You might recall we went through many, many passages where this happens.\u00a0 You might remember Nadab and Abihu, \u00a0Leviticus 10:1-2, [\u201cNow Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.\u00a0 [2] And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.\u201d]\n\nSo that\u2019s what I think is happening with Korah\u2019s rebellion; I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a loss of salvation issue or you never had salvation; it\u2019s speaking of the fact that God came into this rebellion that was happening and He took saved people and He took them home early.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s not out of character for the book of Numbers at all because we know that God allowed that whole generation to wander around forty years until they were all dead and these were all believers.\u00a0 And you say well how do you know that?\u00a0 Because Moses was in that group, right?\u00a0 Moses himself didn\u2019t enter Canaan and so what God was doing is He was bringing discipline upon a rebellious nation even though those people, I believe, died and went to heaven.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why a lot of the songs we sing we equate Canaan or the Promised Land with heaven, you know those kind of songs?\u00a0 That\u2019s not very good theology when we sing songs like that because Canaan is not heaven or else you have to argue that Moses Himself didn\u2019t go to heaven, which wouldn\u2019t make a lot of sense.\u00a0\u00a0 I mean, why would Canaan be heaven if you enter heaven and you\u2019ve got to fight giants once you\u2019re there.\u00a0 Is that a description of heaven?\n\nAnd by the way, the nation of Israel 800 years later was evicted from Canaan.\u00a0 So is that what happens when I get to heaven, I\u2019ve got to fight giants once I\u2019m there and I\u2019m there for 800 years and God\u2019s going to kick me out?\u00a0 So Canaan really doesn\u2019t represent heaven; Canaan represents a temporal blessing that the nation could have had above and beyond heaven. That\u2019s what that generation lost.\u00a0 And of course those at Korah\u2019s rebellion went further and they actually rebelled against God-ordained authority and so God, just as He was allowing that generation to wander around in the wilderness and die, 1.5 million of them, God expedited the proves with Korah\u2019s rebellion and intervened right there on the spot with maximum divine discipline.\n\nSo discipline from God is not the same thing as a loss of salvation; that\u2019s a mistake that\u2019s being made with Korah\u2019s rebellion, people think\u2026 they want to read into it they weren\u2019t saved or they lost their salvation but that\u2019s not the point.\u00a0 Discipline from God is not the same thing as a loss of salvation.\u00a0 And when you go through Jude and it\u2019s only one chapter, as I read it there\u2019s no commentary at all on a loss of salvation.\u00a0 There\u2019s commentary on unbelieving false teachers coming in but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s really what it\u2019s talking about here.\u00a0 Jude 11 is really not talking about a loss of salvation; it\u2019s warning about false teachers coming in from the outside but also false teaching emerging from amongst God\u2019s people.\u00a0 And as false teaching emerges amongst God\u2019s people God can deal very dramatically, can\u2019t He, and aggressively with that false teaching, even when it comes from the mouth of a believer.\n\nThe word that bothers everybody is the word \u201cperish.\u201d\u00a0 So notice again Jude 11, it says, \u201cWoe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and\u201d what? \u201cperished in the rebellion of Korah.\u201d\u00a0 Now when people see that word \u201cperish\u201d what verse do they think of?\u00a0 They usually think of John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not\u201d what? \u201cperish, but have eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 Well, there \u201cperish\u201d refers to hell, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 I mean, clearly, and so what people do is they read that understanding of the word \u201cperish\u201d back into Jude 11.\u00a0 And one of the key things to understand about Bible study is words can have multiple meanings.\u00a0 You take the word apple; how many meanings can you generate from the word apple?\u00a0 Well it could be talking about a piece of fruit, I could be talking about a computer, I could be talking about New\u00a0 York City, The Big Apple, I could be talking about the pupil of someone\u2019s eye, the \u201capple of their eye.\u201d\n\nSo you look up the word apple in a dictionary and you\u2019re going to see all these different meanings.\u00a0 So how do I know which meaning to supply?\u00a0 \u00a0What tells me?\u00a0 Context.\u00a0 The three rules of real estate are location, location, location.\u00a0 The three rules of Bible study are context, context, context.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Context is what gives words meaning and there\u2019s an error that people make when they study the Bible, it\u2019s called the lexical fallacy where they see a word and then they go to a dictionary and define what that word means regardless of whether the context supports that word.\n\nJames Barr, who wrote a book called The Semantics of Biblical Language<\/em>, coined a phrase for this called illegitimate totality transfer.\u00a0 And you have to watch theologians carefully because they do this all the time; what they\u2019ll do is they\u2019ll see a word, like for example in the Calvinist debate there are those that believe Christ did not die for the whole world, that He only died for the elect.\u00a0 And you say well what do you do with this, \u201cFor God so loved the world,\u201d doesn\u2019t that mean everybody?\u00a0 And they\u2019ll say oh no, no, no, what you\u2019ve got to do is you\u2019ve got to go over to John 12:19 where it says the whole world has gone after Him, Jesus on Palm Sunday.\u00a0 [John 12:19, \u201cSo the Pharisees said to one another, \u2018You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s not the whole world, they say, that\u2019s just the inhabitants of Jerusalem.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the same Greek word, cosmos<\/em>, world, so they take a meaning from John 12:19, the same word, and they read it over into John 3:16.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Once they go down that road they\u2019ve just committed the error called illegitimate totality transfer because they\u2019re not defining the word from its context, they\u2019re defining the word from what?\u00a0 A foreign context.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nAnd so that\u2019s kind of what happens with this word \u201cperish.\u201d\u00a0 People look at this word \u201cperish\u201d and they say it means hell elsewhere, which clearly it does, so that\u2019s got to be it\u2019s meaning in Jude 11.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Now the word \u201cperish\u201d is apollymi<\/em>, and it clearly can refer to hell in some contexts, like John 3:16.\u00a0 But it also can refer to something temporary, for example, notice Matthew 9:17, the same word \u201cperish,\u201d apollymi<\/em>.\u00a0 Notice how Matthew uses this word, it says there in Matthew 9:17, \u201cNor do people\u201d Jesus is speaking \u201cput new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are\u201d what? what does it say?\u00a0 \u201cruined,\u201d now that\u2019s the same word apollymi<\/em>, perish, and there it\u2019s not referring to hell, is it; it\u2019s referring to the temporary destruction of a wineskin.\n\nAnd beyond that apollymi<\/em> can also refer, not to hell but just to death.\u00a0 So notice Matthew 2:13, \u201cNow when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, \u2018Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to\u201d what? \u201cdestroy Him.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 You look that up in the Greek text and that\u2019s the same word \u201cperish,\u201d apollymi<\/em>. Now there it\u2019s not talking about Herod throwing Jesus into hell, how could Herod do that, he doesn\u2019t have the authority to do that.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about Herod\u2019s desire to do what to the baby Jesus?\u00a0 Kill him.\u00a0 So it\u2019s just talking about common death.\n\nSo there are times that this word does refer to hell, which we call the second death, John calls it the second death, but there are other times the word just refers to common death.\u00a0 And when you put all the pieces together I think that\u2019s how Jude 11 is talking about Korah\u2019s rebellion.\u00a0 It\u2019s not making a statement that these people went to hell; he\u2019s not getting into the subject of maybe they weren\u2019t saved.\u00a0 See, we read all this stuff into it because we\u2019re interested in that but we have to figure out what was Judah interested in?\u00a0 He\u2019s referring to an Old Testament story and I\u2019ve tried to put the pieces together to show you that this was a saved audience that did this rebellion, and it\u2019s talking about, I believe, the maximum divine discipline of God, which as we have seen is a prerogative that God sometimes opts for throughout Biblical history.\n\nSo \u201cperish\u201d in Jude 11 is not the same use of the word \u201cperish\u201d in John 3;16, same word, different meanings.\u00a0 And whether you agree with what I\u2019m doing with the word \u201cperish\u201d here or not is probably less important to me than if you under\u00adstand the method that I\u2019m using.\u00a0 I\u2019m allowing the context, each specific context to define the word \u201cperish\u201d because I know by looking at a dictionary that the word \u201cperish\u201d can mean many, many different things.\u00a0 So I have to be very careful about contextual Bible study when I develop the meaning of this word \u201cperish.\u201d\n\nNow you say well, are there any other places in the New Testament where the word perish does not refer to hell?\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad\u00a0 you asked.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 8:11, \u201cAnd through thy knowledge shall the weak brother\u201d what? \u201cperish, for whom Christ died?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the same exact word, apollymi<\/em>.\u00a0 And in this context it\u2019s not talking about people going to hell; it\u2019s talking about people stumbling in Christ because the whole context of 1 Corinthians 8 is the stronger brother\/weaker brother setting where you have people that have come to Christ that are not necessarily Jewish, they are\u00a0 Gentile, and they don\u2019t have any problems with eating food sacrificed to idols but you\u2019ve got other people in the flock that have just come out of\u2026 perhaps Judaism and they\u2019re now Christians and they\u2019ve been taught for 1500 years, going back to the Law of Moses that eating food sacrificed to idols is a sin.\n\nSo what do you do in that kind of circumstance? Even though the stronger brother has the right arguments, I mean you could make the biblical case that eating food sacrificed to idols is not a sin because we\u2019re not under the Law of Moses any more, we\u2019re in the age of the church.\u00a0 Well, the stronger brother is to do what with his freedoms?\u00a0 Curtail them for the benefit of who?\u00a0 The weaker brother so that you\u2019re violating his conscience, so that he has time to mature and grow. See that?\n\nAnd if the stronger brother rejects this principle of servanthood and just openly flaunts their freedom in the presence of the weaker brother, then what are you doing to the weaker brother?\u00a0 You\u2019re causing that weaker brother to perish, the same Greek word; now there it\u2019s not talking about you\u2019re sending the weaker brother into hell, right?\u00a0 Because I, as a human being, can\u2019t do anything to send people into hell.\u00a0 Mere human beings can\u2019t send other human beings into hell.\u00a0 What you\u2019re doing is\u00a0 you\u2019re creating an obstruction or a roadblock in that new believer\u2019s growth.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how the word \u201cperish\u201d is used there.\n\nThe scenario everybody likes to talk about is social drinking.\u00a0 To be honest with you I can\u2019t find a verse in the church age that says thus saith the Lord\u00a0 you shall never ever consume alcohol under any circumstances.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think what Jesus did by turning the water into wine He created grape juice; I get some Baptists mad at me for saying that but the steward says you brought out the good stuff for the end, remember, so it was real alcohol.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a freedom in Christ to consume alcohol beverages but what do you do when you\u2019re in a situation like I was in where I had a roommate and this was before I was married obviously and he was a recovering alcoholic.\u00a0 I mean do I just while we\u2019re hanging out in the apartment do I just go into the frig and open up an alcoholic beverage because I\u2019m right on a theological issue.\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t do that because if I did that I would be putting him back in a state of bondage.\u00a0 He\u2019s a new Christian, he\u2019s struggled with substance issues, and if I openly flaunt my freedom in Christ I\u2019m putting him back into incarceration or bondage, a soul for whom Christ died.\u00a0 So I am causing him, Paul says, to \u201cperish.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not sending him to hell but I\u2019m putting on him a temporal problem.\n\nThe only point I\u2019m trying to make is this word \u201cperish\u201d doesn\u2019t mean hell every time it\u2019s used.\u00a0 It can refer to some kind of temporal setback, it can refer to a premature death, although I\u2019m not arguing the fact that it does mean hell other places.\n\nRobert Gromacki, of 1 Corinthians 8:11 in his New Testament Commentary on the book of 1 Corinthians, of 1 Corinthians 8:11 makes this statement.\u00a0 \u201cThe weak Christian perished\u201d quote, \u201cin that he suffered loss, a sense of sin that affected his fellowship with God.\u00a0 The reckless use of liberty actually violates the purposes for which Christ died.\u201d\u00a0 So here he\u2019s acknowledging that \u201cperish\u201d isn\u2019t hell, at least not here, it\u2019s putting a spiritual growth roadblock in front of somebody.\n\nAnd so what I\u2019m trying to explain is when you see this word \u201cperish\u201d in Jude 11 we always want to rush in there and read into it they lost their salvation or they didn\u2019t have their salvation and I\u2019ve tried to make the case and I think it\u2019s consistent with how the word \u201cperish\u201d is used many times in the Bible, that contextually when you study Jude 11 it\u2019s not talking about hell, it\u2019s not talking about loss of salvation, it\u2019s talking about maximum divine discipline.\u00a0 And that\u2019s my best shot at that.\u00a0 Some of\u00a0 you might have questions on that which we\u2019ll open up to a little bit later.\n\nNow let\u2019s go into 1 John, 1 John 2:3.\u00a0 1 John, of all of the books of the Bible that are misused today I\u2019d have to put 1 John right at the top of the list.\u00a0 1 John 2:3, and I\u2019ve got 1 John 2:3, 1 John 3:9, 15, and 5:16.\u00a0 Those are passage that are appealed to perpetually to argue you can lose your salvation.\u00a0\u00a0 So 1 John 2:3 says, \u201cBy this we know that we have come to know Him, if we\u201d what? \u201ckeep His commandments.\u201d\u00a0 Well what if I today am not keeping His commandments?\u00a0 What if I had an argument with my spouse on the way into the church and said something I shouldn\u2019t have said?\u00a0 What then?\u00a0 Well, people read this verse and they say well, if you\u2019re not keeping His command\u00adments then maybe you don\u2019t know Him at all.\u00a0 Calvinism, because you\u2019re not what?\u00a0 Persevering in the faith, because in the Calvinist system you always have to persevere in good works to prove you\u2019re one of the elect.\u00a0 Or an Arminian comes along and says, \u201cBy this we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments,\u201d and they\u2019ll say well, you know, if you didn\u2019t keep His commandments then maybe you did what?\u00a0 You lost your salvation.\n\nSo 1 John, you see this all the time, people going to 1 John to prove the perseverance in good works or to prove you can lose your salvation and the reason people do that is they really don\u2019t understand the complete picture in 1 John.\u00a0 They\u2019re being given one viewpoint on 1 John.\u00a0 Now I want to give you what I think is the right view on 1 John which if you understand it, it will rescue you from all of these misuses of 1 John.\u00a0 And it\u2019s hard for me to do that unless I document to you who 1 John was written to.\n\n1 John, as you study it, was not written to people that maybe they\u2019re saved, maybe they\u2019re not.\u00a0 In the 21st<\/sup> century you can have people that come into a church that aren\u2019t saved.\u00a0 That happens all of the time in the 21st<\/sup> century; we\u2019re talking about the 1st<\/sup> century here where if you publicly\u00a0 identified with Christianity you were a candidate for execution under Rome.\u00a0 So people really didn\u2019t name the name of Christ unless they really believed it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how all of these New Testament books are written.\u00a0 So these New Testament, by and large, with probably the exception of the Gospel of John, are written to believers.\u00a0 And it becomes obvious when you just stop for a minute and look at some key verses in 1 John which reveal the audience.\n\nFor example, notice what John is worried about in 1 John 1:4.\u00a0 What is he concerned about?\u00a0 \u201cThese things we write, so that our\u201d what? \u201cjoy may be made complete.\u201d \u00a0John, as you probably know, wrote five New Testament books, The Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and which other book?\u00a0 The book of Revelation.\u00a0 So John is writing 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, right around the same time to the same group.\u00a0 In 2 John, only one chapter in 2 John and 3 John, verse 12 he says, \u201cThough I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your\u201d what \u201cmay be made full.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cJoy\u201d he\u2019s not worried about man you guys need to receive the gospel so you don\u2019t go to hell; he\u2019s worried about their walk of joy.\n\nIf\u00a0 you look at 1 John 1:8 he says, \u201cIf\u201d who? \u201cwe say,\u201d when he says \u201cwe\u201d John is identifying with the spiritual state of his audience. Was John saved?\u00a0 I think so, I hope so, he wrote five New Testament books.\u00a0 So when he says \u201cwe\u201d he\u2019s saying I\u2019m saved and you\u2019re saved.\n\nIn 1 John 2:1 he says, \u201cMy little children,\u201d that\u2019s not a description of an unbeliever; that\u2019s a description of a child of God and these people have been spiritually birthed through John\u2019s ministry so John calls them his spiritual children as well, kind of like Paul calling Timothy \u201cmy son in the faith,\u201d not just physical son but spiritual son.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll find John referring to them as children in\u00a0 1 John 2:1, 18 and 28, John 3:2, 7 and 18 and 1 John 5:21.\n\n[1 John 2:1, \u201cMy little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin\u2026\u201d\n\n1 John 2:18, \u201cChildren, it is the last hour;\u2026.\u201d\n\n1 John 3:2, \u201cBeloved, now we are children of God\u2026.\u201d\n\n1 John 3:7, \u201cLittle children, make sure no one deceives you\u2026.\n\n1 John 3:18, \u201cLittle children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 John 5:21, \u201cLittle children, guard yourselves from idols.\u201d]\n\nNow take a look at 1 John 2:12-14, this is to me very telling because he makes 8 descriptive phrases here which could only apply to a believer.\u00a0 \u201cI am writing to you,\u201d what? \u201clittle children, because your sins have been\u201d what? \u201cforgiven you for His name\u2019s sake.\u201d\u00a0 [13] \u201cI am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. [14] \u00a0I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.\u201d\n\nLook at these descriptive phrases here: \u201cyour sins have been forgiven,\u201d doesn\u2019t that sound like a believer to you?\u00a0 \u201cYou know Him who has been from the beginning\u2026 you have overcome the evil one\u2026 you know the Father.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cyou know Him who has been from the beginning.\u201d\u00a0 You are strong, the Word of God abides where?\u00a0 In you.\u00a0\u00a0 You have overcome the evil one.\u00a0 I mean very clearly you\u2019re dealing with a regenerated audience here.\n\nIf you look at 1 John 2:27 he tells them that they have the Holy Spirit\u2019s anointing,\u00a0 he says, \u201cAs for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 If you back up to verse 20 you\u2019ll see that this anointing is the Holy Spirit, \u201cBut you have an anointing from the Holy One,\u201d so they have the Holy Spirit, they have the Holy Spirit\u2019s illuminating ministry, there\u2019s only one way to get the Holy Spirit and that\u2019s to believe in Christ, right.\n\nHe is worried about them because of a loss of reward; that\u2019s what he\u2019s worried about; he\u2019s not worried about them going to hell, he\u2019s worried about a loss of reward.\u00a0 He\u2019s worried about them, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 John 2:28 of being ashamed at his coming.\u00a0 [1 John 2:28, \u201cNow, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.\u201d\u00a0 And then if you look at 2 John 8 he says, \u201cWatch yourselves so you don't lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive\u201d what? \u201ca full\u201d what? \u201creward.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s no fear in John that these people aren\u2019t going to arrive in heaven. He\u2019s worried about them arriving in heaven in an unrewarded state.\u00a0 1 John really starts to develop the doctrine of rewards.\n\nIf you look at 1 John 3:2, he says, \u201cBeloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like\u201d who? \u201clike Him,\u201d speaking of their glorification, it\u2019s a done deal.\u00a0 1 John 3:2 he calls them \u201cBeloved.\u201d\u00a0 And then in verse 21 and then three times in chapter 4, verse 1, verse 7, verse 11 he calls them Beloved ones in the faith.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[1 John 3:21, \u201cBeloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;\u201d 1 John 4:1, \u201cBeloved, do not believe every spirit\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 1 John 4:7, \u201cBeloved, let us love one another.\u2026 1 John 4:11, \u201cBeloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.\u201d]\n\n1 John 3:13 he says, \u201cDo not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.\u201d\u00a0 1 John 4:4 he says they\u2019re born of God.\u00a0 1 John 4:4 says, \u201cYou are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.\u201d\n\nSo he uses this expression born of God, overcomers.\u00a0 Now when you go to 1 John 5:4-5 he tells you who an overcomer is. \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes the world\u2026 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[5, \u201cWho is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?\u201d]\u00a0 So you are overcomers, 1 John 4:4 because you\u2019re born again, 1 John 5:4-5.\u00a0 As a Christian you\u2019re automatically an overcomer. Did you know that?\u00a0 Because the One who overcame now lives where?\u00a0 Inside of you.\u00a0 In 1 John 4:13 he makes reference to the fact that these folks have the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 [1 John 4:13, \u201cBy this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.\u201d]\n\nAnd I\u2019m going to explain to you really fast why all this is relevant.\u00a0 It says at the end of verse 13, \u201cHe has given us\u201d see how he keeps saying \u201cus\u201d?\u00a0 \u201cHis Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0So just like the book of Hebrews the right way to understand these troubling passages is to try to figure out who is he writing to.\u00a0 And I tried to lay out the case in both Hebrews and in 1 John that he\u2019s writing to believers.\u00a0 Now why is this relevant?\u00a0 It\u2019s relevant because 1 John poses seven tests.\u00a0 1 John 1:6 says, \u201cIf we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie [and do not practice the truth];\u201d that\u2019s a test of false fellowship, test number 1.\u00a0 1 John 1:8 says, \u201cIf we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a test of false sanctity, test number 2. \u00a01 John 1:10 says, \u201cIf we say that we have not sinned we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us,\u201d that\u2019s a test of false righteousness.\u00a0 1 John 2:14, \u201cHe that saith I know Him and keepeth not His commandments is a liar.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a test of false allegiance. 1 John 2:6, \u201cHe that saith he abideth in Him ought to walk even as He walked,\u201d that\u2019s a test of false behavior.\u00a0 1 John 2:9, \u201cHe that saith he is in the light yet hateth his brother is in the darkness.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a test of false spirituality.\u00a0 1 John 4:20, \u201cIf a man says I love God and hates his brother he is a liar,\u201d that\u2019s a test of false love.\n\nNow most people are aware of these tests because they\u2019re somewhat scary aren\u2019t they?\u00a0 And here\u2019s the definitive issue with 1 John.\u00a0 What happens if I flunk one of the tests?\u00a0 What happens if I flunk all of the tests?\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 And what you\u2019re going to discover is there\u2019s not one view on this; you\u2019re only getting one view. I don\u2019t know why the first view has the dominant market share today but it does.\u00a0 The first view is so dominant that\u2019s the only view I ever knew for years and\u00a0 years and years as a Christian.\u00a0 But if I was teaching this study a hundred years ago the dominant view would be number 2.\n\nSo the key issue is in these seven tests what is being tested.\u00a0 In other words, if you flunk one or more or all of these tests what does that mean?\u00a0 The first view is called the test of life view, that\u2019s the dominant view today.\u00a0 And what people will say is that\u2019s a test to determine if you\u2019re saved at all.\u00a0 That is a test to determine if you are in union with God at all.\u00a0 It\u2019s a test to determine your what?\u00a0 Justification.\u00a0 But lo and behold there\u2019s a whole different view to approaching 1 John, I have it at the bottom of the screen, where John is not testing life, he\u2019s testing fellowship.\u00a0 So this second view says,\u00a0 it\u2019s a test not to determine if you\u2019re saved but if you as a saved person are actually walking in fellowship with God.\u00a0 It\u2019s a test not to determine your initial union with God but your communion with God.\u00a0 It\u2019s a test not to determine your justification but your progressive sanctification.\n\nNow we\u2019ve gone over, haven\u2019t we, ad infinitum<\/em>, the three tenses of salvation?\u00a0 Justification, the past tense of salvation that I receive at the point of faith in Christ.\u00a0 Then comes progressive sanctification, my growth in Christ.\u00a0 And then comes either death or the rapture where I\u2019m perfectly glorified.\u00a0 So I have been saved, I am being saved, I will be saved.\u00a0 And most of the time when you hear expositors teach on 1 John and they teach on the seven tests they are applying these seven tests to your justification.\u00a0 And what they\u2019re doing is they\u2019re giving\u00a0 you a singular view on this, one view.\n\nJust to give you an example, one of the biggest proponents of this today is John MacArthur and he writes in his book, \u201cSaved without a doubt, how to be sure of your salvation,\u201d which to my mind is probably the most misnamed book in Christianity because people that come\u00a0 under this doctrine what they start to do and it becomes obvious when you counsel people, is they second guess whether they\u2019re saved.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because in daily experience we flunk some of these tests, don\u2019t we?\n\nSo John MacArthur claims that John wrote his epistle to provide eleven tests, now he\u2019s got a eleven tests, I just had seven, tests of genuine saving faith.\u00a0 These include subjective questions such as do you obey God\u2019s Word?\u00a0 Do you reject this world?\u00a0 Do you eagerly await Christ\u2019s return?\u00a0 Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life?\u00a0 Now notice the notion of the subjectivity of these questions.\u00a0 How do you determine if you really are eagerly awaiting God\u2019s return?\u00a0 I mean, I remember watching a college basketball game that went into double overtime and I wanted to see how it was going to end and I remember saying in my mind I hope the Lord doesn\u2019t come back before the game\u2019s over because I\u2019ve invested two and a half hours, I mean, my armpits were sweaty, I was yelling at the refs through the television set, so I wasn\u2019t eagerly awaiting for the Lord\u2019s return at that second.\n\nAnd it\u2019s these questions that people are given that are very subjective and so it\u2019s never exactly quantified how you meet each test.\u00a0 And so people walk around with these big question marks as to whether they\u2019re saved.\n\nHere is a scholar, Christopher D. Bass and his commentary on 1 John, published in 2008.\u00a0 He writes this: \u201cWe must remember that the first letter of John is laden with various sets of criteria or \u2018tests\u2019 by which its readers are to evaluate their religious claims in light of the way they conduct their lives. The believers life style therefore serves as either a vital support to his or her\u201d what? \u201cassurance or is evidence that he has never really passed over from death to life.\u201d\u00a0 [That You May Know: Assurance of Salvation in 1 John <\/em>(Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman, 2008), 182-83.]\n\nSee what he\u2019s saying there?\u00a0 You flunk one of these tests or more of these tests, maybe not just incidentally but regularly then you have grounds to ask yourself am I even a Christian to begin with.\u00a0 And you see how the Calvinist and the Armenian will camp on the test of life view to support their position.\u00a0 I do not believe that John is giving tests for justification.\u00a0 Why would I say that?\u00a0 Because we went through multiple passages, didn\u2019t we, in 1 John, 2 John, and even some in 3 John which to me very clearly indicate that the audience is regenerated.\u00a0 So if the audience is regenerated and Jesus has told us in John 10, remember John wrote the Gospel of John also, that once we are in the Father\u2019s hand nothing can take us out.\n\nI can\u2019t look at these tests and say well these are tests to figure out if you\u2019re saved or not; maybe you never were saved or maybe you lost your salvation.\u00a0 I think this is a test, not to determine justification but these are tests to determine\u00a0 your growth in what?\u00a0 Progressive sanctification.\u00a0 Now I get that conclusion by audience analysis.\u00a0 That\u2019s why you have to spend time figuring out who was this book written to because that will determine where you come down on this particular topic.\u00a0 So what I want you to see is there are two views of 1 John 2, not one but two.\n\nThere is the test of life view and then there is the test of fellowship view.\u00a0 The test of life view says if\u00a0 you have righteous conduct, love and truth then you know you were saved.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view comes along and says if you have righteous conduct, love in truth then you know that you\u2019re in what?\u00a0 Fellowship with God because I as a Christian can be out of fellowship with God and still be a Christian, just like I can get out of fellowship with my wife and still be married, because of sin.\n\nThe purpose statement of the test of life view is 1 John 5:13 \u201cso that you may know that you have eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 [I John 5:13, \u201cThese things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.\u201d]\n\nI\u2019ll be explaining to you in this series why I don\u2019t think that is the purpose statement of 1 John.\u00a0 I think the purpose statement of 1 John is found in 1 John 1:3, \u201c\u2026so that you also may have fellowship with us and \u2026 with the Father and with His Son.\u201d\u00a0 Both views take the same words and define them differently.\u00a0 When you see the word \u201cfellowship\u201d and \u201cabiding\u201d the test of life view says this is being saved, being in union with God or Christ.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view says no, this is being in communion with God, walking in His Spirit, knowing God.\u00a0 Both views take the same words and define them differently.\u00a0 The test of life view says knowing God means you possess eternal life.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view says no, knowing God means you\u2019re enjoying fellowship with God.\u00a0 Eternal life\u2014the test of life view says that means salvation.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view says no, that refers to quality of life in the Holy Spirit.\n\nLight or darkness, are you in the light or are you in the darkness.\u00a0 The test of life view says if you\u2019re \u201cin the light\u201d you\u2019re saved, if you are \u201cin the darkness\u201d you\u2019re what?\u00a0 Unsaved.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view says no, if you\u2019re \u201cin the light\u201d you\u2019re walking in fellowship with God; if\u00a0 you are \u201cin the darkness\u201d you are kind of like David who was still going to heaven but after he committed adultery and murder he was out of fellowship with God, he was walking in darkness that whole time period until he confessed his sin.\n\nHere\u2019s a larger chart, as if you guys wanted a larger chart. Test of life view says the tests figure out if you\u2019re saved, the test of fellowship view says the tests figure out if you\u2019re in fellowship with God.\u00a0 The purpose statement of the book is 1 John 5:13 according to the test of life view.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be showing you later why I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the purpose statement of the book.\u00a0 I think the purpose statement of the is found in 1 John 1:3-4.\u00a0 [1 John 1:3, \u201cwhat we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.\u00a0 [4] These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.\u201d]\n\nFellowship and abiding under test of life view says that determines union.\u00a0 Test of fellowship view says no, that determines communion.\u00a0 Now notice I have there John 15:5 in parenthesis.\u00a0 That\u2019s the Upper Room Discourse where Jesus is talking to eleven saved people.\u00a0 And Judas, the only unbeliever had left the building, left the Upper Room.\u00a0 So by the time Jesus gives the vine and the branches discourse He\u2019s talking to eleven saved people, and He talks about a branch in the vine and a branch out of the vine.\u00a0 Remember that?\u00a0 The branch in the vine is not just a saved person but it\u2019s a saved person walking in fellowship with God.\u00a0 The branch out of the vine is not an unsaved person but a saved person who has fallen out of fellowship with God.\u00a0 That\u2019s the point of the vine and branch discourse.\n\nNow one of these eleven was sitting there sixty years earlier in the Upper Room and heard Jesus say the whole thing.\u00a0 And one of those guys was who?\u00a0 John.\u00a0 And Jesus said when the Spirit comes He will guide you into all truth, He will bring all things that I have spoken to you to your remembrance.\u00a0 So John, same guy, sixty years earlier, that heard Jesus talk about this is getting close to his death and the Holy Spirit has him write 1 John, 2 John and 3 John, not to contradict what Jesus said in the Upper Room but to amplify it.\u00a0 And people look at 1 John and they say you know, except for a few occasions John really doesn\u2019t refer in 1 John to the Old Testament a lot.\u00a0 There\u2019s one reference to Cain who murdered his brother, other than that there\u2019s no Old Testament references.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a reason for that.\u00a0 John is building his case, not from the Old Testament but from what he heard Jesus talk about 60 years earlier.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s the right way to look at 1 John, it\u2019s a greater amplification or treatment of the truths that Jesus disclosed to His handpicked disciples, eleven saved people, sixty years earlier.\n\nKnowing God and the test of life view refers to eternal life; knowing God and the test of fellowship view refers to fellowship with God.\u00a0 Eternal life test of life view says eternal life is defined from John 17:3, if you believe in Christ you have His life. [John 17:3, \u201cThis is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.\u201d]\n\nThe test of fellowship view says no, sometimes eternal life can refer to the quality of life.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus in John 10:10 say \u201c\u2026I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.\u201d\u00a0 So I can be experiencing eternal life in the maximum sense or just possessing it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Galatians 6:8 says you ought to support doctrinally correct churches because you reap what you sow.\u00a0 [Galatians 6:8, \u201cFor the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.\u201d]\n\nDo you want a high quality of spiritual life, then you need to financially get behind churches that are teaching you this way.\u00a0\u00a0 Galatians 6:8 says, \u201cFor the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about financial provision for doctrinally based teachers so that they keep teaching you the Word of God, not because he\u2019s doubting whether they\u2019re saved, he wants them to experience a maximum quality of spiritual life.\u00a0 That\u2019s how eternal life is being used in 1 John, according to the test of fellowship view.\u00a0 Light, darkness, you\u2019re either saved or not saved.\u00a0 Test of fellowship view, you\u2019re either in fellowship or out of fellowship with God.\n\nNow what about judgment and fear?\u00a0\u00a0 The test of life view when John mentions in 1 John judgment and fear they think it\u2019s talking about hell.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view says no, judgment and fear is talking about fear of divine discipline and fear of an unfavorable ruling at the Bema Seat.\u00a0 Same words, different definitions.\n\nWhat about the Spirit?\u00a0 Test of life view says when John mentions the Spirit it\u2019s talking about possession.\u00a0 Unsaved people don\u2019t have the Spirit, saved people do.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view comes along and says no, when it talks about the Spirit in 1 John it\u2019s talking about the influence of the Spirit because I, as a Bible believing Christian have the ability to do what with the Spirit?\u00a0 Quench the Spirit, don\u2019t I?\u00a0 That\u2019s why it says, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, don\u2019t put out the Spirit\u2019s fire.\u00a0 Ephesians 4:30 to a believer, don\u2019t what the Spirit?\u00a0 Grieve the Spirit.\n\nSatan, because there\u2019s references here to children of Satan, test of life view says that\u2019s referring to unbelievers.\u00a0 May I just say to you that that\u2019s not the only way Satan is understood.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view indicates that Satan can have influence over a believer. Didn\u2019t Peter make a statement in Matthew 16 for Jesus to stay away from the cross?\u00a0 And didn\u2019t Jesus say to Peter\u2026 was Peter saved\u2026 I think so!\u00a0 Didn\u2019t He say to Peter \u201cget behind me Satan\u201d?\u00a0 Weren\u2019t Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:3, filled with Satan.\u00a0 [Acts 5:3, \u201cBut Peter said, \u2018Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Paul in Ephesians 4:26-27 say do not give who a foothold, the devil.\u00a0 [Ephesians 4:26, \u201cBE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, [27] and do not give the devil an opportunity.\u201d]\n\nSo when you see Satan in 1 John, the test of life view says well if you\u2019re under Satan\u2019s influence you obviously never were saved or you lost\u00a0 your salvation.\u00a0 The test of fellowship view comes along and says no, that\u2019s not what\u2019s being said here at all, it\u2019s talking about your out of fellowship with God and Satan is having influence over you as a Christian, although a Christian can never be possessed by Satan he can be influenced by Satan.\n\nSo anyway, we haven\u2019t even gotten to 1 John 2:3\u00a0 yet but I want you to see that how you handle 1 John, any issue in 1 John, is contingent upon which view you hold.\u00a0 I did a lot of talking, I\u2019m just going to stop talking and no doubt you guys have some questions and we may be answering your questions next week so be patient with me.\u00a0 Walk in fellowship with God, don\u2019t get mad at me.\u00a0 [tape ends]","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t