{"id":19141,"date":"2017-03-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-050\/"},"modified":"2017-03-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T06:00:00","slug":"soteriology-050","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-050\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 050"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[107],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19141","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-1-john","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 050","sermon_date":"20170305","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4436,"sermon_slides":4437,"sermon_mp3":4441,"sermon_id":"3517930172","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":107,"chapter_and_verse":"3:15","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 50, 1 John 3:15\n\nMarch 5, 2016\n\nThank You to Jim for filling in last week; I hope you guys enjoyed Jim\u2019s ministry.\u00a0 I\u2019m seeing people clapping, and if you didn\u2019t like it don\u2019t say anything because he\u2019s sitting right back there, you\u2019d hurt his feelings.\u00a0 Thank you, seriously, for filling in.\u00a0 I was in Washington State at the Steeling the Mind Conference so yes we did order some tapes for the church.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure when they\u2019re going to get here, probably about two weeks, something like that.\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and turn to 1 John 3:15.\u00a0 We are actually coming near the end, believe it or not, of this long study that we\u2019ve been doing on the doctrine of eternal security, having defined eternal security, having explained the arguments for eternal security, but then we decided to go deeper and really decided to talk about passages that seem to contradict eternal security.\u00a0 That\u2019s all the ground we\u2019ve covered up to 1 John 3:15 and after 1 John 3:15 we only have three more verses to do.\u00a0 We might be able to get these done this morning, maybe not, we\u2019ll see.\n\nBut 1 John, as you probably know, is filled with verses that people will go to, to deny the security of the believer.\u00a0 So notice 1 John 3:15, we\u2019ve already looked at some of the harder ones, 1 John 3:9 is difficult, but notice 1 John 3:15, it says, \u201cIf everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,\u201d I have to say that I really like how the Bible just gets to the point, it doesn\u2019t mess around.\u00a0 It\u2019s like John, how do you really feel.\n\n\u201cEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.\u201d\u00a0 So people look at that and they say okay, here\u2019s what it means; if you have hatred in\u00a0 your heart for your brother then you lost your salvation because it says \u201cno murderer has eternal life \u2026 in him.\u201d\u00a0 So that would be the Arminian slant on it.\u00a0 The Reformed or Calvinist slant would be if you have hatred in your heart for your brother then you never had a relationship with Christ.\n\nNow both of those views, losing your salvation or maybe you\u2019ve never had salvation, are troubling because we have examples in the Bible of people that were saved that were murderers.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Can you think of any?\u00a0 David.\u00a0 Go back even further, you have Moses.\n\nAnd when you go over to 1 Peter 4:12, just for a second, Peter seems to open the door, at least to the possibility that you can actually be a murderer and still be a believer.\u00a0 He says something very interesting,\u00a0 he says, \u201cBeloved,\u201d so is he speaking to believers or unbeliever?\u00a0 Believers!\u00a0 \u201cBeloved,\u201d then he talks about trials, \u201cdo not be surprised at the fiery\u201d trial that you\u2019re in.\u00a0 Then he goes down to verse 15 and he says, \u201cMake sure that none of you suffers as a\u201d what? \u201cmurderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;\u201d so what he\u2019s talking about there is if you suffer it shouldn\u2019t be because you brought it on\u00a0 yourself.\u00a0 It should be for a righteous cause.\n\nHe mentions some categories of being an evil doer, a troublesome meddler, a murderer, so that kind of opens the door to the fact that it\u2019s possible for a believer to be a murder, an evildoer or a troublesome meddler.\u00a0 So going back to 1 John I don\u2019t think he\u2019s saying if you\u2019ve got murder in\u00a0 your heart maybe you\u2019re not saved, if you\u2019ve got murder in your heart maybe you never were saved.\u00a0 And there\u2019s language in here that kind of shows me that the person he\u2019s dealing with is a Christian because he says right there at the beginning, \u201cif anyone hates his\u201d what? \u201cbrother,\u201d so you can\u2019t have a brother in Christ unless you\u2019re a what?\u00a0 A Christian.\n\nSo let\u2019s sort of unpack some of this language.\u00a0 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 What is eternal life?\u00a0 Most people look at eternal life as salvation but the problem is when you let John speak for himself he defines what eternal life is.\u00a0 So go back to 1 John 1, if you could, and verses 1-2, and this is really a key to unpacking a lot of these complicated verses, is to let the author speak for himself in the same book.\n\nJohn says, \u201cWhat was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life\u2014\u201c so who\u2019s he talking about here?\u00a0 Jesus, we touched him, we saw Him, we heard Him.\u00a0 Verse 2, \u201cand the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the\u201d what? \u201ceternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us\u2014.\u201d\u00a0 So John in his own book defines eternal life as Jesus, do you see that?\u00a0 And he doesn\u2019t just do it at the beginning of the book, he does it at the end of the book, so these kind of function like bookends, helping us identify what eternal life is.\n\nIf you go to 1 John 5:12, the end of the book, John says, \u201cHe who has the Son has\u201d what? \u201cthe life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.\u201d\u00a0 And then if you go over to verse 20 of chapter 5, he says, \u201cAnd we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and\u201d what? \u201ceternal life.\u201d\u00a0 So John, if we\u2019re just patient with his own book he tells us what eternal life means when he uses the term; eternal life means Jesus.\n\nAnd then another word that sort of has to be understood to put this together properly is this word \u201cabiding,\u201d the Greek word men<\/em>\u014d<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.\u201d\u00a0 So what is \u201cabiding\u201d? I believe that John is dialing back to his experience with the Lord in the Upper Room, where Jesus gave the Upper Room Discourse and the only people that heard Him say these words were eleven saved disciples.\u00a0 And the only unbelieving disciple in the group, Judas, left the building, remember, in John 13.\n\nSo with eleven saved people Jesus starts talking about a branch and a vine, a branch in the vine, a branch out of the vine, a branch in the vine bear fruit, a branch out of the vine does not bear fruit.\u00a0 And people want to bring into that all this maybe you\u2019re saved, maybe you\u2019re not concept but those are the furthest things from Christ\u2019s mind.\u00a0 He\u2019s not talking about saved or unsaved when he talks about the distinction between a branch in the vine and a branch out of the vine.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about whether a believer is in fellowship with God or not in fellowship with God, because if you bring in all this information about maybe they\u2019re saved, maybe they\u2019re not, it doesn\u2019t make any sense to the audience he\u2019s speaking to, which is eleven saved people.\n\nNow there was a promise that Jesus gave in the Upper Room, He says the Spirit will come and will bring these things to your remembrance.\u00a0 So sixty years have passed, John is now an older man, he\u2019s in his 90\u2019s, he\u2019s getting ready to die, he\u2019s the last living apostle, eyewitness, and so the Holy Spirit started to make good on His promise, and started to bring back to John everything that Jesus had said in the Upper Room.\u00a0 And so John is taking really Christ\u2019s teachings in John 15 that he heard as probably a 30 year old, and he\u2019s amplifying them in 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.\u00a0 And he\u2019s writing these books, particularly 1 John, to help us understand how do I know if I, as a Christian, am in fellowship with Christ or out of fellowship with Christ?\n\nSo one of the ways I know that I am abiding in Him, which is that Greek verb men<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, which is the identical verb that Jesus uses in the branch\/vine motif.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cAbide in me\u201d same word, \u201cand I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.\u00a0 [15] I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.\u201d\u00a0 So you see how Jesus keeps repeating abide, abide, abide?\n\nSo John, who was there to hear Jesus talk about his is using this same word, \u201cabide\u201d and he actually gives us a verse here to help us know if we are, as Christians, abiding in Christ or not abiding in Christ at any moment.\u00a0 So your position with Christ is secure, but at any given moment you can be in fellowship with Him or out of fellowship with Him. If you\u2019re in fellowship with Him you qualify for fruit bearing.\u00a0 If you, as a Christian, are out of fellowship with Him you can\u2019t bear fruit.\u00a0 So therefore I have to know at any given time am I in fellowship with Him or not in fellowship with Him.\u00a0 And how do I know.\u00a0 And John says I\u2019m glad you asked that question, I wrote a book on that, called 1 John.\n\nAnd in that context John tells us, he gives us a clue.\u00a0 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cEternal life\u201d is Jesus as John defines it, \u201cabiding\u201d is not salvation but fellowship. \u00a0\u00a0So how do I know if I\u2019m in fellowship with Christ.\u00a0 You ask yourself a very specific question\u2014who are you angry at?\u00a0 We can get angry at all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons.\u00a0 Are you angry at your parents?\u00a0 Are you angry at your past?\u00a0 Are you angry at your church? Are you angry at this person or that person that did this or that to you?\u00a0 And you know that at that moment of anger and resentment and bitterness that builds up you\u2019re still saved but it\u2019s impossible to be abiding in Christ at that moment.\n\nSo you can\u2019t abide in Jesus Christ and have anger in your heart towards somebody else because of a personal issue.\u00a0 That\u2019s what John is getting at; he\u2019s not laying down a test for are you all Christians or not, are you guys going to heaven or not.\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to explain are you abiding in Christ and qualify for fruit-bearing or not, because whether I\u2019m abiding in Christ or not abiding in Christ dictates the quality of fruit I\u2019m going to bear at that given moment.\u00a0 If I have to have some kind or barometer test for figuring out am I abiding or not abiding and John says what\u2019s the attitude of your heart towards your brother?\u00a0 How could you claim to be abiding with God, who is love, doesn\u2019t John say that in 1 John 4:8, I think it is. [1 John 4:8, \u201cThe one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.\u201d]\u00a0 \u201c God is\u201d what? \u201clove.\u201d\n\nSo we claim we\u2019re in fellowship with God who is love, but at the same time I\u2019m not loving towards somebody.\u00a0 So that is a dead giveaway that at that moment you\u2019re not in fellowship with Christ and therefore you need to do what?\u00a0 You need to exercise your right under 1 John 1:9, confess your sin to Him so that not salvation can be restored, you already have salvation as a promise from God, but so broken fellowship can be restored.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nAnd it makes sense that John would talk about fellowship in that verse because that\u2019s John\u2019s point in this book, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 1 John 1:3-4, which is the purpose statement of 1 John, \u201cwhat we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have\u201d what?\u00a0 salvation\u2026 no, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cfellowship with us;\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word koin\u014dnia,<\/em> \u201cand indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. [4] These things we write, so that\u201d you can be sure you\u2019re not going to hell\u2026 NO, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cThese things we write to you, so that our\u201d what? \u201cjoy may be made complete.\u201d\u00a0 John\u2019s whole book is about are you in fellowship with God?\u00a0 Are you in fellowship with us apostles who gave the teachings of God, because that will control not just your fruit-bearing as a Christian, that will control your level of joy; are you experiencing joy at all?\n\nSo if John is writing about this I\u2019ve got to have some kind of test for determining if I\u2019m out of fellowship or in fellowship and the dead giveaway is what\u2019s your attitude towards your brothers and sisters; is it an attitude of anger or is it an attitude of love.\n\n1 John 3:6, which is just a little bit before 1 John 3:15 says, \u201cNo one who abides in Him sins;\u201d now when we went through 1 John 3:9 a couple of weeks ago I tried to correct the idea that it\u2019s not saying a Christian never sins. [1 John 3:9, \u201cNo one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.\u201d] \u00a0If a Christian never sins then why would John give us 1 John 1:9, to confess our sins?\u00a0 What he is saying is if you are in fellowship with Christ you can\u2019t be in sin at that moment; they\u2019re mutually exclusive categories.\u00a0 You can\u2019t be in fellowship with Christ and be in sin, and you can\u2019t be in sin and be in fellowship with Christ.\u00a0 \u201cNo one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.\u201d\u00a0 I think those are more relational, ideas seen or known, we talked about that couple of weeks ago.\n\nAnd so now in 1 John 3:15 John is just giving the same truth but from an opposite angle.\u00a0 He introduces hatred, \u201cEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.\u201d\u00a0 So why is the subject of murder in your heart a big deal to God?\u00a0 Well because of the Sermon on the Mount, right?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus say something about that in the Sermon on the Mount?\u00a0 Over in Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus says, \u201cYou have heard that the ancients were told, \u2018YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and \u2018Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.\u2019\u00a0 [22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his\u201d what? \u201cbrother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, \u2018You good-for-nothing, shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, \u2018You fool,\u2019\u201d I think the Greek there is Raca<\/em> which means empty-head, airhead, \u201cwhoever says \u2018You fool\u2019 shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell\u201d it says.\n\nSo as the book of Proverbs tells us, chapter 4, verse 23, it says, \u201cGuard your heart with all diligence, because from the heart flow the issues of life.\u201d\u00a0 The Bible has a lot to say about our hearts, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 On the plane ride back I got into a conversation with a guy who was kind of into Zen Buddhism and these kinds of things, and he was basically trying to tell me he was a good person.\u00a0 And I said well, have you ever been angry with somebody?\u00a0 Well sure.\u00a0 Well, according to the Bible that makes you a murderer.\u00a0 Have you ever lusted sexually after somebody you\u2019re not married to?\u00a0 Well, yeah, I\u2019ve done that.\u00a0 Well, according to the Bible that makes you an adulterer.\u00a0 And then he says to me well, that\u2019s sort of an extreme interpretation, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And I said well, it\u2019s not an interpretation, I\u2019m just quoting the verse verbatim, I mean if you had a copy of the Bible we could pull it out right now and I could show you where he said it, I\u2019m not interpreting anything, I\u2019m just reading what the text says.\n\nSo, you know, the Bible has a lot to say about what\u2019s going on in our hearts, the attitude of our hearts.\u00a0 And so that begins to have a bearing, the daily condition of our heart begins to have a bearing, not on our eternal salvation but it has a bearing on our fruit bearing and our moment by moment intimacy with Christ.\n\nHow do I know if I\u2019m walking in intimacy with Him and therefore qualify for fruit bearing?\u00a0 Number 1, I can\u2019t be in sin at that given moment and number 2, I can\u2019t have hatred building up \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in my heart towards\u2026 certainly not a brother or sister in Christ, and I would say even another human being, so that\u2019s your test.\u00a0 And if\u00a0 you\u2019re failing the test it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not a Christian and that your salvation is insecure.\u00a0 What it means is it\u2019s a test to get you back into fellowship with God to exercise your rights under 1 John 1:9 and to have fellowship restored. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[1 John1:9, \u201cIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to \u00a0cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d]\n\nNow I have to admit that reading this book has some painful texts in it, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 But to be honest with you, when you think about it pain is not always a bad thing.\u00a0 In fact, pain is one of the greatest gifts God has given us because let\u2019s say I\u2019m walking on the beach and all of a sudden I feel pain through my feet, that alerts me to the fact that there\u2019s glass underneath the sand and if I keep walking this same path I\u2019m going to destroy my feet.\u00a0 So the pain that right then and there tells me to adjust my course or to put shoes on or whatever I have to do, and if I didn\u2019t have pain telling me that my feet would be wrecked.\u00a0 Of you have your hand on a hot stove and all of a sudden pain shoots through your hand, it tells you that your hand is on a hot stove; it tells you to do what with your hand?\u00a0 Move your hand, if you didn\u2019t move your hand it would be destroyed.\n\nSo I don\u2019t like pain any more than the next person but pain actually, when you think about it, is a great ally.\u00a0 And so these tests that John has given us here are painful but at the same time they\u2019re necessary to help us know, are we walking in fellowship with God or not walking in fellowship with God, because you miss out on the opportunity to bear fruit which lasts every moment you are out of fellowship with God.\u00a0 So you have to know, am I in fellowship or out of fellowship? Anyway, 1 John 3:15 is not an eternal security verse, it\u2019s a fellowship verse, it\u2019s a way to know if you\u2019re abiding in eternal life, Jesus, fellowshipping with Jesus.\n\nLet\u2019s go to another one here.\u00a0 The last one in 1 John, look at 1 John 5:16-17, another very common verse that people use to argue you can lose your salvation is the so-called sin that leads unto death.\u00a0 Now when I talk about this, that there is a sin leading unto death John never tells us what that sin is.\u00a0 So therefore is you ask me what that sin is I\u2019m going to say I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But there is apparently a sin out there that can kill you, so John writes this, 1 John 5:16-17, \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.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, if you see your brother committing a sin not leading to death pray for him.\n\nAnd then John says, but \u201cThere is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.\u201d\u00a0 In other words in God there are certain sins you commit where God has already determined that\u2019s going to terminate your life, so you can pray until the cows come home for somebody that has committed the sin leading to death and it\u2019s not going to help them.\u00a0 And John introduces all this information in a context where he says, \u201cIf we ask according to His\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cHis will He hears us.\u201d [1 John 5:14]\u00a0 So he is giving us information about what prayers are in the will of God and what prayers are outside the will of God.\u00a0 And just as a hypothetical example he talks about people committing a sin leading to death where God has already determined that that sin is going to snuff out their life and you can pray and pray and pray and it\u2019s not going to help.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we always like to emphasize that if we ask according to His what? \u201cHis will, He hears us.\u00a0 God is not obligated to answer my prayer requests that are beyond His will.\n\nAnd when you think about that, that\u2019s a good thing.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 I mean, do you want answers to things that God doesn\u2019t want you to have?\u00a0 You probably don\u2019t want that anyway because whatever it is is probably going to wreck your relationship with Him, so he withholds certain prayer requests and answers others.\n\nAnd then in verse 17 he says, \u201cAll unrighteousness is sin,\u201d and He reaffirms, \u201cand there is a sin not leading<\/em> to death.\u201d\u00a0 So He talks about a sin leading to death and a sin not leading to death.\u00a0 Now this is sort of 2,000 year old language we\u2019re trying to figure out what He\u2019s talking about here, we wish He\u2019d given more detail.\u00a0 And these are the kind of passages people will gravitate towards to build their doctrine on insecurity.\n\nIt reminds me of what Peter said related to Paul\u2019s writings at the end of 2 Peter 3.\u00a0 Peter says some of the things Paul says are hard to understand.\u00a0 [2 Peter3:16b, \u201cHis letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.\u201d]\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad that\u2019s in there because if John had difficulty figuring out Paul I don\u2019t feel so bad about it myself when I can\u2019t figure out Paul.\u00a0 But then Peter goes on and he says these ambiguous areas are the things that the unprincipled distort, unprincipled men, false teachers distort.\n\nSo what Peter is saying is false systems of theology are built on passages like this where there\u2019s not a lot of information given.\u00a0 And so if someone is building a doctrine on some very obscure passage you know that that doctrine is probably inaccurate or incorrect.\u00a0 There are things in the Bible that are a lot more clear on the subject of security than something like this.\u00a0 But nevertheless, the Arminians love this verse because to them it means if\u00a0 you commit the sin leading to death, they define death as loss of salvation.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice here that death is never defined, is it?\u00a0 He never says death equals hell, does he?\n\nSo to my mind there\u2019s another possibility for interpreting this.\u00a0 In the Bible there is a reality of temporal death; death, the Greek word thanatos<\/em>, is not a technical word. What is a technical word?\u00a0 It\u2019s a word that means the same thing every time it\u2019s used.\u00a0 Most words in the Bible, most words even in ordinary language are not technical words; they can have multiple meanings.\u00a0 You take, for example, the word apple.\u00a0 How many meanings can you generate from the word \u201capple.\u201d\u00a0 It can be a computer, it can be a piece of fruit, it could be New York City, the Big Apple, it could be someone\u2019s pupil in their eye, \u201cthe apple of their eye,\u201d\u00a0 So when I see the word \u201capple\u201d what meaning do I supply?\u00a0 What\u2019s the giveaway?\u00a0 Context!\u00a0 So it\u2019s the same with this word \u201cdeath.\u00a0 People see the word \u201cdeath\u201d they think it automatically means hell.\n\nNow death can mean hell in other contexts.\u00a0 For example John, two times in the book of Revelation talks about the Lake of Fire which he calls the what?\u00a0 The second death.\u00a0 So people take that meaning and they read it in here and they say well, you can commit a sin as a Christian because this person apparently is a Christian, \u201cif anyone sees his brother,\u201d it looks like they\u2019re a Christian, and then it talks about they commit this sin and it leads to death, and Arminians come along and say well there we have it, they committed a sin, they went into death, I\u2019m going to go way over into the book of Revelation and define death as the second death.\u00a0 So there we have it, you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 And what they\u2019re not telling you is the word \u201cdeath\u201d is not a technical word.\u00a0 It means, many, many things depending on its context.\n\nAnd there is a reality in the Bible of temporal death.\u00a0 Romans 6:23 says, \u201cFor the wages of sin is\u201d what? \u201cdeath,\u201d if you commit a sin it\u2019s going to bring death at all kinds of different levels.\u00a0 One of the things it will do is it will bring into your life temporal consequences.\u00a0 David, I believe, experien\u00adced temporal death when he committed first adultery, then murder, because Nathan, the prophet, said the sword will never depart from your house.\u00a0 That\u2019s not talk about people going to hell, it\u2019s talking about constant bloodshed and warfare all his days, because of that particular sin that he committed in 2 Samuel 11.\n\nYou can go out today and shack up with prostitutes or whatever, maybe you\u2019re still going to heaven but look at all of the diseases you have brought into your body, look at the guilt you\u2019ve brought into your life, look at the destruction that that sin would bring.\u00a0 See, that\u2019s the reality of temporal death. Of you go out after the church service and you just max out all your credit cards.\u00a0 Well, you just brought death to your financial security; you\u2019re still going to heaven but your finances, there\u2019s a certain level of death that has come in and injured your financial prosperity, your security for the future financially, and those kind of things.\n\nYou get in the car on the way home and you scream at your spouse, because you\u2019re mad about something, you\u2019re still married and you\u2019re still going to heaven but you\u2019re going to have a pretty rough afternoon as a married couple because you\u2019ve just brought death, temporally, have you not, to your fellowship with God.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s what John is talking about here; he\u2019s not talking about loss of salvation, he\u2019s talking about the prospect of temporal death because sin is of such a nature that it just kills thing after thing after thing in your life.\u00a0 It\u2019s ultimate price is the second death if you\u2019re not \u201cin Christ\u201d but there\u2019s all kinds of death you experience even before you get to that point.\n\nSo if you look at the book of James for a minute, chapter 1, verses 14-16, James is talking about the reality of temporal death because he says, first of all in verse 2, \u201cConsider it all joy, my\u201d what? \u201cbrethren,\u201d does that mean James\u2019 audience is saved or unsaved?\u00a0 Saved, they\u2019ve got to be saved because in verses 3-4 he says, \u201cknowing that the testing of your\u201d what? \u201cfaith produces endurance.\u201d\u00a0 That means people have faith.\u00a0 [4\u201dAnd let endurance have its<\/em> perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.\u201d]\u00a0 So in the midst of that James says in verses 14-16, he talks about sin in the life of the Christian, \u201cBut each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own\u201d what? \u201clust. [15] Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.\u201d\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s talking about hell?\u00a0 NO IT\u201dS NOT, look at the next verse, verse 16, \u201cDo not be deceived, my beloved\u201d what? \u201cbrethren.\u201d\u00a0 This is talking about people who are on their way to heaven but if you cater to the sin nature and allow sin into your life it\u2019s going to bring death.\u00a0 It\u2019s not talking about the second death, it\u2019s talking about the reality of temporal death.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 It\u2019s going to kill your finances, it\u2019s going to kill your body, it\u2019s going to cause guilt and on and on we could go tabulating these consequences.\n\nSo in 1 John 5:16-17 when he talks about sin leading to death it\u2019s very legitimate to interpret death, not as the second death, but it\u2019s temporal death.\u00a0 Another option is to look at the prospect or possibility of maximum divine discipline, \u201cWhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cchastens.\u201d\u00a0 [Hebrews 12:6, \u2018\u201cFOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 And sometimes the chastening process of God is so severe that he could kill somebody and take them home early.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we call maximum divine discipline.\n\nNow do we have examples of that in the New Testament?\u00a0 We sure do, we\u2019ve got four. We\u2019ve got Ananias and Sapphira, who were slain in the Holy Spirit, meaning they were killed because they lied to the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 And we know that they were Christians because in Acts 5:11 what does the say?\u00a0 The whole church was filled with fear when this happened.\u00a0 [Acts 5:11, \u201cAnd great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.\u201d]\n\nSo I\u2019m not sure the Christian church would be gripped with fear if an unbeliever was killed.\u00a0 So the sin was of such severity, lying to the Spirit and it was going to contaminate the infant church that the Lord took these two and killed them right there on the spot.\u00a0 That would be an example of \u201csin leading unto death.\u201d\u00a0 [1 John 5:16b, \u201cThere is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.\u201d]\u00a0 It\u2019s not saying Ananias and Sapphira went to hell; it says they went through the chastening process of such severity that God exercised maximum divine discipline on them.\n\n1 Corinthians 11:30, and this is good to know because we\u2019re taking communion this morning, we don\u2019t want the Lord to kill anybody in our congregation, do we?\u00a0 1 Corinthians 11:30 says, \u201cFor this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number have fallen asleep.\u201d\u00a0 Now when Paul says\n\n\u201casleep\u201d it\u2019s a euphemism for death; it\u2019s a polite way of saying death.\u00a0 And he\u2019s talking about Christians in Corinth who were basically what, if you can imagine this, drunk and disorderly at the Lord\u2019s Table.\u00a0 So they were coming to the communion table inebriated, they had actually taken the communion table and turned it into a common meal.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Paul says don\u2019t you have homes to eat your food normally.\u00a0\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 11:22, \u201cWhat! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink?\u201d]\u00a0 And beyond that it was a\u2026.\u00a0 of pay type of situation that they set up where if you had resources you could partake of the Lord\u2019s Table, if you were poor and didn\u2019t have resources you were excluded.\u00a0 And Paul says is not the body of Christ divided when you do this.\u00a0 Because of the way they were partaking of the Lord\u2019s Table the Lord came in with divine discipline, into Corinth, to such a degree that some of these Corinthian Christians were disciplined to the point of death.\n\nWe have in 1 John 5:16-17 the sin that leads unto death, which we just talked about.\u00a0 And then over in the book of Revelation 2:22-23 Jesus talks about maximum divine discipline in Thyatira. He says, \u201cBehold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness,<\/em> and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. \u201cAnd I will kill her children with pestilence,\u201d well why are you doing that Lord, so \u201call 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\u00a0 So in essence what happened in Thyatira they were committing a sin of some sort and the Lord basically killed certain people of Thyatira so the rest of the churches would get the picture that holiness is a big deal to God.\u00a0 Now in none of these passages did it say these people went to hell or lost their salvation; it\u2019s talking about maximum divine discipline.\n\nSo therefore that, I think, is the right way to handle 1 John 5:16-17, rather than reading a \u201csin unto death\u201d as the second death, the way Arminians do, teaching you can lose your salvation, you have other options on the table, such as the reality of temporal death, which we\u2019ve talked about.\u00a0 And also the reality of maximum divine discipline.\u00a0 So therefore I don\u2019t have to interpret 1 John 5:16-17, the sin that leads unto death, as a loss of salvation, I have other possibilities.\u00a0 So I\u2019m picking options that I think best harmonize with other very clear statements in the Bible which say once saved always saved.\u00a0 See when you pick an option\u00a0 you don\u2019t want to pick one that contradicts the rest of the Bible, do you?\u00a0 Because God can\u2019t contradict Himself.\u00a0 He can\u2019t say one thing on Monday and something different on Tuesday.\n\nSo when I\u2019m in a difficult passage like this and I have three options is this temporal death, is this maximum divine discipline, or is this the second death, I\u2019m going to probably gravitate towards the one that doesn\u2019t contradict everything else that has been revealed on the subject of eternal security.\n\nAnd the Arminian system just doesn\u2019t do that, it picks the option that contradicts everything else. Why would I want to do that when I\u2019ve got other options on the table?\u00a0 Are you with me on that?\n\nSo 1 John 5:16-17 is not a loss of salvation verse at all; it\u2019s a divine discipline, maximum divine discipline verse or a temporal death verse.\n\nLeaving 1 John we\u2019re now moving to what?\u00a0 The last book of the Bible, we\u2019re progressing.\u00a0 And we only have two in the book of Revelation to consider.\u00a0 Revelation 3:5, and once again these are all passages people use to argue you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 A very popular one is Revelation 3:5, I had this thrown at me at this church by somebody.\u00a0\u00a0 You know when I stand out there at the door and do the pastor thing, greet everybody, people like to come by and lob theological hand grenades at\u00a0 you, and it was my second or third Sunday here and someone says do you believe you can lose your salvation?\u00a0 I said no.\u00a0 They go well you need to read\u2026 as if I\u2019ve never read it, you need to read Revelation 3:5.\u00a0\u00a0 And the person who said that was\u2026 no, I won\u2019t do that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to pick on Earle [can't understand word] like that.\u00a0 Just kidding, just kidding.\n\nRevelation 3:5, Jesus is speaking to the church at Sardis, \u201c'He who overcomes\u201d this is the Greek word, overcome, the Greek word nika\u014d<\/em>, by the way, does anybody have any Nike sneakers; that\u2019s where that comes from, overcome-victor, comes from that Greek word Nike, which the shoe company stole from the Bible.\u00a0 I used to wear Air Jordans but that didn\u2019t help my jumping ability so\u2026 \u201cHe who overcomes\u201d nika\u014d<\/em> \u201cwill thus be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from The Book of Life.\u201d Oh my gosh, you mean God has white-out where He can look at someone\u2019s name in The Book of Life and just erase them, because The Book of Life is a record of people who have trusted in Christ.\u00a0 So this seems to\u00a0 open the door that the Lord just gets out his white-out or his eraser or his magic marker or whatever he does and if you\u2019re not an overcoming Christian He just erases your name.\u00a0 \u201cHe who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from The Book of Life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.\u201d\n\nSo people look at this verse and they say well that clearly opens the door to the possibility that you can have your name erased from The Book of Life.\u00a0 In other words, you could be in The Book of Life and then be out of The Book of Life.\u00a0 And the Lord will look at you and say you were in The Book of Life and I took you out of The Book of Life because you didn\u2019t overcome.\u00a0 So therefore the Arminian system puts all the pressure on who?\u00a0 On YOU to be an overcoming Christian.\u00a0 And if you are not an overcoming Christian, whatever that means, it\u2019s never defined, is it, then the possibility is there for the Lord to erase you from The Book of Life.\u00a0 This is one of the big problems with Arminianism, is you are your own savior.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 What keeps you saved is you.\u00a0 I mean, maybe you got in the door by God\u2019s grace but whether you\u2019re going to stay in the door or not is up to you.\n\nAnd I don\u2019t know how to articulate that other than to call it what it is; that\u2019s works based salvation, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t stand here today thinking that my good works got me in the door, and I don\u2019t stand here today thinking that my good works keep me in the door. If I were to teach either the first we call front-loading the gospel, the second we call back-loading the gospel.\u00a0 Front-loading is do X, Y and Z to get saved; most evangelicals reject that, but then they buy into back loading which is just as severe as front loading.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to do X, Y and Z to stay saved.\u00a0 You front load the gospel, you backload the gospel, there\u2019s no nicer way of saying it, you\u2019re teaching works salvation.\u00a0 Your mind is devoid of the grace of God and the gift of God.\n\nBut you can see how at first glance people read this and it looks like oh my gosh, I\u2019ve got to stay an overcomer and if I don\u2019t stay an overcomer then God is going to erase me from the book of life.\u00a0 So this is a very popular Arminian text.\u00a0 So how would we handle this?\u00a0 The easiest way of handling it is to understand that if you read prior revelation, what you\u2019ll quickly see is you, as a Christian, are already an overcomer.\u00a0 God has given you the designation overcome already.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because you\u2019re overcoming does not depend on\u00a0 you; it depends upon He who what?\u00a0 Lives inside of you.\u00a0 And if you are secure, even if you wander back into sin, you\u2019re still going to die and go to heaven, so automatically you\u2019re an overcomer, whether you like it or not as a Christian.\n\nAnd the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, chapter 8, verse 37\u2026 see what people are doing?\u00a0 They\u2019re going to the last book of the Bible, they\u2019re building a doctrine from the last book of the Bible and they\u2019re not paying attention to everything the Bible has said up until the last book of the Bible to define a term used in the last book of the Bible. And that\u2019s a very poor method of Bible interpretation.\u00a0 Revelation is pretty much recapitulating information we already have in the Bible.\u00a0 So we go earlier in the Bible we discover what an overcomer actually is.\n\nSo notice Romans 8:37, \u201cBut in all these things\u201d now what things?\u00a0 Tribulation, distress, spiritual warfare, \u201cBut in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through\u201d my own will power, no, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cthrough Him who\u201d what? \u201cloved us.\u201d\u00a0 So automatically, because Jesus lives in me I am already an overcomer and by the way, that\u2019s the same word Nike used, nika\u014d<\/em>, same word in Revelation 3:5.\u00a0 Now you\u2019ll notice that Paul adds a little prefix to the word \u201covercomer,\u201d he uses the word huper<\/em>, which essentially means a super overcomer. You are automatically an overwhelm\u00adingly overcomer or conqueror.\u00a0 You say well, I don\u2019t deserve it.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s why you are what you are, because it\u2019s not based on what you do; it\u2019s based on what Christ has already done for you that He lives in you and the promises He\u2019s given you.\u00a0\u00a0 So that\u2019s the same word overcomer, nika\u014d<\/em>, where we get the word Nike, but Paul actually adds a prefix, huper<\/em> I think is how they pronounce that, which means the super overcomer and overwhelming overcomer, that is your designation as a child of God.\n\nAnd you say well, that\u2019s Paul in Romans, do you have anything in John that teaches this, because John wrote Revelation 3:5, right, Christ said it, John recorded it.\u00a0 And notice what Jesus says towards the end of the Upper Room Discourse.\u00a0 John 16:33, this is just before His departure and the Holy Spirit would come and empower His disciples.\u00a0 Jesus says, \u201cThese things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation,\u201d amen!\u00a0 Do you guys like the promises of God?\u00a0 Here\u2019s a promise, \u201cIn the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have\u201d what? \u201covercome\u201d that\u2019s the same Greek word, nika\u014d<\/em> where we get the word Nike or conqueror.\u00a0 So Jesus says I\u2019m sending you out into the big bad world out there and you\u2019re going to have all kinds of problems but take courage, I\u2019ve already overcome.\n\nNow let me ask you a basic question; this Jesus, who\u2019s already overcome the world, where is He currently living, according to the same Upper Room Discourse that Jesus was unfolding to the eleven.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to live inside of them through the Spirit which is going to come on which day?\u00a0 The day of Pentecost, \u201cnot many days from now.\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 1:15, \u201cfor John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.\u201d]\n\nSo when you look at this same sermon and\u00a0 you go back to John 14:16 he says, \u201cI will ask the Father, and He will give you another\u201d what? \u201cHelper,\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word paraclete<\/em>, which refers to the one who comes alongside and assists.\u00a0 \u201cI will ask the Father, and He will give you a Helper,\u00a0 that He may be with you\u201d for most of\u00a0 your life, no, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cHe will be with you what? \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0 And then if you go down to verse 18 He says, \u201cI will not leave you as orphans; I am will come to you.\u201d\n\nSo the one who has already overcome the world now lives where permanently?\u00a0 In us, in the child of God.\u00a0 So if the one who has already overcome the world is permanently residing within the child of God and He cannot leave us, because He\u2019s in us forever, that automatically makes you a what?\u00a0 An overcomer.\n\nTake a look at 1 John 5:4-5.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re back in 1 John to interpret the word \u201covercomer\u201d in Revelation 3.\u00a0 John tells you exactly what an overcomer is.\u00a0 \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes\u201d that\u2019s the same Greek word, nika\u014d,<\/em> \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,\u201d there He uses overcomer a second time, \u201cthe world, even our faith.\u201d\u00a0 Now look at this: \u201cWho is it that overcomes\u201d are you curious about that?\u00a0 The same Greek word, nika\u014d,<\/em> \u00a0\u201cWho is the one that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the\u201d what? \u201cSon of God.\u201d\u00a0 John just defined for us who the overcomer is, in 1 John 5:4-5.\n\nHe\u2019s told us that everyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ is automatically an overcomer.\u00a0 So we have Romans 8:37, everyone that\u2019s a Christian is automatically an overcomer.\u00a0 We have John 16:33 which tells us that Jesus is the overcomer but He lives inside of us.\u00a0 We have 1 John 5:4-5 which tells us that everyone who is a Christian is automatically an overcomer.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the Bible makes all of these bold statements that it does.\n\nFor example, in 1 John 4:4 John says, \u201c\u2026greater is He who is in you than he who is\u201d what? \u201cin the world.\u201d\u00a0 So with that background in mind are we ready now to read Revelation 3:5?\u00a0 And here\u2019s the problem; people are going to Revelation 3:5, they see the word \u201covercomer\u201d and they define it however they want to define it and they\u2019re not paying attention to the verses that I just went through.\u00a0 When we read Revelation 3:5 John is expecting that we\u2019ve already read all the other verses, that we\u2019ve just went through.\n\nSo with that background in mind let\u2019s read Revelation 3:5.\u00a0 \u201cHe who overcomes\u201d who\u2019s an overcomer?\u00a0 All believers.\u00a0 \u201cHe who overcomes\u201d an interchangeable term for that, a synonym for that would be all the believers, nika\u014d<\/em> \u201cwill thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not\u201d now when he says \u201cwill not\u201d it\u2019s an ou m\u0113<\/em> construction which basically is two negatives back to back.\u00a0 And in the Greek language when you have two negatives together that\u2019s the strongest negation you could possibly give linguistically.\u00a0 It\u2019s like when my daughter, who\u2019s ten years old, going on eleven next month, says Dad, can I have the keys to the car?\u00a0 And I say NO, NO, NO, NO!\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not giving an eleven year old the keys to the car.\u00a0 And so I say NO in the strongest way I can say it.\u00a0 When you have a double negation in the Greek that is the strongest negation you can have.\n\n\u201cHe who overcomes\u201d you can just substitute the world all believers, \u201cwill thus be clothed in white garments and I will not,\u201d in other words, never, it\u2019s an impossibility this would ever happen, \u201cI will NEVER erase his name from the book of life.\u201d\u00a0 So if you properly understand who the overcomers are and you define overcomer by how John has defined the same term himself, how Christ has defined the term, the same term itself, and now the apostle, Paul, has defined the same term himself, and you understand overcomer equals all believers, rather than in insecurity passage this becomes one of the greatest passages arguing for what?\u00a0 The security of the believer.\u00a0 This actually, if you understand who the overcomers are, this actually becomes a great proof text, not for Arminianism but for the doctrine of eternal security.\n\nSo this is what\u2019s so interesting about how they turn this verse into something that makes it look like you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 In fact, if you define overcomer by prior revelation, as I\u2019ve just done, then this becomes one of the greatest texts that you can never lose your salvation.\u00a0 So a good verse that promises that a believer will never be blotted out of The Book of Life<\/em> does not make a good proof text for denying eternal security.\n\nNow there\u2019s a couple of troubling ones in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Exodus 32:32, \u201cBut now, if You will, forgive their sin-- and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!\u201d Moses is praying that.\u00a0 Psalm 69:28, David writes, \u201cMay they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous.\u201d\u00a0 Now here\u2019s what you\u2019ve got to get straight; what book is he talking about here?\u00a0 There\u2019s a book of physical life and there\u2019s the book of eternal life.\u00a0\u00a0 Typically in the Old Testament it\u2019s referring to the book of physical life; typically in the New Testament it\u2019s talking about the book of eternal life.\n\nThe book of physical life is a record of everyone that\u2019s been born physically into the world.\u00a0 The book of eternal life is a book of everyone that\u2019s been spiritually born.\u00a0 So when the Old Testament, Exodus 32:32 and Psalm 69:28 talks about blotting people\u2019s name out of the book it\u2019s not talking about the book of eternal life, it\u2019s talking about the book of physical life.\u00a0 So when Moses says this, \u201cBut now, if You will, forgive their sin-- and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!\u201d he\u2019s not saying I want to lose my salvation and go to hell.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying kill me, Moses is saying, blot me out from the physical book.\n\nDavid, in his prayer, which is what we call an imprecatory prayer, where he\u2019s calling down judgment on God\u2019s enemies, in Psalm 69:28, says, \u201cMay they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous.\u201d\u00a0 He is saying Lord, kill those people.\u00a0 That\u2019s what David is saying.\u00a0 David prays death for Messiah\u2019s persecutors in this psalm.\u00a0 And these occurrences have nothing to do with the book of eternal life that we just studied in Revelation 3:5.\u00a0 You can never be erased if you understand who the overcomer is, from the book of eternal life because of the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 However, the Bible does talk about some people, Moses being one, David being another, speaking of Messiah\u2019s persecutors, who potential, who had the potential of being a race, not from the book of life but from the book of physical life.\n\nSo when you get into this subject you\u2019ve got to figure out what book you\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 You can\u2019t build\u00a0 your doctrine of eternal security from Exodus and Psalms because those aren\u2019t even talking about the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life; those are talking about the books of physical life.\u00a0 Do you follow that?\u00a0 \u00a0And if you can\u2019t make this distinction you\u2019re going to be confused on this and you\u2019re going to think you could lose your salvation which can never be done.\n\n \n\nWell, I think I\u2019ve confused everybody.\u00a0 I\u2019ll stop talking.\u00a0 Any questions on this?","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