Contradictory Christianity

Introduction

Have you ever been lied to? Sure you have. But I mean lied to in a sense that it just kind of crushed you. Somebody or something represented themselves to be something that they or it was not. I want to tell you about a soul-crushing experience in my life where I was lied to. As a young child, I was an avid reader. I got every episode of the Spider-Man comic books that came out. And I would read them from cover to cover.

And in the back of the comic book one time, there was an ad for a footlocker full of army men. And that was perfect for my age. But it wasn’t just any army men. These were going to be authentic looking. And not only army men, but they would come in an authentic U.S. Army footlocker. And so, yes, you better believe I cut out that order form, and I don’t know exactly how I convinced my mother, but I got a check from her, and I mailed it in. And I waited the customary four to six weeks for delivery. In that four and six weeks, I cleared out a place at the end of my bed for my new footlocker. And was waiting for the arrival of those army men.

I was a little puzzled when it all came in an envelope. And the authentic U.S. Army footlocker was a piece of cardboard. Picture, if you’re old enough, picture the box your checks used to come in. Just that little flimsy cardboard, and you even had to kind of stand it up yourself. And that was the footlocker. And the 100 Army men weren’t even like the Army men that you could buy at the drugstore or at Walmart. They were flat. And wouldn’t stand up right.

Because I was lied to. There were claims made that were not fulfilled. These were not lifelike Army men by any stretch of the imagination. And even a greater stretch of the imagination that this was an authentic U.S. Army footlocker. We don’t like being lied to.

And we certainly don’t like when something claims to be something that it’s not.

That they are not. And not surprisingly, our Father feels the same way. Some of the strongest language in the New Testament, the strongest language of condemnation, is reserved for religious people. Religious people who were not what they claim to be. Jesus would call them hypocrites. Because they claim to be something that they were not. The New Testament is consistent in this theme that it is not who or what we claim to be that truly matters. Oh, we should make claims. That’s what confession of our faith is all about. We make claims. We claim to believe that Jesus is the Christ. We claim to believe in God as our Father and our Creator. But those claims are worse than meaningless if they’re contradicted by our lives. Turn with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 7.

Scripture is consistent in telling us that it matters greatly to God that our claims match up with reality. You know this passage. Maybe you can quote it by heart. Matthew chapter 7, Jesus pictures the day of judgment when he says in verse 21, Matthew 7, verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, Jesus said, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

The claim was made, but the reality bore out something very different. Much of New Testament writing in the epistles encourages us, even challenges us to live up to the calling that we’ve received, to live up to the claim that we make. Think of this familiar passage in the book of Romans, chapter 6, in this famous discussion about baptism, and what baptism is, that it’s a burial, that we are joined to the body and blood of Jesus in this burial, was not a treatise to convince people who had yet to be baptized to submit to that Christian ordinance. It was a challenge to people who had already been baptized to live up to that. Romans chapter 6 begins. What shall we say in verse 1 of Romans 6?

What shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? In other words, do we just keep on sinning? Do we keep living the life that we used to live? Certainly not, he emphatically says in verse 2. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through baptism, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Do we just live a life of sin? Paul says, absolutely not. That’s inconsistent with your baptism. Somebody died. You don’t bury a living person.

Somebody died, and that dead person is now buried. Why is he up walking around? We have a new life now. Consistency is a jewel. Look over in the book of Colossians, chapter 3. Where again the Apostle Paul is speaking to people who have, as he would argue in chapter 2, verse 12, who have been baptized, who’ve been buried and raised with Jesus. And now he challenges them. We might put it this way the Apostle Paul challenges these Colossian Christians to become what they were. They were Christians. They had been baptized. They’ve been raised from that baptism. And so now he says, in every sense of the word, become what you are. You’re a Christian. Let’s live like it. Colossians 3, verse 1. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above.

Where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth, for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. You’re a Christian. You’ve been baptized. Now live like it, he says.

And so again, the New Testament is consistent in this theme, that we are lives, every facet, every crook and cranny of our lives is to reflect the profession that we make, the claim, the confession that we make. And so now let’s turn for the remainder of our lesson to the gospel of, or excuse me, to the epistle of 1 John. In John’s brief epistle, John makes this as his theme. The theme that you cannot logically cannot claim to be one thing, and yet your life be a contradiction of that. I mean, I guess you can claim to be one thing and your life be a contradiction of that. But John would call the person who does that, a liar. In fact, he would go on to say that not only are you a liar, the truth is not even in you.

1. If We Say We Have Fellowship With Him

We put that in modern-day vernacular, and sometimes we do say this of people, don’t we, and not in a complimentary way, that they couldn’t tell the truth if their life depended on it. And that’s what John says of these people who make the claim and yet live contradictory. Let’s look at five passages in 1 John where a profession was made and yet the action contradicted that, and the Holy Spirit condemned those people. And let’s see what lessons we can learn from that. 1 John 1, let’s start in chapter 1. If we say that we have fellowship with him, that’s the Father. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. I know you’ve studied 1 John before, and you know that the grammar is very important here, that when he says that we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, that the idea of walking is the idea of living, that this is a consistent pattern of life.

And if you make the claim that you have fellowship with God, that I and God have this relationship together, and yet we walk in darkness, then John says you’re lying. You’re lying and you do not practice the truth. Walking in darkness, again, obviously is an expression of a lifestyle of a pattern, but it’s a pattern of darkness. And in Scripture, you know this: that light represents that which is good, that which is God, and darkness represents that which is not God, and that which is evil. In the creation scene in the book of Genesis, chapters one and two, there was darkness. And there was darkness until God spoke. And when God spoke and God entered the picture, lightness, I mean, darkness was dispelled by light. God is that light.

He brought physical life into this creation, and in a greater sense, he brought spiritual life and light into our existence. And God, John would point out in 1 John chapter 1, God is not only the giver of light, the bestower of light, but he is light. He is goodness and holiness and righteousness. And if we say we have fellowship with him, then we cannot be in darkness because he’s in light.

2. If We Say We Have No Sin

That Christianity is not just some title that we wear, not just some name, not just some club that we’re joined, but it is a lifestyle. It changes who we are. And here’s the challenge. If it has not changed you, if it has not changed the way you talk, the way you dress, the way you act, the way you interact with your fellow man, then John would say you lie, and you do not practice the truth. The second passage is found also here in 1 John chapter 1 and in verse 8. And that’s the profession that we say we have no sin. We deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. We go on to say in verse 10, the last verse of that chapter, if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Now let’s pause here and make this point. That calling someone a liar in the first century was just as much fighting words as it is now. You know, in some sense, that’s one of the worst insults you can throw at somebody. Nobody likes to be called. Are you calling me a liar? Be careful how you answer that question, because a black eye might ensue. Are you calling me a liar? We recognize that that’s strong language, a strong accusation. It’s true in our culture. It was true in their culture. And so John knows and is intentionally using strong, can we even say strong and offensive language, maybe as a shock mechanism, to get these Christians and we Christians today to understand just how important it is. But if we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

3. He Who Says, I Know Him

We all need to recognize the basis of what should be our humility. That we have sinned. And so, as he would argue here, we need help. We need an advocate with the Father. We need a propitiation, one who would appease the wrath of God, who would be our place of mercy. We are in deep need of that. Again, some of the strongest language of condemnation coming from the mouth of Jesus would be to those Pharisees, and among the many faults that they had is that they could quickly identify the sins in others while being completely apparent, completely unaware of their own. We need to recognize with humility the struggles that we all have, the need that we all have for humility and grace and mercy. In the second chapter, 1 John chapter 2, another profession is he who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar.

And the truth is not in him. We’ve talked about this before, you’ve heard this before, but it’s important to understand how John, how the Holy Spirit through John, is using the word know him. Knowledge. When we use the word knowledge, we almost always, in our mind, go to the idea of the understanding, maybe even the memorization of certain facts, certain knowledge that we have. We know that. I’ve learned that, I know that, I’ve memorized that, I’m aware that that is the case. And that is certainly a sense in which the term knowledge is used, and even a sense in which it’s used in the New Testament. But there are times, and this is one of those, where the word know is used in a different sense.

It’s not the idea of the understanding or the memorization of certain facts, but it’s the idea of an intimacy. Euphemistically, in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, the most intimate of Acts is spoken of as an Adam knew his wife Eve. Without getting too indelicate this morning, I hope you know that doesn’t mean that he was aware that she existed.

All of that’s important. But when John says you make the claim to know him, he’s saying you claim to have, what did he say in chapter one? Fellowship with him. A relationship. You claim to be in a relationship with God. You say you know him. Let’s talk just a little bit about what that means. Sometimes you may have this conversation with someone, wanting to always be honest and have clarity. Someone might say, Do you know so-and-so? I get that a lot. It’s usually about some other preacher. Do you know so-and-so? And often, because I’m so out of touch, often the reply is this: no, I know who he is, but I don’t know him. I know the name. And I might even say of that preacher, we’ve met.

And we’ve shaken hands and introduced ourselves. And so if he walked in the building, I would recognize him, and maybe he would recognize me and be able to call my name and I could call his name. But I still don’t say I know him. Because in our minds, that’s a different level of a relationship, isn’t it? It’s not just that I recognize him, I know who he is, and I’ve even met him. It’s the idea that if you know somebody, that there’s some kind of closeness there. Is his number in your phone? That’s one level of knowledge. We know him. They were making the claim to be walking with God, having fellowship with God and knowing him while not keeping his commandments. Inherent in that, and this borrows from the language of Jesus that said the same thing.

4. He Who Says He Abides in Him

Inherent is that is the understanding that to know God means that we are following him. To have a relationship with God inherently involves our obedience to him. We talked about that last week and in previous lessons. This concept in the religious world that everybody wants a Savior, but nobody wants a Lord. Save me from my sins, Jesus. But please don’t tell me what to do. It’s not a biblical concept. The next profession that is a lie is in 1 John chapter 2. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. Abiding in him. Much like the concept of fellowship in chapter 1, much like the concept earlier in chapter 2 of knowing him. Now here is the concept of abiding in him.

The word abide, and it may be translated this way in your translation, means the idea to dwell with or to live with. Here’s the idea of permanency. Abide. When you see those words abide, live, and dwell, they speak of permanency, not of some temporary relationship, but of a permanent, we live there. We make our existence in him. And it should really just go without saying that if we’re living in him, if we’re walking with him, then we’re going to be influenced by him. That’s kind of the way God made us. And we can use that to our advantage or to our disadvantage. It amazes me in this age of technology that throughout this country we all watch the same television shows. We all listen basically to the same news reports.

Whether it’s through television, through internet, through the little phone that we carry, that language of our country is universal. But isn’t it still strange that at this day and time that we still talk with our regional accents, words, languages and dialects that we’ve talked about before? We get a visitor coming to Disney from up north, and they just talk funny, don’t they? They don’t talk normal like we do. We have those. Why is that? We talk the way we talk and use the words that we use because people around us talk that way. And use those words and those accents and those dialects. And so if we abide in him, it’s going to be natural that we’re going to walk as he walks. And so when the Bible class teacher or the preacher encourages you to open up your Bibles and to do the daily Bible reading, or to prepare for your lesson, or to do your own personal Bible study.

Pray at least two or three times a day so you can check that box. Read your Bible so you can check that box. Do this so you can.

5. In the Light and Hates His Brother

And we will walk as he walked, and talk as he talked. Because we’re with him. John also says in chapter 2, verse 9, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He would go on to say in chapter 4 and verse 20, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he’s a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And if I’m honest with you, that verse used to give me a little bit of a problem. Because I thought I could love God and hate my brother. They’re two separate beings. And what does it mean that I’ve seen somebody? And there’s somebody I haven’t seen.

And I can’t say I hate this person and love that one. What all does that mean? The principle of consistency that is being taught here is that God is teaching us that our brother, our fellow man, has been made in the image of God. How can we say that we love God whom we have not seen, and yet hate our brother who was made in the image of God. Prohibitions in Scripture that are based upon this principle of man being made in the image of God. The first is murder. After Noah is released from the ark, he’s told that he can kill the animals. That’s why you brought a few more of the extra ones, is so you can eat them. You can kill the animals, but you cannot kill your fellow man.

Why? Because he has opposable thumbs, and he’s evolved further than all the other animals? No. Is it because his family will miss him when he’s gone? No. Because it’ll have an impact on society. No. The stated reason was he’s made in the image of God.

James would say, how can you bless God with one corner of your mouth and curse man with the other corner? Man who he would say is made in the similitude or in the image of God. Another contradiction there. You can’t curse your fellow man while blessing God. Because he was made in the image of him. And now John tells us that we can’t hate our brother. Why? Because he’s made in the image of God. If you hate, mistreat, curse or murder, you’re doing so against the very image of God. If we’re in the light, if we love God, it’s going to affect everything that we do. Everything that we say. And if it doesn’t, if it hasn’t, we’re a liar. And we’ll hear those words. Depart from me.

Conclusion

You said to me, Lord, Lord, but depart from me, because you’ve actually worked iniquity. Two challenges this morning. Number one is if you’ve yet to put on Christ, if you’ve yet to be buried, to bury that old sinful man and to be arisen to walk in newness and of life. Why won’t you do that now? But please understand this. Jesus would challenge his potential followers, and we echo that same challenge. That means something. Count the cost. Before you make that decision, because it actually ought to mean something. It means something to God. You’re making a claim that you’re going to change who you are. And you’re going to be conformed to his image. That you’re going to be like him and walk with him and abide in him.

And that’s going to change everything about who you are. The second challenge is if you’ve done that, but you need those reminders of Romans chapter 6 and Colossians chapter 3, that you need to become what you are. That you need to become what you claim to be. Then I challenge you this week to look into the mirror of God’s word and say, Am I a liar?

Or am I living the life that reflects that I’m walking in the light? I have fellowship with him. I know him and I truly love him. If we can help you in those challenges this morning, or we can help you to obey the gospel, to begin that challenge, then let it be known right now as together we stand and sing.