Limapela Education Project
Faith in Action
This project aims to provide quality education to children in Zambia's Copperbelt Province.
In some parts of the world Christianity has become so rooted in local culture that the importance of Christian conversion and the distinctive marks of what makes a person a Christian become lost. In this message on the New Testament letter of 1 John, Rob Yule clarifies who a Christian is, describes how you can become one, and shares the chief benefit of becoming a Christian. Rob gave this talk at Greyfriars' Classical Service on 19 November 2006.
Who is a Christian? What are the defining marks of a Christian? What is Christian conversion? How do we know whether a person is truly converted? What is the benefit of becoming a Christian?
These are important questions which John answers in this brief and simple passage.
First, who is a Christian? John tells us that a Christian is person who is born anew as a member of God's family.
Let's correct a common misunderstanding first of all. Many people think that everyone is a member of God's family. That's not so. The Bible tells us that while we are all God's creatures, not all of us are God's children. God has created all human beings. All human beings are God's creatures. All human beings are created by God and owe their existence to God.
But the Bible tells us that while we are all God's creatures, only those who have been born again, born 'from above' or 'born of God', are God's children and members of God's family. John says here, 'Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God (1 John 5:1).
This accords with what Jesus said in his intimate night-time conversation with the Jewish leader Nicodemus: 'I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, "You must be born again." ' (John 3:7). The words 'born again' – in Greek, anothen – could be better translated, 'from above'. To enter God's kingdom – the realm where God is real – you need a second, supernatural birth.
The Good News Bible translates Jesus' words in this way: 'A person is born physically of human parents, but he is born spiritually of the Spirit.' (John 3:6). How do we receive our physical life and enter a human family? By being born physically of human parents. By analogy, how do we receive God's life and enter God's family? By being 'born of God', as John puts it here; by being born spiritually or supernaturally of the Holy Spirit.
So when we put our faith in Jesus as God's Son, we become children of God, not just in a metaphorical, but in a literal sense. Through the new birth God becomes our heavenly Father. We become members of God's family. We are given a share in God's divine life. Just as Jesus is God's natural-born Son, God's Son by nature, so Christians become God's adopted children, his sons and daughters by grace. Through the new birth we become participants in the divine nature – in God's divine life (2 Peter 1:4).
To sum up: Not everyone is a member of God's family, only those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, God's appointed leader. John says, 'Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God' (1 John 5:1).
To be born of God, to enter God's family, you must put your trust in Jesus as God's personal representative and as your personal Saviour.
So we come to the second question, how can you tell whether a person has been born again? How do you know whether you are truly converted? What are the defining marks of a true Christian?
In this simple passage John says there are three tell-tale signs that a person has been born anew to this new life:
There's nothing airy-fairy or fluffy about loving God. If we love God we will obey God's commands and gladly seek to please God. 'This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.' (1 John 5:2-3).
Today I find that many liberal Christian quibble about keeping God's commands and question them, especially when God's commands cut across their personal or sexual preferences. But John tells us that joy in doing God's will is the mark of a true Christian. Even when they contravene or restrain our wrong desires, God's commands are not onerous. They're for our ultimate good and enjoyment.
Some independent-minded Christians today even question the need to attend church. A New Zealand author has written about such people in a book called A Churchless Faith. These people argue that it's enough just to love God, and that nowhere in the Bible is it said we need to support the church.
But this is not strictly true. This passage says, 'everyone who loves the father [i.e. God] loves his child as well' [i.e. other Christians]. (1 John 5:1b). And the letter to the Hebrews says, 'Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.' (Hebrews 10:25).
Our love for our fellow Christians is a litmus test of the genuineness of our Christian faith. When you become a Christian, you enter a worldwide family whose homes and fellowships you'd be welcomed in at any time of personal need or travel. And as our Christian brothers and sisters would care for us, we should be involved in their lives too.
'For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.' (1 John 5:4).
The Christian life isn't a pushover. We're up against real and constant temptations to compromise our integrity, deny our faith, betray our principles, bring shame and guilt into our lives and disappoint our Lord. The Christian life is a struggle. The early Christians compared it to a military conflict, and talked about the weapons of our spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:6-9).
Jesus was severely tempted, but remained faithful and overcame. We are called to be overcomers too, or, in the American word that is becoming more common today, to 'prevail'.
Today, many people think it is intellectual suicide to become a Christian. There's a common view that Christian faith is just a personal choice or option, that there's no rational advantage in becoming a Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible says faith is the most rational choice you could possibly make. It's the person who doesn't believe in God who is a 'fool' (Psalm s 14:1, 53:1).
John defines the main advantage in becoming a Christian in these simple words: 'Those who have the Son have life; those who do not have the Son of God do not have life.' (1 John 5:12).
When you become a Christian, you are given a share in God's life. A Christian is a person who has eternal life. This accords with what John says in his Gospel: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' (John 3:16).
God's life is abundant life now, and eternal life hereafter. You and I don't have to live the Christian life in our own strength. We have God's life, energy, and resources in us for living a victorious life now. And we have a confident and certain hope for the future, because eternal life is not just for the duration of this life, but for the life to come.
'Those who have the Son have life; those who do not have the Son of God do not have life.' (1 John 5:12). These benefits only apply if you have faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Your personal choice is the critical thing. Do you believe in Jesus as the Son of God? Have you accepted him as your personal Saviour and Lord?
If you haven't, you don't have God's life. But if you do believe in Jesus and have accepted him as your Messiah and Saviour, you have God's life, an overcoming and abundant life now; and an undying and everlasting life hereafter. You have been given grace to overcome all hardships and adversities of this life, and a joy unspeakable and glorious in the next.
As the psalmist puts it (Psalm 16:11):
You have made known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in your presence,
With eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Rob Yule, 19 November 2006
© 2006, Greyfriars Presbyterian Church
