* Now that we are saved… “How shall we then live?” This is what most of the New Testament is about anyway, right?
* False teachers then and now… make it always important for Christians to study and grow and be able to ‘stand’ and ‘withstand’… (Hebrews 5:11-14).
* I John is all about TESTING those who claim to be teaching truth and all through this letter, he is fighting against false teachers while encouraging the brethren to STAND!
* Key Verse (I John 1:7) “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
   a.)  ‘blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin’  ““Purifies” is in the present tense, which in the Greek means “continuously purifies.” This is a promise of on-going salvation–but not a salvation that can’t be lost. He’s not teaching once saved always saved. But he is teaching that salvation should be continuous, not occasional. I Jno. 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
   b.) John does not define what ‘walk in the light’ is immediately, however he does present a number of tests which will help us understand what this is.

1. TEST ONE: ACKNOWLEDGING OUR SINS
    I Jno. 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and
                     purify (PRESENT TENSE) us from all unrighteousness.”
    A. Promise: CONTINUAL FORGIVENESS if we do this. (Not ‘once saved always
        saved’ but ON GOING).
    B. Difficulty: MISTRANSLATION of ‘homologeo’ (confess) which actually means
        “ACKNOWLEDGE”
        1.) John is not speaking of a legalistic requirement to come to front and confess
              each sin in order to be forgiven.
        2.) John is saying ACKNOWLEDGING OUR SINFULNESS and thus our
             continual need for His grace.    
        3.) Example: I John 4:2-3, 15; 2 John 7 “acknowledge”. “Homologeo” = never used
             of confessing sin in NT.
        4.) The word used for confession of sin is usually “exomologeo,” as in James 5:16
             and Matthew 3:6.
   C. Compare I John 1:8-10 The writer uses the term “claim” (“confess”) “claim”.
   D. The contrast is with refusing to admit that we sin. Thus the test is not whether we
        have confessed each sin, but whether we ADMIT, ACKNOWLEDGE that we are
        sinners… thus in need of God’s grace and mercy. So long as we refuse to do
        this… we are denied SALVATION.
2. TEST TWO: LOVE
    I John 2:3-11 Read
    A. Compare this with John 15:10-14 Read “My command is this…”
         1.) Jesus says, OBEY MY COMMANDS… His command = LOVE EACH
              OTHER!
         2.) Compare this with Matthew 7:12; Luke 10:25-28; Romans 13:3-10; Galatians
              5:14; James 2:8
3. TEST THREE: DOING RIGHTEOUSNESS
     I John 2:29 “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what
                         is right has been born of him.”
     A. “What is right” = better translated as “righteousness” or even “justice”
     B. Amos 5:7-24 (especially verses 7, 10-12, 15, 21-24)
     C. John is not speaking of attending services, giving etc… he is speaking more
          about caring for people God cares about.
     D. John expands on ‘Doing righteousness’ which is opposed to a life of (practicing)
          sin. (cf. Romans 6:1-2)
          1.) I Jno. 3:3-6 Christians don’t continue in sin… we REPENT AND KEEP
               GROWING. WE NEVER DEFEAT SIN COMPLETELY, BUT WE KEEP
               GROWING IN GRACE, AND PUTTING MORE AND MORE SIN 
               BEHIND US.
          2.) I Jno. 3:10-11 Do what is right = really do righteousness. This connects loving
               each other with doing righteousness…. They are not two commands but ONE
               BIG ONE.
          3.) I Jno. 3:16-18 Love always requires action (the same as with faith!)
          4.) I Jno. 3:22-23 How can we truly believe and not obey?
4. TEST FOUR: THE HOLY SPIRIT
    I John 3:24 “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is
                        how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
    A. I Jno. 2:20
         1.) “Anointing” is a reference to the Spirit (Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 1:21-22). Luke
               declares that Jesus was anointed by the Spirit (Luke 4:18). Of course,
               “Messiah” and “Christ” mean “the anointed one,” referring most
               immediately to kingship and the oil of anointing ceremonially used in
               designating a man king.
          2.) Jesus was ‘anointed’ with the Spirit at his immersion… then his miracles and
               ministry began…
          3.) We are anointed at ours as we become a ‘royal priesthood’ (1 peter 2:9).
          4.) Cf. Ephesians 1:20-23; Ephesians 2:1-7; Revelation 1:6 (KJV)
          5.) I John 5:6-8 “truth” refers to truth about Jesus- the Gospel- (I Jno. 2:21-23;
               Jno. 14:6; 2 Cor. 11:10; Gal. 2:5; Heb. 10:26-27; Heb. 8:10-12)
          6.) It’s characteristic of our new life in Jesus that the Spirit indwells us and
               teaches us how to be more and more like Jesus–to have faith, to love in action
               and deed, and to do righteousness.
     B. John 3:8 tells us the Spirit works but the only way we can tell is by the effect seen
          in our lives.
          1.) I Jno. 4:2-3 Read
5. TEST FIVE: ACKNOWLEDGING APOSTOLIC TEACHING
    A. I Jno. 4:6
    B. In John’s way of thinking, there are only two kinds of people
         a.) SAVED                     b.) LOST
              Faith                              Deny Jesus
              Admit sinfulness           Deny sinfulness
              Love others                   Hate others
              Do righteousness          Don’t do righteousness
              Possess the Spirit          Don’t have the Spirit
              Purify himself               Continue in sin
              Acknowledge                Rejects the auth. Of apostles
              authority of the apostles
    C. John is speaking to Christians who understand that without His grace… they are
         lost in sin.
         a.) Phil. 2:12-13 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only
                                     in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to
                                     work out (mine out/ dig deep) your salvation with fear and
                                     trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act
                                     according to his good purpose.”
               i.) Paul is encouraging Christians to “mine out” their salvation. ie Explore the
                  depths and grow. 

These are the five tests of First John by which he explains who is walking in the light.

                 (Special thanks to Jay Guinn for his study on Ist John in his study on Grace.)

BALANCE is the goal not only in our study of  “Amazing Grace” but all scripture. Just how SECURE is a Christian?
* Hebrews = not usually studied in a class on grace. Incredibly important!
* Background:
   a.) Law of Moses – Constantly refers to TEMPLE AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES
   b.) Temple – Holy Place/Holy of Holies/Ark of Covenant
         (Cries of animals/trumpets/songs/incense/and praises to God)
   c.) Leviticus 1 – Sacrifice for atonement described
   d.) Only High Priest could enter Holy place and ONLY on Day of Atonement (Yom
         Kippur)
   e.) Holy of Holies = the Shekinah – “GLORY OF GOD”. Blood offered for sins of the
        people here by the High Priest once a year.
   f.) Lev. 16 The curtain (or veil) that blocked the entrance to the Holy of Holies was torn
        when Jesus was crucified, evidencing God’s opening of this Most Holy Place to all
        who’d be saved through Jesus. The tearing of the veil also means that God himself
        is no longer hidden from his people. After all, this is where God dwelt. Because the
        “mercy seat” was above the ark of the covenant, we can now approach the “throne
        of grace” with confidence.
    g.) Lev. 16:2 “mercy seat”
    h.) Hebrews 4:16 “throne of grace”

1. “ONCE FOR ALL” and “PERFECT FOREVER”
    A. Hebrews 7-9
         1.) Hebrews 7:27-28
               a,) Here the author contrasts Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice with the constantly
                    repeated sacrifices of the priests at the Jewish temple, required by the Law
                    of Moses. Moreover, Jesus’ sacrifice made him “perfect forever.” No further
                    sacrifice will ever be required of Jesus.
         2.) Based on Hebrews 7:23-25 Read. (Jesus will never die = “save completely”
              Christians. His intercession for us is as unending as His life.
         3.) Now, we see that “forever” means for as long as Jesus lives. When he makes
              his followers “perfect forever,” that means for just as long as Jesus lives!
   B. Hebrews 9:11-12 Notice “once for all”
   C. Hebrews 9:25-28 “once for all” “to do away with sin”
        1.) Moses covenant = inferior because provided temporary salvation
        2.) After priest performed sacrifice/ sinner = forgiven until sinned again
        3.) Forgiveness was based on repeating the sacrifices
        4.) Forgiveness for Christian is continuous and unending.
        5.) Made perfect forever
    D. Hebrews 10:1-4 Notice …“it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly
         year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship…. Once for all….”
         1.) Hebrews 10:9-10, 12-14
              a.)  Here’s the gospel in a nutshell. Jesus offered one sacrifice which resulted
                    in the forgiveness of all those “being made holy” forever. Forever! Perfect
                    forever. Just as Jesus himself was made perfect forever by his obedient
                    sacrifice, so are his followers.We, of course, aren’t really perfect, but we
                    are counted as perfect. However, this assumes that we are yielding to
                    God’s efforts to make us holy in fact.
          2.) Hebrews 10:15-18
          3.) Hebrews 10:19-22
2. FALLING AWAY – Most severe warning in the Bible
    A. Hebrews 10:26-27 (cf. vs.18)
         1.) Baptized into Christ is ‘once for all’ no more …
    B. If we throw away salvation = no more sacrifice left.
    C. This is so bad, that Martin Luther questioned the inspiration of Hebrews!
3. Consider these things…
    A. This is only when we deliberately continue to sin…
    B. This is opposite of being penitent…
         1.) To be saved we must be penitent/ to stay saved… soft/penitent heart.
         2.) Practical terms: IF WE NO LONGER TAKE JESUS AS OUR LORD/TURN
              OUR BACKS ON HIM… OUR HEARTS BECOME HARD / WE ARE LOST
              AND CAN NOT COME BACK. (BEYOND REPENTANCE.)
    C. However, if a Christian has left the fellowship of the church, sinned greatly, and
         eventually repented and returns, then he cannot have fallen away (like the
         Hebrew writer refers to), because it’s impossible for those who’ve fallen away to
         repent. No more sacrifice for sin remains.
    D. Lk. 15 God is always ready to forgive…but if one comes to Jesus and receives his
         Spirit and then QUENCHES THE SPIRIT / TURNS AWAY AND REFUSES TO
         COME BACK… THERE IS NO MORE SACRIFICE.
         1.) I Timothy 4:2
         2.) 2 Peter 2:20-22
         3.) Hebrews 6:4-6
         4.) Hebrews 12:15; Dt. 29:18-20
              a.) Danger = relying on grace and think you are safe even though one persists
                   on going their way.
              b.) Falling away = the end of a bad path of rebellion, unbelief and 
                   disobedience. Dangerous because we can become INSENSITIVE to our
                   own sin.
              c.) Mark 4:18-19 “… the DECEITFULNESS of wealth…”
              d.) Hebrews 3:13 “sins deceitfulness”
         5.) THE DANGER OF SIN = THE DECEITFULNESS OF IT. GETTING FARTHER
              AND FARTHER AWAY FROM JESUS.
         6.) Just before the warning of Heb. 10:26ff the writer says, (Heb 10:23-25) “Let us
              hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24
              And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
              deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
              doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day
              approaching.

(Special thanks to Jay Guinn (oneinjesus.info) for his work on this lesson on Amazing Grace)