1 John 1:6

Lying to Ourselves
1 John 1:6

Introductory Thoughts

· John has introduced his letter by going back to gospel basics. Now, John deals with three major false doctrines of his day.

· The first false doctrine dealt with is Antinomianism. Anti=against, and nomos=law, so antinomianism means against Law. Antinomianism is against all law, is against any ethical requirement for the Christian. It teaches that the evidence of a person’s life is irrelevant.

· Here again is one of those places where we must draw the doctrinal lines with precision.

Ø We are saved by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, we are not saved, nor are we kept saved, by works.
Ø A person who believes in salvation by works, to include keeping your salvation by works, is a person who believes in the heresy of Galatianism or legalism, about which Paul said:

Gal 1:6-9 "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."

Gal 5:4 "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Note, a person who has “fallen from grace” is not a saved person who has lost salvation, it is someone who is lost and is attempting to win their salvation by works. They are “fallen” from the true path, that is, the way of Grace.)

Ø Having said all that, a true salvation will produce works; really saved people will evidence some change of lifestyle; there will be a desire to follow Christ.

Eph 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Ø If someone says that a changed life is not the expected result of salvation, if a person teaches that holiness in the Christian life is optional, that person believes in and teaches the heresy of Antinomianism.

· John in his day had people who were claiming that there was no ethical component, no conduct requirement, to the Christian life—We have the same heresy in our day!

1. First, what the verse says—1 John 1:6 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

a. In the Greek, this verse is what is called a third class condition. The verse is an “if, then” statement. It has conditions and a conclusion. If the conditions are met, then the conclusion holds.

Ø example: if you live after the flesh, you will die. Rom 8:13

b. The Conditions

(1) The First Condition—what we say

(a) “…If we have said…” —this is in the aorist tense: “...if we at any time have up and said...”

(b) “…We are having fellowship with Him (God)…” —present tense—

(c) Combining the two verbs, “...if we at any time have said that we were in continuous fellowship with God...”—in other words, if we say we are saved...

(d) That is the first condition, that we are saying we are saved.

(2) The second condition—what we do...“…and in the darkness we are walking…” —present tense—habitually walking in darkness

(3) So, the two conditions are: we claim to be saved and yet walk in darkness.

c. The conclusion.

(1) If the two conditions are there, then the conclusion is true.
(2) The first part of the conclusion “…We are lying…” —present tense, continual
(3) The second part of the condition, we are “…Not practicing the truth…” —present tense, continual

d. Bottom line è The logical equation is this

(1) If we claim to be saved and we are at the same time walking in darkness
(2) Then we are lying and not practicing the Truth (we are not saved).
(3) Point—There is an ethical component to the Christian life!

e. The dual condemnation of the heresy of antinomianism in this verse
(1) It is a lie
(2) It is also not practicing the Truth

2. The Heresy of Anti-nomianism Analyzed

a. If we say—aorist, that is, if we have at any particular time, said

(1) If--the most unpopular word in church circles!
(2) Say—easy to talk the talk, not so easy to walk the walk. What does the Antonomian say?

(a) That we have fellowship with Him—That we have, continual, Koinonia with Christ:
(b) Koinonia is not mere possession of the benefits of salvation, but is a living, breathing, life-changing relationship. (see notes to lesson 1). So, the Antinomian is saying:

(i) That he is saved
(ii) That the Holy Spirit indwells him
(iii) That he is in communion with God and with God’s people

b. What the antinomian does—he walks in darkness

(1) The darkness—the ways and beliefs of this evil age, which can include any religion which is friendly with the darkness of the age.

(2) Walking in the darkness
(a) Eph 2:2, Rom 8:4, 1 Cor 3:3
(b) 1 John 2:11
(c) Eph 4:17-18
(d) Eph 5:1-11

c. The result—if both of the above are true—we are lying and not practicing the Truth—if we say we are saved and we have a lifestyle which denies that profession, we are, in fact, lost.

d. The heresy as we see it played out today is the idea that a truly born again Christian still cannot avoid sin—that we can’t help sinning.

(1) This is simply not true—Romans 6
(2) If we believe that because of grace we have a license to sin, and/or that we can excuse our sin, then we deny the power of God to change lives.
(3) The person who believes this heresy believes that there is no eternal point in struggling with sin, and that holiness is optional at best, or maybe that holiness is even a bad idea!

3. There are many other passages that teach the doctrine of holiness, here are a few

a. Rom 8:13
b. The Sermon on the Mount—dominated by the moral imperative for believers. I.e., members of the Kingdom have kingdom responsibilities as well as rights—Mat 5:1-20
c. James 1:22-27