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Read 1 John 3:19-21
Did you know that God is real? Not only is God real but God created the entire universe! He is VERY powerful—the most powerful being. We call this “Transcendent” which is a theological term that simply means something that is beyond or above the normal range of normal human or physical experience.
God is transcendent. He is not of this world; He exceeds every limit of our existence and the world’s existence because He is the creator of it. There is no natural law or human made law that can control or limit God.
We see this at the beginning of John’s letter in 1 John 1:5,
“…God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
This directly contrasts the state of our human condition,
“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”
--Romans 5:18
Paul is referencing the sinful state of humanity when describing this condemnation to all men. That one transgression was the first sin in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate from the true of knowledge of good and evil directly disobeying God’s command to not eat from that tree.
Humanity is full of sin and God is sinless, He’s perfect and full of goodness—this is why everything God does is good because He is without darkness, He is without sin. Even though we sit before Him in this nature; God has allowed us to approach Him, to build a relationship with Him, to bring our prayers, and hearts before Him so that He can clean us from within.
In this context John has previously instructed the church: “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth,” (1 John 3:18) and now he going to instruct the church in our to do that, how to gain confidence in loving with deed and truth.
The Point: As The Church, we gain confidence by approaching God together in worship and prayer. To follow God rightly we must go to church and worship God together.
1. Do not trust your own heart alone rather trust God’s heart; trust what God says and infuses into your heart through Holy Spirit power.
1 John 3: Vs. 19-20/
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything.”
The Definition of “Condemn” according to the original Greek :
καταγινώσκω kataginṓskō, kat-ag-in-o'-sko; from G2596 and G1097; to note against, i.e. find fault with:—blame, condemn.
This is exactly what Paul is referencing in Romans 5:17-18/
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one’s trespass’ led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
John is reminding Christians in the early church their imperfect, sinful hearts have brought blame to their lives BUT Christ has taken that blame away. Christ has taken that blame and put it on Himself. That is why there is no condemnation found in those who follow Christ Jesus. This is the truth that ONLY Christians have which gives them reassurance in their hearts. When we follow God, when we obey His commands, when we are in relationship with Him we are reassured by this truth.
--Romans 5:17-18
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
--Romans 8:1-2
We must approach God on a daily basis both individually and in community because our hearts are deceptive; yet God’s heart is perfect and He knows what is best for us. God is greater than our hearts. God is greater than our thoughts and desires—God is above all of that. When our hearts condemn us; God takes on that condemnation for us—He takes the blame from us.
“Condemnation can well up inside us that has nothing to do with our standing before God. It may be the work of the enemy of our souls (who, according to Revelation 12:10 accuses the brethren), or the work of an over-active conscience. At those times, we trust in what God’s Word says about our standing, not how we feel about it.”
--Enduring Word Commentary
Trust in God; do not trust in your own heart alone.
2. Our relationship with God gives us confidence in which can only come from God Himself. We must approach God to gain this confidence knowing God hears/ loves our prayers and worship of Him.
1 John 3: Vs. 21-22a.
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him…”
If you have found the true Gospel your heart will begin to change. Christ will sanctify you and you will crave moments with God, you will foster that relationship with God because of God’s work in your life.
How do we gain confidence in our Christian walk? We approach God both on our own and together. This is why it is vital to go to a bible believing Church as much as you can get there.
John reminds the churches he is writing to that Christians have confidence in God because God has taken their condemnation away from them. We are to blame on our own, we can’t be trusted on our own, but with God we are blameless, with God we can be trusted and this gives us confidence as we go out into a broken world. You see, God loves His church so much that He works through the church, He works through you as a Christian and He also gives you grace when you mess up. We all have confidence in Christ Himself.
John then commands the church to approach God. Praying and worshiping God is the fundamental action of God’s people; God’s people must always be worshiping, following and praying with God—this is how we build relationship with God.
If you notice in verse 22a
“…and whatever we ask we receive from Him…”
This sounds like when Jesus was preaching during His sermon on the mount:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
--Matthew 7:7-8
There is much false teaching in the church that takes these verses out of their context and makes Jesus into a magic genie answering every prayer of our heart's own desires. This teaching tells us that God wants to bless you with whatever you need and/or want. They will tell you that you gain confidence in asking God for what you want and you must DECLARE and MANIFEST these things into existent. This can be material possessions, life goals, or even life status that we ask for from God.
This is not what these scriptures or what Jesus is saying,
“God will give advantageous gifts to His children; He will not give us bad or injurious things, no matter how much we clamor for them. The best example of a good gift is the Holy Spirit, according to Luke 11:13. We begin to see a two-fold purpose of prayer—to increase our understanding of what God calls “good” and to cultivate a desire in us for what is good. Our prayers to God are not unlike our requests of men. Our prayers are based in a relationship, as Jesus points out in Matthew 7:8. If a child asks his father for something the father knows to be hurtful, the request is denied. The child may be frustrated and unhappy when he doesn’t get what he asked for, but he should trust his father. Conversely, when the child asks for something that the father knows is beneficial, the father will provide it eagerly because he loves his child.”
--Got Questions.org
Jesus is commanding a relationship in the context of His sermon. He is teaching on the fruits that come out of true and/ or false teachers—judge them by their fruit. You see the fruit of our prayer is not in the result in the prayer rather it is the fact that we pray in the first place. We must approach God. We must be thankful that God has given His children the ability to approach Him in the first place. We must get together, pray together, live together and worship God together, otherwise we may lose our confidence in God. We could also be swayed by our own hearts, our own desires and what we want versus what God wants for our lives.
Let us finish today by comparing two verses:
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything.”
--1 John 3:19-20
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
--Jeremiah 17:9-10
Trust in God; God is your good Father, He will give you what you NEED not what you WANT (Yes, often what you think you NEED is actually what you WANT). God will make you holier, your lifestyle will change to worship Christ and God will take you and His Spirit will work through you to show God’s truth and love to others.
The Point: As The Church, we gain confidence by approaching God together in worship and prayer. To follow God rightly we must go to church and worship God together.
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