Gospel of John [20:19]. Christ's Resurrection, part 9 (fellowship with Christ and the Father - Antinomianism).Title: Gospel of John [20:19]. Christ's Resurrection, part 9 (fellowship with Christ and the Father - Antinomianism).
Announcements/opening prayer:
From our main passage in John we have taken some time in order to study fellowship with God. We will study two passages in 1Jo and one passage in Eph. We have begun our study of 1Jo and Eph.
Antinomianism - The view that Christians are exempt from the demands of the moral law by reason of their reliance upon divine grace alone for salvation. [International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]
This would not refer to the Mosaic Law but to the law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus, the law of love, and the Royal Family honor code.
Verses 3-5 reveal the vices of fallen man, the vices of darkness.
Eph 5:3 But do not let immorality [illicit sexual intercourse] or any impurity or greed [lust for more] even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
Eph 5:4 and there must be no filthiness [obscenity, shameless immoral conduct] and silly talk [lack of forethought or wisdom], or coarse jesting [polished, deceptive speech], which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks [for the Father's plan].
Eph 5:5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral [pornos - sexual immorality] or impure person [unclean in thought and life] or covetous man [greedy for more], who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [unbeliever].
Eph 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words [excusing the vices of vv. 3-5 with the sins of the tongue from vs. 4], for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Eph 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers [partake together with one] with them;
Eph 5:8 for you were [emphatic] formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk [one's behavior or conduct] as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
goodness [agathosune] = the character of God's good. righteousness [dikaiosune] = the character of God's rightness and justice. truth [aletheia] = the character of the reality of all things, good and evil.
In these three you have a representation of God's personality. Personality consists of three things; intellect, sensibility, and will.
Personality: Intellect: God's truth Sensibility: God's goodness Will: God's righteousness and justice
God's intellect is His truth. His sensibility is His goodness. His will is His righteousness and justice. So we have truth, moral character, and the will to produce rightness and justice.
These characteristics He has graciously given to each believer so that he may walk in this light. But imagine what happens to the life when these aspects of personality are based upon falsehood, sin and evil, and unrighteousness.
Mat 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Mat 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
Mat 7:17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it [he is given pause but then accepts some other explanation for Christ], the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
Mat 13:20 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy;
Mat 13:21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mat 13:22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mat 13:23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Walking in the light produces a desire for God's character and through the word of God and dependence upon the teaching, leading, and empowering ministry of God the Holy Spirit that character is produced by the believer.
This being the fruit or production of the light are the results of walking in the light. Just as a plant needs light to grow so the believer must walk in the light, in the sphere of God's character, so as to grow and come to know the person and work of Christ more and more. It is not enough to just perceive the word of God and not apply it to our thinking, our ways, and our conduct.
As we walk in the light by means of the filling of the Spirit we choose to co-participate with God in His good, His rightness and justice, and we understand the reality of all things.
If I choose to walk in the light then I will choose His good, righteousness, justice, and truth in the situations that I face. In this world of opposition this demands tenacity and an answer of NO! to the domain of darkness when it tempts us from within and from without.
Mat 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Paul continues that as we are producing the fruit of the light, we never stop testing and approving the will of God as we continue to grow in grace.
Eph 5:7 Therefore do not be partakers [partake together with one] with them;
Eph 5:8 for you were [emphatic] formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk [one's behavior or conduct] as children of light
Eph 5:9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Eph 5:10 trying to learn [approving] what is pleasing to the Lord.
"trying to learn" - dokimazo = to put to the test for the purpose of approving. The will of the Lord is to be put to the test in the believer's life in order to find that it meets the specifications and therefore becomes approved.
This isn't tempting or testing the Lord but applying His will to your individual life and then realizing the quality of the fruit that is produced. With this the will of God becomes a reality and it becomes loved and thoroughly approved.
Mal 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
Psa 37:3-4 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Mat 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
2Co 9:6-8 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
Eph 5:11 And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
/"participate" - sunkoinoneo = to become a partaker together with others.\
This is the word used by John in his first epistle with the prefix "sun" (with) which emphasizes close partnership.
It is again emphasized that we should not fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Every person has an intellect, a sensibility, and a will. Whatever sphere we walk in we will produce the fruit of that environment in our souls. Proper fellowship with Christ does have fruitful deeds that are of divine power and origin. When we love the light we desire to produce the character of God in our lives through His truth, His Spirit, and His plan.
Fellowship is not only a place of being with Him but of thinking like Him, sharing in common with Him His thinking and His fruit by means of the Holy Spirit.
This is only possible for the believer through the filling of the Spirit. This is why it is imperative that when we recognize sin in our lives that we confess or agree with God as to its sinfulness and immediately halt it, thus knowing that the old man has been laid aside and the new man has been put on, immediately thinking in partnership with Christ, trusting in the Holy Spirit to lead and guide to the proper solutions and applying those solutions. This is why it is imperative that we do not go about the plan of God without dependence upon the Spirit of God. It is therefore imperative that we do not grieve or quench the Holy Spirit, but that we walk by means of Him.
In 1936 Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote his brother-in-law who was a liberal theologically as Bonhoeffer was conservative: …. If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected to my own nature. But if God determines where He is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me. This place is the Cross of Christ. |