Fellowship with God

We're taking a short hiatus from our sermon series in the Book of Proverbs,

you know, to do a six-week sermon series through 1 John, John's first letter.

We decided to do this for a number of reasons in light of what is happening with COVID-19,

and since we have been displaced from our usual meeting space,

it's a great opportunity for us to hone in on some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith

and discipleship in a more intimate setting.

The aim of 1 John is to reassure us in our faith by reaffirming the person and work of Jesus Christ, the gospel,

and by emphasizing the importance of Christian obedience and love.

And so this series lines up really well with the upcoming Holy Week as well, with Easter and Good Friday.

And 1 John is one of the three letters in the Bible authored by Apostle John,

and the letters are known as the Johannine Epistles.

And specific and explicit personal references and historical references scattered throughout the letter

suggest that this is a letter, but it's missing some of the usual characteristics of a letter,

like an opening salutation or a closing remark.

And that atypical structure suggests that maybe this was intended to be a general letter

that would be circulated among the churches in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

And this was probably written in the late first century after Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John.

And the situation on the ground is that there were some false teachers

that were denying that Christ had come in the flesh,

and their theology promoted sinful living.

It condoned sinful living because they denied that as people who had true knowledge of God

that they could be affected by sin, as we'll see in chapter 1.

These false teachers were dividing the church,

and some Christians had already seceded from the church, separated from the church.

And so Apostle John is addressing some of these issues.

So turn with me to 1 John.

And before I proceed, I'm going to pray for us,

for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to be able to gather in Your name,

in Your presence.

Lord, we long to be with those who are not able to be here.

We pray, Lord, that You would curb the spread of this virus,

that You would protect our loved ones, our church family,

that You would guard our city,

so that soon we'll be able to gather all again face to face.

Oh, Lord, minister to us.

Speak to us from Your Word.

Lord, build us up as Your people.

Fill us with Your Holy Spirit.

Impress upon us deeply the good news of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

We'll go to chapter 2, verse 2.

That which was from the beginning,

which we have heard,

which we have seen with our eyes,

which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,

concerning the Word of Life.

The life was made manifest,

and we have seen it,

and testified to it,

and proclaimed to You the eternal life,

which was with the Father,

and was made manifest to us.

That which we have seen and heard,

we proclaim also to You,

so that You too may have fellowship with us.

And indeed,

our fellowship is with the Father,

and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we are writing these things,

so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from Him,

and proclaimed to you,

that God is light,

and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with Him,

while we walk in darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth.

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,

cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves,

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins,

He is faithful and just,

to forgive us our sins,

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned,

we make Him a liar,

and His Word is not in us.

My little children,

I am writing these things to you,

so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin,

we have an advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ, the righteous.

He is the propitiation for our sins,

and not for us only,

but also for the sins of the whole world.

This is God's holy and authoritative Word.

Apostle John begins this letter

in much the same way

that he begins his Gospel.

He says,

That which was from the beginning,

you'll probably know in John's Gospel,

it begins,

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

And that, of course,

is echoing Genesis 1, verse 1,

Genesis 1:1

with the first book of the Bible,

which says,

In the beginning,

God created the heavens and the earth.

So, Genesis 1, 1 says,

In the beginning, God.

And then John 1, 1 says,

In the beginning, Word.

So, John's making the point

that before anything else existed,

God was there,

and with God,

the Word of God was there,

by which He created the world.

And there was never a time

when the Word of God didn't exist.

And in John 1, verse 14,

John 1:14

Apostle John made a shocking statement.

He said,

And the Word became flesh

and dwelt among us.

And we have seen His glory,

glory as of the only Son from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

So, John told us there in his Gospel

that the Word,

the pre-existent,

the Word became incarnated.

He took on human flesh

and lived among us,

and that this incarnate Word

is Jesus Christ,

the Son of God,

the second person of the Trinity.

And John's making that same

shocking theological statement

in a slightly different manner

in the beginning of this letter.

He says,

That which was from the beginning,

God was in the beginning.

That which was from the beginning,

which we have heard.

This implies that

that which was from the beginning

was a message.

It was the Word.

Something you can hear.

But then he continues in verse 1,

Which we have seen with our eyes.

Which we looked upon

and have touched with our hands

concerning the Word of life.

So somehow,

this Word of life,

the message that we can hear,

the Word by which God created the world,

can be seen and touched.

He's talking about Jesus' incarnation.

It was made manifest physically

and took on flesh.

And this is really a shocking truth

if you think about it,

because the creator of the world

became part of his creation.

It's like the author of a book

becoming a character in the book.

It's maybe like Stan Lee

appearing in Marvel films.

Except he doesn't appear as a cameo.

Jesus appears as the main protagonist

of human history.

And the creator who created it all

became part of human history.

And verse 2 continues,

The life was made manifest

and we have seen it

and testified to it

and proclaimed to you

the eternal life

which was with the Father

and was made manifest to us.

So John's proclaiming

the message of salvation,

the offer of eternal life.

And this eternal life

is not an abstract,

impersonal thing,

but it's a person.

It's the word of life

who was with the Father

and was made manifest to us.

That's why eternal life

is found in the Son of God.

John 3.16, as you know,

For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

And John, along with Jesus'

many disciples,

personally, with His own eyes,

witnessed this word of life.

They saw Him with their own eyes

and touched Him with their own hands.

And note the repetition of words

that pertain to eyewitnesses.

Three times John says,

We have seen the word of life.

In other parts of the letter,

when referring to himself

as the author of the letter,

John regularly uses

the first person singular pronouns.

I, my.

But here, when he's writing

about having been eyewitnesses

of Jesus,

he refers to himself

in the first person plural,

the we.

And that's intentional

because he's communicating to us

that he was not a lone witness.

The person and work of Jesus Christ

that he's proclaiming

now to his audience

and through this letter to us

now is authoritative.

It's the authoritative apostolic message.

Has the backing of all the apostles

of Jesus Christ

who witnessed Him behind it.

It's the unified testimony

of all people

who witnessed personally

the life, death, and resurrection,

and ascension of Jesus.

And John tells us

his purpose is for writing

in verses 3 to 4,

So that you too

may have fellowship with us.

And indeed,

our fellowship

is with the Father

and with His Son,

Jesus Christ.

And we are writing these things

so that our joy

may be complete.

The first purpose

is fellowship.

So that you too

may have fellowship with us.

Keeping in mind

that some have already

strayed from the apostolic faith

and have separated themselves

from the church,

this first century church,

John wants to ensure

that those who remain

will persevere in faith

and continue in fellowship

with them.

And the word fellowship

means a little more

than, you know,

time for snacks

or chit-chat

in some church circles,

right?

The way we think about it.

Fellowship time

or fellowship hall.

It's the place

for refreshments.

But it means

so much more than that.

Scripturally speaking,

the word fellowship

refers to how people

are bound together

relationally

around the common cause

or a mission.

How we're bound together

relationally

around the common cause

or a mission.

It's similar to how

in the Lord of the Rings

trilogy,

in the film trilogy,

when the fellowship

of the ring

is formed.

It's called the fellowship,

right?

And people come together

to destroy

Dark Lord Sauron's

one ring

to save Middle-earth

and representatives

from all the races

gather,

hobbits,

man,

elf,

dwarf,

and wizard.

And they all swear

to bond together

as a brotherhood

in order to fulfill

this mission.

Aragorn says,

to Frodo,

right?

If by my life

or death

I can protect you,

I will.

You have my sword.

And Legolas says,

you have my bow.

And Gimli says,

and my axe.

The fellowship

of the saints,

likewise,

is a binding relationship

formed around

a common bond,

a common mission,

God-given mission.

and church membership

that is not like

a gym membership

or a club membership

that you use

at your convenience

and leave

when you don't feel like it.

it's a fellowship.

And amazingly,

this fellowship

with us,

John says,

is fellowship

with the Father

and with His Son,

Jesus Christ.

Jesus is described

here as the Son of God.

Apostle Paul uses

the word Son

to refer to

our Sonship,

our adoption

as sons

to God,

the Father as well.

But Apostle John

never uses

the word Son

that way.

He never uses

the Son

to refer to

children of God.

That's the expression

he prefers

to refer to

God's people,

children of God.

Only time he uses

the word Son

is in reference

to Jesus

because He is

the unique Son.

He is the only

begotten Son.

He is the only Son

that shares

the divine nature

of God,

His Father.

And He is the Son of God

and this Jesus

is the Christ.

And Christ means

His Anointed One,

the Messiah,

the promised Savior King

of God's people.

And so that's the first purpose

in John's writing

so that

you too may have

fellowship with us

and indeed

our fellowship

is with the Father

and with the Son

Jesus Christ.

That's a powerful

statement.

Remember again

the context of the letter.

Some people have already

seceded from the church.

And John is saying here

that the only way

you have fellowship

with God

is by having fellowship

with us.

Those who proclaim

the word of life.

No one

apart from

the fellowship

of people

who hold fast

to the apostolic faith

in Jesus Christ

can say

to those who secede

from it

that they have

fellowship with God.

It's only the local churches

that hold fast

to this historic

apostolic faith

that can say

to people

who secede from it

there is no fellowship

with God

apart from fellowship

with us.

Because we are

in fellowship

with God

to be in fellowship

with God

is to be in fellowship

with us.

Just as a person

cannot be united

to Christ

our head

without being united

to the church

which is the body

of Christ

a person cannot

be married

to Christ

our bridegroom

without being part

of the church

which is the bride

of Christ.

And this is why

it's inconsistent

and unbiblical

for people to say

I'm a Christian

but I'm not a member

of any church.

I have a relationship

with Christ

but I don't really

have relationships

with Christians.

I've committed

my life to Christ

but I refuse

to commit myself

to a church.

That kind of thinking

is completely

foreign to scripture.

So the first purpose

in John's writing

is that people

might have

fellowship with Christ

and His church

and that's why

this gathering

is so precious.

This is the fellowship

with God.

Apart from which

there is no

fellowship with God.

That's how significant

the church is

in the way God

views it.

And the second purpose

is given in verse 4

and we are writing

these things

so that our joy

may be complete.

John feels

such love

and sense of responsibility

for the churches

to whom he is writing

that apart from them

continuing

in this fellowship

with him.

His joy

would be incomplete.

He longs for them

to remain in fellowship,

stay with us,

worship with us,

love one another.

Only then

will my joy

be complete.

Likewise,

we too should long

for this completion

of joy

that every single

one of our church members

would continue

in faith,

persevere in faith,

that we might

earnestly pray

for one another

to maintain

this fellowship

of the saints

so that we might

last till the end

and that our joy

might be complete.

And so having spoken

of the word of life

in verses 1 to 4,

John speaks

of the God of light

in verses 5

and following.

He says in verse 5,

this is the message

we have heard from him

and proclaimed to you

that God is light

and in him

is no darkness

at all.

In the preceding verses,

John said he is an eyewitness

and a herald

of the word of life.

Now he defines

the content

of the message

that he is proclaiming.

And this is the message

that God is light

and in him

is no darkness

at all.

Many people

have speculated

about the metaphysical

nature of God

but that's not

what John is after

when he says

God is light.

The following verses

show that John

is concerned here

not with the

metaphysical nature

of God

but with the

moral character

of God.

God is light.

That means there is

no darkness

in him at all.

That's phrased

in an intentionally

emphatic

and categorical way.

There is no darkness

in him,

nothing at all.

Habakkuk chapter 1

Habakkuk 1:13

verse 13 says

of God,

you who are

of purer eyes

than to see evil

and cannot

look at wrong.

James 1.13

says God cannot

be tempted

with evil

and he himself

tempts no one.

There is no darkness

in God

and God cannot

sin.

He can do

no evil.

God cannot

lie.

It's such a

simple truth

but it has

far-reaching

implications

if we really

believe it

and live with it

in mind

because that means

God has never

done a single

one of us

any wrong.

God is not

doing anything

evil or wrong

even in what's

happening right now

with the COVID-19.

All the suffering

in your life,

all the tragedies

in your life,

all the difficulties

and disappointments

in your life,

they were not

evil from God.

We might not

be able to see

God's providence

with the naked eye

but we have to

look with eyes

of faith

to believe

that God is light

and in Him

is no darkness

at all.

And another

implication of the

reality that God

is light is that

those who have

fellowship with

God who is light

cannot walk

in darkness.

You can't carry

a flashlight

with you

and expect

to find darkness

because it's

going to light up

wherever you go.

Likewise,

no Christian

persists

in unrepentant

sin

because to do

so is to prove

that one does not

have fellowship

with God

only those

who walk

in the light

of God

partake in

the fellowship

between God

and His people.

In the following

verses,

John fleshes out

the practical

implications

of this theological

truth by using

a series of

conditional statements.

He mentions

three false

claims that

the false

teachers were

teaching

and after

mentioning each

one,

he counters

them with

the application

of the truth

that God

is light.

First one we see

in verse 6,

if we say

we have

fellowship

with Him

while we

walk in

darkness,

we lie

and do not

practice

the truth.

If we claim

to know God,

to possess

the word of

life,

and yet

simultaneously

walk in

darkness,

we are

guilty of

two offenses.

First,

we lie.

We are

hypocrites

who lie

about the

fact that

we have

fellowship

with God

when we

actually

don't.

Since

there is

no darkness

in God

at all,

those who

walk in

the darkness

cannot

possibly

have

fellowship

with God.

And notice

how Apostle

John doesn't

say demurely,

well,

I don't know

what's going

on in their

hearts,

whether they

have real

faith or

not,

that's between

them and

God.

No,

he doesn't

say that.

He says

unapologetically

and assuredly

that those

who say

that they

have fellowship

with God

while walking

in darkness

are lying

because you

cannot do

that.

It is

impossible

for you

to do

that

while you

are walking

in fellowship

with God.

Either

they're lying

or God

is and

God

cannot

lie.

By no

means

let God

be true

though everyone

were a liar.

Romans

Romans 3:4

chapter 3

verse 4.

That's the

first offense

that we

lie.

The second

offense in

making such

a claim

is this,

that we

do not

practice the

truth.

This isn't

speaking merely

of not

telling the

truth.

The phrase

practice the

truth is

also used

in the

gospel of

John

John 3:19–21

chapter 3

verses 19

to 21.

And it

says,

And this

is the

judgment.

The light

has come

into the

world and

people love

the darkness

rather than

the light

because their

works were

evil.

For

everyone who

does wicked

things hates

the light

and does

not come

to the

light,

lest his

works should

be exposed.

But whoever

does what

is true

comes to

the light

so that

it may

be clearly

seen that

his works

have been

carried out

in God.

So the

phrase

does what

is true

is exactly

the same

phrase as

practice the

truth in

1 John.

And those

phrases are

contrasted in

John chapter

John 3 · chapter mention

3 with

doing wicked

things.

So to

not practice

the truth,

not practice

the truth,

to not do

the truth,

is to fail

to live

in accordance

with the

truth.

It means

to violate

the truth

by sinning.

And then

in verse

7 John

counters this

false conditional

statement with

the true

one.

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

cleanses

us from

all sin.

In verse

6 John

said that

those who

walk in

darkness

do not

have fellowship

with God.

So you'd

expect him

here in

verse 7

to say

that those

who walk

in the

light

will have

fellowship

with God.

But instead

he says

that those

who walk

in the

light

have

fellowship

with

one

another.

Again,

that reiterates

what John

said earlier,

namely,

that true

fellowship

with God

is always

expressed

in fellowship

with one

another,

with God's

people.

But what

does it mean

to walk

in the

light?

This

verse is

also

informed

by the

passage

from

John

3

I

read

earlier.

In that

passage,

to come

to the

light

or to

walk

in the

light

means to

receive

the

person

and

work

of

Jesus

Christ,

to

believe

in the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ.

It's

the

opposite

of

remaining

in

darkness

in

order

to

hide

one's

sin.

To

walk

in the

light

therefore

is to

bring

the

light

of

God

to

bear

upon

our

own

sins

so

renounced.

I think

I've told

the story

to some

of you.

When I

was in

college,

I led

an

investigative

Bible

study

for some

non-Christian

friends.

I had

a friend

who would

consistently

come to

every

Bible

study

and

then

stay

long

after

to have

some

intense

debates,

philosophical

debates,

theological

debates.

I would

reason with

him and

plead with

him for

hours.

And one

day,

I thought

maybe one

day he'll

come to

faith,

but after

one of

these long

debates,

my friend

said to

me,

Sean,

I understand

what you're

saying and

understand all

the Christian

arguments,

but the

crux of the

matter is

this,

I like

girls and

I like

sleeping

around with

them.

And if I

become a

Christian,

I have to

stop doing

that and

I am

not about

to do

that.

I was

speechless.

Because he's

so brutally

honest.

But that's

actually more

honest than

a lot of

people who

reject Christ.

Because according

to this

passage, at

the heart of

every rejection

of Christ is

a stubborn

refusal to

conform to

God's ways

and to

insist on

one's own

ways.

People reject

Christ because

they don't want

to renounce

their ways.

They don't

want to follow

Christ.

they don't

want to

bring their

lives into

the light

of Christ.

And we

see the

second false

claim made

by those

who have

succeeded from

the church

in verse

8.

If we

say we

have no

sin,

we deceive

ourselves

and the

truth is

not in

us.

This is a

slight variation

of verse

6.

Some people

claim that

they have

no sin,

meaning they

claim to

have not

sinned.

what they

probably mean

is that

they have

not sinned

since the

time they

came to

have this

so-called

knowledge of

the truth

or the

knowledge of

God they

claim to

have.

But to

claim such

things,

to say that

I have

not sinned,

I do not

sin,

is to deceive

ourselves,

it says.

It's to lie

to ourselves.

Those who

claim to have

fellowship with

God while

walking in

darkness

lie to

others.

Those who

say that they

have no sin

lie to

themselves.

Because no

one can

claim to

be without

sin,

without deceiving

themselves,

without either

minimizing or

masking sin,

or denying

sin altogether,

that sin

is sin.

For example,

people commit

fornication and

adultery,

and then they

say that it's

true love.

People live

selfishly,

in a self-centered

way,

and then they

say that

that's self-care.

People abuse

others in the

home, in the

classroom, in the

workplace, and

then they say

it's maintaining

discipline and

order.

People are

lazy, and

they call it

being laid

back.

People cast

their lack of

faith as

reasonableness

and wisdom.

people are

envious, and

they pass it

off as

righteous

indignation.

People are

pridefully and

sinfully

judgmental, and

then they call

it moral

courage.

They call

cowardice

humility, and

meekness.

They call

gossip

concern.

they pass

off being a

mocker as

being witty.

They excuse

permissiveness and

licentiousness as

progressiveness and

tolerance.

They call

selfish ambition

and greed

drivenness,

industriousness.

We deceive

ourselves, that

we have no

sin.

But when we

do, the

truth is not

in us.

And that

phrase is

parallel to

verse 10,

His word is

not in us.

To claim that

one has no

sin is to

give evidence

of the fact

that Jesus,

who is the

way, the

truth, and

the life, is

not in us.

That the

word of

life, the

Jesus Christ,

is not in

us.

In contrast,

it says in

verse 9,

if we

confess our

sins, He

is faithful

and just to

forgive us

our sins and

to cleanse us

from all

unrighteousness.

What's in

view here is

confessing our

sins to God,

who alone can

forgive sins.

But in the

same way that

fellowship with

God is

necessarily

expressed in

our fellowship

with one

another, our

confession of

sins to

God also

involves

confessing

our sins

to one

another.

That's why

James 5,

James 5:16

verse 16

says,

Therefore,

confess your

sins to

one another

and pray

for one

another that

you may be

healed.

The prayer

of a

righteous

person has

great power

as it is

working.

Only those

who declare

themselves sick

can be

treated.

Only those

who declare

themselves dirty

can be

cleansed.

only those

who declare

themselves

sinful

can be

forgiven

because God

is faithful

and just

to forgive

us our

sins and

to cleanse

us from

all unrighteousness.

God's

faithfulness

refers to

His

trustworthiness

that He

will fulfill

all of

His promises

that He

will always

be true

to His

word.

And God's

justice

elsewhere

translated as

righteousness

refers to

the fact that

God always

does what

is right.

And then

in verse 10

gives us

the final

conditional

statement

which seeks

to correct

the misconception

of the

false

teachers.

If we

say we

have not

sinned

we make

Him a

liar

and His

word is

not in

us.

You

probably

noticed

this is

very similar

to verse

8.

The only

difference

between this

and verse

8 is

that in

verse 8

He's

saying we

have no

sin in

the present

tense

indicating

an ongoing

achievement

of sinlessness

and then

in verse

10

it's in

the perfect

tense

it's saying

we have

not sinned

indicating the

condition of

being innocent

of not having

sinned

a state of

innocence.

So verse 8

is saying I

do not sin

verse 10

is saying I

have not

sinned

but if we

say I

have not

sinned

John argues

we make

God a

liar and

His word

is not

in us.

Verse 6

said that if

we claim to

have fellowship

with God

but walk

in darkness

we lie

to others.

Verse 10

tells us that if

we claim to

be without

sin we

make God

out to be

a liar.

Verse 8

says that if

we claim not

to sin we

lie about

ourselves.

Verse 10

says that if

we claim to

not sin to

have no sin

we make God

out to be a

liar because

God says in

His word that

all have

sinned and

fall short of

the glory of

God.

Having addressed

the fallacies of

the false

teachers John

transitions in

chapter 2

verse 1 to

addressing the

recipients of

his letter in

very personal

terms.

Instead of

using we

and are and

including the

apostolic witnesses

along with him

in the collective

as he has done

up to this

point he says

in chapter 2

verse 1

my little

by this point

probably in the

90s this letter

was written so

Apostle John

would have been

quite old by

this time and

he is as an

elder of this

church writing

very affectionately

as a spiritual

father and

exhorting the

churches and

he is telling

them lest they

think that all

this talk about

we all sin we

need to confess

our sins to

one another lest

they think that

that means sin

is okay.

He tells them

no I am writing

these things to

you so that you

may not sin.

Yes sin is a

reality yes we

should confess our

sins but that

does not mean we

should condone sin

or turn a blind

eye to sin or

minimize sin.

No we to bring

sin into the

light of Christ

is to expose

it for the

heinous evil

that it is

and ask Christ

to deal with it

because we are

unable to.

But because

John does

acknowledge the

reality of sin

in the lives of

believers he is

quick to remind

us but if

anyone does

sin we have

an advocate with

the father

Jesus Christ

the righteous.

we now he's

referring to

we John and

the people that

are receiving

his letter we

have an advocate

with the father

Jesus Christ

the righteous

we have an

ancient enemy

Satan right

his name means

the accuser

he accuses

us

condemns

us

slanders

us

but fear

not because

it says we

also have

an advocate

the one

who takes

up our

cause

defends

us in

the court

of God's

justice

the one

who speaks

for us

when we

are stumbling

for words

and are

unable to

defend

ourselves

because

Jesus has

ascended to

the heavens

and is at

the seated

at the right

hand of

God the

father

and he's

interceding

for us

he's advocating

for us

defending us

and that's

why Hebrews

4 16

says let

us then

with confidence

draw near

to the throne

of grace

that we may

receive mercy

and find

grace

to help

in time

of need

but let me

ask you

how can

Jesus

advocate

for sinners

for people

who are

guilty

people whose

verdict is

guilty

how can

Jesus

advocate

for sinners

in front

of an

impartial

just

judge

there's

something

that I

glossed over

earlier in

chapter 1

verse 9

he said

if we

confess our

sins

he's

faithful

and

just

to

forgive

us

our

sins

and to

cleanse

us

from

all

unrighteousness

the word

just

there means

righteousness

it's the

same word

it's the

adjectival

form

of the

word

righteousness

so then

there's a

contrast

there

a word

play

there

God

is

righteous

to

cleanse

us

from

all

unrighteousness

but

how can

it be

righteous

to

clear

the

unrighteous

x

exodus

Exodus 34:7

34

verse 7

when

god

reveals

his

character

to

his

people

he

spoke

of

his

righteousness

and

justice

and

he

said

he

will

by

no

means

clear

the

guilty

he

commanded

his

people

in

exodus

Exodus 23:7

chapter

23

verse

7

do

not

kill

the

innocent

and

righteous

for

I

will

not

acquit

the

wicked

it

is

inconsistent

with

his

character

to

acquit

the

wicked

to

clear

the

unrighteous

so

how

is

it

just

for

god

to

clear

the

unrighteous

how

is

it

righteous

of

god

to

cleanse

the

unrighteous

the

answer

is in

this

verse

because

of

jesus

christ

the

righteous

it

is

the

righteousness

of christ

that