Christian Confidence-Sermon Manuscript (1 John 2:28-3:3)

Introduction

What good is being good at something if you can’t be confident in your abilities? Imagine a heart surgeon who has all of the skill in the world but trembles with a scalpel in his hand while standing in the operating room over a living person. Sure, when working on cadavers he is flawless, but get him in the room and he withers in fear; knees buckling, sweat dripping, hands shaking, and tears in his eyes. He might be a heart surgeon in name, but he’s a puddle of goo by trade.

There might be nothing worse than an unconfident Christian. With a heart surgeon he must rely on his own abilities honed through a decade of schooling and time in residency. A Christian is instead called to live out her life not on her own accord, but in accordance and on account of Christ. The work that accomplishes a new life is given to the Christian and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Sure you are called to a life of good works and holy living, but even that is a work of God done through you. Those actions particular to the Christian are done in such a way that they reflect the glory of God because they are done to the glory of God by the people of God.

So why is a lack of confidence in the Christian so abhorrent? Because it stems from a place of lacking faith and trust in Christ. You are a Christian because of Christ. You live your life because of Christ. You are saved because of Christ. You are secure because of Christ. You are holy because of Christ. You are righteous because of Christ. You are forgiven because of Christ. You are adopted because of Christ.

So for the Christian, when he lacks confidence, it’s not himself that is the object of this apprehension, but Christ who is denigrated with such nonsense. Today we will see why we can have the utmost assurance in our risen Savior.

MPS: Christ, His return, your righteousness, and your adoption turn your hope into confidence.

Our confidence comes from Christ. (28)

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 

We are called to know and follow Christ. To abide in Him is first to know Him and what He teaches. We learn who He is by reading His Word, which reveals Christ to us, but it also instructs us in the teachings of Christ.

Secondly, abiding includes Obedience to Christ, which will give His people confidence that they have been faithful. What good is knowledge without action? At the heart of faith is assent and trust. When we know Christ and obey Him we are eager for His return so that we might see Him in His fullness.

If one is to abide by the Laws of the United States they first must know there is a law and what they are. You are then compelled to follow that law. That’s what it means to abide. To abide in Christ is to know Him, what He teaches, and to obey Him.

Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)

Your abiding in Christ will bring about fruit in your life. Therefore, seek Him in all that you do. It begins with Christ saving you, then it turns into learning Him by studying His Word and talking to Him through prayer. Abiding in Christ leads to making disciples and helping others abide in Him.

From this abiding comes a confidence in Christ, because He is the one in whom you abide. So when He returns you won’t need to cower in fear as though you are a child ashamed because they let down their parents. Christ has saved you, abides in you, and so you can be joyful at His return.

Our confidence comes from righteousness. (29)

29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 

Righteousness is the quality of moral right and wrong. God alone defines what is morally right. It proceeds from Him. His very nature and constitutional makeup is righteous. There is nothing in or of God that is deficient, He is the creator of all things and is perfect in every way.

John says that those who practice this righteousness have been born from God. When you look around at yourself and others and measure it against God’s declaration of right and wrong, what do you find? The one who lives by faith given to them by God will find a pursuit of righteousness. Following what God says is right gives confidence to His people that they’ve been born from Him.

One might suggest that righteousness somehow earns you salvation. If you don’t hurt anyone, steal, and raise nice children then you must be okay. But we don’t see that in the text. Instead we see that those who have been redeemed by Christ and born from God live a life of righteousness. 

You wouldn’t expect a star athlete to eat 10,000 calories a meal and never exercise. In fact that’s what got some athletes in trouble recently when they restarted the hockey season. Guys showed up out of shape. Are they still athletes? Yes. Did they act like it? Not really. Did they have complications? Absolutely! Such is the Christian who doesn’t practice righteousness. Or a non-Christian who seems to be righteous. 

So how might you live a righteous life? First you must trust in Christ. So if you are not a follower of Jesus; saved by His blood, then you have no hope. You’re like the little boy who dreamed of becoming a dinosaur and no matter how hard you tried your aspirations never came to fruition. But if you belong to God then your hope turns to confidence. Then to practice righteousness is to obey His Word with a glad heart and enjoy Him forever, which is the result of your hope.

Our confidence comes from our adoption into God’s family. (3:1)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 

You might have grown up in a traditional nuclear family, or one that is less than traditional. Regardless of your earthly background, you have been an orphan your entire life until God brought you into His family, and this new family looks incredibly strange to the world.

This family is defined by God and as the family carries out the work of their Father they will inevitably look odd. The world grows in its hostility because its values stand in contrast to that of God’s family. The world values a plurality of religion. Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The world values a multiplicity of genders. God says, “Male and female he created them.” (Gen. 5:2) The world says there is no absolute truth. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. ” (John 14:6) The world rejects the value of human life. God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26)

Jesus says, “A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20) Friction with the world isn’t only possible, it’s expected! We serve a Master whom they rejected. Not only did they reject Him but they arrested, tortured, and killed Him. And by His resurrection we were united with Him.

Our family relationship provides confidence because we are permanently His. Jesus says, “no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:29) He has permanently adopted us and our care is in His hands. We are in a family that transcends all things because our Father transcends all things. 

No matter how lost or abandoned you might feel. Despite all of your anxieties, depression, anger, and fear God is still your God. You are still in His family. He holds tightly to you, comforts you, and works all things together for your good. Knowing that God is your Father, Jesus is your Savior, the Spirit is your Helper, and the Church is your family then you can now cast your cares aside. Forgive your neighbor. Confess your sins. Trust in Christ. Have confidence in your faith because you belong to God’s family! It is by God’s grace that we enter into His family and His grace that we look to our last point.

Our confidence comes from our conformity to Christ. (2-3)

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

There is a present conformity to Christ where we continually put sin to death through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is our present condition that we actively shed the old man and put on the new. We repent of our sin and turn to Christ in faith, day-by-day until the return of Christ.

There is a future conformity to Christ where we will be made like Him. This is what Paul means when he says, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6) All that you lack in this life by way of holiness and godliness will be given to you on the day Jesus returns. That’s what John means by, “we shall be like him.”

It is at this time when we will see Christ perfectly. Until now we have only seen glimpses of Jesus in His splendor. How great is the Lord to save, sustain, and comfort His people. How great is the King who defeated death and ascended into Heaven? How much greater will that day be when we see Jesus perfectly in all His glory rather than just glimpses given to us through His Word.

It is our present and future conformity to Christ that blesses us with confidence. We can look to Christ’s present work in our lives as evidence of His power and grace. It reveals that He is truly in us. Our confidence comes from Christ’s present work in changing us to be more like Him. Your confidence is tied to Christ and not yourself!

Be confident in your salvation and place in God’s family. Your confidence comes from no work of your own, but the work of Christ.