The outline I titled "Basic Biography of a Born Again Believer" and I am preaching it from my pulpit on Sunday, March 4, 2012 (Lord willing).
BASIC BIOGRAPHY OF A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER
I. HE IS PROVEN (I John 2:29).
A. A Habitual Righteousness. Quote Kenneth S. Wuest: "The habitual actions of a person are an index to his character." (In These Last Days, p. 140). Expand on.
B. A Particular Righteousness. "Everyone that doeth righteousness" = literally, "doeth the righteousness." A particular kind of righteousness, that is, like unto Christ's righteousness.
C. This is a Proof, not a Prescription. This verse does not explain how to become a child of God. It explains how to prove a child of God. The son takes after the Father. One proof of many that John offers throughout First John.
II. HE SAVORS GOD'S LOVE (I John 3:1a).
A. A Call to “Behold” God’s Love. "Behold" is in the plural imperative - a command to all believers to ponder on God's love. The difference between the religious lost and the born again: one thinks he deserves God's love, and therefore thinks very little of it. The other knows he does not deserve God's love, and therefore magnifies it; he savors the fact that though unworthy, he has it!
Quote Oliver B. Greene: "We need to stop and literally gaze at the cross, because Jesus on the cross was God's love on display for ungodly, hopeless, wretched sinners, who were His enemies.... God gave Heaven's best to die for earth's worst -- and He did it willingly." (The Epistles of John, p. 108).B. The Manner of God’s Love. "Manner" carries the idea of foreignness. God's love is outside of human experience. Which of us could love the unloveable in the way God has demonstrated His love?
C. The Result of God’s Love. That we should be called the children of God. Everything about the believer's experience hinges on this fact - from his daily sanctification through his ultimate glorification. God could have chosen to forgive us without the new birth, but our salvation is greater than simply being forgiven. It is a new identity that we have for all of eternity.
III. HE IS MISUNDERSTOOD (I John 3:1b).
The world = those people who are children of the Devil. Explain: being a child of God is a special privelege; all others are children of the Devil. Not the liberal, universal "fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."
So the Illustration: People from different families often misunderstand one another; so the children of the Devil have no comprehension of the children of God.
The world knew not Christ, John 1:10. Therefore not us either, John 15:18-19.
Illustration: What can we expect from the world? See what Christ received from it for the answer!
Application: Therefore, why should we embrace the world, as John already said, I John 2:15?
IV. HE KNOWS HIS CURRENT STATUS (I John 3:2a).
V. HE AWAITS HIS FUTURE GLORY (I John 3:2b).
A. The Details Are a Mystery. As to the timing, the particulars. We could not even comprehend anyway.
B. The Known Facts Are a Comfort. Jesus is coming again. We shall be like Him. Philippians 3:21. We shall behold Him face to face. I Corinthians 13:12.
VI. HE HAS A PURIFYING HOPE (I John 3:3).
A. This "Hope" Is Sure. Define "hope" biblically. Apply to Christ's return, Titus 2:13.
B. This Hope Makes Pure. Titus 2:11-14.
VM
