“FAKE CHRISTIANITY”

 

PURPOSE:
To teach the hearers about the different signs of Fake Christianity.

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever meet someone who claimed that he is Christian? Are we easy to believe that his claim is true? In the time of Apostle John, there were many Christians who abandoned the true faith and embrace dangerous heresies called Gnosticism. The central teaching of Gnosticism was the spirit is good and the matter is evil. Because of this teaching, there were many fake Christians at that time who claimed to be Christians, yet their claims and lifestyle contradicted the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ.
From the letter of Apostle John, he exposed the heresies taught by the false teachers and gave signs of fake Christianity.

TEXT: 1 John 1:2-10

“2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
7 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, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

What are the signs of Fake Christianity?

• WALKING IN THE DARKNESS (V.5-7)
• CLAIMING TO BE WIHTOUT SIN (V.8-9)
• CLAIMING THAT THEY DID NOT SIN (V. 10)

WALKING IN THE DARKNESS (V.5-7)

1 John 1:5 – “5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

Apostle John said that the Light came to the world but the world did not accept Him (John 1:9-11). Lord Jesus brought light to the dark world because He is the light, he gives hope to the hopeless people enslaved by sins, he heals the sick, he freed people from the tormenting evil spirits and he feed people who are starving. The people in the dark found the light in the Lord Jesus Christ because He is God. He is the truth and hopeless people found goodness in Him.

1 John 1:6 – “6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. “

Fake Christians claimed that they have fellowship with Christ, but they were living in the darkness. Their lifestyle contradicts the teachings of Christ. Lord Jesus said that they must love one another (John 13:34), but these people did the opposite. (1 John 2:11). How they could fellowship with the light if they were living in the darkness?
Apostle John shared his personal experience and fellowship with Christ Jesus. He said that the sign of having fellowship with Christ is by walking in the light, because Christ is the light.

1 John 1:2-4 – “2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete. “

Walking in the light means they are obedient to God’s will, and it will bring them to the fellowship with the Father and the Son and all other true Christians. (1 John 1:2-4)

1 John 1:7 – “7 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, purifies us from all sin.”

A true Christian is not exempted in committing sins, but it is not a valid reason not to face consequences. Even if they committed sin, they will make an effort to submit to the will of God and follow Christ’s teaching, and the blood of the Lamb will purify their sins.
Therefore, true Christians will continue to walk in the light, while fake Christians will profess that they are also Christian, yet they will continue to walk in the dark.

CLAIMING TO BE WIHTOUT SIN   (V. 8-9)   

1 John 1:8 – “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Gnosticism, an erroneous teaching from the first and second century cause many Christians to abandon their real faith. These heresies taught that all matter is evil. Since they are still in their body, they believed that it was okay to disobey God’s law, and claimed that they were not subject to moral and spiritual consequences.
Apostle John dealt with these issues by making clarification that claiming without sin is a sign that they were deceiving themselves and the truth was not in them. They were deceiving themselves because in reality man is a sinner (Romans 3:23).

Nowadays, Christians must be aware not to deceive themselves, looking for someone to be blamed, and not accepting responsibility for their personal fault and shortcomings.

1 John 1:9 – “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Man is a sinner, and he must acknowledge his sin and turn away from it. The Lord is faithful and just to forgive the one who confess his sins. God response to the sinner who confesses their sins is based on his nature and character, not from the ways of men.

God is faithful because he will not walk away from the person who really admit their sin and seek forgiveness. God is just because he forgives the sinner, yet, he did not tolerate the sin because he allows him to experience the consequence of that sin. This consequence may be difficult to bear by the sinner but there is One who suffered for their sins on the cross and will enable them by His grace.

CLAIMING THAT THEY DID NOT SIN (V. 10)

1 John 1:10 –“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Gnostics claimed that their disobedience against the will of God and their immoral acts are not sinful. They claimed that they are Christians, but they made the Lord Jesus a liar because Christ came to save the sinner (Luke 5:26, Romans 3:23). Their claim was a direct denial of the necessity of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.

The work of the Lord is ineffective on the person who did not acknowledge his sin, because he will not seek repentance, and he will not acknowledge his depravity as a sinner.
Wrong teaching from Gnostics will lead to wrong lifestyle. This lifestyle is contradicted to the Christian doctrine.

(Illustration):



There was an El Niño in the land, causing all grass and plants to wither. The wicked shepherd decides to put an eye glasses tainted with green colour to every sheep. When the sheep found a dried grass and leaves they did not hesitate to eat it. Eye glasses tainted with green colour made the dried grass and leaves look fresh and edible to the sheep. Likewise, wrong doctrine will deceive the spiritual eyes of every Christian and will not distinguish the wrong lifestyle from biblical living. Every Christian must be aware of the teaching they received and believed. There is no best commentary of the Holy Bible, only the Bible itself! Let us be noble like the Bereans in accepting any Biblical teaching. (Acts 17:11)


CONCLUSION: 

Fake Christians will profess that they are Christians yet their lifestyle is contradicted to the word of God. They claimed they that do not have sin, and the worst is they claimed that they did not sin. These are the signs that they were not living in the truth and they were deceiving themselves.

Today, let us hold on to the truth and live in accordance with his Word, so that we will avoid deceiving ourselves.