Podcast Summary: "We Are Never Getting Back Together"

Podcast: Fresh Life Church
Host: Pastor Levi Lusko
Date: August 18, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Pastor Levi Lusko continues Fresh Life Church’s verse-by-verse journey through First John. Framing the message as a "breakup song," Levi explores the Christian's relationship to sin—past, present, and future. He unpacks how First John 2 assures believers of their salvation, confronts false teachings about sin, and lays out practical theological truths for living in victory, not bondage. With humor, warmth, and scriptural clarity, Levi challenges listeners to decisively "break up" with sin and to embrace both assurance and accountability in Christ.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: First John as a "Breakup Song"

• (00:00–05:00) Levi opens by comparing First John’s structure to the circular, repetitive nature of song lyrics, noting that, in this chapter, John addresses the "breakup" Christians must have with sin.
• Levi humorously relates how break-up songs resonate because of their connection to loss and pain, suggesting that Christians should approach their old relationship with sin with a sense of finality and clarity.

2. Historical Context: False Teachings in Ephesus

• John, returning from exile on Patmos, finds the churches in Asia Minor, especially Ephesus, confused due to the rise of Gnostic false teachings (05:00–10:00).
• These teachings led believers to question their salvation, prompting John to write First John to bring clarity and assurance.

3. Assurance of Salvation—The Big Theme

• John’s main purpose: Giving Christians assurance about their salvation (10:00–13:00).
  • "Am I really saved? How can I know?"—First John is written to answer this crucial question.
  • Levi: "By looking at our relationship with sin, it can tell us something about our relationship with God."

4. Reading and Explaining the Passage

• Pastor Levi reads First John 2:1–11, highlighting John’s affection for his "little children" and his pastoral intent to encourage, not chastise (13:00–17:00).

Two Major Gnostic Errors Addressed

(17:00–30:00)

a) Asceticism:

• The pursuit of “sinless moral perfection,” claiming true Christians never sin again.
• Levi: “If you think you’ve come to a place of not sinning, you’ve just sinned—because lying’s a sin!” (18:50)

b) Dualism:

• The separation of body and spirit, claiming bodily actions don’t matter if your heart is right.
• Levi unpacks how this led to antinomianism (“no rules”) and how John refutes both extremes.

Seven Things the Devil Doesn’t Want You To Know About Sin

(30:00–75:00)

1. Sin Hides Itself

• “Sin doesn’t ever show you its full stature. It always hides itself...just a little cutie cat, right?” (32:45)
• Story of Cain (Genesis 4): Sin as a "crouching predator" waiting at the door.

2. Sin Keeps You From Being Like God

• God’s plan: Our transformation into Christlikeness. Sin derails that goal (38:00).
• Levi’s Eve impression: “I want to grab myself by the shoulders and say, Levi, you can’t have more of Christ than you have.” (41:00)
• The real assurance comes not from striving, but seeing Christlikeness growing in us.

3. Sin Can and Should Be Avoided

• We are able not to sin—the Spirit gives us choice and power.
• “I have the choice to not sin, just as I have the choice to sin. I know this flies in the face of what we love to think, and that is the devil made me do it. No, he didn’t. You chose to do it.” (51:00)
• White-knuckling won’t work; instead, “fill your life up with Jesus” to crowd out the opportunity for sin.

4. Sin is Present, but Not All-Powerful

• Distinction: Indwelling sin (our nature), remaining sin (occasional lapses), habitual sin (ongoing, willful habit).
• Analogy: Dead but dangerous rattlesnake—sin is “dejected but not ejected” (60:00).
• “Sin may enter the heart and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.” (62:00)

5. Sin Committed Needs to be Sin Confessed

• Don’t hide, excuse, or rationalize. Drag it into the light and confess to Jesus.
• Analogy of the tide pen—spot something, deal with it immediately (66:00).
• “The fact that you hate that you fall into sin is proof that you belong to him.” (70:20)
• The nearer you get to Christ, the more clearly you’ll see remaining sin—not as shame, but as light exposing areas for growth and grace.

6. Sin Has an Accuser and an Advocate

• When you stand before God, the devil (the "accuser") will recount your sins—but Jesus ("the advocate") stands as your defense (71:20–78:00).
• Propitiation explained: Jesus paid your debt once and for all.
• Memorable analogy: “The judge doesn’t see the client, just the attorney.”
• “Your lawyer can say, ‘Your honor, Dad, we both know everything that was just said about my client is true. But permission to approach the bench?’” (74:40)
• Salvation is based not on mercy but justice—Jesus already paid the price.

7. The Cure for Sin Needs to Be Shared

• Salvation is not just for us, but for "the whole world" (First John 2:2) (79:00–end).
• “Let’s not hog salvation. Let’s not be greedy with grace.”
• Evangelistic challenge: Don’t keep this freedom to yourself—spread the word.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sin’s subtlety:
  “An acorn is just an oak tree in disguise.” (35:00)
• On legal status before God:
  “You can’t lose through bad behavior what you didn’t earn through good behavior.” (76:10)
• On assurance:
  “The fact that you hate that you fall into sin is proof that you belong to him.” (70:20)
• On living out the gospel:
  “Walk with Jesus, and you’re going to find that you’re becoming your best self along the way.” (54:30)
• On advocating for others:
  “Let’s not hog salvation. Let’s not be greedy with grace. Let’s not be stingy with the spirit. Come on, let’s go.” (80:00)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–05:00 — Framing First John as a breakup song
• 05:00–10:00 — The church’s confusion and the context of Gnostic heresies
• 10:00–17:00 — Assurance of salvation: John’s main theme
• 17:00–30:00 — Explaining asceticism and dualism
• 30:00–60:00 — Seven truths about sin (introduction and first four points)
• 60:00–75:00 — Remaining sin vs. habitual sin; confession and assurance
• 75:00–80:00 — Accuser vs. Advocate: Our legal standing before God
• 80:00–end — Evangelism and closing appeal

Final Takeaways

• Break up with sin decisively—a relationship with Jesus means a real and growing distance from your old ways.
• The struggle against sin is evidence of spiritual life, not death; assurance grows as likeness to Christ grows.
• Sin cannot dominate those in Christ; temptation can be resisted and confessed—there’s always a way of escape.
• Jesus is your advocate, defense, and propitiation—rest in that assurance, not your own effort or perfection.
• Share the cure—salvation and freedom aren’t to be kept to oneself.

For anyone wrestling with assurance, confused by spiritual struggle, worried about habitual sin, or longing to be more like Jesus, this message is a call to decisively "never get back together" with sin—and to keep walking in the love and power of the gospel.