Chapter One-hundred-twenty-two
The First Epistle from John
Introduction and Chapter One
This introduction is taken from the NKJV Personal Study Edition,
Thomas Nelson, 1990, 1995.
First John is a favorite among the General Epistles of the New
Testament.... It is called a "general" epistle because those to
whom it was addressed are not named.
AUTHOR AND DATE
Although the writer does not mention his own name, this
epistle, like the Gospel of John, was written by the apostle
John, son of Zebedee. Its readers were familiar with John's
message, testimony, and style.
John lived until about A.D.100. He thus survived the other
apostles and was viewed as the one remaining authentic voice of
our Lord. When doubts had arisen about the facts and
interpretation of Jesus' life and message, John wrote his Gospel
to anchor the faith of the believers. He then wrote this epistle
to establish the certainty of a personal experience of eternal
life in Jesus Christ. Irenaeus, a second-century church father,
quoted John's disciple, Polycarp, to confirm John's authorship of
this letter.
The content of the epistle and the historical setting seem
to indicate a date between A.D.85 and 95. It had to be late in
John's ministry but most likely before he was exiled to Patmous
where he wrote the Book of the Revelation.
BACKGROUND
This letter was probably sent to a group of Christians
living in Asia Minor who were troubled by false teachers.
Although these teachers had left the church, they were trying to
persuade Christians to follow their false teaching. These
teachers denied that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God,
because they did not believe that God had really become a human
being. They seem to have claimed a higher revelation through
which they knew God directly. While claiming not to have sin,
they paid no attention to Christ's commandments, particularly His
command to love one another.
PURPOSE
John's purpose is clearly stated in 5:13: "That you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to
believe in the name of the Son of God." John writes to show that
no true knowledge of God is possible without commitment to the
divine-human Son of God and without receiving the forgiveness for
sin that His death provides. Fellowship with God will be
evidenced by faith in Christ, obedience to His commands, and love
for the brethren.
CONTENTS
This letter emphasizes that God the Son truly became a
man in Jesus Christ. Through this divine-human Christ eternal
life is offered to humanity. His death has provided forgiveness
for our sins. His love expressed in dying for us is both the
pattern of, and power for, our fives. We receive this
forgiveness, love, and eternal life through trusting in Him as
the Son of God who became man. Thus we abide in Him and in the
Father. Our faith in Him rests on the witness of the apostles and
on the witness of the Holy Spirit in Scripture and in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit empowers us for love and holy living.
Because Christ has shown us that God is light or holiness, we
cannot live in Him and practice sin. The marks of the true
Christian are obedience, love, and continued faith in Christ.
Outline of 1 John
(I). God revealed in Christ.(1:1-4)
(II). Walking in the light.(1:5-2:2)
A. God is light.(1:5)
B. Christians walk in light.(1:6-10)
C. Forgiveness is available.(2:1,2)
(Ill). Evidences of salvation.(2:3-29)
A. Obedience to Christ's commands.(2:3-6)
B. Love for one another.(2:7-11)
C. Love for God.(2:12-17)
D. Loyalty to Christ.(2:18-25)
E. Guidance by the Spirit.(2:26,27)
F. Confidence at Christ's appearing.(2:28,29)
(IV). Characteristics of God's children.(3:1-24)
A. Likeness to God.(3:1-3)
B. Freedom from sin.(3:4-9)
C. Love for the brethren.(3:10-17)
D. Assurance of salvation.(3:18-24)
1. Confirmed by obedience.(3:18-22)
2. Witnessed by the Holy spirit.(3:23,24)
(V). Discernment and love.(4:1-21)
A. Tests for false teaching.(4:1-6)
1. Belief in the Son.(4:1-3)
2. Obedience to the gospel.(4:4-6)
B. Love for fellow Christians.(4:7-21)
1. The command to love.(4:7-12)
2. The power to love: abiding in Christ.(4:13-16)
3. The results of love.(4:17-21)
(VI). Faith in the Son of God.(5:1-17)
A. The source of spiritual birth.(5:1-5)
B. The ground of assurance.(5:6-17)
1. Witnessed to by God.(5:6-12)
2. Written by John.(5:13)
3. Tested in prayer.(5:14-17)
(Vll). A summary of Christian certainties.(5:18-21)
.................
CHAPTER ONE
John starts by nailing home that Jesus Christ was not a
figment of a religious sect of Judaism. He gives witness that
Jesus was seen and heard and touched by the very apostles of the
first century, and He, Jesus was the very WORD of life, and in
HIM is eternal life, and it is true that Jesus was WITH the
Father and then DID come as a human person, to manifest the very
essence of God.
John says he and others like him, have and are declaring
Jesus as Messiah, and in so doing all may have fellowship
together, and even more important is that we can have fellowship
with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
You will note that there is not one word about another
personal being of the Holy Spirit. Why not if the Holy Spirit is
indeed a personal being separate from the Father and Son. The
simple and easy answer is that John did not mention a third
person to fellowship with, because the Holy Spirit is NOT a third
personal being. The Holy Spirit is the very NATURE and POWER that
emanates from both the Father and the Son. The truth about the
Holy Spirit is in other studies on my Website.
John writes so his readers can have joy that is full and
running over (verses 1-4).
John then quickly goes into the subject of LIGHT and
DARKNESS. He says God is LIGHT, and in Him there is NO darkness
at all. John is getting right at the trunk of the tree. By close
to the end of the first century A.D. there was already a movement
within the Christian Church of God, to DEPART from the true light
that was in Christ Jesus, a departing was under way from the true
teachings and doctrines of God, a departing from the COMMANDMENTS
of God, as John makes very plain in other verses and chapters of
this epistle.
John continues his bulls-eye talk. He shoots right from the
hip, fast and square center. If we try to say we have fellowship
with God and yet walk, live, practice our life living in
darkness, we are simply fooling ourselves and LYING to others as
well as ourselves. We are just NOT in the truth, period!
If on the other hand, we walk, live our lives, in the LIGHT,
just as God is in the light, then we can have fellowship with
each other, and as we are in the right humble and obedient mind-
set, then the mercy of God can be extended towards us, we can be
forgiven our sins through the blood of Christ Jesus (verses 5-7).
And that is indeed the key factor to having our sins
forgiven. It is being in an attitude of repentance - humble - and
having an outlook on Christian living that desires to live by
God's commandments. John throughout this epistle hits this true
godly mind-set time after time. My in-depth studies on being
saved by grace, and repentance, show the key importance of having
this attitude of mind.
Now, as John moves on in regards to the question of sin, it
becomes obvious that when he was writing, there was already a
false teaching being spread by some, that as children of God we
are sinless, or put another way, we DO NOT sin anymore, a kind of
grace in advance, which then leads to, do whatever you want,
because you are already forgiven. A very strange and destructive
teaching because it leads to the complete opposite mind-set you
need to have to be under the grace of God.
John asserts that if we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Once you come to see the
holiness of the Lord, and the perfectness and holiness of His
commandments, it is mind-blowing to think that some could
actually believe they do not sin, but it seems that was exactly
what some believed and taught.
The truth is that if we CONFESS our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (verses 8-9).
This reminds me of the parable Jesus gave about the self-
righteous Pharisee and the low-down sinner, as they went to pray
in the Temple. The self-righteous fellow, was thanking God he was
not like this sinful person and that sinful fellow. But the low-
down (in the world's estimation) man, was not filled with pomp
and vanity and self-righteousness. He just kept his head low and
simply said, "Father, forgiver me, I'm a sinner." Jesus said it
was that humble fellow that was justified, made clean, forgiven,
not the vain self-righteous one. Jesus did not give this parable
to teach we should go around always with our head down to the
ground, and feeling like we have just got out of the pig pen we
fell into. Jesus gave that parable to teach us to be humble, to
realize we are human, and although we are God's children, we do
still sin, and we need to ask for the forgiveness of our sins.
The moment we loose that perspective on life as a Christian, we
are in BIG TROUBLE!
Well, from verse 10, it seems that was not the only false
doctrine going around about sin and the Christian, or about sin
period. It would seem some were teaching WE HAVE NOT SINNED! That
idea of course would lead people to believe they needed no
Savior, hence there was no need for Jesus Christ, and a new
gospel, which was not THE gospel, was in the swing. And that kind
of teaching was about as contrary as you could get, away from the
truth of Jesus Christ, and from the truth that all the first
century apostles taught.
John did not WANT the spiritual children he was writing too,
to sin! No Christian in their right mind wants other Christians
to sin (John gives a definition of sin in chapter 3:4)....BUT IF
ANY PERSON DOES SIN .....
................
To be continued
Written October 2007
  Chapter One hundred-twenty-three:Chapter Two - Follow Christ and "Last time"
Chapter One hundred-twenty-three
The First Epistle from John
Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO
John writes to his spiritual little children (John was much
older than most of them), that they SIN NOT! It is to be the
mind attitude for all Christians that they do not want to sin.
And no Christian should want to see any other Christian sin. BUT,
we are human, still in this flesh and we do at times, sin! John
says that if we sin we do have an advocate, someone who pleads
for us, an intercessor between us the Father, and that someone is
Christ Jesus, the holy and righteous One. Jesus is our
at-one-ment (atoning) - propitiation for our sins, and His life
and His sacrifice on the cross is great enough for the sins of
the whole world, for every single person who was and will be on
this planet,(verses 1-2).
John gives us truth that is plain and easy to understand, it
is as Paul once said, "The simplicity that is in Christ Jesus."
Here is HOW we can KNOW that we KNOW Him, "IF we KEEP His
COMMANDMENTS" (verse 3).
Now, isn't that simple? How simpler can you have it to
understand the bottom line of the very basic truth of God on how
you can KNOW that you are His child? Jesus' commandments are the
Father's commandments. Jesus said that He and the Father are ONE!
Jesus said He did the will of His Father, that He spoke the words
His Father told Him to speak. All that is in the Gospels. To
teach that Jesus set up His own commandments and "did away" with
the basic commandments given in the Old Testament (especially the
Ten Commandments), is just not reading the Gospels with a clear
mind, you'd have to be a little "tipsy" in the head, to think
such an idea. Jesus kept the Father's will and commandments
PERFECTLY!
John says, "He that says, 'I know Him,' and keeps NOT His
commandments is a LIAR, and the truth is NOT in Him" (verse 4).
Again, HOW SIMPLE! No theological degree is needed to
understand such plain words. Reading the New Testament as a child
would read it, you should have come to see easily, that the Ten
Commandments, every single one of them, have NEVER been "done
away with." The reason we have religious teachers out there who
would like to have the Ten Commandments abolished, is because of
the FOURTH ONE! That is really the bottom line for such crazy
theology, some just do not like what the 4th commandment clearly
says (read them in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) - the SEVENTH DAY
is holy to God, we are told to REMEMBER IT, to KEEP it holy! It
is not the first day or the third day or the fifth day that is
the holy Sabbath of the Lord, it is the SEVENTH DAY! And not one
single, not one single phrase in the New Testament makes the
first day holy, or tells us to keep the first day (Sunday) holy,
or instructs us that the weekly Sabbath has been changed from the
SEVENTH day to the FIRST day!
Growing up as a child I thought Sunday was God's Holy Day,
not one person told me different, until I was 18 years old. It
hit me like a bomb-shell. I had to realize, hard though it was,
that all the Christianity I knew was in ERROR, total out and out
error. The second shock was that MOST in the churches (especially
the leaders, KNEW Sunday was not the Seventh day but the first
day). It was indeed a shock to think so many could be wrong, it
is one of the biggest CUNNING deception of the one who can come
as an angel light. Making it all look so good and so nice, with
fancy and smooth words so people will fall for it hook line and
sinker. I did not write the Fourth commandment of the TEN, God
did, and ain't changed one word of it. It's still the same today
as it was in Jesus' day. Jesus observed the Sabbath rest day, we
are told it was His custom to visit the Synagogue on the Sabbath.
That is also written in the Gospels.
It's really that SIMPLE, if you have the mind of a child, it
was me as a kid growing up, and Jesus also said that unless you
become as little children you will not inherit the Kingdom of
God.
Of course we have other commandments of the Lord, and so it
is as Jesus said in Matthew 4:4; we must be willing to live by
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Whoever keeps the Lord's word in that person the LOVE OF GOD
is perfected, and we KNOW that we are IN Him (verse 4-5).The
question is: What is the love of God? John DEFINES it for us, no
need to guess and speculate, or "have an opinion" as opposed to
the next guys opinion. Here it is, John interpreting his own
phrase:
"For this IS THE LOVE OF GOD, that we KEEP His COMMANDMENTS," and
note the last part of the verse, "and His commandments are NOT
grievous" (1 John 5:3).
Now, many "Christians" and many leaders in Christianity, are
going to tell you the commandments of God ARE grievous! They may
not tell you that in plain words, but they do tell you that in
their life and in their teaching, that the FOURTH commandment is
not for today, that one, you can ignore, whether it be the FIRST
or SEVENTH day you "go to church on." Most will tell you after a
few hours in church you can do your own thing. And most will
certainly NOT tell you it is the SEVENTH day you are to remember
to keep holy.
Look at verse 6 of this first chapter of 1 John. If you say
you abide in Christ, you OUGHT TO WALK AS HE WALKED!
Oh, the simplicity of Christ, oh the simplicity of these
verses John is writing. Yes, indeed a CHILD can understand these
verses. Now, people with "theological degrees" may have a hard
time, people who have gone to "Bible Seminary Schools" for 4 or 5
years, may have a hard time understanding these verses, but I
guarantee a child left to himself to read the New Testament, will
NOT have difficulty with such clear verses.
If you claim you abide in the Lord, then you better PROVE
IT, by FOLLOWING in His steps! Just read the Gospels, and see HOW
Christ lived. What did He believe? What did He teach? What
Sabbath day did He observe? What set of Festivals did He keep?
It's all there in the Gospels.
I'm telling you friends, Jesus' children are the VERY LITTLE
flock, just as He said they were, and DECEPTION is LARGE and
abounding, so much so that Jesus said at the end time, it would
be so abounding that IF it was possible even the ELECT would be
deceived!
John goes on to say, that he is not writing new things, but
old things, the old commandment is the very word that goes back
to the beginning. Yet, John does add a new commandment (because
darkness is past and true light now shines). He that says he is
in the light but hates his brother, is in darkness. If you abide
in the light you will love your brother, and you will not act to
bring scandal (margin note) or be privy to scandal.
Again, it is obvious, John said this because some were
hating others. If the love of God is in you, it is not possible
to hate people, no matter what their religion (if they have one)
or not. Is there someone you really dislike? Dislike so much that
it is a hate attitude you have. It would seem SOME people do hate
others because they will kill (literally) others, in the name of
their "god" (I use a small letter "g") or religion.
Such people who hate others, John says, walk in darkness,
the darkness has blinded their eyes, they just do not know the
path of truth and righteousness, period! (verses 8-11).
John now acts like a real father figure to his readers. He
says to the little ones in Christ, their sins are forgiven for
Jesus' name sake. He writes to the "fathers" - more mature and
older Christians, because they have known Jesus from the
beginning, they know what He is like and so conform to Him. He
writes to "young men" - those who are not new or little children
in the faith, but not in the faith long enough to be classified
as "fathers." He write to them, because they have overcome THE
WICKED ONE (Satan the Devil and his deceptions).
He goes back to the "little children" in Christ, because
they have come to KNOW the Father. He writes to the "fathers"
because they KNOW Him that is from the beginning. He writes to
the "young men" because they are STRONG in spiritual matters, and
strong in the Word of God, that abides in them; and they have
overcome THE WICKED ONE.
All in all, every part of this contained in verses 12-14,
should belong to ALL Christians. All that John lists to each
specific groups, must become the WHOLE of those that are IN the
Father, and IN Christ.
You can only become ALL of this, if you WALK daily with God,
if you have a mind that is ON Him and His Word and Way of life.
You need to be studying His Word, searching the Scriptures,
meditating on His Word and His commandments. You need to have the
right kind of the fear of the Lord. You will not care what people
think of you, what co-workers think of your religion, what
relatives think of the way you live in serving God.
And as John then goes on to say, you will NOT "Love the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (verse 15).
Does this mean you have to be some kind of "stay at home" or
"never leave the house" type (just to work and that's it)? Does
it mean ALL and everything outside of "church" is bad and evil?
OF COURSE NOT! I love to Square Dance. There is not evil in
Square Dancing per se. There is no evil in joining a Tennis club,
if you like to play Tennis. There is no evil in joining a Golf
club if you like to Golf. I'm also into "horses" and have a
beautiful Golden Palomino Quarter horse (she's 7 at the time of
this writing in 2007) and so I work part time at the Horse Ranch.
There are MANY THINGS that are outside of the "church" that
are not sin to participate in, as long as they do not have you
breaking the commandments of God.
John defines "love not the world" for us in verse 16.
"For all that is in the world, the LUST of the flesh, the LUST of
the eyes, and the PRIDE of life (putting whatever it is, ahead of
God, His way, His commandments) is not of the Father, but is of
the world."
You could be so good at something (sport, hobby, etc.etc.)
that you want to be (and maybe could be) the BEST in the world, a
world-champion! But if acquiring that badge of pride, means you
have to break the commandments of God, or put serving God to one
side, while you go after "the pride of life" - then it becomes
SIN! Then it becomes "the lust of the world" to you. And John
finishes this thought by telling us that the world (without God)
is going to pass away, and all the lusts thereof: BUT he that
DOES THE WILL of God, shall ABIDE FOR EVER - that's eternal life
friends in the very family of God! (verse 17).
There are some things I would like like to do, some things I
could have done when younger in the horse world and in the music
world, and maybe got some fame here and there, but it meant I
would have to disregard the Sabbath, so I did not do it as such.
Now, I still enjoy my horse and the horse world, I still enjoy my
teaching guitar/banjo/mandolin and singing cowboy songs, but I
make sure THAT all revolves AROUND the Sabbath. And of course
doing anything outside of "church" must be decent and moral and
within the laws of God, in body, mind, words, and spirit.
Everything we do must be with the mind of Christ, and remembering
that Satan can pervert anything.
THE LAST TIME!
Look at verse 18! Mark it! It's a lesson in "time, as God
sees time." John was inspired to say IN HIS day that it was "the
last time" - the "last age." It is possible John did think that
the return of Christ was not too far away, if not in his life
time, then in the lifetime of many of his readers. As we have
seen, God does not view "time" as we view it. I want you to go
back to the book of Hebrews, you may have missed it, or forgotten
it. Hebrews 1:2. Paul said Jesus had spoken to them, when in the
flesh, in "these last days." So "last days" - "last time" - can
be understood that it is such for 2,000 years, that we are STILL
IN "the last time." And the last 2,000 years is last in regards to 4,000 before.
Within a context the phrase "last time" can be used in different ways; the context used in, tells you how it is being used. John, like the apostle Paul (2 Thes.2) understood there
would come in the very end, THE anti-christ, THE one man that is
called in the book of Revelation, "THE false prophet!" Yes, there
will be such a man, at the very end of this age, the book of
Revelation shows he will come just before Jesus returns, because
when Christ does come He will cast that false prophet into the
fire - see Revelation 19:20).
But BEFORE "THE" man of sin comes, John said that MANY anti-
christs were ALREADY there in the Roman world! Wow! MANY already
preaching things contrary to the teachings of Christ. Again, let
me ask you, if it was so in John's time, at the end of the first
century A.D. HOW MANY DO YOU SUPPOSE HAVE BEEN AND ARE STILL, OUT
THERE ON THIS PLANET EARTH?
These anti-christs were once a part of the very true Church
of God during the apostles time. But they did not stay true to
the faith once delivered. They left the true body of Christ, but
you can guarantee they were busy forming as large a following
after themselves, as possible. They went out so they might be
made manifest to the very Elect of God. The elect KNOW the true
teachings of the Lord, and they so know the anti-christs, who
they are. And I tell you, there are WAY MORE, yes, WAY MORE
anti-christs out there than there are true servants and ministers
of God.
He tells his readers that they have an anointing (unction)
from the Holy One, and so they can know all the truths of the
Holy One. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come and would
LEAD His true followers into ALL TRUTH (John 16). All truth does
not always come at one time. Most of the time, God gives you one
truth, and then another truth, and then another. As you are
willing to love truth and search the Scriptures for truth, they
the Lord leads you into more of the truth. And this working of
the Spirit also entails that you are willing to be CORRECTED!
Willing to admit ERROR, and LOVE the truth.
John was pretty sure his readers were being led by the Holy
Spirit and knew the basic truths of God. He knew his readers
could ascertain a LIE.
One of the lies going around at this time in John's life,
was that Jesus was NOT the Christ, the "anointed one." Once more
John makes it simple, IF you do not accept Jesus as the very
anointed Son of God, then you DENY BOTH the Father and the Son.
The Islamic religion accepts Christ as "a prophet" of God, but
they DO NOT accept Jesus as the VERY ANOINTED SON of God the
Father. Being blunt, the Islamic religion is anti-christ. Those
who belong to the Islamic faith, WILL NOT be in the FIRST
resurrection to be with Christ when He returns. I did not say
they will go to hell, far from it, as it is with many others who
are spiritually blinded, most will have their day of salvation,
but it just will not be the first resurrection, unless of course
God calls them in this lifetime to see the truth and repent of
error.
If you deny the Son as the very Son of God, you also deny
the Father. Once more John is as straight as an arrow, he pulls
no punches, some things he states are just black verses white, so
white are some truths of God, that there is no black whatsoever
in the white, just cannot be shaded anything else but pure white.
John urges his readers to let that which has been in them
from the start CONTINUE in them. If they stay with the Spirit of
truth, then they have BOTH the Father and the Son.
That being the case, then the Father has PROMISED to give
them eternal life (verses 19-25).
YOU NEED NO TEACHER?
John has written this epistle because it was needed to
counter those who were seducing them with false doctrines and
teachings (verse 26).
Then we come to words of John that some have taken OUT OF
CONTEXT, and come up with some pretty far out ideas. He says that
if the anointing they have remain in them, then they "NEED NO
MAN TEACH YOU!" But the anointing will teach you, and it is
truth, and does not lie, even as it has already taught them, and
so they can abide in it ("it" - see margin).
Okay then, you can all get off this Website, close down
your computer, and even close up the book of 1 John, and still
further, you can forget about reading the epistles of Paul, and
James, and Jude, and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the Gospel of John.
For THEY were men! And John has just said you need no man teach
you, only the Holy Spirit. So why on earth did John continue
writing, after this verse, and why did he even write two other
epistles besides this one, if no man need teach them, if they
only needed the Holy Spirit.
And if that is the case why was Paul inspired to write that
God HAS PUT SOME in the church, to be apostles, some evangelists,
some prophets, and some pastors and teachers? (see Ephesians
4:11-12).
Obviously, John is NOT contradicting the rest of the New
Testament. The CONTEXT, is that of "false" ministers coming and
teaching false doctrines. John is saying to them, that because
they have the Holy Spirit, because they have been led to the
basic truths of God, because they KNOW these truths, they should
not give ANY time of day to these men who are indeed
anti-christs. Those fellows have nothing important as far as the
foundational truths of God are concerned, so don't allow them to
try and teach you on those basic foundational truths. It is also
the instruction of John, if you have not already closed up your
Bible, that some people on some issues you do not even allow into
your home, and you do not even wish them God speed (2 John
10-11).
John finishes his thoughts in this chapter by encouraging
them to stay IN Christ. We are back to the simple things again.
Look at Christ, read the Gospels, see what Christ taught and
practiced, then IMITATE HIM! In so doing we shall not be ashamed
before Him at His coming again to earth.
John ends this section with, "If you KNOW that He is
RIGHTEOUS, you KNOW that every one that DOETH (practices as a way
of life) RIGHTEOUSNESS is a part of His family" (my rendition) -
(verses 27-29).
What is RIGHTEOUSNESS? Here it is friends. Mark it, do not
forget it - the Bible interprets itself - Psalm 119:172.
God's COMMANDMENTS are RIGHTEOUSNESS!
.....................
Written October 2007
To be continued
  Chapter One hundred-twenty-four:Chapter Three - God's children will do ....
Chapter One hundred-twenty-four
The First Epistle from John
Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us,
that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world
knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the
sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we
shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope in
himself purifies himself, even as He is pure" (verses 1-3).
WHAT VERSES THEY ARE! I want you to read them again, very
slowly, let it sink in deep into your mind.
True Christians are TODAY, NOW, the SONS of God, not the
sons of some angel, like Gabriel, but SONS of the FATHER! Paul in
Hebrews chapter two said that Jesus is NOT ASHAMED to call US -
BRETHREN - His very literal brothers and sisters!
Oh, most of Christianity, says the words, "children of God,"
or "sons of God," - they go around flippantly talking about being
God's children, but I tell you MOST really do NOT KNOW the DEPTH
of such language, and what being SONS of the Father REALLY MEANS!
We are NOW God's children, BUT - and here's a big "but" - IT
DOES NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE! We are one day going to
LOOK LIKE Jesus Christ NOW LOOKS LIKE! And we are given a glimpse
as to how He looks like in GLORY n the first chapter of the
book of Revelation. Read it for yourselves.
These first few verses of this chapter in 1 John, is really
... there are no words to put it in our language, it is truly
mind-shattering. But then it is also simple to read, just believe
it for what it clearly says. One day we shall BE LIKE Jesus is
now. The apostle Paul goes into more detail in the famous
"resurrection" chapter of 1 Corinthians. We shall in the future
be GLORIFIED, have bodies that shine like stars, be PERFECT in
every way. We shall YET INHERIT the Kingdom of God, the very
FAMILY of God, with all that that means. The Father is wanting to
SHARE ALL that He has with US! Perfection, glory, power, bright
holy light and all that He is. I have written a full in-depth
study on this matter. It is called "A Christian's Destiny."
Please read and meditate on it all.
As John says, when we have this sure hope within us, the
knowledge of it all, we shall DESIRE in attitude of mind, to want
to LIVE PURE, even as our Father and Elder Brother are pure.
To give emphasis to this attitude of mind concerning living
pure, John goes on to AMPLIFY it.
So I will use the AMPLIFIED BIBLE in this section, as it
brings out the true meaning of the Greek tenses used.
"Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of
lawlessness; for (that is what) sin is, lawlessness (the
breaking, violating of God's law by transgression or neglect
- being unrestrained an unregulated by His commands and His
will). You know that he appeared in visible form and became
Man to take away (upon Himself) sins, and in Him there is
no sin (essentially and forever). No one who abides in him
(who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience
to Him - deliberately, knowingly, and habitually) commits
(practices) sin. No one who (habitually) sins has either
seen or known Him (recognized, perceived, or understood
Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him).
Boys (lads), let no one deceive you and lead you astray. He
who practices righteousness (who is upright, conforming to
the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a
consistently conscientious life), is righteous, even as He
is righteous. (But) he who commits sin (who practices evil
doing) is of the Devil (takes his character from the evil
one), for the Devil has sinned (violated the divine law)
from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made
manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and
dissolve) the works the Devil (has done).
No one born (begotten) of God (deliberately, knowingly, and
habitually practices sin, for God's nature abides in him
(His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains
permanently within him); and he cannot practice sinning
because he is born (begotten) of God.
By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and
are His children and who take their nature from the Devil
and are his children: no one who does not practice
righteousness (who does not conform to God;s will in
purpose, thought, and action) is of God; neither is anyone
who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in
Christ)" (verses 4-10).
There it is in clear language as the Greek tenses mean.
First, sin is the breaking of the law of God, the commandments of
God. Paul understood that fact and made it PLAIN to us in Romans
7:7-12. He had not known sin except the law had said .....
All that is in the Ten Commandments, the breaking, the
LIVING a life style that is breaking any one of them, IS SIN!
I've already given you the Bible definition of "righteousness" -
it is God's commandments (Ps.119:172). If you really know that
you know God, you will have His nature in you. You will have an
attitude of mind, that is willing to be LED by the Spirit of God,
to be corrected, to love to grow in grace and knowledge. You will
want to DO, to PRACTICE, as a WAY OF LIFE, the commandments of
the Father. The nature of God in you, cannot possibly lead you to
IGNORE or NOT practice the commandments of God. You will desire
to NOT sin, you will want to live the way of God.
I ask you, how can it possibly be that someone who claims
they are a child of God, is going around taking God's or Christ's
name in vain, as you hear the unconverted doing all around you
every day? It cannot be possible! How can it be possible that
someone who claims to be a Christian goes around coveting or lust
after this and that, as a way of life? It cannot be! How is it
possible that a person claiming to be a son of God can trample all
over the Sabbath day, and not obey the fourth commandment. It cannot
be! But I tell you there are HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of "ministers"
around the world, who will not teach people to obey the fourth
commandment. They themselves do not keep holy the seventh day,
and they will not teach others to do it. You have it in plain
words from the apostle John, the one who lived to the end of the
first century to see a "religious movement" LEAVE from the true
Church of God, and go out to lead people AWAY from the
commandments of God, and that movement wanted to still call
themselves "children of God."
John makes it pretty clear that such people with such a
mind-set, and who teach others to have the same mind as themselves,
are NOT the children of God. You can read it again and see for yourself
whose children they are. Yes, John was inspired to pull no
punches at times.
John ended that thought going back to NOT loving people. He
continues with that thought with verse 11 through to 18.
The message from the very beginning was that we as children
of God, must love our fellow mankind. We are not to follow the
example of Cain, who was under the power and influence of the
Devil. Cain was jealous of Abel. Cain knew his works, his way of
life was not the way of God. He also knew that Abel's life was
centered around serving and living according to the Divine will
and commandments of the Most High God.
We as children desiring to do the will of God, should not be
surprised that the world will hate us. At best they sure will not
understand us. If you truly follow the Lord in your living as
this Website shows you what the Lord's will is, many of your
friends and relatives will think you are "nuts" - they will think
you have gone off the deep-end into some "strange" religion.
One of the ways you can know you have passed from death to
life, is because you have love towards all people. Those who
cannot do that (and you have killings every day from people who
cannot love all people, no matter what their religion or
philosophy is) are in the company of the Devil and death. If you
"hate" your brother (and Jesus gave the parable of the "good
Samaritan" to show everyone is our brother), you cannot possibly
have eternal life in you. You are a murderer if you have hate in
your heart towards any other person. Do you see how the New
Testament does not abolish the Ten Commandments, it AMPLIFIES
THEM, just as Jesus did in the famous "sermon on the mount."
You may not like, you may and can "hate" the SIN, of people,
but you must love the sinner.
John now gets to the real down to earth application of
loving your brother. He reminds us that God, in the form of Jesus
Christ, LAID DOWN his life for us. The Greek tense here is
"aorist" - an action done and completed in the sometime past.
There was an historical moment when God died - Jesus did
literally die, and was dead for three days and three night. So,
John says, we ought to "lay down" our lives for the brethren. The
Greek "lay down" is in the "present" tense, which means, a
continual present. We are, as a way of life, living to serve
others. We are continually wanted to help others, in whatever way
we can.
John tells you that this is indeed what he is meaning here
(even if you do not know the Greek tenses - see the Bible is not
just written for only "scholars" of Hebrew or Greek, but for
children also) because he goes on to say: "Whosoever has this
world's physical goods, and sees his brother in need of some of
them, and just shuts up his physical goods and does not share
them with anyone, the love of God cannot be in him" (my own
amplification on verse 17).
We are not to just love in word, but in DEED (works) and in
truth (having the right attitude of mind in doing it all) - verse
18.
There are many ways today to serve and share with others
that are less fortunate, or have hit a troublesome time in their
lives.
Oh, by-the-way, this verse 18 is a good example of how the
Bible can contain verses that give emphasis to part while
seemingly shutting off another. The KJV says, "My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed
and in truth." Are we NOT to love in word? Can we say all kinds
of evil things, with the tongue? No, of course not, the mouth is
important, the apostle James as we have seen, gave a good part of
a chapter on how evil the tongue can be, which should not be part
of the Christian's life. This verse here should then be
understood: "My little children, let us not love in word (ONLY),
neither in tongue (ONLY); but in deed and in truth."
If we do what he has just stated, we can know we are of the
truth, and can have full assurance before God. If we have
misgivings at times about our conduct as a Christian, God is
greater than our fleshly mind, He sees DEEP within us, knows we
are trying our best to live according as He wants. If our
heart-mind hardly ever has misgivings, then we are in real super
shape spiritually. I guess Job was of the latter. He could not
think where he was falling down. Not many of us get into the
spiritual shape Job thought he was in. Mind you, he was in
terrific shape, even God said he was, but he did have an area in
life that he could not see was a weakness. He never really saw
God for what God really was, but he finally did (Job 42), and was
blessed beyond measure. So, if we are like a Job then we can sure
have confidence before God. Yet if most of us cannot come close
to being a Job, all is not lost by any means.
John says in verse 22, that God knows we are trying to keep
His commandments, and doing those things that are pleasing to
Him. God knows our heart, that it is right towards Him and His
way of life, so we have our requests and prayers answered. Now,
the answering of those requests may not always be as our human
mind would like, and they are not always answered till God
decides the best time to answer them. God did not answer Job
right away, but He did answer, in the right way at the right
time.
John sums up his thoughts to end this chapter, with these
words:
"And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name
of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us
commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in
Him, and He in them. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by
the Spirit which He has given us" (verses 23-24).
Ah, we are back to Jesus as Savior, no salvation outside of
Christ, pure and simple, and just as pure and just as simple,
God's children will keep His commandments! And all this is done
through the very Spirit of God, which He gives to those who obey
Him (Acts 5:32).
..................
Written October 2007
To be continued
  Chapter One hundred-twenty-five:1 John 4 - False teaching - God is Love
Chapter One hundred-twenty-five
The First Epistle from John
Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOUR
BACK TO FALSE TEACHERS
There are TWO themes that run throughout the three epistles
of John. One concerns what the nature of a true child of God is,
what manifests itself in daily living, and that of course is
having the very nature and love on God coming into the person
through the Holy Spirit, which is then really the very persons of
the Father and of the Son Christ Jesus coming into and living
within that individual (see what Jesus said in the Gospel of
John, chapter 14:23). The other concern for John, living as he did
until the end of the first century A.D. was the profuse "false
prophets" or teachers that had come along. First they were in the
Church of God, then they went out of it, and started their own
religion of MYSTERY BABYLON the great as the book of Revelation
calls it. Those false teachers called it "Christianity" - it
outwardly looked like the true religion of God, even with "nice
sounding theology" and spiritual words, but it was all really a
sham. It was Babylon Mystery Religion, dressed up in Christian
terms and platitudes.
Part of this false Christian religion is the untrue teaching
that Jesus Christ cannot really come and live His life over again
inside you, and that this new body of Christ, that is not the
body of Christ, can change doctrines, add doctrines, change
certain commandments of God, under the banner of "the grace of
God" for the New Testament age.
So it is that John, in chapter four, moves back to the
subject of "false prophets" or teachers. He tells his readers to
NOT BELIEVE every "spiritual" Christian sounding doctrine that
comes along. He tells them and so us today, we are to TRY the
spirits, to see if they really are from God, because MANY, not
the few, but MANY false prophets are out there.
How do we TRY or test the "spirit" - the "teaching" - the
"theology" - well the Bereans knew how to do it, when the apostle
Paul came teaching among them (Acts 17) - they went to the Word
of God, and searched the Scriptures DAILY, to see if what was
being said, stacked up to and was in agreement with God's Word.
It takes time and effort to do that. Most people will just not be
willing to take the time and effort to study the Scriptures, say
with a Bible Concordance, like Strong's Concordance, and of
course by reading the Bible from cover to cover, putting verse
with verse. All that does take time, and most people just ain't
got the time, so they believe, and they have been taught that it
does not really matter anyway. They have been taught that you
choose the "church of your choice" and as long as you have "nice"
thoughts about God, you'll get to heaven.
Some have thought from verses 2 and 3 of this chapter that a
great false teaching was going around in the last part of John's
live, that Jesus did not really come in the flesh. Now, there may
have been such a teaching by some to that effect. But as I'll
show you, this is not the false idea that John was speaking
against. There would have been FAR TOO MANY people STILL ALIVE,
with John, who had LITERALLY SEEN AND HEARD Jesus speak, seen and
heard about His miracles. From 30 A.D. when Jesus was crucified
to near the end of the century, was only 60 to 70 years, as John
was writing this epistle. There would have certainly been MANY
children at Christ's day, who would have seen and heard and
remembered the astonishing things that this man called Jesus
Christ did. I doubt at John's time, the teaching that Jesus had
never lived as a physical flesh person, would have gained much
support. The large amount of evidence from various people alive
at Christ's time and alive at John's time, would have deadened
such a "theological" teaching in the world of Jewish or Christian
religion.
No, that was not the insidious false teaching coming from
these false prophets. The Greek tense for "is come" in both verse
2 and 3, is the Greek "perfect" tense. Now the perfect tense in
Greek means: "The perfect conveys the DOUBLE notion of an action
terminated in the past time, and of its effect existing in the
present..." (The Analytical Greek Lexicon, 1977).
Jesus Christ HAD COME in the past, completed action, but the
effects of His coming was still present. Or put it this way, as
Jesus Himself put it. He came from the Father, lived and taught
according to the words the Father gave Him, lived a sinless life,
and died on the cross as mankind's at-one-ment sacrifice. That He
would rise from the dead, return to the Father, and send the Holy
Spirit to come and dwell WITHIN the saints of God. As mentioned
above, this means that BOTH the Father and the Son are living
inside the child of God (ref.John 14:23).
It is exactly as Paul said in Galatians 2:20; "I an
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me."
Allowing God the Father and Christ, through the Holy Spirit
to live IN you, is allowing them to live THEIR LIVES in you. It
is conforming to their will, their desires, their standards,
their "theology" you might say. It is as Jesus taught, living by
every word of God. Not the words of men, not the ideas of men,
not the "theology" of men, not the teachings of men, but LIVING
BY THE WORDS OF GOD!
Anyone who does not teach this basic truth of the New
Testament, that Christ lives over again inside of His followers,
which then includes obeying God's commandments, is a false
prophet, a false teacher. We have already seen John makes it very
plain and simple to understand, if you call yourself a Christian,
you will walk after Christ.
So, here is what John was saying to his readers, "Hereby
know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ DID COME and the EFFECT of that is to continue
COMING into (the Greek "en" can and often does mean "into") the
flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses NOT that Jesus
Christ HAS COME and the effect of that is to CONTINUE to come in
the flesh, is NOT of God: and this is that spirit of anti-christ,
whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already
is it in the world."
The whole immediate and afterwards context of John's writing
is to repeat over and over again that Christians are to live,
walk, think, act, as God the Father and Christ Jesus, think and
act. MANY it was foretold would come (ref. Mat.24:24 to deceive
even the elect if possible) and in John's end time of life, HAD
come, who were teaching that it did not matter that much if they
did not live like Christ lived, in all points. By the end of the
first century A.D. there was a movement in so-called "Christian"
circles to observe the FIRST day of the week, and not the
SEVENTH, as Jesus did. There was by John's latter life, a
movement to depart from observing the Passover and move towards
Easter observance. So important was this that in the first half
of the second century, POLYCRATES of Asia Minor went all the way
to Rome to DEBATE this issue with the bishop of Rome, saying to
him that he received his observance from no other than the
apostle John himself. By the way this act of Polycrates shows the
Church of God had not YET completely split away from the church
of Rome.
It's all in the history books of Christian literature. Such
false teachers may not have, in so many words said to people,
"Well Jesus is not, cannot, live inside you." But the teaching
they held and taught to others, was in final bottom line reality,
saying that very thing. Most teachers of the "Christian" religion
sure are not going to put it like that to you in those plain
words, but the way they live, the things they observe, the
teachings they put forth, "speak VOLUMES" as the saying goes.
The deception by saying "That's only for the Jews" or
"That's Jewish, we don't have to follow that" is indeed the
deception of teaching that John is addressing here in these first
verses of chapter four.
Jesus was A JEW, but He was first the Son of God, who did
the Father's will and commandments. If anyone says that Jesus
cannot live inside you and still do the Father's will and
commandments, they are anti-christ as John bluntly called it.
He gives his readers a positive in verse 4. He tells them he
knows they are of God, and have overcome the false teachers,
because for one important reason, greater is He that is in them,
than he that is in the world .... greater is God the Father than
Satan the Devil in other words. But the world on a whole follows
false teachings, and people like it that way, so the false
ministers teach and preach what the general "Christian" world likes to hear.
But those of God, those who are in tune with God, those who know
the Father's word, they will recognize who speaks the Father's
word. Hence the spirit of error and truth is made manifest to
them (verses 4-6). As Jesus said, though false prophets would
abound in the last days, the elect cannot be deceived.
GOD IS LOVE
And as He is love, it is imperative that Christians love one
another, it is a standard that is part of being a true child of
God (verse 7).
God is LOVE (verse 8), but let's ask the question, can we
find a Bible definition of "love" in simple terms? Paul expounded
true love in 1 Corinthians 13, but for a simple definition we
just need to keep reading and we'll come to it in John's epistle.
Chapter 5:3! There it is, back we go again to what John also puts
emphasis on in these three epistles - THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE
KEEPING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS!
John reiterates in the next few verses, ONE specifiC of
God's love. The sending of His only begotten Son to die for sins
and to make eternal life possible for mankind. It was God who
FIRST loved us, not the other way around. God makes the first
step in love, not us. He sent His Son to be the at-one-ment for
our sins (the propitiation) - the atoning sacrifice that takes
away our sins.
With that in mind, as it always should be, then it becomes
much easier for us to love others, or at least it should be
easier. If you truly have the Spirit of God, then it is
relatively easy to love others (verses 7-11).
Verse 12 is an eye opener. John says NO MAN HAS SEEN GOD AT
ANY TIME! Putting verse with verse, we know it is written that
Moses DID SEE the hindpart of God (Exodus 33). So, without going
into all the other verses in the Bible (the one in Exodus 33 is
enough), the "God" that some people DID SEE at times throughout
history, was the ONE BEING of the Godhead that BECAME the person
of Jesus the Christ. It is a truth that I have covered in depth
on many other studies on my Website. I will ask the reader to
study them.
NOT ONE human person from the time of Adam, has EVER seen
God the FATHER. God the Father has never appeared to or spoken
with any human person. That will all change as we are told in
Revelation chapter 21. When all the plan of salvation for mankind
is completed, when the new earth and new heaven are established,
then God the Father will come, together with the heavenly
Jerusalem, to the new earth, and GOD THE FATHER shall be with all
of His children. Then we shall meet Him, see Him, talk to Him, as
Father to son. Oh, what a breath-taking day that will be. Until
then, we shall have to be patient, and as Jesus said to His
disciples, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." But,
you bet, it sure will be great to see the Father in person!
Part of being in God, being a son of God, is to confess,
admit, recognize, that Jesus the Christ, is the very SON of God,
and the Father sent Him to be the Savior of the world. There are
MILLIONS today and yesterday, who will not admit this fact. The
Jews at large, the Islamic people at large. One day they will
come to see and admit that Jesus is the very Son of God.
God is LOVE, and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and
God in him. John puts it in a simple short sentence, but in that
sentence is the whole book and words of John, and of course the
whole New Testament. Love is as we shall come to (as we have seen
already) KEEPING the COMMANDMENTS of God. And so, if doing, if in
that mind-set to obey the Father, we can have boldness in the day
of judgment. [And the people of God are having judgment NOW as
they live (1 Peter 4:17)]. So as is God, so we live, we desire to
follow in the steps of Christ. And that attitude CASTS OUT fear,
the fear that brings torment (see Hebrews 10:26-31). If we have
that wrong fear, it is because we have turned our back on God's
way of life, and that type of fear cannot make perfection in love
- no spiritual growth can come about, no moving towards spiritual
maturity can be accomplished in and under that tent of fear
(verses 13-18).
John finishes his thoughts in this chapter by stressing once
more, God is love, we love Him because He fist loved us. and if
any one say he loves God and hates his fellow man, he is just a
plain liar: for he that loves not his brother, whom he can see,
how can he possibly love God whom he has not seen?
It is one of God's commandments: That he who loves God must
love his brother also! (verses 19-21).
If all the people in the world who claim to worship "God"
would just obey this ONE commandment, what a different world we
would have today. The news on TV every day from various parts of
the world, would not contain all the killing and violence people
commit against each other under the name of God's "religion."
So we continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come" when all people
will walk in the LOVE of God!
....................
Written October 2007
  Chapter One hundred-twenty-six:1 John 5 - Love of God and Life
Chapter One hundred-twenty-six
The Fist Epistle from John
Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
It is paramount that to be a child of the Father, you must
believe that Jesus is the very Christ, and believing that you can
be begotten of God, and so it is that everyone who loves God the
Father that begat someone, also loves those who are begotten of
God. John is back once more to giving emphasis that the children
of God, love each other.
He goes on to inter-twine the loving of people with the
loving of God and the keeping of His commandments. They are
inseparatable, glove and hand, horse and carriage, as we say. It
is like blood and air, we cannot separate the two, both are
absolutely tied together. We cannot live without blood in our
body and we cannot live without air to breath into our body.
Love of God and the keeping of His commandments, means,
automatically, we shall love the children of God (verses 1-2).
HERE IT IS AGAIN! A straight to the face, clear definition
of what IS the love of God:
"FOR THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, that we KEEP His COMMANDMENTS:
and His commandments are NOT grievous!" (verse 3).
Some would try to tell you God's commandments are grievous,
especially the FOURTH one. They would try to tell you that it is
just near impossible in the working world today to observe the
fourth commandment. That is simply not true. Many millions around
the world observe the fourth commandment each and every week.
It does take FAITH to follow and obey God's commandments,
but John knows that those who are begotten of God have overcome
the pressures of the world, and it is their faith that gives them
the victory. It is those who truly believe that Jesus is the very
Son of God. It is they as Paul said about himself, who have Jesus
living in them, Christ in them, and the life they live is by the
very faith of Christ (Galatians 2:20).
John reaffirms the fact that Jesus did live on this earth,
that He did become human flesh. The "water" and "blood" that John
speaks about in verses 6-8 are probably two sets of the facts.
Jesus was born of a woman, came as a physical child comes into
this world, water and blood come forth in the natural child birth
process. Also Jesus had blood running through His body, showing
He was very human in the physical life, and He was baptized in
water by John the Baptist, that as Jesus Himself said, "that all
righteousness should be fulfilled."
And with all of that, there was the very SPIRIT of God to
testify that all this was true. So the three together make a bond
and intertwined cord that cannot be broken. All three are in
agreement that Jesus was the Christ, the very Son of God.
Verse 7 in the KJV Bible WAS NOT in the original Greek. Many
Bible Commentaries (such as the Wycliffe Bible Commentary) will
give you the facts on that verse, and tell you how that verse
entered the KJV Bible. The NKJV Study Bible, says that most
scholars now agree that starting with the word "heaven" in verse
7 through to "on earth" in verse 8, were not in the original
Greek.
There are then three that bear witness to Jesus as the
Christ, the Son of God; water; blood; and the Spirit of God.
The witness of men, who lived and many of them still living
in John's latter life, bear witness that Jesus was the Christ and
was indeed a physical human person who lived not that far back in
Jewish history (from when John was writing this epistle). But, if
the witness of men was great, the witness of God through the Holy
Spirit was even greater.
If you do not believe God, and His witness of the Spirit,
then you make God out to be a liar, you are saying the Father
really did not send His Son into the world. It must be just that
clear cut in your mind and belief, either God is witnessing with
the truth or He is a liar.
For those who are fully assured that the three (blood, water
and Spirit) do agree and do witness to God sending His Son, then
there is the concrete record that God has given to us eternal
life, through His son. And he that has the Son of God in their
life as personal Savior and Lord, they have eternal life in them.
He that does not have Jesus as Lord and Savior, does NOT have
eternal life in them. Once more it is just that simple. As all
the New Testament teaches, their is NO SALVATION, NO ETERNAL
LIFE, outside of Christ Jesus. The religions of the world that do
not have Christ as Lord and Savior, as the very Son of the Most
High One, do not have salvation or eternal life. There is indeed
only ONE name under heaven whereby you can be saved - Jesus
Christ, see Acts 4:12 (verses 6-12).
John writes all these things in this epistle so they that do
believe in the name of Jesus as the Son of God, can have
assurance, can KNOW that they have eternal life in them. How can
you KNOW that you KNOW you have eternal life in you, well by
reading the things John has written in this epistle. We have been
reading them. If you believe them and are living them as a way of
life, then God is in you. If that is so, if you are living the
things John is writing about, then we can have confidence in Him,
if we ask anything that is according to God's will, He will hear
us, and we shall be given them. We do have to remember in all
that being said, God will answer in His time and will give what
is best for us concerning the answers to our petitions. We should
also have the attitude as Jesus had in being able to say, "Not my
will be done, but your will be done" with some of our petitions
to the Father.
I often pray that God will bring more and more people, each
and every day, around the world, to find and study from my Blog and
Website. The Lord has written that His word shall go forth and
shall not return to Him void. I know His will on that issue. He
does answer it. I also pray that He will guide me as I write
studies, as I expound His word to you, as I find other studies by
other people that are truth, to upload to my Website and Blog, to serve
people in growing in grace and knowledge. I know His will on
this, and I know He hears and answers it. Those petitions, I do
not have to say, "Not my will be done, but your will be done."
Then other petitions I may have to add those words, as Jesus did,
when He prayed to the Father the night of His arrest in the mount
of Olives and Gethsemane (Mat.26).
SIN NOT UNTO DEATH?
What is John talking about in verse 16? A sin not unto
death? We have seen from John that although we should not want to
sin, we fool ourselves if we say we have no sin. Christians fight
against the pulls of our nature that tug us to sin, then there is
help from the world all around us, in various forms, that tempt us
to sin, and on top of all that, we have Satan and his demonic
helpers that nag at us to sin. We have the help of God's Spirit,
but with all the bombarding of the three aforementioned pulls, we
sometimes do not have a great flow of the Spirit in us, and we do
at times then, sin! We can at times feel like the apostle Paul
did in Romans 7. We do not want to sin, we desire to not want to
sin, but the things we want to do, we sometimes do not, and the
things we do not want to do, we find ourselves doing them.
But our overall attitude of mind is as Paul's was in Romans
7. Our foundational frame of mind is we do not want to sin, we
desire to perform God's will and way of life and commandments.
That is our basic living attitude of mind. We have not given up,
we have not walked away from God and His way of life. We have not
said, "This is too hard to try and live the Lord's way and
commandment, so I'll just throw in the towel and not try, I'll
just go back into the world, and do my own thing, and the world's
own things."
We do not have that attitude, and our brothers and sisters
in Christ, who are "sticking with it" - trying to follow the
righteousness of God, have the same determination in mind as we
do.
Then one day we see, or we hear that our brother or sister
in Christ, have sinned. If you are very close to a brother or
sister in Christ, they may even confide in you, that they have
sinned, or they are having some trouble conquering a particular
sin. We go to bat for them in our prayers, we ask God to give
them the power to rule over that specific sin in their lives. And
God will appreciate your prayers and request for them. He will be
merciful, He will still forgive their sin, and they will still
have eternal life. Their mind, bottom line, foundation, is NOT
giving it all up, and just throwing their arms in the air and
leaving the Father. They are not being the seed that gets on to
the stony ground and withers up, or the seed that gets into the
weeds, grows a little, but the pressure of the world and sin just
chokes them off, and they finally give up on trying to follow the
Lord's way. And because they are the seed that takes root and
moves forward, some 10 percent, some 20 percent, some 40 percent
.... whatever the forward moving percentage is, they want to stay
with God, walk the pathway to eternal life.
So indeed God hears their prayers asking for forgiveness of
sin, and He hears your prayer on their behalf when you know they
are having a fight in some specific sin.
THEY HAVE NOT SINNED UNTO DEATH! They have not GIVEN UP,
they have not stopped battling the downward pulls of the flesh,
the evil of the world around them, and the power of the Devil. So
mercy and forgiveness is still coming from God the Father, and
the death penalty for sin does not hang over their heads. They
are still under the grace of God.
And remember Jesus in heaven also works for us. He is our
High Priest interceding for us, so we can be given mercy,
forgiven, and remain under grace. In the book of Hebrews is
all that wonderful truth.
Yes, as physical beings, with weaknesses, we do sin at
times, but unless we "pack it all in" - "go back to the world" -
"tell God to get lost" - our sin is NOT UNTO DEATH. We sinning
Christians still have eternal life in us, because we have NOT
packed our suitcase and walked out of God's house and life, so we
have not sinned unto death.
Now there is a SIN UNTO DEATH! If you GIVE UP on God's way,
pack it all in, decide to turn your back on God, decide to have
nothing more to do with Him and His way of life, and you no
longer care if you sin or how you sin, then yes, you are in deep
troubled water, water that will drown you eventually, unless you
pull yourself (with God's help) out of that dirty smothering
water. Your attitude has now changed, as a practicing way of
life, you have chosen to turn from God's way of life, you now
couldn't careless if you sin. With that attitude of heart, you
have sinned the sin which is UNTO DEATH. Death reigns over you
again, you have been willing to be a slave to sin. Paul wrote it
this way: "Know you not, that to whom you yield yourself servants
to obey, his servant you are to whom you obey; whether of sin
UNTO death, or of obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16).
The sin unto death is when you KNOW the WAY of the Lord, the
WILL of God, the COMMANDMENTS of the Most High, and with a
planned, cold calculated heart, not under stress, or weakness of
the flesh, but a very clear mind to just turn away from God, THEN
you have sinned unto death.
Certainly, no Christian should be praying that another
Christian sins the sin unto death.
Sadly I have known hundreds who had too much faith in a man and organization, and when that man failed and the organization became corrupt those people went right back into the world, gave up on God the Father and Christ. They and others like them are in very deep trouble. Let this never happen to you!
John gives another definition of sin, "all unrighteousness
is sin." And the Bible interprets "righteousness" for us. I've
given it to you before, but here it is again - Psalm 119:172.
"All Thy commandments are righteousness."
But even with all that said - a pretty large area that can
be classified as sin, John wants us to clearly know that there is
a sin NOT unto death. And that, we have covered above (verse
16-17).
KEEPING SAFE FROM THE WICKED ONE
The AMPLIFIED BIBLE brings out the Greek tenses of verse 18.
"We know (absolutely) that anyone born (begotten it should
be - for the truth about being 'born again' see the study
under that name - Keith Hunt) of God does not (deliberately
and knowingly) practice committing sin, but the One Who was
begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him
(Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against
the evil), and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip)
on him or touch (him)".
The children of God have set their minds to love God, to
serve Him, to follow His commandments. Their practice and way of
life is not the way of living without God's will being done in
their lives. They do not practice as a way of life, sinning. The
person begotten of God watches themselves in their daily actions,
words, thoughts, emotions, deeds, to keep close to the Lord. In
so doing they walk with Him and then with the presence of the
Lord with and in them, the wicked one, Satan the Devil, cannot
hold them in his power.
Speaking personally, I know Satan is very real, and his
demon helpers, but I do not go around each day, worrying and
fretting over them coming after me to do me physical or mental
harm. I have walked with the Lord for so long now, I am at ease
and peace of mind, I am calm and tranquil of mind. I know God and
Christ are with me, in me through their Spirit, so fear of the
wicked one is cast away, and the love of God in me, gives me
peace.
Their is a peaceful wonderment when you know you are of God,
in God, or the other way is more correct, when you know THEY
(both the Father and the Son) are IN you. The world may lie in
wickedness, sin, and deception, but the child of God is free from
the world and from Satan.
We know that Jesus did live and did die for us, and the Holy
Spirit gives us understanding of all things important to
spiritual life. Through the Son we can know the Father, know that
He is true, and that we are IN Him that is true. We are in His
Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God, Jesus is part of the very
Godhead, that is the only one true God, and the only one true way
to eternal life (verses 19-20).
In a few verses John is putting the whole of the Gospels,
(certainly his own Gospel) together. This is what Jesus taught
over and over again. God the Father sent Jesus to show us in a
personal form, what He is like. If we know Jesus we know the
Father. And it is THEIR desire, both of them, to LIVE in us
through their Holy Spirit, to teach us, to give us understanding
of spiritual matters, and finally to give us GLORY, change us,
from human to divine, to give us birth into the very Family that
is God.
If you have not done so, please study my study called "A
Christian's Destiny" and see the wonderment that the Father wants
to give to us.
John ends this his first epistle with the admonition that we
will keep ourselves from idols. And anything that comes before
serving God with all your heart, mind, body, and life, is an idol
for you. So indeed may you keep yourself from idols (verse 21).
..................
Written October 2007
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