Hello everyone. I hope you all had a good Independence Day!!! Let us begin exploring the Scriptures. Reading our Bibles is one of the primary ways we seek after God in an effort to strengthen our relationship with Him. So let's begin with 1 John. Let me give you a little background.
1 John was written by the apostle John sometime toward the end of his life. We know from archaeological evidence that John's gospel was written sometime around 90 A.D. from the city of Ephesus. John had spent considerable time ministering to the church there until his death near 98 A.D. Sometime between 68 and 98 A.D., John spent some time in exile on the island Patmos. Scholars are unsure when John wrote his epistles (letters) but speculate that they could have been written from either Patmos or Ephesus.
John's writings are quite unique when in the company of other New Testament books. Like Paul, John has his own style and topics he likes to focus on. If you were to sum up 1 John in one phrase it would be: Fellowship with God is Based on Truth and Love. Love is a popular theme with John, as we see in the gospel that bears his name.
1:7 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.
Our fellowship is based on truth and love. If we live in the light mostly, yet partially in the darkness, are we really walking in the light? We can't expect for God to work His power in our lives if we are keeping part of ourselves in the darkness. Holding just one part in the darkness, hidden, is withdrawing from God and withdrawing from fellowship. When we withhold sin from God, will the blood of His Son purify it? That's why we must walk completely in the light, as He is in the light.
2:3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
John's letters were written with the additional purpose of combating Gnostic teachings. The Gnostics believed that salvation came from gaining knowledge of God. Therefore, knowing God came from knowing information about Him. Today, how often do we know all there is to know about our favorite celebrity? We can know all there is about them and still not have a personal relationship. We can know all about them and still not know them. How do we know God? We know God by obeying His commands. What does God command?
2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
When we get accustomed to things in our lives, they become second nature. So if we walk around in the darkness long enough, we get used to it and don't realize we're still there. Sometimes we stop loving people and we continue not loving them for so long that we become blind to the fact that we're not loving them. Periodic self evaluation is always a good idea. Am I failing to love a brother or sister? Is this something you struggle with?
3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
John uses Cain as the example of what not to do in verse 12. Ultimately, Cain is used as the example of hate, which is murder. Cain murdered Abel. Christ, on the other hand, is the example of love. Hate requires us to sacrifice someone else in order to lift ourselves up. Love requires us to sacrifice ourselves in order to lift others up. God has promised to lift us up when we lay ourselves down for others. This is love; thinking nothing of yourself and everything of others.
3:21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
If we want to know God and receive His blessings we have to obey. If we love Him, we will seek to please Him. We please Him through obedience. What command do we obey? We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another. John then tells us of something that should give us much peace. We have the promise that God will not be far, but be close to us by making His dwelling in us. And we will also live in Him.
3:24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
I wish you all a good day in the Lord. Tomorrow we will continue to look at what God has revealed to us in His Scriptures by the apostle John. Until then...
Grace be with you all.
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