Tag: 1 John

Devotional

Daily Devotional-September 19th

September 19, 2020

Like the gospel of John, the book of 1 John is filled with sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. In John’s mind, things are fairly black and white with little if any grey area. In refreshingly simple terms, John writes his first epistle in order to give the people of God a better understanding of how they can know that they are saved, how they can tell the difference between true and false believers. He calls the church to be in a state of continual growth in faith, in obedience, and in love; let’s heed that call together as a church as we read this letter!

In the closing chapter to his first epistle, John revisits many of the themes he has addressed in the earlier chapters. He reiterates that the only trustworthy expression of love for God is to obey His commandments, and he goes further in saying that obeying God’s commandments is a demonstration of Christian love towards one another as well. John tells us here that we participate in Christ’s own victory and triumph over the world through our faith in Him, and that is very good news for us!

John ends his letter in a way that almost seems random: he commands his audience to keep themselves from idols. What does this have to do with the rest of what he is trying to say in the letter?

While John writes the letter in order to affirm the faith of his readers as well as to give them tests to discern the marks of a true believer versus a false believer, throughout the letter the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ rings out loudly. To John, Jesus is at the forefront of everything for the true believer, and all those who claim faith yet deny this fact either in word or in deed are of the devil!

Jesus has to be foremost in all our affections, all our attention, all our worship. We keep ourselves from idols because God will not suffer any competition for the worship, allegiance, and devotion of our hearts. We must be fully surrendered to Him and Him alone!

1 John 5

Overcoming the World

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • What are some things that might compete with God for your affections or devotion? How does the promise of overcoming the world by your faith in Christ shape the way you battle idolatry in your life?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-September 18th

September 18, 2020

Like the gospel of John, the book of 1 John is filled with sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. In John’s mind, things are fairly black and white with little if any grey area. In refreshingly simple terms, John writes his first epistle in order to give the people of God a better understanding of how they can know that they are saved, how they can tell the difference between true and false believers. He calls the church to be in a state of continual growth in faith, in obedience, and in love; let’s heed that call together as a church as we read this letter!

John begins this chapter with a command for his audience to “test the spirits”, to discern between the kind of teaching and prophecy which comes from God and that which is of the world. The test seems simple enough: if the spirit in question does not confess Jesus as having come in the flesh and as the Son of the living God, it is not of God but of the antichrist. John elaborates by saying that all who listen to and affirm the teaching of the apostles are from God, and all who do not are of the world. In a world that increasingly attempts to blur the line between truth and falsehood, between the church and the world, between good and evil, we must be vigilant to test everything against the truth of God taught by the apostles and prophets and preserved for us in Scripture!

In this chapter John gives his other descriptor for God; in chapter one he said God is light, and here he asserts that God is love. This statement has been co-opted and abused by those who refuse to understand it rightly, but John makes it clear what kind of love he is talking about when he says that God is love; he is talking about the kind of love that sacrifices for the other, even to the point of dying on a cross for the sins of another. He is talking about the love of God towards us in Jesus Christ, a self-sacrificial, giving, others-centered love, and John tells us here that knowing and experiencing that love always leads us to love others as well.

When we experience the love of God towards us in Christ Jesus, it produces in us love for God and love for other people. We love because He first loved us!

1 John 4

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • The love that God calls us to is a demonstrative love, love in action which puts others before itself. How are you demonstrating in your day to day life that the love of God abides in you?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-September 17th

September 17, 2020

Like the gospel of John, the book of 1 John is filled with sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. In John’s mind, things are fairly black and white with little if any grey area. In refreshingly simple terms, John writes his first epistle in order to give the people of God a better understanding of how they can know that they are saved, how they can tell the difference between true and false believers. He calls the church to be in a state of continual growth in faith, in obedience, and in love; let’s heed that call together as a church as we read this letter!

John continues to lay before his audience different tests and measures that they can use to discern those who are truly God’s children from those who merely claim to be God’s children. The first test he gives us in this chapter is the contrast between the habitual behaviors of believers versus those of unbelievers. John proclaims the incomparable love that God has shown us in making us His children in Christ, and then asserts that all who are truly God’s children, all who place their hope in Christ in this way, purify themselves as Christ Himself is pure. John contrasts this with those who, rather than purifying themselves, make a practice of sinning; he says that all who make a practice of sinning also practice lawlessness and are of the devil.

This contrast is between the habitual behaviors we exhibit in our lives: is your life characterized by a pure and holy lifestyle, or is it characterized by habitual sin? We all sin and fall short in many ways of course, but what characterizes your living? According to John, if habitual sin characterizes you more than pure living in Christ does, any claim you make to be God’s child is a false one.

The second standard that John sets before his audience in this chapter is the contrast between love and hatred. All who are born of God have love for the people of God; in contrast, anyone who hates another believer gives evidence that they have not been born of God. So we are called to love one another, even as Christ has loved us!

In loving one another as Christ loved us, John sets another challenge before us. The love that Jesus demonstrated towards us was not merely theoretical; He demonstrated it by dying for us, through His actions. John warns us here that merely claiming to love one another, without action to back it up, demonstrates that the love of God is not in us. God’s love moves us to action, just like He demonstrated His love through action!

1 John 3

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Why is love that does not act in compassion no real love at all? How can we do better at loving in the same way Christ has loved us?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-September 16th

September 16, 2020

Like the gospel of John, the book of 1 John is filled with sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. In John’s mind, things are fairly black and white with little if any grey area. In refreshingly simple terms, John writes his first epistle in order to give the people of God a better understanding of how they can know that they are saved, how they can tell the difference between true and false believers. He calls the church to be in a state of continual growth in faith, in obedience, and in love; let’s heed that call together as a church as we read this letter!

In this chapter John gives us several measures by which we can discern a true follower of Jesus from a false one. He says that those who have truly come to know Jesus will keep His commandments, that they will walk in the way that He walked. According to John, anyone who claims to know Jesus but does not submit their lives to Him as Lord is a liar!

Again, John is not advocating some kind of sinless perfectionism for the Christian life (see verse 2). What he is saying is that all who have been truly changed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit, all who have truly come to know and place their faith in Jesus, will look progressively more and more like Him in the way that they live. All who truly love Jesus will express that love by obeying Him; Jesus Himself said as much (John 14:15, 23)!

True knowledge of Jesus, true faith in Jesus, true love for Jesus, always results in transformed living. If you really know Him, you will obey!

1 John 2

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children,
    because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
    because you know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God abides in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • What are some of the other tests that John gives us in this chapter to help us discern between true and false claims of faith in Jesus? How can we take these tests as a challenge for ourselves?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-September 15th

September 15, 2020

Like the gospel of John, the book of 1 John is filled with sharp contrasts: light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate. In John’s mind, things are fairly black and white with little if any grey area. In refreshingly simple terms, John writes his first epistle in order to give the people of God a better understanding of how they can know that they are saved, how they can tell the difference between true and false believers. He calls the church to be in a state of continual growth in faith, in obedience, and in love; let’s heed that call together as a church as we read this letter! 

John begins his letter by elaborating on what it means to walk in fellowship with God. He says that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (v.5). Based on that assertion, John says that only those who walk in the light can be walking with God; anyone who says they have fellowship with God but walks in darkness is a liar. What then does it mean to walk in the light?

When John says that God is light, and there is no darkness in Him, he means that God is absolutely perfect in both knowledge and purity. There is no darkness, no evil, no hidden fault, no shadow of change or of impurity in Him. He is altogether perfect, holy, and pure!

Walking in the light means that we, as those who have been made one with Christ through the Holy Spirit, reflect the perfection and purity of God in our own lives! Not that we are perfect by any means; John makes it quite clear that perfection is not what he is claiming (v.8, 10)! But as believers who are being progressively remade into Christ’s image, our lives should increasingly demonstrate the moral perfection, complete purity, and absolute glory of God to the world around us!

Part of this means that there is no hypocrisy or self-righteousness in us; walking in the light requires that we acknowledge our sinfulness and confess our sins (v.8-10). Walking in the light is walking in integrity, without falsehood, without putting up a front, without hidden sins or unspoken faults. The people of God are to walk in the light, out in the open for all to see!

This kind of living seems intimidating to so many of us, and it should; vulnerability and openness can be a scary thing! But luckily for us, in Christ God has made this kind of living something that we no longer have to be afraid of! John says it himself in this chapter: anyone who says they haven’t sinned or refuses to confess their sinfulness is deceiving themselves and calling God a liar! But if we walk in the light, freely and openly confessing our sins to God, HE is both faithful and just not only to forgive us but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Admitting our ongoing need for God’s mercy and grace through confession is the pathway to true transformation and change in our lives!

Are you walking in the light?

1 John 1

The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does the promise of forgiveness and cleansing from our sins in this chapter encourage us to live our lives out in the open, to walk in the light? What is a step you can take toward walking in this kind of life?