Thoughts From 1John 5 - Part 1

  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1John 5:1-5

             After graduating High School, teens have four choices ahead of them. First, they can continue to live at home and play video games in their parent's basement and hang out with their friends hoping their parents don't kick them out and hoping they continue to give them money. These are sometimes referred to as basement dwellers, hermits, trad sons, or NEET (not in education, employment, or training) These are derogatory terms because this is not valued highly in our society and doesn't lead to much of a future. Second, they could get a job and move out whether they share a house with someone else to help make payments or not. Generally, unless you have connections to a good upper-level job through family or friends, one has to start at a low salary and hope for advancement by working there long enough. Once again, this is a path with limited future options but is admirable because of the tenacity required to thrive. Third is to go to college and not apply yourself - just party, have a good time and graduate. Chances are, with that resume, job options may not be much more than the person that skipped college but with a degree it's possible you may start at a higher entry level. Lastly, you can go to college, apply yourself, work hard, get a degree and go into the job market with a great resume and snag a job with a great future.

        What does that have to do with 1John 5? John says that if we love God, we will love His son and if we love His Son we will obey His commandments which aren't a burden when you realize that the reward is overcoming the world. Most people view going to college and studying hard even on the weekends while everyone else is partying, to be tedious and work and burdensome. What if they could see the future vacationing in the Caribbean on a yacht, basking in the sun at the end of that 4 year path?

 Would they rethink the burdensomeness of that path? In a similar way, living a life of self-denial and sacrifice in servitude of God and His Son Jesus, is anything but burdensome when you realize the benefits of it in this life and the glory set before us for all eternity which is far better than the above picture. Paul says in 2Corinthians 4:17-18;

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

 Obeying Jesus is not a burden but a joy! If you love Him you will. But John does say, don't delude yourself and think you can love God and not obey Him. John and Jesus say that isn't an option.

Thoughts From 1John 4 - Part 3

  This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: 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 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1John 4:13-16,19-21

           At 70 years old, my clock is ticking. I figure I have maybe 15-20 years. It's funny as a kid and sometimes even now I would think about living forever and it would freak me out. No end to life, everlasting life, is hard to fathom because in this world we are born into, there is an expiration date on everything, even life. Now that I get to this point, I think about wishing life would never end and I understand everlasting life - it's an infinite series of one more days. Although no one wants to die, we don't have to fear it if we know Christ. He showed His love to us by dying on the cross and He wouldn't have done it unless He wanted to spend eternity with us. And we know that He can deliver us from death otherwise His death was futile and He was just an unfortunate victim.

       Therefore, as Christians, we don't have to live with the fear of death looming over us. Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians were grieving over the death of their loved ones in the same manner that the unsaved do who have no hope. He had to instruct them that our thinking of death is different. The writer of Hebrews says that Christ came to free all those who all their lives were enslaved to the fear of death. Thank You Lord for loving us so much that you would die to deliver us from that bondage and fear.

        Now if we know that the whole world is scared of dying and we have the remedy for that fear, shouldn't we share that good news? Wouldn't it be unloving not to share it? This is where people misunderstand evangelism. We don't share to get to Heaven like JW's. We don't share to grow our church like the Mormons or to prove we're devout like most guilted works driven Christians. We share because He loved us first and has put this love in our hearts and sharing comes from that love for others. Knowing that they live in a constant fear of death, the loving thing is to tell them how they can be freed from that burden they carry. Paul expressed his motivation for evangelism this way;

" If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. " 2Cor.5:13-15

Thoughts From 1John 4 - Part 2

 

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 1John 4:7-12,16,17

       The definition of love that I usually go with is "a commitment of my will to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost." This is the selfless love that the Bible is usually talking about when it's talking about God's love or Agape love. This is the love that He has shown to us by sending His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and this is the love that He has put inside of us in the Holy Spirit to demonstrate and give to the world through our lives. It should shine a light in this dark world because the only love this world can give is self-centered love or acts that look loving but are done for the benefit of self.

        I had to laugh as I network surfed last night and the network 30 second intro to a show on Netflix was a clip where Lexi, in a bikini on a boat in a reality dating show, says "I'm looking for a man who is confident enough to let me be me and yet is obsessed with me." That was the type of man she could love. How many times did she say "me" in that clip? This is the world's love not God's love, and yet God gets hated on by the world for being unloving mainly for two reasons. First is Hell - why would a God of love send people to Hell? Second is pain and suffering - if God is all powerful and loving, why doesn't He just stop all the pain and suffering?

        First is hell. Hell is at the very least absence from the presence of God. The fact that it is such a terrible place shows that the presence of God in this world is the very reason we have anything good and we don't give thanks to God for it but presume on His common grace and goodness. The fact that He gives people free will to choose to honor and worship Him and thank Him for it verses choosing not to want Him in their lives yet enjoying all the good things He gives is an act of love by God. Allowing them then also to head into the afterlife apart from Him is honoring their choice not to want Him in their lives.

      Second is somewhat like the first. The very fact that we have such a word as "tragedy" or "natural disaster" in our dictionaries is a testament to the fact that we have so much good in our lives that we are surprised by suffering. Where does that good come from? It comes from a God who loves us so much that even in a fallen, broken world which was created to be a garden of Eden without pain, suffering, or death, He recreated the world with a flood and gave us what we see today - broken but beautiful. The fact that there is cancer, disease, starvation, abductions, war is that He has given man free will and man is evil and there are consequences to that evil. The fact that there is cancer, birth defects, crippling diseases and pain is unfortunately the result of living in a broken world with broken bodies. Why doesn't He fix the brokenness? He will someday but now He loves mankind so much that He endures our grief and pain with tears allowing mankind free will to reject or choose Him. Someday soon, that choice will be over and He will make all things new.

       On that day, those who chose to love Him and received the Holy Spirit evidenced by their selfless love to mankind, will confidently, without fear, step into judgement and hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the place I've prepared for you." Maranatha, the Lord come quickly!

         

Thoughts From 1John 4 - Part 1

  Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.  1John 4:1-6

          John, once again knowing he had an expiration date and being the last living disciple who heard the truth from Jesus' own lips, wanted to make sure that this 1st generation of believers wasn't led astray but would flourish and pass it on to the next generation. Already, John saw deceivers that threatened whether "when the son of man returns will He find faith on this Earth?" John is saying, use this test to see if a preacher can be trusted.

       First test - their view on Jesus. You can google "what do religions other than Christianity believe Jesus is?" and you will get anything but -  "the second part of the trinity come down from Heaven taking on human flesh and being all God and all man at the same time who died as a sinless sacrifice for the sin of mankind and bodily rose from the dead to give life to all who by faith believe." What you will get is a prophet, a rabbi, a revolutionary, etc. You might even get "a god" not "The God." If any teacher or religion has the wrong doctrine of Jesus, they are not just misinformed, they are actually evil and tools of the devil, that's why John calls them the "spirit of the antichrist." At some point, the antichrist will rise on the scene and will say things that sound right but his views on Jesus will absolutely be deceptively skewed.

      Second test - Do they speak from the viewpoint of the world? What's the viewpoint of the world? Living the abundant life down here not living like aliens belonging to another kingdom and storing up treasures there. There are so many false teachers who may even pass the first test but then teach that God wants you to be rich, healthy, powerful down here. You can see why Paul says that in the last days teachers would teach what people want to hear and deceive many. What kingdom are they preaching - the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of Earth. When Jesus sent out the disciples His message to them was simple. He told them to preach, "repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand." True preachers must preach this.

       Third test - What do they believe about the Bible? John asks, "Do they listen to us?" One of the criteria used for compiling the New Testament was, were these epistles or books written by people who had spent time with Jesus? John had, and wrote 5 out of 27 books of the New Testament and asks, do these teachers listen to what I say? Do these teachers say, "The Bible says this so let's do and believe what it says", or do they say, "That was just their opinion" or "That was cultural" or "We now know that isn't true today" or do they even go on to say, "that part of the Bible shouldn't have been included" or "here are other books that weren't included". James Tallarico, a politician from Texas who claims to be a believer quotes from "The Gospel of Thomas" and therefore justifies LGBTQ agenda.

        We need to be discerning and not be like sheep being led to slaughter. Be aware and be wary!

Thoughts From 1John 3 - Part 5

 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 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 keep 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. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives 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.  1John 3:19-24

           What part does conscience play in a Christian's life? You would think it should play a big part because we have the Holy Spirit. I've often compared the born again by the Spirit process to be a lot like Peter Parker being bit by the radioactive spider. (If i was reformed, I'd like it even better because he had no choice) The spider DNA infused through his body and when he awoke, he noticed he was different and had spider abilities that he could never lose. Those abilities needed to grow, and he increases in his abilities throughout the movie and comic books. One of those abilities is his spidey sense which warns him of danger, and I would equate that to our conscience. When we are veering off track our consciences should warn us. Should we aid the person in the previous verses or are they a scammer? The Holy Spirit should tell us and if we got scammed, we don't kick ourselves but have peace that we did what we were told. I kind of think that's what he means by, "If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything."

         Can we trust our consciences 100% or as Jiminy Cricket would say, "Let your conscience be your guide"? I would have said yes to this in the past but Paul does shed some light on the conscience in 1Corinthians 4:3-5 where he says, 

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."

       It appears that our consciences, because we still have the traitorous flesh or old me inside, can delude me. Thus, the need for continuing in the Word to renew our minds and continue to wash the old man out. I call it a mind enema where the water is the Bible.

Thoughts From 1John 3 - Part 4

  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 and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1John 3:16-18

           I'm always perplexed by these passages. Why do the apostles seem to always include a "one another" or in this case "a brother or sister" when it comes to acts of kindness? Why doesn't he just say, "If you see anyone in need, take pity and help them." You would think that's the point of the Good Samaritan parable that Christ gave to them. Does "brother and sister" here refer to the universal brotherhood and sisterhood on account of common creation? In Galatians 6:10, Paul says,

 " Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

      I don't think the language of the epistle writers is to exclude but convict to include. Let me explain my point this way; when talking to people about divorce I came up with this thought and I think it is one of my few original thoughts. Couples search the whole world to find the one person they could love the rest of their lives and they marry them. If they end up hating that person, what chance do they have of loving their enemies? In the same way, John and others are saying that if you have no pity on a brother or sister in the Lord (we have a new family) and don't help them, how can you possibly hope to emulate the Good Samaritan?

      There are a number of caveats here that need to be delved into and to do so would require a book, but this does raise some questions of what does "in need" mean and are we just to "have pity." The second one is easier to answer because in context it says "actions" and self-sacrificial "laying down." Having pity implies meeting those needs. So what is a need? It's got to be food, shelter, and clothing. Are there more? What about medical or dental care or essential medications but they can't afford it? What about transportation to employment so they can meet their needs? What about electricity in their homes? And what if they have the money to meet those needs but choose to spend it on non-essentials? Are we then to meet the essential needs for them in mercy like God gives us what we don't deserve?

      I don't know - these are things I wrestle with and these are reasons we offer money management classes at church. But I do know that statistics tell us that if someone has a home and two cars they are among the 95% richest people in the world.

       So what are we to do here. My guess is John is not writing this passage to give us reasons to exclude but to include and err on the side of pity, mercy, grace, self-sacrificial giving to meet everyone's basic essential needs starting first with your family of believers then looking for ways to use God's money to show Christ to unbelievers.

Thoughts From 1John 3 - Part 3

 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 1John 3:10-15

                John gives some insight here into the account of Cain and Abel. God required, after the original sin, a regular offering or sacrifice for the sin. This was to remind people that in order to have a right standing with God, sin must be atoned for. Although this was progressively spelled out that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin, and that couldn't just be a pint but it symbolized the giving of a life for the one who sins because the soul that sins shall die - we don't know how much Cain would have understood but we do know he knew what was required and by faith should have done it. Instead, since he was a farmer and was proud of his skills, he offered his bests plants as a sacrifice to God. We can't say that he didn't give his best or that he didn't give sacrificially - we don't know. What we do know is that he didn't give the offering that was proscribed. He thought he could get to God his own way and God said no.

          Verse 13 says that Cain wasn't mistaken or wrong but his actions were "evil". Why evil? I think we have to look back to the original sin in the garden. God, after giving man and woman paradise and most of all His presence and love, gives them one rule and says, "don't eat from the tree or you'll die." Instead of justly ending the creation (we would think after all that work maybe it can be spared but it was no work for God) He made a way to keep the relationship going until it could totally be fixed with the blood and death of His only Son and Cain says, "I want another way." Isn't this what we see today? Mankind saying, "Why is God so narrow minded?" "Why is there only one way?" "So, all those other religions are wrong, and billions are going to Hell because Jesus is the only way? That's not fair!" The answer to that is why is there even one way? God should have rightly ended things but He didn't and to complain about that is not just wrong - it's evil.

          And it's not just that - it's the underlying lie of all religions except Christianity. All religions except one say that the way to get to God is our best efforts. Cain gave his best efforts convinced God would be pleased and He wasn't. This is the lie that Satan wants us to believe and it isn't an honest mistake but evil from the evil one to believe it and stand before God waiting for the pat on the back and hearing, "Depart from me, I never knew you." God, in His mercy gave us a way back and it's by faith receiving the prescribed way of coming into His presence through the substitutionary blood and death of His righteous Son on the cross and that's the only way. The way of Cain is the evil path of deception and look where it leads - hatred, murder, getting cast from the presence of God and a lineage and harvest of darkness and hatred of God.

         Which side are you on? Are you trusting your best efforts to get you to God? That's the way of Cain and it leads to nowhere good. Or are you by faith trusting in Christ's death on the cross for your sins? That leads to love and life eternal. God gave you a choice. Choose Abel's way. It's not an easy life - Abel died a brutal death yet still lives in glory - but it is the right way.