Only one thing remains: not to seek for further witnesses, but meekly to add our confession to God's own. Is this child of Christmas God's Son? Is He God with us? Then let us acknowledge Him as such. Let us worship Him and show by the obedience of our lives that He is indeed who He is so clearly dec
Yesterday’s study concluded with the name given to Joseph for the son that would be born to Mary. It had both a general and specific application, and we mentioned the general meaning then. Today, we continue by describing the specific application.Moreover, immediately after having given the child th
In addition to the angel Gabriel’s announcement that Jesus would be “the Son of the Most High,” we think of Peter’s confession of Christ. Jesus had asked the disciples who they thought He was, and Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). This was no mere earthly
The first person we want to interrogate is Gabriel, the angel of God. He appears at least twice in the Christmas story, once to announce the birth of John the Baptist to John’s father, the aged Zechariah, and once to announce the birth of Jesus to Mary. It is this second announcement that bears on o
The first chapter of Matthew begins with a genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ followed immediately by an account of His birth. So with the exception of this genealogy the first words of the entire New Testament are our text: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pled
4. In spite of the fact that the third of these explanations fits the context well and is otherwise commendable, it is possible that still another view is involved. It must be remembered that in this context John is talking about the witness of the Father to Jesus, much as Jesus Himself does in the
In yesterday’s study, we looked at the first interpretation of the expression “water and blood” as a reference to that which flowed from Christ’s side at His crucifixion. We noted a couple of important similarities.Unfortunately, the similarities are not as great under examination as they seem to be
At the time of the late Renaissance and Reformation, when classical texts were first being edited critically, Erasmus of Rotterdam produced a Greek text in which the words “in earth” were missing. At this time most of Europe was using the Latin Vulgate as its Bible version, so Erasmus was quickly cr
The introduction to 1 John pointed out that three distinct purposes lie behind the writing of this letter: the need to encourage Christians in the assurance of their salvation, a desire to stress the historical groundings of the Christian faith, and a wish to reiterate and expound upon Christ’s new
The third of John's tests is expressed in these verses as belief. Indeed, it is with this concept that the section both begins and ends (vv. 1, 5); between belief that "Jesus is the Christ” and belief that "Jesus is the Son of God" is found John's discussion of both love and obedience. The implicati
Later Paul argued for liberty from such burdensome rabbinical requirements that the Pharisees had laid on people: “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). Similarly, Peter at the Jerusalem council arg
When a birth takes place the individual involved is not born into isolation, nor is he a totally unique individual in the sense that his characteristics and attributes have no connection with those who have gone before. For one thing, he is born into a family and into family relations. For another,
In John's understanding, the potential child of God is first made alive by God, as a result of which he comes to believe on Christ, pursue righteousness, and love the brethren.In John’s understanding, the potential child of God is first made alive by God, as a result of which he comes to believe on
At the end of the preceding chapter John has spoken quite sharply about the need to love, saying, "If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?" But it is entirely possible that a p
The second area in which love finds perfection is in reference to our love for the brethren; for it is there, according to John, that real love is to be seen and measured. John begins this section by a broad statement: “We love him, because he first loved us.” But lest a person apply this to a love
We concluded yesterday’s study by saying that the idea of a day of judgment is logical, given what we know both about God as holy and ourselves as sinners.Moreover, the day of judgment is as fixed in God’s eternal timetable as any other day in world history. This is the significance of the word “day
In verses 13-16 John has developed the first of two ideas introduced for the first time in verse 12, the indwelling of the Christian by God. Now he returns to the second of those two ideas, the perfection of love, and explains what he means practically. Earlier, when he had said, “If we love one ano
The confession of Christ is mentioned as the first evidence of the Spirit’s activity because it is at the point of confession that the Christian life may properly be said to begin. "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess th
In the last verse of the preceding section John has concluded that if we love one another, two things may be said to follow: first, that God abides in us, and second, that God’s love is perfected in us. These two conclusions give the outline for the next two sections of this chapter. In the first se
There are three reasons why Christians are to love one another: first, because God is love and we are of God; second, because God loved us in Christ and so revealed His love to us; and third, because God is at work in us by His Spirit to bring that love to completion. The third lesson is that it was
Yesterday, we concluded by speaking of the first two factors that enable us to measure God’s great love for us in Christ. The final factor is that God gave His Son to die for sinners. As John says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation
The fact that the Trinity is involved in these statements leads naturally to the second of John’s reasons why Christians must love other Christians. The second reason is God’s gift of Jesus Christ His Son for our salvation. The parallel between this and the first of John’s reasons is striking. If we
John begins with a passionate exhortation to his readers to "love one another," a phrase which is repeated three times in verses 7, 11, and 12. This is his great concern, and the reasons for that concern are given in connection with this threefold repetition. The first reason is that love is of God'
To this point much of John's letter has been given over to developing the three tests by which a person who has become a child of God may know that he truly is a child of God. They are: the moral test, which is righteousness; the social test, which is love; and the doctrinal test, which is the test
