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
The outline to these verses is to be found in the emphasized pronouns which begin verses 4, 5 and 6. With the exception of verse 4 this is preserved even in most of the English versions. Verse 4 begins with “you.” It is a reference to those who are of God, that is, to Christians. John says two thing
There are three possible ways in which the confession of verse 2 may be taken, as Brooke indicates.11) “Jesus Christ” may be the object, and the phrase “has come in the flesh” may be the predicate. In this interpretation the confession would be that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh”; that is, that
Having been pressed by Ahab to speak only what the Lord had revealed, at this point Micaiah replied as God had instructed him: “I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd. And the LORD said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace” (v.
In these verses John deals with this problem of the need to discern teaching in the church and, therefore, also with our own need to exercise such discernment. His reply has three parts. First, there is the command to test those who claim to be inspired. Second, there is a standard to be used in tes
One Sunday evening after I had preached to the congregation of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia on the need to test Christian teaching by the Scriptures, a young man came up to me with a very interesting story. Two summers before he had been active in a summer music camp sponsored by one of
John is not inventing any special doctrine at this point. Rather he is only taking at face value what he has learned from Jesus. Jesus had said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye s
The first advantage of an uncondemning heart is what John calls "confidence before God." This must be understood, not in the sense of confidence of things in general, but in the sense of confidence of one's standing before God and therefore of access to Him. The Greek phrase literally says, "confide
There is a second truth which we may also use to reassure our hearts. The first by its very nature was related to ourselves specifically; it had to do with God's specific work in our own individual life. The second is more general in that it refers in equal measure to all who are God's children. It
Yesterday, we looked at the most common meaning of peithein, which is “to convince” or “to persuade.” Today we begin by looking at another meaning,The other meaning of peithein is “to reassure” or “to assure.” This meaning is rare. It occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Matt. 28:14: “If t
