1 John is one of the most powerful books of the bible. In no uncertain terms, John unpackages the concept of fellowship and pulls no punches in what it means to be a Christian, what it means to follow, and how it is important for us to look at ourselves in a stark and unflinching manner to understand how, and if, we are truly following.
CHAPTER 1
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
John first begins this journey in discussing the Moral Test of Fellowship. In order to understand if we are truly following, we first have to understand the relationship between the father and son. If we go to Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, we see a similar story play out. First, in Genesis, we see God creating the heavens and Earth. In John 1, there is a distinction, and this is where we can draw an interesting parallel between the two: Jesus is present in the creation. Both Jesus (The Word) , God and the Holy Spirit (The Trinity) are all present before creation. Why is this important? Because the trinity, alive before creation, needed a focus to their love. This focus is creation itself, us. God’s love needed to have an object, so he created us to be the recipient of His love.
It is important to understand that the son was also present. This topic will be picked up later in Chapter 2, but we must understand something very important: if we don’t have the son, we don have the father. The belief and following is mutually exclusive. We must follow God, through Jesus, in order to understand God. For they were together at the beginning, before time.
John had a personal relationship with Jesus. This is also important to note because John is a first-person witness to the Son of God. John relays that the Word was made real. As followers, we must understand this relationship first, because if we follow any other variation we are in error. Fundamentally we must believe in Jesus. Then we can understand God.
God is love (John 4:8). God is light (1 John 1:5). God is eternal (Rev 22:13). Love, before creation, was isolated. Is love any good if it lives in isolation? What good is love if it is hidden away, like in a monastery or temple. We have personal fulfillment, but love has nowhere to go. Have you ever been to a funeral where the priest says the deceased was a devout follower of God, and you turn to someone and say, “I didn’t know that?” If we hide away our relationship, our love for God, and suspend it for others, then we end up isolating that love.
We are not meant to live in isolation. We are built, by God, in three broad ways:
1. We are given work to do (Genesis 2:15)
2. We need fellowship with other (Genesis 2:18-25)
3. We need a fellowship with God (Genesis 3:8)
Our need to dwell inside these three areas in our life is important. If we are deficient in any of these areas, we break down a little. God built us specifically in these ways, and we can’t keep ourselves in isolation. Otherwise the system breaks down.
Have you ever walked through life wondering why you have a hole inside you? If you go back to these very elemental ways you are built, perhaps one of these items is out of whack. Sometimes we have two elements that are working just fine. Maybe you have great work and great friends. But you still have a need in you that is unfulfilled. And in that, you will move through life with an emptiness that is difficult to reconcile, unless you know what you are looking for. In this scenario, you may take years to come to the conclusion that your relationship with God is the missing element.
What John is talking about is fellowship. Koinonia (Grk), means sharing, communion, bond, loving relationship, common life. Understanding that fellowship is as essential to us as food or water is a great start to understand where God wants us.
The result of this, John says in verse 4, is joy. Joy is an optimism that is based on God. Happiness, by contrast, is based on circumstance Joy must be anchored in the relationship we have with God, and nothing else.
In another case, perhaps you have the work and you have the fellowship with God. But do you really? If it isn’t being shared on some level, then is it true fellowship? That is a question Johnbegins to tackle in the next set of powerful verses.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not have the truth in us:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Verse 5 begins what we call the “Claims” of John. First, he again reiterates who God is. God is light. In Him there is no darkness. So we must understand something extremely important: the problem is not with God, but with us.
How many times do we want to shake our fist at God and curse our situation, that He put us in. It’s His fault, after all. Well, if there is not darkness in God, then the problem cannot be there. We can blame other things - the devil, the world - and some of that contributes to our issues, but it always comes back to the same conclusion: the problem is us.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not have the truth in us:
If we claim fellowship, yet still walk in darknes, we lie and the truth does not live in us. This is a heavy statement, and can only be fully understood when we break it down. Our claim is that we have fellowship with God, meaning that we have a relationship with Him. But if we truly have an intimate relationship, and live in a pattern of sinful living, can that really be true? That is what John is getting at. Do we simply say we are a follower of Christ but live a double life?
The heart of what John is getting at is this: If you say you are a Christian and hold a relationship with God in esteem (fellowship), but live in sinful, unrepentant sin (walk in the darkness), then you are a hypocrite. This is a strong statement, but one we all need to hear.
Sometimes, as Christians, we go on cruise control. We may have accepted Christ back in our teens, and perhaps that was emotional and life-changing, but as we get older, can we say that we are genuinely following. Do we genuinely have the relationship, or is it just something we’ve grown used to saying? A good way to understand if you are or aren’t a hypocrite is to look at your life. Do you have sin that you have just resigned to “I’m just being me” or “that’s how God made me” or “I tried to quit, didn’t work so I’ll just go with it,” or did you try rationalizing, excusing or defending the sin so much that it doesn’t seem like a big deal?
Here’s the deal: we are masters of excusing ourself from sin by giving it a plethora of different names. We play a semantics game of dismissing our shortcomings and this gives us enough leeway to say “I’m not really a sinner” and enough power to keep the sin going. John says that you need to take a look at the relationship and ask yourself a heard question. But with each difficult question, there is a promise that shows us the proper way to fall back into fellowship.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we ask ourself the question “Do I really follow?” and the answer comes back no, it isn’t the end of you. In fact, God is the God of multiple chances. To turn back to him means everything (see the “lost” parables of Luke 15). Turning back is beneficial: If we walk in the light (general obedience, not perfect obedience), without harboring known sin or resisting the Holy Spirit, the relationship can be restored.
Sin is a barrier in the relationship. If you have a husband or wife, you know this principle well. When you have a fight with your spouse, there is a barrier in the relationship. You can feel it. The only way to remove the barrier is to come together and discuss and arrive at a conclusion. It is the same with our Relationship with God. Sin is the barrier that we need to remove in order to restore the relationship.
Fellowship helps in many ways. It helps to reinforce our walk, helps us to learn and grow and helps us to reassign our relationships to positive ones.
John says, that if we walk in the light (relationship), then the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin. This is the most important piece to the relationship puzzle. It we have authentic relationship, then we have the ability for our sins to be forgiven. All of our sins to be forgiven. It’s only done through authentic relationship.
8 If we say that 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 that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
It seems very apparent that none of us would willingly come out and say we are sinless. But do we do this in a subversive way? John says that if we deny our sin, the truth is not in us, meaning that if we aren’t copping to our broken nature, then we can’t take the first step toward relationship.
We defend our sin. We excuse it too. We rationalize our sin. We also hide it. So, in effect, we play a semantics game. We don’t call it sin. We call it something else: “the devil made me do it,”, “I’m only human,”, “I made a mistake”, “I’m not perfect”. These are all disguised ways we don’t admit our sin. We run away from the idea of being a sinner and hide it so the world sees our perfection.
Here’s the big problem: if we can’t authentically admit to our sinful nature, then we can’t ever be truly saved. God’s grace and mercy is extended to sinners. We can’t take the free gift if we can never admit to our needing the gift.
In verse 9, John says that if we confess our sins, then God will mercifully forgive us. Confession, by default, means that we have come to a conclusion about our actions, regret them, and want to bring them before God. Can’t get to confession, for this great gift of unburdening, if we aren’t able to admit our guilt.
Sin is present in our life, but it need not hinder our relationship. Confession shows us that we are willing to see things as God does (Luke 18:10-14). It is about accountability to God and is vital for our relationship with God.
Verse 10 is like a person who double-downs on a platitude. If you refuse to see your sin, then Jesus is not in you. You are denying God’s word, his truth.
2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
John sets into motions reason for writing this letter: so we will not sin. First, we as Christians need to understand the importance of sin. It is a big deal. Why? Because sin unchecked has a way of overcoming us in time, and when we leave sin unchecked, we erode our spiritual defenses, create a barrier between us and God, and ultimately hasten our own spiritual demise.
Sin is a fact in our life. We are not perfect, and there is no way we can be perfectly sinless. It impedes our relationship with God. But there is a remedy. Jesus Christ. His sacrifice for us is the provision for our sin. He is our advocate, as John puts it. Advocate in Greek is Lenski. It primarily refers to friends of the accused who voluntarily step forward, in a court setting, to vouch for the accused, and personally sway the judge to rule in his favor. This is what Jesus does for us. When we are before the judge (God), and are obviously guilty sin via the accuser (satan), and the judge is about to rule against us, Jesus (advocate) steps in and says”wait, he’s one of mine.” The judge then levies the judgment. “Guilty, but the fine is paid.”
Jesus is the propitiation, or the atonement, for our sins. His sacrifice was final, for all, and conquered sin. When we put our faith in Christ, then we are trusting in that propitiation. We are understanding the sacrifice and putting our faith in that promise. That’s how Christ breaks the back of sin. He did it for the entire world. But if Jesus did this for all, why isn’t the entire world saved?
There is a choice in the matter. Free Will is the opportunity we have to choose God. Sadly, many do not. And that is the sad fact of why the world isn’t saved. Jesus needs you to make a choice for him for salvation. It’s the only way.
LOVE AND HATRED FOR FELLOW BELIEVERS
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
The evidence of following God is that we keep his commands. This isn’t the walk of the Pharisees or of Judaism in general, where there are a set number of commandments (613 in Judaism) that must be adhered to or you are considered out of step. God understands our imperfect character. What John is saying here is that its relationship (fellowship) is based on obedience. If we aren’t obeying God’s commands with a strident yearning, then our claim to fellowship is fraudulent. A simple, loving and obedient life to God is a natural result fellowship with God.
But can’t we just know about Christ without actually knowing him? Can we take a simply academic approach and never let God into our hearts? If we are to authentically claim fellowship, then we must live a life marked by three things: submission, confession and active response.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
Love for God displays itself as obedience. That sounds backward in our western mind. Our American culture tells us that we must be independent, to carve our own trails, to be the author of our own story. But God requires obedience to his commands. And when we are obedient to his commands, in love, it creates a mature relationship. A mature relationship gives us assurance in Jesus.
A mature walk does many things, but it has a very distinct mark on sin:
1. We don’t love sin anymore
2. We don’t brag about sin
3. We don’t plan sin
4. We don’t fondly remember it
5. We don’t fully enjoy it anymore
6. We aren’t comfortable in habitual sin
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
How did Jesus live? He lived a faithful, disciplined life. As Jesus was directed by God, we must be directed by the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of God.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
The commandment is both old and new (John 13:34-35). As the old commandment refers to God’s 10 Commandments (Exodus 20), The new commandment, which makes the commandments full, is love. The 10 commandments were about duty. Now, with the basis of the 10 commandments being love, it changes it to obedience + love.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
The measurement of our love is based on how we treat others. In this case, John is speaking of other Christians. If we don’t care about/for other Christians, then our claim to fellowship (relationship) is fraudulent. If we follow (dutifully) but do not love others, then the things we do for God are ultimately meaningless (1 Corinthians 13)
REASONS FOR WRITING
12
I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
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.
14
I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
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 lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
John lays out his reason for writing this book: he wants to bring people to spiritual maturity. He groups people into three categories:
Fathers: these are people with a long spiritual walk.
Young men: these are people who are not “fathers”, but are in an active spiritual fight- they are presently in the battle against satan in a big way.
Little Children: Those who see themselves as dependent children.
ON NOT LOVING THE WORLD
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Worldliness threatens our fellowship with God. This is the beginning of John’s explanation of things, from the outside, that can effector relationship. When we talk about worldliness though, we must define it properly. It isn’t about hating all things in the world, or the people, or certain types of people. God made the world and proclaimed it good in Genesis 1. And as Christians, we are called to love those in the world. David Wells says it well in Losing our Virtue:
That system of values, in any given age, which has at its center our fallen human perspective, which displaces God and his truth from the world, and which makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange. It thus gives great plausibility to what is morally wrong and, for that reason, makes what is wrong seem normal.
The wordiness John talks about is the rebellious world system opposed to God.
When we go to Genesis 11:1-9, we read about these people in early Babylon who built a tower. Nothing wrong with building a tower, but the people of Babel wanted to build a tower for a very specific reason: they wanted to live life on their own terms, independent of God. It is the first story of organized opposition to God int he bible. And do you know when it happens? Two generations after the flood! The leader of this effort is a guy named Nimrod, a descendent of Noah! So organized opposition to God has been happening since the beginning, and all through scripture, up until our time, we can see evidence of society trying to avoid, ignore or outright deny God.
In our modern society, this is often done through science and technology. Science attempts to bring everything about us into a biological alignment. Everything we do, say or think is a component of our flesh being, nothing more. Technology gives us what we want when we want it, and distracts us to a point that we don’t need anything but what it can offer to make our lives more comfortable. These things help us fall in love with culture and realize that culture demands nothing form us. In fact, there is no accountability in comfort, and oftentimes that’s exactly where we want to be.
We are not to love the world, John says. He means we are not to love the world’s secular system. What do we do when we love? We spend time, we focus, and lay our energy into something. If our energy is in the world, then what are we leaving for God?
He also tells us to not love the things of the world. That is an exact reference to material things( Ecc. 5:10-12). In Ecclesiastes, The King teaches that if we yearn after material things (money), we’ll never have enough. It becomes a vicious cycle, because when you yearn for more, it’s never quite enough. You’re left yearning for just a little more, and you chase that dragon down a dark cavern never quite catching it.
Thirdly, John says that if you love the world, then the love of the father is not in you. What John is saying is that if your time, energy and focus is wrapped into the fabric of the world, then your allegiance is really to what is opposite of God. The two are not compatible.
Verse 16: The character of the world is discussed. John narrows it to three categories:
1.Lust of the flesh: when we’re drawn to things of a selfish nature
2.Lust of the eyes: drawn to those things that make you envious
3.Pride of Life: When you live in superiority to others.
John says that these three categories are not from God, but from the world. God doesn’t influence us through lust. When we are of the world, a few things happen:
1.We have a lack of intimacy with God
2.Lack of generosity with resources
3.Have compromised morals, especially when pressured
4.Sacrifice of family for cultural status
5.Lack of spiritual influence
6.Are reluctant to give up sin
7.Are materialistic
8.Lack of the fear of God
9.Pass compromise onto their children
Verse 17: The folly of Worldliness. Our lives should be grounded in what is true and beneficial, rather than what is temporary and fading. All of our investment into this world cannot come with us. The King in Ecclesiastes discovered this after his long run of experiments:
13
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
WARNINGS AGAINST DENYING THE SON
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
John eludes to the future coming of the antichrist, but also mentions that many antichrists have come. He is eluding to the spirit of antichrist, which is the teaching of anything opposed to Christ. This can be of a religious nature or secular. In John’s time, the Christian church was dealing with the growing threat of Gnosticism, which looked a lot like Christianity, with some very large differences. First, they believed that the flesh and spirit were disconnected, and the flesh was rotten. Therefore, whatever was done in the flesh had no consequence. So they didn’t need a savior, they needed only to improve their spirit. This was a large departure from Christianity, and it took many from the church, causing a great disturbance in the early church.
They are part of the antichrist movement John is talking about. And it follows into verse 19. He addresses what is going on in the church, and says that their leaving showed them that they were never really saved to begin with. They were people who may have had in appearance of holiness, but they really never belonged, and their life reflects they don’t follow Jesus anymore.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
The anointing given to a believer gives us a very important tool: Discernment. The follower possesses the tool to understand truth from lies. This is a very important anointing that must be worked as life goes on.
So in following John’s logic, we have to understand that lies don’t come from the truth. We must understand first, the relationship between the father and son. Jesus is the Messiah, fully God and fully man, and he revealed the heart of the Father to us. The spirit of the antichrist denies the father and the son.
And here John makes another bold statement: if you don’t have the son, you don’t have the father either. So do all paths lead to the same God? If we are to believe John, we must believe that Jesus is the only way. If you don’t have the son, you don’t have the father either.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
Our protection against the spirit of the antichrist (false teaching) is by abiding in the core message of the apostles (Acts 4:12). If anyone teaches a different Gospel, it is to be rejected (Galatians 1:6-9)
Abiding is important to understand. It doesn’t mean to simply know it is enough; we must live in it. When we live in the truth of Jesus Christ, we abide in the son and the father. This is not a passive. It involves mental and spiritual training. And this is in no way a one-sided relationship. When we abide in him, he abides in us.
25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
The blessing of abiding in Jesus is eternal life. When the truth lives in us, then God lives in us. When God lives in us, then there is a promise. The promise of eternal life is real.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Our anointing as Christians allows us protection so we can continue in the truth. All true followers have this anointing. The anointing we receive from God guides us into truth, and will guide us closer to Jesus.
GOD’S CHILDREN AND SIN
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
If we are in relationship with him, then there is no reason to be ashamed. If you have submitted, are confessing, and actively living with him, then when Jesus comes, there is no reason to fear. The intimacy of relationship chases the fear. Abiding brings us the confidence of his coming (John 14:23)
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
If we are born of him (reborn through Christ), we naturally begin to live out our faith. And an amazing thing happens: we move from a life ruled by disposition to sin to a life rules by disposition to righteousness.
1 John 3
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
The very first piece of 1 John 3 is designed to bring us to an understanding of God’s love. This love is not a performance-based love. The NIV describes it as love that is “lavished” on us. Lavish is a great word, because lavishing means a tremendous, overwhelming one-sided love. God loves us more than we can comprehend.
Second, he calls us “Children of God” 2 Corinthians 6:18, Hebrews 2:11, and Romans 8:16 all show us more about how we are adopted into a new family when we believe in Christ. The idea is this: If we are truly children of God, part of this new family, then the likeness to our father and love for others should show up in our lives.
Third: John compares this to the worldly viewpoint. He says the world doesn’t recognize us, we are strangers to this world. Why? Because the world does not know Him. The world has its own value system, and broadly speaking, that world viewpoint is in opposition to God. The world refuses the accountability of an authentic relationship with Christ.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Although we understand our present standing (life) our future is clouded. No one really knows what Heaven is like. But we do know one thing: Heaven is where Jesus is. The promise is this: we will be like him (Romans 8:29). This doesn’t mean we will be gods, but we will achieve God’s purpose: for us to be like Christ. Our character and nature will be like Christ. We will attain an unrestricted presence with the Lord.
3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Knowing that our future destiny is with Christ gives us a new perspective on this life. It purifies our living. It helps solidify our hope by changing our behavior.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
John begins to describe the problem of sin. He starts by comparing it to breaking the law. Those who break the law reap a price for it. Just as breaking the law is rebellion against the rules, sin is rebellion to God and his divine law. It creates a barrier to our relationship with him. In other words, our fellowship is affected. Jesus appeared so he could take away the sins that so easily affect the relationship. He took the penalty. He is the advocate. He takes away the power of sin. In other words, he breaks the power of the sin in our life so we can conquer it. But this power is only stripped when we come to an authentic relationship with Him. This is His work in us.
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
This is a difficult verse to understand. It seems like it implies that if we are truly in union with Jesus then we will not sin anymore. However, even as Christians, sin continues to trip us up. A bad reading of this verse may cause us to think that John is preaching an unattainable perfection. But that is not the case.
The verb John uses for “Keeps on sinning” refers to living a lifestyle of habitual sin. As John has already discussed in 1:6, “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” The darkness John refers to in verse 6 is exactly the same: habitual sin.
John hits on this topic a number of times in this book, which tells us of its importance. If a Christian is living in habitual sin, then the claim to fellowship (relationship) is not valid. It’s like saying, “I’m a Christian, a follower of Christ, but I don’t have to really follow” (1 John 2:4). It is incompatible to our fellowship.
A lifestyle of habitual sin demonstrates that we do not know him. These manifest in habits that we practice throughout our lives. A habit is something that is often done, practiced, and has become automatic over time. There are three types of habits: Good (beneficial), bad (non-beneficial), and spiritually- neutral.
When we come to the realization that we have bad habits that need to leave our life, how do we do it? It has to start with submission. We have to understand we can’t do it alone. First we have to give ourselves over to Christ, the one who has power to break sin
We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2)
Exchange bad habits for good ones (Colossians 3:9-10)
It first starts in our mind (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Our bodies are temples (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) (Ephesians 5:18)
Forming new habits become natural to a true follower of Christ
This is an element of obedience (John 14:23)
Do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:33)
There is a penalty to pay for giving ourselves over to a lifestyle of sin. It is found in a James1:13-15:
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Here James describes the very nature of how sin operates. First, we are dragged away by our own evil desires. We are enticed, meaning we give that thought room to grow in our minds. We plot it, plan it, give it a life. Next, in verse 14, we see a birthing metaphor. This is where sin comes into action. It goes from the mind to action. And verse 15 tells us the rest. Sin, when its full-grown, gives birth to death. This is the lifestyle part. If we give it room to breathe, it will grow in us. It’s like watering a plant. If we continue to water it, it will continue to grow. And sin grows in us. It takes on a life of its own, perhaps to the point where sin is indistinguishable from you as person. When it becomes lifestyle, our spiritual death is imminent, unless we are able to see it for what it is and starve it. Stop watering it. Let it wither in a corner and die.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Doing what’s right displays your fellowship with God. It is a matter of the heart. Righteousness (doing what is right) in Christ (by His law) will reflect in our life. If your heart is filled with hate and anger, it will show in your actions, correct? Same with a heart filled with love. It will show in how you conduct your life.
8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 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.
John puts it bluntly: people settled into habitual sin are not born of God. It doesn’t mean that a Christian can’t fall into habitual sin. What it does refer to is someone that is resigned to habitual sin. The simple fact is that we can’t be in both camps (Matthew 6:24). This also eludes to Revelation 3:20, when Christ talks to the Church at Laodicea. He calls them lukewarm. The idea is that we can’t simply sit on the fence with our faith. We have to take a stand one way or the other. Jesus came to break the influence of the devil in our lives. If we put our faith there, then there is hope in breaking habitual sin.
Born of God refers to the rebirth to follow Jesus in faith. When we are reborn, we become a new creation. The old nature dies and a new one begins. That means we are to step forward in faith into this new life, as a new creation, and end our hold on the former life. When we begin to do that, the influence of the old life, although it will fight, will eventually dissipate.
The nature of sin and our new and old life is much like smoking. Do you remember the first time you tried a cigarette? You probably didn’t like it. But perhaps you picked up another cigarette, then another. Why did you do it? Maybe to fit in, maybe to look cool or feel grown up. But you did it, and kept doing it, even though your body protested. But you allowed smoking into your life. At some point, your body quit resisting and began to accepted it. And eventually, your body began to crave it. Desire it. Need it.
This is how sin operates in our life. When we make room for it, train ourselves in it, allow it to live inside us, then we give it a place to live and grow. Like smoking, it can become an essential part of us, so much so that the two are indistinguishable.
Maybe you smoke for 30 years. It becomes a large part of your life. But you end up going to the doctor and the doctor takes an X-ray of your lungs. The news isn’t good. He says, “I’m sorry, but your lungs are completely filled with tar. You will die soon if you continue to smoke. But, if you stop now, you can add 10 years onto your life.
What will you do at that point? Will you listen to the doctor or call him a quack? There is a choice here. If you disregard the doctor and continue smoking, you will most assuredly become sicker and die. But if you quit right then, take the doctor’s advice and step into a new way of thinking, a new life, there is a great benefit.
It will be hard. There will be days where you think you have it beat, and other days you can’t go ten minutes without a cigarette. It will be a roller coaster for months, even years. But when you stay with it, and look back over your shoulder, you will see that progress is made over time, enduring through the process. After all, smoking wasn’t thrust upon you overnight. You practiced how to smoke. You resisted your body and your mind to do it. You allowed it to overtake you.
Sounds like habitual sin, right? When we come to a realization about how deadly habitual sin is, we have to get rid of it. Just like it was a process to give it room in our life, it is also a process to get it out. You see, when the doctor came in and told you about your lungs, and you made the choice to fight the habit, did the tar immediately leave your lungs? No. The residue of smoking is still there, just as the smear of your life of sin still remains even after you accept Christ. The sin is forgiven, but there is a human toll to it, a work we have to do in our physical life in order to get healthy. We have to starve the sin out, kill it at the source, give it no air to breathe.
This fight is not about being perfect. It’s about battling for the relationship.
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.
John has a multi-faced message in these verses. First, he says that we need to follow the message we first heard. This is the message of the apostles that preached Jesus’ commands: to love God with our entire being and love others as ourself.
He supports this message by relating the story of Cain and Abel. Cain’s sacrifice to God, way back in Genesis, was insincere. You’ll recall that Abel sacrificed his first fruits to God while Cain gave God a grain offering. His brother’s offering was righteous, his was not. This resulted in jealously and eventually murder.
Next, John switches to the world view. He says that those who love have passed from death to life, meaning we are different from the world. The difference is love. If you don’t love, you remain in death (darkness). If you do not love, therefore, you are like Cain. And if you do not love, eternal life does not reside in you.
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 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.
Jesus is the model for this love. To be like Christ, we need to have the same sacrificial attitude of love that he showed us. Furthermore, this is not a passive love. Our love must be active.
19 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.
How do we know we belong to Christ? First, we can’t operate on feelings (20); we have to operate in faith (21). When we come to God fully, the promise made is that we can ask for and receive anything (James 5:16, James 4:3). In the accompanying verses from James, we have to understand how this works. First, the relationship has to be built on authenticity. We have to be half of the relationship, not just in it when it is convenient. If we want our prayers to be powerful and effective (James 5:16), then we have to be righteous. We have to do what is right. That means following God’s Law with passion. Secondly, our motives must be pure (James 4:3). If we are praying for our own security, safety, peace of mind, then are we really praying earnestly? When we align ourselves with God, we align ourselves with what he desires. If we live with eager relationship, then God is eager to give us what we want, because what we want is in alignment with God’s Will. This is not earning. It’s understanding God’s grace.
4 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.
John begins this chapter by reminding us of a very important truth: not all spiritual demonstrations are from God. Why? Because many false prophets are in the world. If we go to Ephesians 6:10-12, we understand that there is a spiritual realm that is in battle with us.
First, we have to do a check within ourselves. Do we over-emphasize or underemphasize the spiritual world? Overemphasizing means that every single thing that happens in our life has a spiritual component to it. We hit our finger with a hammer, it was the devil trying to hurt us or God trying to get our attention. Underemphasis is when we discount a spiritual side at all. Both are dangerous. We must understand there is a powerful contingent of spiritual darkness playing right outside our lives. If we aren’t battling on a daily basis, then we must ask ourselves “what are we doing?”
Testing the spirits is important. Let’s first see how the spirits operate. If we go to Deuteronomy 18:10-13, we see that those who dabble in the occult are detestable to God. The bible does not say it doesn’t exist. It says not to dabble int he spiritual world. Why? Because our trust in God must be paramount. When we start trying to find answers to questions without going through God, we begin to play a very dangerous game. We don’t know if that voice on the other side is of God or not.
Second, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us that satan masquerades as an angel of light. So do his servants. We have to be wary of things that look holy and true yet gradually take us off the path of truth.
Third, Acts 16:16-18 tells an interesting story of the apostles meeting a prophetess who proclaims them holy and true. But she is dealt with at the end and a demon pops out of her. Even the demons can twist the truth around, proclaim truth and nest it in lies.
How do we test the spirits properly?
1. Study the word of God (1 Timothy 3:16-17) : Timothy tells us that the truth lies within the pages of scripture. It is good for many purposes. We need to know the truth in order to compare it to anything we see or hear in the world. If we can’t compare information to the word, then how will we ever know the truth?
2. Pray for wisdom (James 1:5): James tells us that the first step we need to take in times of trial is to pray to God to help us understand the truth. This holds true when it comes to false teaching.
3. Exercise your discernment (Hebrews 5:14): When we authentically come to Christ, we are given a very special tool, and that is the ability to understand right from wrong. True from false. But, like a muscle, this skill must be refined over time. We have to use it continually to help us navigate the lies that swirl inside our 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.
True teaching reflects the true Jesus. Denying that Christ is the savior is the spirit of the antichrist. In John’s time, the spirit of antichrist was prevalent. The Gnostics of his time was a group of ex-Christians who looked a lot like Christians, but had some deep distinctions. They did not believe in the resurrection. They believed that the flesh was rotten, therefore inconsequential. What they did in it had no bearing. It was all about the spirit. Therefore, they did not need a savior. They maligned the word of God and traded it for secret knowledge that only higher-ups in the religion could attain.
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.
We don’t need to fear the spirit of antichrist because we have an indwelling. Jesus is greater that the world, that satan, than us. Our victory is assured when we walk in the truth.
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.
The spirit of antichrist always talks in terms of this world. Money, power, prestige (Matthew 12:34). It is because the world has influenced their speech. And the world listens to them. It is the same issue that attracts the world era after era. The world often believes that the biggest crowd somehow has the truth. But it is the world preaching to the world.
God’s Love and Ours
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.
13 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.
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. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
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.
God loves us. We must understand his love in order for us to love ourselves, to have the capacity to change, to desire the relationship and to grow in it. When we do, a natural component that grows from it is our love for others. Our love for others is how we know that God is in us. The spirit testifies to this. We know we are His. By this love, we can have confidence that out judgment will not be harsh, because we have given ourselves to the relationship. There will be no surprises. We will be in communion and know what our reward is. If there is fear in judgment, then we fear punishment.