Devotionary

We are still looking at 1 John, chapter four, verses 1-6 and this is our fifth episode on this passage. I’ve entitled it, “True Confessions” because John is going to make a strong distinction between those who confess Jesus and those who confess Him as having come in the flesh. This was a real problem in his day. There were plenty of people who believed that Jesus had been a real-life human being. When John wrote his letter, which was most likely sometime around 67-68 A.D., it had only been three decades since Jesus’ death. There were still plenty of people alive who had seen and heard Jesus during His earthly ministry. There were still eyewitnesses to His resurrection around, such as John himself. So, there really wasn’t a problem with people saying Jesus never existed. The issue was that there were those who claimed He was not divine. They believed Jesus was just a man – a good man, but a man nonetheless. Their rejection of His deity was a dangerous and rapidly growing problem confronting the church. And Jo

This is episode four on 1 John, chapter four, verses 1-6 and I’ve entitled it, “Listen Carefully”.  John has been discussing the all-important role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. But for us to take advantage of the “helper” as Jesus described Him, we are going to have to learn to listen to Him. And He primarily speaks to us through the Word of God, the Scriptures. In the writings of John, Matthew, Paul, Peter and the other authors of the New Testament, we have the will of God revealed to us. The Holy Spirit inspired these men to pen the words found in their letters and ultimately included in the canon of Scripture. The same is true of the Old Testament. In the writings of the prophets, the historical chronicles of Moses, and the psalms of David, we have the words of God. And while the Scriptures can sometimes be confusing and difficult to understand, the Holy Spirit makes them discernible and applicable to our lives – even in our modern-day context. We have the ability to hear and comprehend

This is our third episode on 1 John, chapter four, verses 1-6. It’s called “Holy Help” and addresses the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. One of the things all followers of Christ will face in their lifetimes is the presence of false teachers who claim to be speaking on behalf of God. These posers and fakers will look the part, but will present information that is contrary to God’s will. Their messages will be subtly deceptive. They will mix falsehood with a little bit of truth. They will sound convincing and come across as loving and caring. So, what are we to do? John would have us rely upon the Holy Spirit, the helper provided to us by God Himself. The Spirit of God lives within each and every believer, providing them with wisdom and empowering them to live godly lives. And that power should not be taken for granted. His strength is what makes it possible for us to thrive in the midst of a sin-filled world. And He is the one who makes it possible for us to spot false teaching by helping

This is episode two on 1 John, chapter four, verses 1-6. It’s called “Spiritual White Noise” and deals with all the confusing and seemingly contradictory information we receive under the guise of spiritual teaching. The Church, the body of Christ, has always attracted charlatans and wanna-bes. Individuals who claim to speak on behalf of God and try to weasel their way into the good graces of the people of God. They tend to offer novel approaches to the Christian life, not easily supported by Scripture. They give interpretations of God’s Word that don’t gel with orthodox Christianity, but present a new, more up-to-date take on spiritual life. But John would have us be wary and watchful. He would warn us to test the spirits. Not everybody who claims to speak on behalf of God has been sent by God. And if we’re not careful, we can easily find ourselves led astray and captured by the attractive messages of these false teachers. There will always be posers and fakers, masquerading as pastors and teachers. But rathe

This is episode one on 1 John, chapter four, verses 1-6. I’ve entitled it “That’s the Spirit” because John is going to repeatedly use the Greek word, pneuma, which can be translated as Spirit and oftentimes refers to the Spirit of God. But to just what kind of spirit is it that John refers? How are we to know that what we hear preached or taught is of God? How are we to tell the difference between God’s Spirit and what John refers to as the spirit of the antichrist? As with everything else John has said in the last three chapters, it all hinges on who we believe Jesus to be. Was He the Son of God and the Savior of the world? Had He been sent by God to sacrifice His life on behalf of sinful mankind and to die as a substitute for the penalty we deserved? If anyone preaches something other than Jesus as Lord and Savior, they are the wrong kind of spirit. They have the wrong kind of message. And they are to be avoided at all costs. The Spirit of God will always lift up the Son of God. And that’s the only Spirit w

This is the final episode on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24. I’ve entitled it “Kids In A Candy Store” because verses 21 and 22 seem to give the indication that, as God’s children, we have been given a no-holds-barred, get-whatever-you-want promise from God that guarantees us that all our prayers will be answered. But is that really what John is teaching? Is he telling us that God is somehow obligated to give us whatever we ask for, no matter what? As usual, the key to understanding these verses is based on context. We have to keep in mind all that John has said so far in his letter. And a big part of what he has been dealing with is the issue of abiding in Christ. Prayer is to be a byproduct of our abiding. And what we pray for should reflect that we are deeply reliant upon and in step with God’s will for us. This isn’t so much about us getting what we want from God, but about us learning to desire what God wants for us, then asking Him for it. Our willingness to abide in Christ will have a dramatic impa

This is episode six on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24. I’ve entitled it “God Knows, Don’t Panic” because John is going to give us some much-needed words of encouragement regarding our love for one another. By this point, John’s persistent call to love has probably left a few of us wondering whether we have it in us to love like he is describing. It seems impossible, especially if you take into account that our love is to be unconditional and impartial. But John seems to be sending us a message that any love we show for one another is of God. We didn’t pull it off on our own. God is revealing His love in us and through us. And as a result, that should cause us to have confidence is our salvation, not to question it. There will be times when we feel unloving. We will experience those moments when it seems as if our love has fallen short of God’s high standard. But John would have us remember that even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings. He knows everything. He knows our hearts. And He know

In this, our fifth episode on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24, we be digging further into John’s thoughts regarding love and hate. For John, love was an essential characteristic of the believer’s life that was non-negotiable. It came with the territory, because God Himself is love and we are the children of God. As His sons and daughters, we are to love as He has loved us. It is part of our new nature. Our new life in Christ provides us with a new capacity to love one another, no matter how unlovely or unlovable the other person might be. The love of God allows us to love those who don’t look like us, act like us, think like us, or even speak the same language as us. This new, Spirit-produced love, is non-judgmental and doesn’t show favoritism. It is selfless and gracious. It is forgiving, patient and kind. It knows no boundaries, refusing to let things like race, economic status or educational accomplishment determine its target. This kind of love is addictive and attractive to some, while repugnant to o

This fourth episode on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24 deals with love and hate, life and death. For John, these things were real and provided a vivid contrast for what it means to live as a Christian in a disbelieving world. We have new life in Christ. And as a result, we are to love. We live in a world filled with hate, but we are to love. We live, surrounded by people condemned to death for their sins, but we have life – abundant life here and now and eternal life to come. We are to provide a stark contrast to the world around us. Unlike Cain, we are not to hate anymore. Hate leads to murder and death. It was Jesus who said, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!” (Matthew 5:21-22 NLT). As believers in Christ, we have been called to a new standard and a new life – one marked by love, not hatred. But our new lives in Christ will not be accepted by t

This is our third episode on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24 and we’ll be concentrating our attention on verse 12. Here, John brings up two Old Testament characters, two brothers, and uses them to describe what it means to love. I have called this episode “The Cain Mutiny” because it deals with the sin of Cain when he killed his brother in cold blood. This first murder in human history was motivated by hate. Cain hated Abel. But why? That is the important part of John’s message that we need to grasp. It would be easy to make the story of Cain and Abel about offerings, but it has far more to do with love. Cain lacked love for his brother, because he didn’t know what it meant to love God. He didn’t have faith in God. His offering didn’t measure up, because he didn’t measure up. His offering wasn’t given in love and out of faith. It was an attempt to placate God and keep Him happy. But when his offering was refused by God and his brother’s was accepted, the true nature of Cain was exposed. He hated. And his

In this second episode on 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24 we’ll be looking at two commands we have been given by God: Believe and love. We know what it means to believe. Belief was necessary for us to receive the gift of salvation offered by God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our belief in Jesus made our salvation possible. And we know that God expects us to love one another. But as well as we know these two things, we still struggle with doing them. Our belief in Christ can wax and wane. Our love for others can grow cold. But John would have us remember that these two commands: Believe and love others, are to be ongoing and forever increasing in our lives as followers of Christ. Over time, our belief in Him should grow stronger. Our confidence in who He is and what He has accomplished for us should expand the longer we serve Him. And our love for others should become an increasingly normal and natural part of our lives. These two things are commands, not suggestions. They are to be a non-negotiable part

This is episode one looking at 1 John, chapter three, verses 11-24. It’s entitled, “Walk the Talk” and takes a look at John’s strong belief that who we are, as children of God, should impact all that we do. One of the outcomes of our faith in Christ that John has already stressed is brotherly love. We are to love one another. But it can’t be lip service. It’s not enough to SAY we love others. We must prove it by our actions. Our behavior should give evidence of our changed nature. Claiming to love others is not enough. We must actually live it out in real life with living, breathing human beings. Even those whom we find to be particularly unlovable. In fact, John goes so far as to say that our love should be sacrificial in nature, expressed in a willingness to die for a brother or sister in Christ, if necessary. Love is not optional for the believer. It comes with our new nature and is made possible by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Love is something God produces in us. It is His very essence flo

This is the final episode on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10. It’s entitled, “We Shall Be Like Him” because John is going to discuss that great day when all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ will receive glorified bodies and enjoy a state of sinless perfection. That reality should be a huge motivating factor as we live on this planet, waiting for the future day. Our future glorification should inspire us to willingly cooperate with God’s present sanctification of our lives. He is slowly, but surely transforming us into the likeness of His Son, as Paul so aptly puts it, from one degree of glory to another. We are not yet glorified. We still have these earthly bodies and our old sin natures. We experience pain and suffering, find ourselves susceptible to temptation and prone to sin. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the body of Christ, we are being altered, from the inside out. One day that process will be complete and we will have the incred

This is the sixth episode on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10. It’s called, “The Lure of Lawlessness” and will confront us with the ever-present danger we all face of giving in to a spirit of lawlessness or sin. For John, sin was more than just a singular act one commits in disobedience to God. It is a spirit of opposition to God. It is living your life in rebellion against the will of God. And, as far as John was concerned, those who made a practice of sinning, who lived in a habitual state of sin, were opposed to God. Their sin was lawlessness, living as if the laws of God did not even exist. And even believers can find themselves falling into the trap of lawlessness – if they do not abide in Christ. Without the power that comes from abiding in or remaining in Christ, we can fall prey to our own sin natures and become susceptible to the influences of the enemy. When we become unmoored or untethered from Christ, we find ourselves adrift in the current of life without any means of

This is episode five on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10. It’s entitled, “Abide and Accept” and deals with two things we must do if we are to experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring us. We must abide in Christ and accept who we are as children of God. Those two things, while simple sounding, are actually quite difficult for most of us as believers to pull off. In this life, there are so many other things in which we can abide or find rest. We can turn to materialism, affluence, pleasure and a host of things we think will sustain and satisfy us. But we are to abide in Christ. And in a world where personal identity seems to be confused and distorted by the lies of the enemy, God would have us find our identity in who we are as His children. He wants us to accept the reality of our designation as his son and daughters. Those two things will have a dramatic influence on our walk and keep us living in faithful submission to and dependence upon God all the days we live

This is our fourth episode on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10. It’s entitled, “Seek and Destroy” and deals with our ongoing need to put to death the deeds of the flesh. For John, it’s all about practicing righteousness. In other words, living a life in keeping with our new standing as sons and daughters of God. The very fact that we can choose to do what God considers as righteous is proof that we have His Spirit living within us. And one of the Spirit’s primary roles in our lives is to expose the sin that remains so that we can confess it and receive full forgiveness for it. Paul would have us remember that we are engaged in an ongoing spiritual battle that pits us against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We have an enemy that hates us and is out to destroy us. But we have a heavenly Father who loves us and is out to seek and destroy those remaining vestiges of

In this, our third episode on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10, we’ll be looking at John’s words of encouragement related to a coming day when we will no longer have to struggle with sin any longer. I’ve called this episode, “The Best is Yet to Come” because John wants us to know that God’s promise of eternal life comes with a guarantee of sinlessness. Sin will be done away with altogether. And at that point, we will not only be seen as righteous before God because of what Christ has done for us, we will actually be righteous. In every way. Our old sin natures will be done away with once and for all. And the point of all this, is that we should live with the promise of future sinlessness in mind. The joy of that day should give us the motivation to live in this day with a sense of determination ­– to live righteous lives – saying no to sin and yes to God’s will for our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin, and we have new natures and the Holy Spirit’s presence to help us. We can

This is our second episode looking at 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter three, verse 10. It’s entitled “The Sinless Sin Less.” And more than just a clever play on words, this title reflects the reality of our new relationship with God made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. We have a newfound capacity to live righteous lives in a world filled with unrighteousness. We can live godly, even when we find ourselves living in the midst of a godless generation. Coming to faith in Christ is about far more than a guarantee of eternal life. That is the culmination of our faith journey. But it begins with the filling of the Holy Spirit and His empowering presence that makes it possible for us to live Christ-like lives right here, right now. But as John will point out, it is all based on our willingness to abide in Christ and allow His Spirit to work in us and through us. Sin is an ever-present possibility as long as we live in these earthly bodies. But we are no longer sinners by nature. We have been gi

This is the first of seven episodes on 1 John, chapter two, verse 28 through chapter 3, verse 10. I’ve entitled this episode, “Practice Does NOT Make Perfect.” In this passage, John is going to drive home a very critical point that many of us as believers tend to overlook. It has to do with the source of our righteousness. For some reason, we tend to think righteousness is up to us. We know we are to live righteous lives. It’s an expectation God has of us. But where we get confused and wander from the truth is when we believe our righteousness is up to us. John is going to accentuate our need for righteousness, but he is also going to remind us that it is a byproduct of our relationship with Christ, not something we manufacture on our own. And that is a very important distinction. Self-righteousness is self-defeating. On our own, we can’t do the kinds of good works that God demands of us. And He has not asked us to pursue righteousness on our own. In fact, any righteousness we exhibit in our lives is simply p

This will be our final episode on 1 John, chapter two, verses 18-27 and it’s called, “When Love Gets Lost.” The truth is, the body of Christ, the church, can be a difficult place to show love. Why? Because it’s made up of people who, while saved, still happen to have sin natures that can cause disunity and dissension. As sinners, saved by grace, we can still hurt one another. We can sin against one another. But one of the things that should set us apart as those who have experienced the grace and mercy of God as expressed in the loving sacrifice of His Son, is our commitment to love one another. A failure to love is often a sign that we never truly experienced the love of God to begin with. If we claim to love Him, but refuse to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, John would say we don’t have the love of God within us. Our inability to love others could be a symptom of our unsaved state. Coming to faith in Christ should produce within us a supernatural capacity to love as we have been loved: Sacrificiall