Taking Up Our Cross, Laying Down Our Life

1 John 3:11-24

"¹¹ 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, if the world hates you.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life,

because we love our brothers.

Anyone who does not love remains in death.

¹⁵ Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer,

and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

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.

¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need

but has no pity on him,

how can the love of God be in him?

¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue

but with actions and in truth.

¹⁹ This then is how we know that we belong to the truth,

and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence

²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us.

For 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 obey 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 Those who obey His commands live 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.

I want to start journaling my thoughts by quoting Galatians 1:10, written by the apostle Paul. I believe that this verse also really applies to John, the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ:

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?

Or am I trying to please men?

If I were still trying please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

God used both of these men (Paul and John) to write His words, to be read and applied by millions of people throughout the world, spanning thousands of years of time. What they wrote was not their own thoughts, used either to accuse or condemn men, or to tickle the ears of those who read. What they wrote was the message that God wanted to give to mankind, and they wrote as His Spirit revealed it to them. The men that penned the word of God could not worry about what their audience might think, wondering how they would accept the words they wrote. They could only be faithful to their King, the One they whole-heartedly served. And so, the words of Scripture that kick off this blog are the words of God, recorded by His faithful servant John, for us to read and learn from. The thoughts that follow are mere words written by a mostly uneducated person who just loves to think about these kinds of things. Though my prayer is that one day something that I write will point someone towards the Truth, they are just words and thoughts expressed. I too, would hope that in my writing, I would not be trying to win the approval of others, but rather, would be focused on Christ, my Master, and on serving Him with all of my heart...

As I became engrossed in my study, slowly trying to dissect it in order to gain understanding, I realized a pattern in the passage above, which I then realized is repeated multiple times** in this book.

John often gives a command (an instruction which a child of God should be following), and then, in the following verses he expounds on it. When he has given his wise insight, using many wonderful, eye opening examples, etc., he closes that section, or train of thought, by repeating the instruction again. Often, in closing, he will show us the benefit, or reward, for His true children as they follow this instruction. So, this is the pattern that I saw in this portion of Scripture:

God's Command: verse 11

Instruction: verses 12-22

              - both negative examples - of those who failed to obey His command,

                and positive examples - of someone who obeys His command.

              - helpful advice to teach and guide us, and reasons for why this will benefit us.
              - assurance that we may have confidence before God, as His children, when
                we follow this instruction.  

God's Command Repeated: verse 23

Closing: verse 24

              - Blessing for obedience. A reminder of the wonderful gift given to believers

God's command is to "love one another", and this has been His message to us "from the beginning" (these three words are also often repeated - 5 times - in 1 John, showing us that John is not presenting new or foreign ideas; rather, he is presenting God's original, familiar message to us yet one more time in hopes that our eyes will be opened to His truth).

"Do not be like Cain...". Cain is the first example we have, from almost the beginning of time, of someone failing to love his brother. Abel, Cain's younger brother, was a shepherd, and Cain was a farmer, working the soil. Both of these men at one point, brought offerings to the Lord (read about it in Genesis 4:1-17). The Lord was pleased with the sacrifice that Abel brought, but He was not pleased with Cain's sacrifice. As I studied more Scripture about sacrifice, trying to understand the lesson in this story more clearly, I found a lot of verses that showed me which kinds of sacrifices God is pleased with. First of all, because He is all-knowing, it is important to remember that though we often only see the actual events of a story, God knows the heart of each character intimately, as He did with Cain and Abel, and which motives were behind their sacrifices. Psalm 139:1-4, as well as parts of Hebrews 4:12 and 13 show this:

"O LORD, You have searched me and You know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD."

"For the Word of God is living and active...it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight."

1 Samuel 16:7b says:

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Because He is able to perfectly read our hearts, I trust that God's judgements are always right and just. God, deeply involved in both Cain and Abel's lives, saw their hearts, and that Cain's was not obedient to Him. Therefore, He could not find pleasure in the gift that Cain presented to Him. 1 Samuel 15:22 tells us:

"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry."

There is a lot revealed in that verse, but what stands out to me is that obedience is the quality that God can work with. If we are willing to trust Him and to show that trust by submitting to Him in obedience, then God will be able to do much good in our lives. This kind of trust (which is what faith is built on) was something that Abel possessed, and it motivated him to seek to do God's will in what he did. In Hebrews 11:4, Abel is commended for his faith:

"By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.

By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.

And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead."

Abel has left a lasting example of what obedience to God looks like. Faith and obedience go hand in hand - they are the qualities that God can work with, favorable in His sight. These are also the very things that can stir up anger, or hatred, in the heart of someone lacking them, especially in those trying to put on a façade of faith, which was what Cain seemed to be doing.

Cain became "very angry" that Abel's sacrifice had been accepted and his had not. I believe that verse 12 in the passage above reveals why he was so angry. He was jealous, because he saw that Abel's actions were right before God because his heart was pure, while at the same time, it had been revealed that his heart was not pure, that his actions were not right. As jealousy festered and grew inside of him, he became an angry man. These wrong thoughts overtook him to a point where it "changed his countenance". It robbed him of joy, peace, and contentment, and followed him around like a black cloud. Jealousy and anger, if not dealt with, will easily lead to hate. Hate has a way of 'uglifying' things, of blinding us to the truth, which will escalate the severity of the problem, as it did with Cain. Jesus was familiar with this kind of hatred, and He warned His followers that they would also experience it from those who had the same mindset as those who had opposed Him.This kind of mindset is an 'earthly minded' one, as opposed to the 'heavenly minded' one we as believers will have. Jude calls this type of person "godless" (v. 4), men who "speak abusively against whatever they do not understand" (v.10), "grumblers and faultfinders", men who "follow their own evil desires" (v. 16). About such people, he says, "they have taken the way of Cain" (v. 11), showing that the same negative spirit that was in Cain at the beginning of time will still live on in those opposing God's perfect way until the end of time.  In John 15:18, after reminding His followers about the love they were to have for each other as His followers, Jesus said:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first.

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

That is why the world hates you." 

As a child of God who is living obediently for Him, following His commands and serving Him with a pure heart, we do not need to be shocked or worried if there is a dividing line between us and those who reject God. There are some who hate us. Those whose eyes have not yet been opened to the kingdom that Christ is building will likely hate us. Evil hates righteousness like it hates light - it does not like to have its deeds exposed for what they are.  

God does not easily give up on these kinds of people though. He pursues them, in hopes that they will forsake their sin and turn to Him. In His love and concern for Cain, the Lord sought him out, addressing Cain's anger and his "downcast face". In a way that is characteristic to God throughout the whole Bible, He showed Cain the way out of his sinful condition, telling him, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" It is never too late to turn from evil and do good (Psalm 34:14). God is patient, not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), and is a great Giver of second (or third or fourth...) chances. But because God always allows us to make our own free choice, not forcing us into anything against our will, He warned Cain how it would play out if he kept on going the way he was going; "If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:5).

One thing that has been apparent from the beginning of time is that the devil does not wait for us to come to him. According to 1 Peter 5:8, "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour". In God's words to Cain, I imagine that same imagery - a ferocious, hungry lion crouching, waiting to pounce on anyone that comes his way so that he may devour him. Thankfully, the Bible is full of reminders for us to be aware, to be watchful and vigilant, and so to avoid falling prey to our enemy the devil.

God's desire was for Cain to be victorious in defeating this sinful pattern of thought he had fallen into, but Cain rebelled against Him (opposite of obedience), choosing instead to give in to and follow the devil. Because he made this choice John, in verse 12 of the opening passage, could truthfully say that Cain "belonged to the evil one". Going back to chapter 3:10 (covered in my previous blog "Learning To Live 'In Him' "), his behavior was like that of "children of the devil", because he chose to "not do what is right", and his actions over a course of time progressively showed that he did "not love his brother". Cain's anger, towards God and towards Abel, turned into a hatred that was strong enough that it led him to killing his brother. This is the account of the first murder, and it is evidence of the truth of the words in verse 15, where John writes:

" Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer,

and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him."

Hate = Murder = Death.

The previous verse (v.14) contrasts this by saying that "we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers".

Love = Life

Anyone who does not love remains in death. There is only one equation that fits us.

Love is a product, or fruit, of a child of God, and as that, we do have eternal life in us. Eternal life is the reward, or outcome for us, if we love as Christ commanded us to love. This kind of love only comes by laying down our own desires, and following Jesus' example. In the next verses, I see the positive example of love that we as believers are supposed to follow.

Cain's example was given, I feel, to show me what love is not! The example given of Jesus laying down His life for us - dying for us so that we could experience eternal life - shows me what love is (1 John 4:7-5:3 talks a lot more about what love is!).

John 15:13:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Romans 5:7:

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,

though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

This love that Jesus Christ so willingly offered us while we were still living in rebellion towards Him, in our sin, should have us responding to Him. The best way we can show Jesus the love that we have for Him is by loving those around us like He loves us. As His child, we are blessed to have Him living inside of us, and that life that He wants to live through us wants to love! That is Christ's character.

So, "we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers". Does this mean that we should die for them? Well, I believe that it means that we should be willing to die for someone if the need arises. There are many stories that touch my heart about people who have laid down their lives for the sake of others in this way, and I am blessed to see such sacrifice! However, as I read the verses that followed, I realized that there is another, maybe even deeper, meaning to these words. We belong to God now and it is our desire to live for Him, which means we willingly set aside our own desires so that we can do what He desires. My possessions are not my own anymore, but God's. Therefore, if I see someone in need, I should care more about God's desire to provide for that person's needs than about my desire for my own gain. I should want to lay aside the life that I might want to build for myself in order to help my brother. If I desire to do any less, God's love is not flowing through me. It is easy to say "I love God", while it is often more difficult to do the things He would do through us because we love Him. James 2:14-17 provides a vivid example of "loving" in word only, but not in deed:

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?

Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed",

but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." 

Our actions will show whether what we say is true or not. Is our faith real? It will show itself as real or counterfeit depending on the kind of life we live. Yes, my prayer is that I would be willing to die for someone in order that they might live, if I would ever happen to be in such a situation. But my prayer also is that I would be willing to "die" to my own desires a hundred times a day in order to show someone in need Christ's life in me. This, for now, is maybe a more realistic prayer, for I know that I will be in this kind of situation many times almost every day that I live. There are so many people in need of experiencing Christ's love. Will I be willing to let Him give it to someone through my actions? A verse that came to mind over and over again as I was thinking about this was Luke 9:23, which says:

"Then [Jesus] said to them all: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

Romans 15:1-6, and Philippians 2:3-8 talk about emulating the example that Jesus gave while He lived on this Earth as a man. He did not live to please Himself, but rather, made Himself as nothing in order to give us salvation. Jesus humbled Himself to a point of total obedience, and died as a falsely accused, innocent man. He died a shameful death that He did not deserve, even though all the while He had the power to change His situation. Like a favorite Easter song says, "He could have called ten thousand angels...but He died alone for you and me." In John 10:18, Jesus says:

"No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord."

It was Jesus' spirit, His will, that was completely obedient to His Father, and He is our example.

Once I start loving in word, in action, and in truth, I will have a sure knowledge that I belong to the truth. Just like we are sure that the child who is the spitting image of the parent beside him belongs to that parent, when we start resembling our Father in Heaven, it becomes clear that we are His. If Satan comes at us with attacks, trying to make us doubt our salvation, we can examine our hearts, our motives, our deeds. As the Lord reveals, this is where one would confess and repent of anything that is not a product of genuine Christianity. Once we have done that, we are ready to go on to verse 21, where we start seeing the reward of loving Him, loving our brother, in our lives.

Once a person has reached this point in their walk with Christ, one is able to have confidence in coming before God (see Hebrews 4:16). We are told that we will "receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him". This is an amazing promise!! Sometimes people who don't understand, or who want to abuse the Word of God, twist verses like this one, and end up confused, because they have asked something of God, and did not receive what they asked for. I feel that it is very important to remember who this promise is given to. This promise is given to Christians who have learned to submit themselves to God in total obedience. It is for people who's greatest desire is to follow Jesus' example of humility, of serving others and serving the Father; of wanting nothing more than what He wants. Will this intimate relationship of love change what we ask for? I believe that it will. People in this kind of relationship with God usually end up praying a lot differently than those who are still focused more on themselves than on Him.
I do not mean to discourage! Although I still find that my focus is often misplaced, I have been privileged to see the Lord giving me exactly what I asked for at times, and there is no feeling as joyous as realizing that a prayer of mine was answered because I was praying according to my Father's will!

Verse 23 reiterates what we read at the beginning. God's command is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and it is to love one another as He commanded us. If that's me, then I am assured that I live in Him, and He lives in me (that is, my life is secure, and hidden in Him, and He has put His forever life that bears the good fruit inside of me, where before there was only fleeting life on this earth, filled with all the bad fruit, and then death - separation from my Giver of Life, and His love and His goodness. I don't really know how to explain that very well with words, but I sure know how it feels! It's something that, when a person has experienced it, becomes the most important thing in life!). And how do I know that Christ lives in me? I know it by the Spirit He gave to me.

"Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those

who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory."

                    

Ephesians 1:13b,14

* I realize that this entry is really lengthy, which reflects on the amount of study I put into it. I
  felt that it took a long time for me to process this section, and by the time I had done so, I
  had studied so many things, from the life of Cain, to the life of Jesus, and many things in
  between. I don't know if, in the long run, it ends up being too lengthy of a read, but what I
  do know is that it was an excellent way for me to get digging deep into God's Word :). So,
  enjoy, and maybe grab a cup of coffee or take an intermission halfway :)! Thanks for
  reading!

** Some more examples of a similar pattern/format that I found (described near the
    beginning of this blog) are in chapter 2:24-28 'Continue/Remain in Him',
                                                  chapter 3:6-10 'Don't Keep On Sinning',
                                                  chapter 4:7-12 also themed 'Love One Another',
                                                  chapter 5:1-5 'Believe That Jesus Is God's Son' (or for a
                                                  broader example, one could possibly use chapter 5:1-13).    
    These, of course, are just things that helped me in my personal study; I have no idea
    if they would be recognized by actual Bible scholars :)! If any readers have time,
    go ahead and study this, and let me know what you think!   

                 

Learning To Live 'In Him'

1 John 3:4 - 10

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.

⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.

⁸ He 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 Him; he cannot go on sinning,

because he has 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 a child of God;

nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

The verses above are about the process that happens after we either accept or reject Christ. I have written this entry a number of times, but have always ended up deleting it before I published it because, for some reason, it has been very hard for me to write. I think I understand why it has been that way, to some extent.

What John is writing here is not popular in today's culture. We like to think of our sin in many shades of grey, as opposed to pure and simple black and white. We might push it deep into some dusty corner of our thoughts so that we don't have to deal with it, or make excuses for why a certain sin is excusable. We might compare it to a greater sin that we see someone else committing, or simply say, "Well, no one's perfect!" We are by nature not used to facing and confronting sin for what it is, and it can get pretty uncomfortable when we see the need to do this.

This is not the first time in this little book close to the end of the Bible where John has drawn a line in the sand, and clearly pointed out that certain behaviors belong on the side where the children of the devil reside, while others bear the mark of a true believer. The line that is drawn is a thin straight line, to small for anyone to stand on. We are either on one side or the other - a child of God or a child of the devil. There is no in between, no 'no-man's land'. If we are not following Christ, then we are following the devil. One way leads to Heaven, the other to Hell, and if we are heading the wrong way, the only way we can change it is by doing a complete turnaround so that we are heading the opposite direction. The only thing that will turn us around is if we choose a different master. The way that leads to Heaven is for those who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ.

The first thing that the above passage of Scripture did for me was to remind me of the seriousness of sin in my life, especially the type of sin that I have grown comfortable with because it has been with me for a long while. As I was studying this passage, I read it in some different versions (I often do this when I am focusing on a portion of Scripture, and I find that it often adds depth and clearer understanding, to a certain degree). Some other ways that verse 4 was worded was:

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness;

sin is lawlessness." (ESV)

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." (NKJV)

This is what I read in the commentary I go to when I need more insight on a particular verse:

"3:4 commits sin. The verb commits in the Greek conveys the idea of making sin a habitual practice." **

Every time we sin we 'miss the mark' - that perfect standard that the Law has set. The Bible clearly tells us that everyone is born a sinner. We all miss the mark. We are lawbreakers. This is what our natural tendency is when we live as someone unredeemed. But when we come to faith in Christ, our natural, sinful tendencies are replaced with a new nature, controlled by the Holy Spirit, which should give us a desire to live like Christ. My commentary went on to say:

"Although genuine Christians have a sin disposition (1 John 1:8), and do commit and need to confess sin (1 John 1:9), that is not the unbroken pattern of their lives. A genuinely born-again believer has a built-in check or guard against habitual sinning due to a new nature." **

This new nature we have been given is that of Christ within us. No longer do we live for ourselves, gratifying the desires of our flesh (that is the sin nature we were born with); rather, we live for Christ, in gratitude of what He has done for us by saving us from sin. In Galatians 5:16-26, I see a contrast between the destructive acts of the sinful nature as they are listed, and the life-giving fruit of the Spirit which is listed there as well. In regard to the acts of the sinful nature, Paul warns:

"I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this

will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:21)

A life of sin leads to death, and it is only when we die to sin and live for Jesus Christ that our old nature can be replaced with something new and better. Paul shows us how this change takes place. In Galatians 5:24 he says:

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature

with its passions and desires.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

That new and better life is acquired when we walk, not in our own strength, but in the power that comes from the Holy Spirit's work in us.

In the passage from 1 John, I see two reasons for Christ coming to Earth. First of all, "He appeared so that He might take away our sins". "And in Him is no sin." Because Jesus lived perfectly before God the Father in every way while He was on Earth, He would be a sufficient sacrifice, or payment for our sin. In 1 John 2:1b and 2, He is described as "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." Jesus took the weight of all sin once and for all when He died, and when we accept what He did for us, that burden of sin and guilt is lifted off of us. I think of a verse in a favorite song of mine, which describes this transaction so beautifully:

"My sin - O the bliss of the glorious thought -

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more!

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!"

(From the hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul") 

This is the reason why "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning" (verse 6). This thought is repeated a handful of times in these seven verses. Verse 6 again says that "No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him". Verse 9 says that "No one who is born of God will continue to sin", reminding us that because of the Holy Spirit's life in us, we "cannot go on sinning because [we have] been born of God". We are covered by what Jesus did for us. We do not find righteousness apart from Him, but only through the life that He has poured out for us to partake of freely. The moment we try to find it on our own - in our own strength, or by some 'work' or act of goodness that we feel we can earn it by - we cease finding our life IN HIM, and we lose that standing that we have ONLY IN HIM. Some of my favorite verses that show how we truly find our life in Jesus are found in John 15:1-8. Jesus uses such a beautiful word picture to describe it, saying:

"I am the Vine, and My Father is the Gardener.

He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit

He prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.

I am the Vine; you are the branches.

If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;

apart from Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers;

such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you,

ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit,

showing yourselves to be My disciples."

I re-read those verses, and every time I saw the word "remain", I substituted the word "live". It seemed like it truly made it come alive for me what it means to find my very life IN HIM. 
Some other words one could use wherever we see remain above are abide, or continue, or persevere. If we find our life in Christ, we go through the wonderful process of being sanctified, which means to be 'freed from sin; purified' over a period of time. We could say we become refined, and as this process happens, we become more like Jesus, who perfectly 'remained' in the Father so that His life could flow through Jesus. As this happens, we are drawn to turn away from sin. It loses its hold on us, and we lose our desire to give in to the temptation to sin. It is impossible to LIVE in Him, yet to continue to LIVE in sin. The two are contrary to each other, and cannot abide together.

This causes me to ask why we, as Christians, still sin so often. As I pondered this, I realized that the answer is simply this: we sin when we take our eyes off of Jesus. In Hebrews 12:1b and 2 we are told:

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,

and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Let us FIX OUR EYES on JESUS.

the Author and Perfecter of our faith..."

Why do we need that reminder, unless it is something that God sees we will struggle with? So far, we continue to dwell in a body that has to battle against its sin nature every day. We live in a world that is so far still under the devil's control. Sin does easily entangle us, especially if we take our focus off of Christ for a moment. This is why there are so many reminders in God's Word to focus ourselves on Christ. We need to take note of them! What we will do about it when we fall into temptation or sin has a lot to say about where we are in our Christian walk. Earlier in this book, we were told that these things are written "...so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (chapter 2:1). As believers, we are not without hope. God's Word tells us that we may "...approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses, for He was also tempted by the devil in every way, as we are. He is the perfect, sinless High Priest who has made atonement for us when we sin, and who continually offers us a way out, if we will be willing to accept it. I believe that how deep we fall into sin's grip, and how long we stay in it is an indicator of our spiritual maturity. With practice, and with time, we will learn how to surrender our will to Christ's will (to truly "crucify our sinful nature with its passions and desires"), and we will gain greater victory in Him each time we battle with the temptation to sin. There is another way - the way of the Spirit.

Another reason Jesus came to Earth way to "destroy the devil's work" (verse 8). The devil is the chief of sinners. He is the one who first sinned as he became prideful and wanted to become like God. Reading the accounts of Lucifer's fall (in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-18) is humbling to me. He was one of God's most beautiful creations, and was "blameless in all [his] ways from the day [he] was created till wickedness was found in [him]".
He was great, and became filled with violence. He was full of beauty, and he became prideful. He was wise, and he became corrupt. It was because of him that sin entered the world, and although I know that it is his evil that is to blame, I know that without the grace of God, that is exactly who I am. My heart is also wicked, beyond cure, except that Jesus loved me enough to offer me deliverance. Where I used to be a sinner, a child of the devil, because Jesus came to Earth to DESTROY the devil's work, I am now a child of God, saved because of His love and mercy! Jesus won the victory over the devil, and through Him, every believer is also a victor.

Jesus is pure and righteous - without sin, and as His child, that new start is what I've been given. My love for Him, and my thankfulness urges me towards a life that pursues the kind of righteousness that is found in Him. Verse 9 says that those who have been "born of God" have God's Seed planted within them. I understand that to be the Holy Spirit, and I love the example again, of a plant. Seed that falls on the fertile soil of a believing heart will grow, and as the plant matures, it will start to bear fruit.

The Holy Spirit - God's seed - remains in a believer; it is not something that can be taken away. Because of this, a true believer cannot go on living a life of constant, willful, continual, habitual sin. It is incompatible with who he is! If someone like that professes to be a believer, he or she is either making a false claim, or, we are about to see a radical change take place in their lives! It is a wonderful promise that we have been given though, that Seed of life that will sprout and grow and REMAIN in us as Christians. We do not have to walk this road alone - we have an all powerful Helper guiding us in our way!

The final verse, verse 10, sums up this whole section:

"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 a child of God;

nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

My thought, almost, was "Lord, I'm not sure that I want to know the answer to this. It reveals so much!" That is probably an immature thought, and maybe one of fear. Maybe I am scared to read, just in case I fail to see in myself the qualities of a child of God. Maybe this is why I have had such a hard time writing this entry - since my goal in writing this blog was to search the Scriptures in order that I may know Him better, I know that at the end of each study, there will be an application that I must take and apply to my own life. And the truth is, I fail to do what is right. I miss the mark. I do not always love. There are some sin patterns in my life that seem almost habitual - difficult to break - so what do I do about that? What does God expect of me, and what does He see when He looks at me?

I believe that we must all, at times in our lives, examine ourselves, to see where our priorities lie, and where our loyalty is (see 2 Corinthians 13:5). So now I will do just that. In my heart of hearts, I must answer the question: Which will I be willing to forsake - my sin, or Jesus Christ? "No man can serve two masters", and when the Lord convicts me of my sin, will I turn from Him, clinging to my sin, or will I let go of the sin, even if it is difficult, and look to Jesus for the strength to do so?

Repenting of sin means letting it go, renouncing it, and no longer letting it have a hold on my life. If we have long held on to a certain sin, once we "crucify it", it will truly feel like a death has taken place. But oh, the freedom when we truly repent! It opens up our life for Christ's power to be displayed in it. It opens up our hearts to His righteousness, and one of the fruits that we will soon see spilling over will be the ability to start to love as Christ loves. We will then bear the mark of a child of God, and to His glory, it will be evident to a watching world!

   

** These quotes were taken from The MacArthur Bible Commentary, by John 
    MacArthur.

How Great Is My Father's Love

1 John 3:1-3

 

"¹ How great is the 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.

² Dear friends, now we are children of God,

and what we will be has not yet been made known.

But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him,

for we shall see Him as He is. 

³ Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

 

 

If there are more people like me out there, sometimes we just need to hear and be assured of the love of God. A good verse for us in those times is found in the opening line of 1 John, chapter 3. This is one of my all time favorite Bible verses! I am excited to jot down some thoughts about it today :)!

 

God does not withhold His love from His children. He is our model of a perfect parent, and He LAVISHES (gives freely to, spends generously on, bestows on, heaps on, showers with) His love on us. So when I study the ways that God treats us, I learn what it means to love right, and to love richly. Then when I think about being loved like that, it comforts me, and brings me great joy. As a parent myself, I can always learn more on how to better love my children. I want to do this by fully following His example. 

 

Some of the ways God loves us is by sacrificing what is dear to Him (His Son, Jesus) in order to show us the greatness and sincerity of His love. Although Jesus is now back in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, He bears the scars that He took for our sin. There was great cost involved in paying the penalty for our sin with His death. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: 

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

God disciplines and convicts us when we walk in sin, because He longs to teach us the joy of walking in the newness of the life He offers us, but He also offers complete and total forgiveness of all sin when we come to Him with a repentant heart. Our wrong actions may sometimes bring with them deep, and sometimes lifelong, consequences, but He holds no record of our wrongs against Him; He forgives freely. 

 

When I read this verse, where it says "...that we should be called children of God", I can't help but think of a group of children in an orphanage. These kids are abandoned, and they feel lost and alone. They all have different ways of coping with it. Some of them cry a lot, some of them build an imaginary world where life is better than the real life circumstances around them. Some of them don't know how else to handle the pain in their own hearts, and so they cope by trying to hurt others like they themselves are hurting. This orphanage is a sad and lonely place, with no one to love all the souls that are starving for that very thing - to be loved.

I imagine a man coming to the orphanage, I imagine him coming to spend time with them, feed them, and tuck them in at night. He sees a great need, a deep void in these children's lives - they NEED a father, someone who will parent them and give them the love and stability, the security they need. The next morning, when the children wake up, he gives them an offer, an invitation... Any child that wants to come live with him is welcome! He wants to adopt them, to call them his own. He wants to love them and care for them, to be their father. He extends that invitation with kindness, and promises to be back that evening, after having readied his house in preparation for the new family members that will be joining him.
Now these children all have a choice. They can accept this incredible gift this man is extending to them, or they can reject it, and go on living as they did before the man came. Some of the children stand by the gate, waiting for the man to pull up in his car (or maybe he'll need a bus) that evening  When he arrives, he gathers them up, and away they go. He promises to give them all that they have been missing all their life. The children are elated! What they always dreamed about, what they longed for, has come true! They have a dad, and they are his children.

 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,

that we should be called children of God!

AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!"

 

God is my dad. I am His child! I love that! Having been blessed to grow up with earthly parents who loved me, I have had a small taste of what this feels like, and it is a very secure place to be.

 

I spent a fair bit of time wondering how the second part of verse 1 tied into that first part. It says that "The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him". As I thought it through, I realized that for me, the best way to try and grasp the meaning in conjunction with the first part of the verse was to go back to the orphanage scene. 

 

Previously in the book of 1 John, we have seen the difference between the children of God and the people who are not a part of God's family. So now I imagined the children that had decided to stay at the orphanage, the ones who rejected the gift that the man was offering them all. Like me at first, you may be thinking, "Why would there be any children left there? Didn't they all choose to go with the man, to the much better life that he was offering them?" At first thought, it only makes sense that they all would have jumped up to go with him, but as I thought of the types of children that would probably be at the orphanage, I started thinking... 

Surely there were some kids there who were too scared to go. They couldn't get over their fear of the unknown, and they were too hesitant to trust that the man was really speaking the truth. Some of them might have suffered through a lot of hurts, a lot of rejection, and they were scared that they weren't good enough to qualify, that the man would somehow reject them if they came. These children chose to hold on to these feelings of fear, to nurse them and dwell on them, and they missed their chance for something better.

Some of the kids probably laughed off the twinge of hope for a better life that wanted to spring up inside of them. In a panic to hide what they feared others might see as weakness, they spoke gruffly, and decided to make fun of and belittle the ones who stood at the gate, waiting for the man's return. "He's never going to come anyway", they taunted, and when he finally did come, they looked for flaws in him that would convince them that they had made the right choice to stay. "He's going to use you to clean his house, to work for him, he'll be a slave driver!" they exclaimed. "He's too rich to need us, he's got something bad up his sleeve. You're crazy to believe him and go with him!" they called from the shadows. Some of the other children followed these obstinate ones, and lingered back, finally turning away as the last of the 'accepting' children ran up to the man's welcoming embrace. So as the car pulled away, bringing the children within it to a warm home, a delicious supper, soft clean beds to sleep in at night, and the joy of living in a home filled with a parent's unconditional love, those other orphans remained in the cold, cramped building where they had chosen to stay. 

These orphans drew a dividing line the day they rejected the man's invitation. If they will not cross it, coming into the warmth of his wonderful home, they will lose touch with the children who used to inhabit the orphanage with them. Because they rejected the man, they do not have a relationship with him, and so, they also do not know those who are now his children, under his care.

 

This is maybe a bit of a long story, but for me, it seemed to help me to grasp this verse in a deeper way. We, as people, are the children in the cold orphanage. God is that kind man, and just like the man came to spend time with them in their conditions, Jesus came down to live with man so that He might experience what we experience in our human frailty. Because of God's great love for us, we are offered a rich new life through Jesus (He's the Son of a great King, after all), like the kids were offered by the man when he invited them to become his children, and to come live with him. This invitation is our salvation - it is what will save us from our hopeless circumstances, and what will deliver to us a glorious future with Him!

 

When we have made that decision to accept the gift that God offers us through Jesus, we become a part of His family, but the people who reject that gift are left outside of that family circle by their own choosing. We are different now than the people 'of the world', and they do not understand us. Because of this, we may sometimes feel like strangers in this world, and often rejected by the people of this world. This makes sense - it shouldn't alarm us. We shouldn't be fitting in perfectly with the ways of this world anymore, because we don't truly belong here. As children of God, we belong to His kingdom. The world does not know us anymore, because it doesn't know Jesus, but it's ok. We are secure in Christ.  

 

In verse 2, we read of even better things to come in the future that awaits us. Right now, we are children in God's family, "...and what we will be has not yet been made known." God is not nearly finished with us yet - in fact, when I read these following verses, I get the feeling that He is just getting started!

When I look at my own young children, I see personalities developing, and different gifts and talents, strengths and weaknesses emerging as they grow. Some of these things might hint at what they might decide to pursue when they grow up, but as of yet, I have no clue what they will do with their lives. Later on, looking back when they're grown, we may be able to see how certain things and circumstances led to the professions they chose, but right now they are only children, and we don't know what they will be when they grow up.

John tells us here that right "now we are children...". A child is in many ways unlike an adult. A child needs a lot of help to perform tasks that an adult can easily do. The younger a child is, the more help they need to complete the simplest task, and while an older child can do much more than a really young one, he is still a child. While being different than an adult, they are though, the same person that they will be when they are mature. What I am getting at is this: I believe that we are like this child I was explaining. When we are first born again, into God's family, through our faith in Jesus Christ, we become a new creation. We are a child of God now, and so, our new spiritual life begins! 1 Corinthians 5:17 says, regarding our new birth,

 

"Therefore, is anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come."

 

At the moment when we receive Christ into our hearts and lives, we are no longer spiritually dead, but rather, we receive eternal life. Even though we are promised eternal life, and even though we have started on this new journey with this forever life ahead of us, there are some things that have not yet been revealed to us. Although the Bible gives us many amazing hints at what this kind of life one day will be like, we can't fully picture it now. It's so like a child's journey to adulthood. We can imagine what it will feel like to drive, to move out on our own - to be mature - but we cannot experience it until we are there. We have to go through the different stages of maturity until we reach the point where we are considered to be a responsible, mature adult (for many of us, this comes many years after we reach the physical age of 18 - or 21 :)!

God starts the maturing process with us as soon as we are 'born again', just like a parent does with her child as soon as he is born, and it continues as we slowly become more sanctified (or more holy) in our Christian walk. We reach different stages of spiritual maturity, but as long as we are on this Earth, we cannot see what we will become! We can only dream and imagine, believing that we will eventually get there.

"But we know..."... We know, as humans, that when a child is born, if that child lives, he or she WILL eventually grow up and become an adult. We don't have to blindly hope that this will happen, but rather, we can have full assurance that, given the right amount of time and circumstance, this will happen. In the same way, as Christians, we can have full assurance in our future, as it is told us in the Bible. When Christ appears, we are told that "...we shall be like Him...". Philippians 3:21 says:

 

"[The Lord Jesus Christ]...will transform our lowly bodies

so that they will be like His glorious body."  

   

We will still be this new creation that was talked about, the one that happens as soon as we believe, but we will be changed, transformed. As I was searching the Scriptures for some more verses that explain what our new bodies will be like (the ones we receive when He appears), I came across a most wonderful passage describing it so beautifully. I will just quote a few key words or phrases here, but I would recommend reading 1 Corinthians 15, especially from verse 35 to the end of the chapter, to get a fuller picture. We are told that we will "bear the likeness" of Christ's resurrected body. This body will be:

 

...imperishable (verse 42)

...raised in glory (verse 43)

...raised in power (verse 44)

...immortal (verses 53 and 54)

...victorious over sin and death (verses 54-57) 

 

Imagine for a moment a body that has not been ravaged by sin in some way. No pain, no disease, no scars! Imagine a mind, a will, and emotions that are free of sin! No anger, no sadness, no hurt or unwelcome thoughts. It sounds too perfect (remember those kids at my imaginary orphanage? Some of them would be thinking that there had to be a catch somewhere), but it's not out of our reach! That is the promise we have been given for our future!

 

The amazing thing for me is the thought that, perfect as our own bodies will be, "bearing the likeness of the Man from Heaven" (1 Cor. 15:49), it is not our own perfection that we will be glorying in. No, the second part of that sentence says, "...for we shall see Him as He is." That will be glory! Seeing our God for the first time with completely opened eyes! Seeing Him plainly, falling at His feet, worshipping Him for the first time with a completely purified heart!

 

So this is the kind of hope I have. I have this hope, not because I am misled or full of arrogant pride, but because the Bible tells me that I can have it. The final verse I am writing on today tells us that:

 

"Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

 

As I sit here, tears rolling down my face at the thought of SEEING MY LORD one day, I feel the joy of the purification process taking place in my life.

God is purity. He is perfect, without sin - holy. Believing in Him purifies us. Just being His child, being under His grace, brings about a beauty in our lives, just from knowing Him. He has given us a new life through His Son Jesus, and like Galatians 2:20 says:

 

"...it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..."

 

When we are focused on that, focused on Christ, and what He is doing in our lives and the lives of His children, and when we focus on our hope in a glorious future with Him, our impurities are made to fall away, because there is no longer room for the thoughts that cause those impurities in our lives. Where there are pure thoughts, there will be purer actions, and thus, more pure lives. That is why, in Philippians 4:8, we are encouraged to think about things like this:

 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent

or praiseworthy - think about such things."

 

And that is why, in Colossians 3:1 we are told to:

 

"...set [our] hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set [our] minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For [we] died, and [our] life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is [our] life, appears,

then [we] also will appear with Him in glory."

 

A wonderful eternity awaits those who are willing to embrace Jesus as Lord and God of their lives. My prayer is that many will be added to the number of people who are already waiting expectantly for our Lord to return to take us home to be with Him!

 

 

  

***I would like to dedicate this blog to my father, who has shown me what it means to eagerly wait for Christ's return, and to his father (my Grandpa), who is already in glory! This passage of Scripture is very special to me, but I know that it was special to them first!

 

 



The Last Hour

1 John 2:18 - 23

 

"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.

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 the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son.

²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father;

whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
 ²⁴ 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.
²⁵ And this is what He promised us - even eternal life.
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.
²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears
we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
²⁹ If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone
who does what is right has been born of Him."

 

 

In these verses, John warns the believers about those around them who are against Christ. That is really what the word 'antichrist' means - against Christ ("one who denies or opposes Christ"). Many of us who are familiar with the Bible and its prophecies regarding the future are aware that eventually there will be a man of great power in this world, a man that is called the Antichrist. Revelation 13 calls this man a beast, and says that the world will be astonished by, and will follow, the beast. In that same chapter, it is made clear that this beast receives his power from the devil, and that people will worship both the devil, and this man. They will believe him to be invincible, like no other. Revelation 13:4 says:

 

Men worshiped the dragon [devil] because he had given authority to the beast,

and they also worshiped the beast and asked,

"Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

 

This Antichrist will be proud and boastful (Daniel 7:20, Revelation 13:5), he will be imposing, and powerful; he will be given authority for a time (Dan. 7:20, Rev 13:4, 5). He will blaspheme God, and slander His Name, His dwelling place, and His people (Dan. 7:25, Rev. 13:6). He will make war against Christians, and will rule over the world - the people of the earth will worship him (all, that is, except for the TRUE Christians, whose names are recorded in God's Book of Life, who belong to Jesus Christ). The Antichrist is a deceiver, turning people away from the truth and teaching them to believe his lies.

 

These are some of the signs of the Antichrist that is to come, and there are many other signs (prophecies) written about that time. But almost 2000 years ago, John was already warning the church that many antichrists (small 'a') had already come. There were already many who had that same spirit within them that will one day totally dominate that future Antichrist - the spirit that opposes Jesus! He told them that this was a sign of the end of this age, calling it the last hour. So, to my understanding, I believe that the age that we have been in, from then until now, and until these things are fulfilled, is 'the last hour'. I'm sure as I would do more thorough research on this, I would find more technical, or correct titles for this, but it interests me to think that so much time has passed from when these words were written until now, and yet, mankind has not changed very much at all - everything is still so applicable now! 

Verse 19 points out a characteristic of these people that we as true believers need to watch for, as one of the signs we can use to identify an 'antichrist'. It says that they "went out from us...", that they "did not really belong to us..." He says that if they had belonged, and I believe he means, if they had truly been a part of Christ's family, if they had truly been born again, "they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." John shows that these people who opposed Christ and His message had once been a part of their fellowship. They had risen from among the faithful, but had now fallen away from true faith.

 

Often, I think as Christians we believe that the world, with its blatant sins against God, such as immoral lifestyles, addictions of all kinds, violence, and general 'Godlessness' is all we need to watch out for and avoid. It is true that we need to stay away from these things! But sometimes we forget to see the countless warnings within Scripture to beware of those within 'Christian' circles who are distorting the truth, thereby turning it into a lie. False teaching under the name of Christianity is out there, and we need to "see to it that no one takes [us] captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Colossians 2:8). 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 gives us as believers this warning about the devil's schemes to lead people astray:

 

"...for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.

But their end will be what their actions deserve." 

 

In verse 20, John pointed out the difference between those who had left true faith, and the believers he was writing to. These words also still apply to us today. He said, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth"! The thing that I love about God is that He wants to enlighten us, to show us His truth. He doesn't withhold His wonderful plans and promises from us, but rather leads us into a knowledge of HIs will. Although His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9), Jesus Christ has given us the Holy Spirit, who gives us understanding and reveals God's truth to us. 1 Corinthians 2:9-12, followed by verse 16 of the same chapter, says:

"...it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love Him" - but God has revealed it to us

by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him?

In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

 

" "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?"

But we have the mind of Christ."

 

Often, I have wondered what is truly going on in the mind of my husband, my kids, my friends, parents, siblings, etc. But, unless they choose to tell me what they are thinking, I cannot know what their thoughts are. But God tells us that through the Holy Spirit given to us, we actually have the mind of Christ! What a gift that He has given to us! We don't need to wonder what the Creator of the Universe is thinking, we have 66 books of the Bible that tell us! We have the Holy Spirit, directing us into a knowledge of God's will, into spiritual understanding, into wisdom that comes from knowing Him and His truth! We, as believers, have the Spirit of God dwelling within us to show us who He truly is, and because of that, we can know the truth!

Because we know truth, we will be able to recognize error. We will be able to tell what is false. Years ago, when I worked at a bank, we were told to be watchful for counterfeit bills. We handled hundreds of bills of 'real' money every day, and we were told that by studying the texture and quality of the real thing, we would know when we came into contact with a counterfeit bill. We would see it, and quite possibly feel the difference before we ever even examined it with our eyes. So it is with God's truth. The more we get to know His word, the more we learn to recognize the promptings of His Spirit within our hearts, the easier it will be to discern truth from error. So, as it says in verse 21, John did not write to the believers because they did not know the truth; rather, he was confident that they had the Spirit, who guides us into all truth (John 16:13). He wrote to them to remind them of this, and to remind them that if people were teaching false doctrines, if they were teaching erroneous thinking, then they could rely on God's Spirit within them to show them that error, and to keep them from falling into false beliefs. 

 

Verse 22 gives another clue, helping to identify the lies of those who are not truly following Christ, for that is what false teaching is - the teaching of lies as opposed to the teaching of the truth.

It says, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son." Anyone who doesn't acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ (which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word - Messiah - meaning "Anointed One"), is not only rejecting Jesus, but is also rejecting God, the Father of Jesus. Jesus said it clearly in John 14:6:

 

"...no one comes to the Father except through Me."

 

Jesus is the only way to come to God. If we deny Him, we have no part with the Father, but if we acknowledge Him to be all that the Bible teaches Him to be, then we are also invited into the presence of God. Verse 24 says, "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you..." In the next five verses, the words "remain in" and "continue in" (some versions use the word "abide in") are used four times. If we persevere (remain/abide) in our faith, we are secure in our standing with Jesus, and with God, the Father. We are given a great promise - eternal life!
The whole world seems to be searching for ways to prolong our lives, as people work tirelessly to find cures for disease, and as they try to erase signs of aging so that we can remain youthful in how we look and feel. But as Christians, the moment we receive the gift that Jesus offers us through His death on the cross, we are given the promise of an abundant life forever. This - the gospel of Jesus Christ - is what we heard in the beginning; it's what brought us to faith in Christ, and the answer to the question "How can I keep on living forever?" is simple; we just need to be sincere, we need to persevere in our faith until we see that promise fulfilled! We have an amazing future awaiting us, and Jesus is the Way to that future, He is the Truth - He is Life Eternal!

 

The next few verses reminds us as true believers that we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit, and that because He lives inside of us, we know the truth. The anointing that we have received is real - it is not counterfeit, as was the 'anointing' that might have seemed to be on the lives of those who have now left true faith in Jesus Christ. John goes on to say that this anointing that we received when we came to Christ will not leave us, but rather, it will remain in us. Because of these things, we can be confident of His continued work in our lives. Having the Spirit of God "guiding us into all truth" (John 16:13), "teaching us about all things" (1 John 2:27), giving us the ability to "understand what God has freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:12), and actually giving us insight into the very "mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16) gives us assurance that we can look to Him for what we need. In 2 Peter 1:3, it says:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness

through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."

God will guide us in the paths that He has chosen for us. Rather than following any person along paths that they would want to guide us in, we can trust that God Himself will guide us, right until the end of our journey on this earth. I love the example of faith in Psalm 73:23b and 24, where the psalmist says:

 

"...You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel,

and afterward You will take me into glory."

 

The final two verses of 1 John chapter 2 are a reminder again to continue to walk in faith in Jesus Christ, and to walk in the strength He provides us for each day, as opposed to trying to walk in our own strength. If we do this, then on that great day sometime in our future, when all of mankind stands before our God, we will be able to stand confident and unashamed, not because of anything that we ourselves have done to obtain a righteousness that is acceptable before God, but because we continued "IN HIM"! Because Jesus is Righteous (without sin), He now also gives all those who are "born of Him" the desire to do what is right.

 

So, as I wrap up my study of this piece of Scripture, I realize that as a true believer, I will remain connected to other believers - the body of Christ. I realize that I can be confident, because of God's Holy Spirit within me. I can know His truth, and not be misled by error and false teaching. I see that it is important to fully accept and acknowledge God the Father, and God, the Son - Jesus - who came to Earth to redeem mankind from sin. I see the importance of continuing to persevere in my walk with Christ, no matter what. There are those who will try to lead us astray, because the devil longs to destroy the kingdom that Jesus is building. But we have the Holy Spirit guiding us through these traps of deception as He gives us wisdom and clarity. He is teaching us to continue in Him! If we do these things, then, when Christ finally appears, we will be able to be confident and unashamed before Him! This, to me, is a great promise! I can't imagine standing before Christ in this way. I feel so unworthy, because, like the psalmist said (Psalm 51:3), "my sin is ever before me". But reading 1 John 2:28 gives me great hope! Although a sinner, I have been saved by God's grace, and I am acceptable in His sight, because of Jesus Christ! As I have been dwelling on this thought in the last few days, some words from a favorite hymn have been flowing through my mind. The verse I have been singing goes like this:

 

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

O may I then in Him be found,

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

 

In a commentary I read during this time, it said, "The ultimate test of true Christianity is endurance...If we stay faithful to the truth, we continue to experience intimate communion with God and Christ and persevere to the fullness of eternal life". That is what I'm shooting for :), and my prayer is that God will draw many countless numbers of people to that very same end!