Loving My Brother

1 John 2:9-11

 

 ⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother

is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother lives in the light,

and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness

and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going,

because the darkness has blinded him.

When I read these verses, I see the contrast between verse 10 and verse 11.

 

The first verse gives the example of someone whose pathway is lit. In fact, there is light all around him, because he is "in the light"! This person can see clearly, and his step is sure, taking him to where he is going. He does not stumble, because he can see what is ahead of him, and can do what is needed to avoid any obstacles, keeping him safe, ensuring that he does not fall.

The second verse gives me a different picture. I imagine someone on a path in the woods at night. The ground is rough and uneven, there are fallen limbs and rocks that might trip him, but he cannot see them, because it is totally dark where he is walking. Not even being able to see which direction is the right one to take, he stumbles along blindly, falling over and over again.

 

The message in this section of verses is clear - we cannot claim to be a part of the "light" if we harbor an attitude of hate for our Christian brothers (and sisters). If we despise those who, like us, are part of the body of Christ, we remain as though on that path of darkness, stumbling along, hoping to find our way, but blinded...

 

Verse 9 reminds me of previous verses in this book that have to do with "claiming" to be something that you are not. I will list them below:

 

Chapter 1:6           "If we claim to have fellowship with [God] yet walk in darkness..."

Chapter 1:8           "If we claim to be without sin..."

Chapter 1:10         "If we claim we have not sinned..."

Chapter 2:4           "The man who says, "I know Him" but does not do what He commands..."

Chapter 2:9           "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother..."

 

To show the danger of making false claims of a close relationship with God the Father, and with Jesus, His Son, when your heart is actually far from Him, I will list below the words that follow the quotes from the verses above:

 

Chapter 1:6           "...we lie and do not live by the truth."

Chapter 1:8           "...we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

Chapter 1:10         "...we make [God] out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives."

Chapter 2:4           "...[he] is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Chapter 2:9           "...[he] is still in the darkness."

 

Claiming that we are close to the Lord, without LIVING it, separates us from God's truth. It deceives us, so that we cannot see Him - and ourselves - clearly, as He is - and as we are.  

 

We cannot hate our fellow Christian, and live in any kind of real spiritual victory. Seeds of bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness towards someone else work like a poison in our spiritual lives, and they weaken our testimony. These are things that the devil wants to trap us, and keep us, in, because he knows that we will not grow as strong or be as fruitful as long as these remain. Holding on to these feelings of anger or hate point us back into the darkness, where we do not have clarity or clear direction - we are blinded! My husband has shared with me a quote that he once heard, which goes something like this:

 

Anger (or bitterness/resentment) towards someone is like drinking poison,

and waiting for the other person to die. 

 

So, in order to see clearly, we need to learn to love like Jesus loved. In my previous blog The Message You Have Heard, I used the verses from John 13:34 and 35, where Jesus says,

 

"As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

 

This kind of love for the people around us points us back to the light, towards Christ, where we are purified from sin, set free to follow His example. This kind of love is also what Jesus said would be a witness to all mankind that we are His disciples, His followers. Loving others is a chance to walk in obedience to God.

 

I find myself asking some questions as I ponder these verses. Am I walking in the light, or in the darkness? Do I know where I am going, or does it feel like I can't find my way? Do I keep tripping over extra baggage I'm holding on to as I try to move ahead in my spiritual journey? Are there things in my life that are causing me to stumble, or can I clearly see the things that have the potential to land me flat on my face? Do I hold on to anger, letting it slowly grow into hate, or do I love my brother?

 

I know that most of us would not say that we hate! It sounds like too strong of a word! But if we harshly judge with an intent to condemn instead of restore our fellow believers, if we run them down verbally or in our minds, if we think of our own wants and needs ahead of the needs of those around us, I believe that we are not following Jesus example of love. We are in danger of being like that second guy, the one who is stumbling around in the darkness! I know that I have, at times in my life, cried out to God in frustration because I cannot see the path He asks me to walk clearly enough, while at the same time holding on to the very thing that extinguishes His light in my life! I have not always loved! In fact, sometimes I feel like I am just now starting to discover what that actually means! I'm glad though, that the Lord never stops working in our hearts, and He will teach us these things even if it takes time, and even if some of us are a little bit slow to learn. It's His grace, His unfailing love and forgiveness that looks past the mistakes we make to the potential for growth that He sees is possible in our lives, through Jesus Christ .  

 

A few weeks ago, I was reading through the book of 1 Peter, and I so enjoyed the way he wrote. A few things I noticed were repeated multiple times throughout the book, one of them being this kind of love for each other that Jesus talked about. These verses have stuck with me since then, and I want to use them in connection with the verses in the passage from 1 John above. The verses below are taken from 1 Peter 1:22, 2:1, 2:17, 3:8 and 9, and 4:8... As I read them, I noticed the words in connection to the kind of love we are to have for the body of Christ - each born again believer. The words are "sincere", "deeply", "from the heart". It speaks of something that is impossible to counterfeit, but only works when our hearts are transformed from the inside, and that transformation is bubbling over into our lives, into the way we view each other, and treat each other. I have highlighted the words that I found spoke to me about how I want to learn to love as Jesus asks us to... 

 

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth

so that you have sincere love for your brothers,

love one another deeply, from the heart."

 

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit,

hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind."

 

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers..."

 

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another;

be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Do not repay evil for evil or insult with insult, but with blessing,

because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

 

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins."

 

A love like this will guide our thoughts as we think of others, and help us when we speak of others, or to others. A love like this will diminish self, and help us to give, what we crave, to others - real love! A love like this will unite us IN CHRIST; it will humble us, as we lay down our pride in order to serve. A love like this will not condemn, but bless. Love like this will prompt us to remember our 'brothers' world-wide, the ones who are suffering, the ones who are being tortured and persecuted for their faith - and we will PRAY for them with sincere love! A love like this will keep no record of wrongs, but rather, it will forgive as He forgave, and help us to show grace to those who need it. A love like this is not possible on my own. I need to allow Jesus to transform me. A love like this will only flow from me as I am purified by God, as I obey the truth found in His Word, found in Jesus Christ. This is the kind of love that will bring me out of the confusion I feel when I am blinded by the dark, setting my feet on a path that is clear, so that I am sure where I am going.

 

My prayer for myself and others is that Christ will allow His love for His people to flow through our lives each day. On our own we grow weary, we grow tired, and sometimes our hearts grow cold, or are hardened by hurt. But the Lord knows our weaknesses, and that is where He promises to give strength.

 

I found this short and beautiful Psalm of David as I did a search for verses on this kind of brotherly love between Christians the other day, and want to share it in closing :). 

 

Psalm 133

 

How good and pleasant it is
    when brothers live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
    even life forevermore.  

 





The Message You Have Heard

1 John 2:7 and 8

 

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."

 

 

I love to receive letters. These days, most of the 'letters' I receive are in the form of an email or a text message on my phone, but still, I enjoy the communication! I enjoy sharing my heart with others, and hearing them express to me what is on their heart! Getting it in writing is special, because you can read and re-read the words, taking special note of the phrases that speak to you in a special way! 

Of course, when a person is communicating with someone, and you can tell that they care about the one they write to, and are passionate about what is being talked about, it helps to draw a person in...you want to continue reading, to hear what they have to say! That's why I love reading this letter - the book of 1 John.

 

John cared deeply about what he was writing about, and about the people he was writing to. He had a love for these people - the love of a close friend...also, the love that a father would have for his children.

Out of curiosity, I did a quick count to see how many times John adds the words "dear children", or "dear friends" as he writes this letter, and I came up with 9 times for the first, and 6 times for the second. To me, that is meaningful, because it shows me an example. As believers, there will always be people around us who we can show love to, whom we can encourage. Every one of us probably has people that are more mature than us (older in age, and also, more mature spiritually) that we can look up to, and also, we will have people that are less mature than us (younger in age, and also, people who have not been walking with Christ as long as we have, and therefore, "younger' in their spiritual walk) whom we might be able to set an example for.

 

Years ago, as a young mom, in a ladies' Bible study, we studied this passage, found in Titus 2:3-5, which says:

 

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,

not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 

⁴ Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,

⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind,

and to be subject to their husbands,

so that no one will malign the word of God."  

 

Verse 7 and 8 of that passage say:

 

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good.

In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech

that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed

because they have nothing bad to say about us."

 

Through these verses, we were shown the importance of opening our hearts to listen, learn from, and take in the things that our older peers can teach us (the verses surrounding these, in Titus, also have similar words of wisdom and advice for the older and younger men)! As we learn from the example our spiritually mature elders set, and grow in our own faith, we will eventually become teachers to those around us who are younger and less experienced in walking in Christ's ways. We will probably spend most of our lives being taught, and being a teacher, at the same time, for most people will always be able to point out some people around them who are 'older' and some who are 'younger' in all seasons of life. Sometimes, we may not even know who all our lives are impacting! 

 

So now, all these paragraphs later, I have shared my thoughts on the first two words of the small section of verses I posted at the beginning! I just felt that it was important for me to focus on the role that John had, as a wise, older man, to use his wisdom and what he had learned to encourage others in their walk with the Lord. It is in this way that the body of Christ (the church, made up of all true believers) can grow, and remain strong! Who can you encourage today?

 

John goes on to talk about old commands versus new commands. Since the Bible is split up into the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the old covenant and the new covenant, I assumed it had something to do with that. I have to admit, though, I was a bit confused as I tried to understand these verses. I kept praying that God would teach me any truth, or any lesson or application that He had for me in these verses, not wanting to miss it! Eventually, in my study last fall, I moved on, taking these verses at face value. John was writing this 'command' to them, but it was not something new - it was the same command that they had heard from the beginning - the message that they had heard. But then he goes on to say that it IS a new command, and this is where I got confused. How can something be old and new at the same time?!? Last week, I went online and read pages of commentaries, which I can never get enough of if I have the time to read. Eventually, thanks to the wisdom of some great Bible scholars, I felt like I could grasp what was being said... I will try to put into my own words what I learned, instead of trying to actually quote bits and pieces from all the commentary I read... :).  

 

What is this "old command" which we have had "from the beginning"?

As I thought about this, I couldn't help but think about the Ten Commandments, and about the theme that seems to run throughout the Bible, which Jesus Himself said summed up the whole Law and the Prophets. In Matthew 22:34-40, when the teachers of the Law were trying to outsmart Jesus, they asked Him to tell them what was the greatest commandment in the Law. He said, in verses 37-40:

 

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.' ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.

³⁹ And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'

⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

 

The theme, or thread, of these two commands can be found throughout the Old Testament. 

The commands God made for the people of Israel to live by really were made to ensure that the people would live right before God, and that they would treat others justly.

 

In Deuteronomy 6:5 we read the first and greatest commandment (in the Ten Commandments, the first four are really all about how we view and treat God). This verse says:

 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your strength."
 





In the Ten Commandments, the last six commands have to do with how we are to view and treat other people. If everyone would follow these commands, we should be able to live in harmony with the people around us. Leviticus 19:18 says:

 

"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people,

but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord."

 



So, these are the "old commands". Mainly, we need to remember that they taught people to love and obey God, and to extend that kind of love to others.

 

And then there is also another beginning - the beginning of a person's life after they come to faith in Jesus Christ. When we first came to Christ, we accepted the gift of love that God gave us in sending His Son to die for our sins. When we love God, His love is supposed to be evident in our lives. He now lives in us, and His life flows through our lives, which we have surrendered to Him. If we are "in Him" (see 1 John 2:5,6), we will follow Jesus' example of loving God, and loving others. This is that same command, the message that we as Christians most likely have heard from the beginning of our life with Jesus as our Savior.  

 

Shortly before Jesus was crucified, He had a special meal with His disciples, known as the Last Supper. As they talked, Jesus shared many things with them, things that they were going to recall and that would help them once He ascended to Heaven after the Resurrection. In John 13, as Jesus is talking to the disciples, He also calls them "My children", using a deeply affectionate title that shows how He cares for them (most parents will agree that they are able to understand the depth of God's love for us a little more fully once they have experienced the kind of love that they have for their own child). Jesus says, in verse 34:

 

"A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

 

 

They had heard those words before, "Love one another", but Jesus called it a new command. They would now actually be able to love as He loved, because He would be within them, teaching them how to love. Every believer is given the power of the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within them, teaching them to live like Jesus. One message I read on these verses included Romans 5:5, when explaining how the 'new part' of this command is at work in us as believers. Romans 5:5 says:

 

 

"...God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

whom He has given us."

 

We don't need to try to find love within our own selves to reach those who are hard to love, or even to more perfectly love those who we already do love. We need only to live by the Spirit, and there we find Christ's love to be of such a much better quality than the love that we ourselves could ever give. Wonderful too, is the knowledge that His love never runs out! As long as we allow His life to flow through us, we will have love to give.

This truth was seen in the life of Jesus. Think about the people He loved. He loved people who doubted Him. He loved people whom society rejected, often reaching out to the very people that the 'higher' class was repulsed by. He loved those who mocked Him and were ungrateful to Him. He loved sinners - people who had travelled down many wrong paths before they finally found Him, and His grace.

John says, in John 13:35:

 

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples,

if you love one another."

 

The truth of this 'new' command - to love as He loved - is seen in His true disciples, as it was seen in the life that Jesus lived. Am I a true disciple (follower) of Jesus? Jesus says that if we are, we will love one another. As I think of my failure so often to live as Christ commands in this area of love, I am drawn to cry out, "Lord! Teach me to die to myself, to allow Your life to flow through me!" I think of the verse, in Galatians 2:20, which says:

 

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live..."

 

That is, my old sinful nature that lived to please and look out for - myself.

 

"...but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith

in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

 

My life is not my own anymore. The life that Jesus lived was also not His own. He lived His life for the Father, and to do His will. He willingly died, for me. For you. For each one that will allow Him into their heart!

 

So the truth of this command, which seems to be love for God, and love for our 'brothers', is seen in Jesus' life, and it will also be seen in us. Sometimes we as believers focus far to much on the darkness that still lingers, the sin that still hinders us and other Christians from fully living as Jesus calls us to live. The Word says, "...the true light is already shining." The darkness of sin, of our former way of life before we knew Christ, is passing, and His power is seen as His love is made complete within us!  

 

My prayer is that I will allow more of the darkness to pass in my own life as I allow God greater access to my heart, and that I will continue to live by faith, believing that God is working to change my heart to be like His. My prayer is that, as I look at others, even those who (like me) are not perfectly following in His footsteps each moment of every day, I will not focus on the darkness that still tries to overtake, but look instead for His light shining, and that I will praise Him when I see it shine! We have a glorious hope that awaits us, the hope of one day being surrounded only by light. In that city, there will be no darkness, only the Lamb and His bride, whom He has cleansed from all sin, so that she shines perfectly for Him.

 

   

 

   



  



To Walk As Jesus Did...

1 John 2:3 - 6

 

 ³ "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands.

⁴ The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

⁵ But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him.

This is how we know we are in Him:

⁶ Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."

 

In order to really be in relationship with God, to truly KNOW Him, I must walk in obedience to the Lord's commands. From the verses above, it seems clear that it is one thing to SAY that I know God, but an entirely different thing to LIVE as though I know God. The question I feel I must answer when I read these verses is this:

 

Do I Want To Know The Lord, or is it enough for me to just say that I know Him?

  

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

Years ago, as I read my daily devotional in the morning, I was required to read one simple verse. It was John 14:15, where Jesus says:

 

       "If you love Me, you will obey what I command."

 

Over the course of the next few days, the devotional was focused on learning to live in obedience to God out of love for Him. Although it was a difficult process for me (I had been holding back a few areas of my life that were not fully submitted to the Lord, areas in which I could see I was showing disobedience), it was also life changing! As I thought about obedience being the evidence that we know God, and that we love Him, I felt God opening up my heart to receive what His Word was saying about obedience. Some other Scriptures were used in those devotions... John 14:21 says:

 

"Whoever has My commands and obeys them,

he is the one who loves Me.

 

Verses 23 and 24 of that same chapter say:

 

"If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching...

He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching."

 



The words that Jesus spoke were very clear. I knew that I was at a point where I had to make a choice. I could choose to let go of my sin and submit in obedience to the Lord out of love for Him, or, I could ignore or reject these verses of Scripture, holding on to the sins of my choice, and keep 'lying' with my mouth as I professed my love for the Lord. Although at times the application of these verses was hard, the choice I knew I had to make was easy! I truly believe that I love the Lord, so, because I love Him, I needed to choose obedience!

 

* * * * * * * * * * *

 



When we live our lives as believers, we will be at that same point where I was back then, not just once or twice, but time and time again. We are always faced with choices, and the choices we make show who we are truly serving - God, or, our own desires.

It is not enough to read the Bible and to know what it says. Knowing what is the right thing to do is only a part of the process, and I would say that that is the easy part! The second part is following through with what we have been taught, or what we have learned. As we grow in our Christian walk, as we come to know Christ in a deeper way, we will seek to obey God, to keep His commands, As this process happens, our lives will be changed, shaping us to be more like Christ!

 

As I was thinking about these verses, I saw the contrast between the person who lives by truth, and the person who lives a lie. I see how easy it is for me to be like the person in verse 4, who says, "Yeah, I know God", but who does not DO what He asks of us. That is what I know I would be like on my own, without the Spirit of God helping me! My actions would not match up with my words, and it would end up making my words a lie. But I long to be like the person described in verse 5, the one who obeys God's Word, the one in whom God's love is truly made complete.
 

Verse 6 goes on to tell us how to know that we are "IN" Him: 

 

"Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."

 

How do we walk as Jesus did? We can learn to do this is by studying His life by what is written of Him in the Scriptures. As I stop to think of some examples of how Jesus lived, I think of how Jesus quoted Scripture to resist the devil when He was tempted by him in the desert (see Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13). Jesus used the Word of God to do battle against the enemy, which is what we are instructed to do as well. Ephesians 6:11 and part of verse 17 say:

 

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand

against the devil's schemes."

 

"Take the...sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." 

 

By knowing the Bible and using it to combat the devil, and temptation, we are choosing to walk as Jesus did, and to live in obedience to what He instructs us through His Word.

 

Jesus prayed often. He was so often surrounded by the people He was teaching, healing, and serving, but He took time to withdraw from the crowds so that He could commune with God the Father. He made this a priority. Mark 1:35 shows this:

 

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up,

left the house and went off to a solitary place,

where He prayed."

 

If we want to follow Jesus' example, we will seek to make prayer an important part of our life. It will become a priority, and we will come to need these times with God, our Father, just as we can see that Jesus did. We are instructed to pray in the Bible, so when we do this, we are again obeying the Lord's commands, as we are told we must do in order to come to know Him. Colossians 4:2 says:

 

"Devote yourselves to prayer..."

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (a good verse to memorize!) says:

 

"pray continually"



 

Jesus took on the role of a servant, even though He was a King. He thought of other people's needs before His own. The most touching example of this is when He washed the disciples' feet the night before He died. He "showed them the full extent of His love" (John 13:1) by serving them, even those whom He knew would betray and deny Him. After He had done this, He told His disciples, in John 13:15 and 17:

 

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

 

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."



 

Jesus was at peace when storms raged around Him. He slept on a boat that was being tossed about in the midst of a furious storm (see Matthew 8:23-27). The men on the boat with him were paralyzed with fear, but He reminded the disciples that faith conquers fear. When we realize that God is in control, we are able to cast all our anxieties upon Him, knowing that He cares for us, and that He will help us in every situation (1 Peter 5:7).

 

Jesus was also at peace later, when an angry mob of people captured Him, beat Him, questioned Him, and crucified Him on a cross. He was willing to bear heavy burdens if the Father willed Him to, even ones that He did not deserve. He didn't angrily defend Himself even though He knew He was innocent, but rather, He was willing to wait for God to judge and punish evil justly, in His time. As He was dying on the cross, Jesus took time for the thief that was being crucified beside Him, and He prayed for the people who were responsible for putting Him on the cross. 

 

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

 

Jesus practiced true love, true forgiveness. He was at one with, and fully submitted to, the Father, desiring and doing only what His Father wanted. He stood for truth at the cost of popularity, content to please God rather than man. He showed love, kindness, mercy - not only to those who were easy to love, but also to those who were difficult; not only to those who would love and serve Him in return, or somehow give back to Him - His love had no conditions attached to it!

 

These examples from Jesus' life are only the tip of the iceberg, but they help me to start seeing the pattern that I will want to follow if I belong to God. This verse, about walking as Jesus did, makes me want to study the Gospels again, paying close attention to all He said and did. 

 

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

I have spent a lot of time thinking about these verses. They are so simple, yet so important to grasp. God does not force our obedience. We are free to decide whether we will listen to Him, love Him, obey Him. As a parent, I think of my children... If my children know me at all, if they trust that I love them, they will understand that the decisions I make, the rules I have, are meant to guide them towards things that will help them. I want to keep them safe from harm, and to give them good things. God is like that. He does what He does in order to save us from harm, and from death. He guides us in the path of eternal life, where there are wonderful blessings, and great rewards! As I come to know Him more and more, I come to trust Him more and more. As I come to trust God, I don't fight against, or rebel against His instructions and commands. Instead, I find that they make sense, and I find peace in submitting to Him in obedience, like a child does, who loves and trusts his parents.  

 

I don't do this all perfectly, and never will until I reach my forever home - Heaven - but that is my desire, and God is patient with His children. If I sin, Jesus is there to speak to the Father in my defense, the Holy Spirit is there to guide me, making me aware of areas where I have stumbled, helping me to submit my will to His so that He can continue His sanctifying work in my life. Although I sometimes lose sight of this as I choose to look down, at the darkness instead of into the glorious light of His truth, I can be confident that "He who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". In this way, through Jesus Christ and what He did for us, God's love is made complete in the lives of those who believe in Him and obey His Word! 

 

The following song has been running through my mind all week as I have been thinking of these verses, and so I think it is fitting that I end with it:

 

 

TRUST AND OBEY

 

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey. 

 

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

 

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

 

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

 



  

Forgiven and Purified

1 John 1:8 - 2:2

 

⁸ "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just

and will forgive us our sins

and purify us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar

and His word has no place in our lives."

Chapter 2

¹ "My dear children, I write this to you 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.
²  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world." 
 

It is hard to look at myself, and to truly see what I am without Christ. I am a sinner! I have a strong tendency to sin. This sin problem is not unique to my life - it is a common problem, for each person is born into sin. We all have a 'sin nature', and this separates us from our holy, sinless God. A few passages that point out this sinful nature that we all possess are Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9, and Romans 3:23:

 

"The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the Earth had become,

and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart

was only evil all the time."

 

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure,

who can understand it?"

 

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

 

In the Ten Commandments, we see a list of things we cannot do, and still claim to be righteous before God. In Exodus 20:2-17 or Deuteronomy 5:6-21 we can read the full list, but below are the Ten Commandments in short form:

 

1.   You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.   You shall not make idols.

3.   You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4.   Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.   Honor your father and your mother.

6.   You shall not murder.

7.   You shall not commit adultery.

8.   You shall not steal.

9.   You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet.

 

When Jesus came to Earth, He made it clear that the following of these commandments begins in the mind and in the heart. Even though we may not always follow a sinful thought with a sinful action, He shows us that if even our hearts are not right, we are guilty of sin, and therefore, of judgement. In reading through the 'Sermon on the Mount' (found in Matthew chapters 5 - 7), this becomes quite clear. Here are a few verses, found in Matthew 5:21 and 22, and Matthew 5:27 and 28 (Jesus speaking): 

 

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,

'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.'

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother

will be subject to judgement."

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully

has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

 

After reading these verses I find it quite easy to confess that I am a sinner!

At first when I read the verses in 1 John, about people who "claim to be without sin", I didn't give them very much thought, since I know that I could never make that claim! But I started realizing that this verse (v. 8) was contrasting the thought expressed in verse 9, and I became interested in thinking this through... As I thought and prayed about it, I came to realize that I have actually been guilty of this very thing. You see, the first part, when we come to accept Christ, asking His forgiveness for our sins of the past, present and future, in some ways, is the easy part. We start walking in the light, with God and other believers, and we are joyful, because the blood of Jesus has purified us from all sin (see 1 John 1:6 and 7)!

But what happens when we sin again? We all will sin again. As Christians, we don't want to sin, but we still battle against a nature that is bent towards sin. Like the pull of a magnet, that old nature is drawn towards sin, even though, in Christ, we do not want to do this. Since the devil so desperately wants to keep us in his grip, he will work in any tricky way he can to accomplish this. One way he does this is by deceiving us, trying to twist the truth...

We might tell a small 'half-truth' to cover up an area in our lives that we don't want to expose. We might think, "it's not really a sin", because there is a part of truth within what we're saying, but the thing that can become easy to forget, is that a 'half-truth' has another 'half', and could also be called a 'half-lie'! 

We might be hurt by someone's words or actions, and choose to hold a grudge, nursing our wounds day by day. If someone were to remind us that this was a sin, we might give them really good reasons for why we were justified in feeling this way, pointing out the sin in the life of the person who hurt us to show them how right we are in withholding our forgiveness and love. On the flip-side, we might hurt someone. Again, we might justify it in some way, trying to make others, or ourselves, believe that our response was acceptable, given the circumstances in which it all happened.

We might become so attracted to something that this world offers us (money, possessions, a certain lifestyle, our family, even - the list could go on...) that we forget to seek God first. When we do this with anything, even with something that can look okay outwardly, we put it in a place of higher importance than the Lord. In our culture, where idols are not made of stone or worshipped in temples, we sometimes forget that we are still prone to break commandments 1 and 2 quite easily!

There are so many different sins, big and small, that we struggle with. Many, like the ones above, are common ones that come up in most peoples lives from time to time. Our sin patterns are unique to who we are, since we are all tempted towards different sins at certain times, and in certain ways. One thing is sure though, we all sin - outwardly, and also in the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.

 

So I'm back to the question I asked before - What am I to do with/about my sin? We have two choices set before us in this portion of 1 John...

 

The first choice, shown in verses 8 and 10, is that we can refuse to acknowledge our sin. We can refuse to deal with it, pushing it all 'under the rug', till we have a huge mess of stockpiled sin that has not been dealt with. We can continually make excuses, we can blame others, or point our fingers at everyone else until we have managed to deceive ourselves into thinking that we are actually okay, that it's not our fault that things went the way they did. We might start believing that we really aren't that bad! If we do this, sadly, we are pushing Jesus right out of our heart and life. We are saying that we do not need the gift of redemption that He offers to those who have sinned. Not only that, but we are building walls between ourselves and the other believers that we are connected with. I think that this is why there is often division and disunity between believers - because we are too prideful to admit to our sin, and will rather push people away than humbling ourselves to the point of confessing our wrongdoing to them. We don't want to let it show that we are not always in control (or under God's control). We don't want to admit that we fail, so we try to hide it. So then, since darkness hides things, and light exposes them, we shrink back towards the darkness, instead of remaining in that circle of light where the fellowship is good! This reminds me of the verses from my last entry, where in John 3:20, Jesus says,

 

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light

for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

 

Feeling the Lord's presence when we are choosing to live this way is difficult. I am confident of this, because I know by experience. Too often, I have been at this place myself. We cannot "claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in the darkness" (1 John 1:6). If we choose this way, we are allowing the devil to deceive us, we are living under the pretense of a lie, and God's Word has no place in our lives, for we have, by our choices, declared that what His Word teaches is not really the way it is, or has to be.

 

These verses can be difficult to read, because they are so 'black and white', with no room for many shades of grey, but they are God's Words, and so we have to accept them. Praise the Lord that there is, however, a more wonderful way, and that is the other option we are given:

 

Verse 9 shows us that we can see our sin for what it is, and we can accept that we are sinners who need to be saved. We can admit our sin, confessing it to God, who knows all about it already anyway. We are given the promise that He is Faithful, and just as His Word tells us over and over again, He will forgive us our sin! Since we are surrounded by people, and many times our sins are against these people, confessing our sin means that we approach the person we have offended, or sinned against, and ask them for forgiveness. This can be extremely difficult, because it goes directly against what our old, sinful nature would want to do! I think that another reason it is so difficult to do is that Satan desperately wants to keep us bound, separated from God and other believers. He sees how powerful and freeing it is when people are walking in God's light and unified with each other, and he tries everything he knows to keep us from experiencing that freedom! I am so glad that, as believers we have access to a power greater than that of the devil, and because of that we can have victory over the devil's schemes. 1 John 4:4 says:

 

"...the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 

 

 

1 John 1:9 is a familiar verse, and as I have wondered about it's full meaning, I have come to see the freedom that this verse can bring to a believer's life.

 

Seeing our sin for what it is, and confessing it, allows room for our "Faithful and Just" God to extend the forgiveness that He bought for us through Jesus Christ. I believe there is a calling in this verse to lay down our pride, and in humility confess our sins (and also, simply, confessing our sinful nature, with its tendency to fall into sin). We do this not just before God, but also extend that into an appropriate confession of our sin when it has affected the people around us. Our sin is now exposed, but because of Jesus' work on the cross, we are not condemned! Instead, Jesus is speaking to the Father, our Righteous God, in our defense. He is saying, "That sin, too, I have paid for", and when God looks at Him, He is satisfied, because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that paid our sin debt.

 

The second part of verse 9 is my favorite! It says that God will "purify us from all unrighteousness"! So we see that the blood of Jesus "purifies us from all sin" (v. 7), and now the confession of our sin allows God to "purify us from all unrighteousness" (v. 9). We are cleansed/purified in one way when we first come to faith in Jesus, because we no longer have to bear the burden of our sin; Jesus has taken it upon Himself, giving us the gift of His righteousness instead. We are cleansed/purified in another way as we live in obedience to the Lord, following the instructions He has given us in His Word, the Bible. This is called the process of sanctification, which, when we give Jesus room to work in our lives, will conform us more and more to be like Him. 

 

When we do these things, or more specifically, allow Jesus to do this within us, we are living by the truth! We are walking in the light and we will testify that what is happening in our lives is being done through God (see John 3:21). Our lives will be a witness to the power of God, and also to the love and grace He has for His people. As long as we keep walking closely with the Lord, we can experience the victory that Jesus gives us! As I read the final verse in this portion of 1 John, I think of the words of this hymn:

 

"Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it

white as snow!"  

Walking In The Light

1 John 1:5-7

^"This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you:

God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.

⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son,

purifies us from all sin."

The book of 1 John is a book that uses the contrasts of opposites over and over again to give a clear picture of what we are on our own, in the sinful nature that we were born into, and of what we are when we become children of God. In this short passage, we see the difference between walking in darkness, and walking in the light…

The opening verse is one of my favorite verses in the Bible! As a child, I was afraid of the dark. Darkness blinds a person, and it can cause one to stumble and trip over things that would not be a problem if there was light to show us these obstacles. Because God is light, His presence dispels the darkness and helps us to see clearly! He invites us to come walk in His wonderful light, and I long to do just that! I am reminded of some verses, found in Colossians 1:12 and 13, which say:

“…the Father…has qualified you to share in the inheritance

of the saints in the kingdom of light.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness

and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves…”

Also, in John 3:19-21, we read Jesus’ words on this subject:

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,

but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  

Everyone who does evil hates the light,

and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,

so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done

has been done through God.”

We cannot find our own way into God’s kingdom – we must allow Him to rescue us from our old way of life. If we say that we are in the light, but continue to cling to the darkness, we lie. We cannot continue living in the darkness of sinful choices and evil deeds, yet claim to have a relationship with the Lord. Since Jesus IS the TRUTH, He cannot dwell (or abide) in the heart of a person who chooses not to “live by the truth”. We must choose either one or the other – darkness or light – because the two cannot abide together.

God is the One who enables us to come into His “kingdom of light”. As we respond to His call, His power works within us, drawing us out of the darkness. The obstacles of sin that we continually tripped over while living apart from Him are easier to identify when illuminated by the light of His truth, and we find it easier to avoid stumbling back into them. We can now enjoy a close fellowship with the Lord, and we are also told that we will have fellowship with one another, that is, with other true believers

So here we are, enjoying fellowship with God and with each other (see 1 John 1:3), living in that kingdom of light that He has promised those who will follow Him. Although we do it imperfectly, because of our tendency to wander back into the darkness at times, we start to experience that better life that God offers us.

Another benefit of walking in God’s light is that “the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin”. Where before we were afraid that our evil deeds would be exposed if we entered into the light, we now have this promise of being cleansed from all of our sin. Through Jesus’ death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin, we are purified (or cleansed) from all of our sins, and from that sinful way of life that we are so prone to falling into when we try to walk on our own strength, apart from Him! I am reminded that I cannot try to clean up my life first, while still walking alone in the darkness, so that I will be ‘good enough’ to come to Him. I need to step into the light, where He is, and only there, in His power, and by His grace, will I be purified. I love the simple, life giving words in the following hymn:

Nothing But The Blood

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.