Greeting
1:1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
(ESV)
Category: Scripture
Categories
Going Deeper
1 John 1-5 (5.20.23)
Grab your Bible, and let’s go deeper into 1 John 2.
Dr. John Stott says it so well describing the letters of John when saying, “Against this backdrop of the current uncertain, postmodern world, to read the letters of John is to enter another world altogether, for its marks are assurance, knowledge, confidence, and boldness.”
He goes on to say, “The author’s purpose in writing is known from his own definition of it. He wrote the Gospel for unbelievers in order to arouse their faith, and the letters for believers in order to deepen their assurance. His desire for the readers of the Gospel was that through faith they might receive life; for the readers of the letters that they might know they already had it.”
Certainty About Who We Are in Christ
1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
First of all, he is writing to the Church—to those showing evidence for salvation. He is saying, “Your sins are forgiven. You can be certain of this. Nothing more to prove, nothing more to accomplish; it has been done by Jesus.”
1 John 2:13a I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
Notice, he says, “You know”! “You know” is affirmation language. These are reminders of who we are. It is a plea for certainty. He is saying to those of us who are alive in Christ, “YOU KNOW.”
1 John 2:13b-14 I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Don’t forget … You know! You have! You are! John is saying to his brothers and sisters in Christ, “Be certain! Remember, you overcame the evil one. You are strong in Christ, and the word of God abides in you!” John wants them to be certain, so he says two of these things twice: (1) “You know him who is from the beginning,” and (2) “You have overcome the evil one.”
Before we move on to verse 15, notice verse 14 more closely:
1 John 2:14b I write to you … because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Notice 2 things: (1) the evidence of strength and (2) the evidence of victory over temptation and sin. Why do they have these evidences? Because the Word of God abides in them!
How does one navigate this uncertain world? How do you grow in maturity in faith and life in Christ? The word of God! Don’t minimize the crucial place of the word of God here. We need to receive it and need it to abide in us. When we do this, we abide in Christ, and we abide in His great accomplishment on the cross that defeats the accusations of the devil. We overcome the evil one by the word of God, because day by day this word is abiding in us.
It is living in us. The gospel—the great story of redemption, and the great Christ of redemption, and the great God of redemption, and the great process of redemption, and the great effects of redemption—this gospel, this word of God, is not something believed once and left behind. We believe the word of God and then it “abides” in us.
Some of you really need this. You need to stop trying to fight the evil one and all his lies and temptations against you on your own. John is saying, “Know who you are in Christ. Know that, in Christ, you have defeated the evil one. Don’t kind of know it; know it—claim it— live out of it—abide in it! Be certain in His victorious work on your behalf!”
Life in Certainty and the Good News
1 John 2:20-21 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
“You have …” Did you hear it again? This is John’s “be certain” language again! “You have” means you are possessors of … possessors of what? What do we have? God’s anointing–which is Christ’s victory over death on your behalf, the never-ending presence and counsel of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of God.
Notice, he didn’t say “you might have.” He says, “you have.” Look at verses 24 and 25:
1 John 2:24-25 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise [not might be the promise] that he made to us—eternal life.
Twice in verse 24, John stresses that the truth that should remain in them is truth that came to them through their ears at the beginning of their Christian walk: “what you heard from the beginning.” This was the preaching of the gospel by the apostles. Here, John makes an effort to avoid the saying that what the Church needs is new revelation. It does not. It needs to let the original apostolic, gospel-centered teaching about Christ abide in them.
Now verse 25 says, “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”
This is good news! Why? Because the promises of God bring certainty. God doesn’t go back on His promises! They are iron-clad. They are rooted in His very nature which is truth and faithfulness! This is cause for certainty in our lives!
1 John 2:27b But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Beloved, you can be certain that if Christ alone is your Lord and Savior, the One to whom you trust your entire life, the One you desire more than any other, know that:
- You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; abide in Him.
- Your certainty needs to be built on your new identity in Christ.
- Your power needs to come from your life in Christ.
- ● Your instruction needs to come from the word of God.
- Abide in Him! Be certain in Him as you live in this uncertain world!
By His grace and for His glory
Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine
Soldiers For Jesus MC
Chaplain Council
SFJbible.com
Overcoming the World
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
That You May Know
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Footnotes
[1] 5:16
Greek he (ESV)
Test the Spirits
4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot1 love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Footnotes
[1] 4:20
Some manuscripts how can he (ESV)